At the end of my professional dance career +/- age 40 I started having severe joint issues. It started first in the hip/sacrum area, progressed to the lower back, and moved all up and down the spine (vertebral column). Symptoms were extreme difficulty in doing basic daily movements and particularly anything that required a static position. Simple routines of riding in a car, standing in line at the grocery, sitting at a desk doing computer work and getting around Amsterdam on my bike were tough.
This new reality created an overall feeling that moving from one position to another would create more pain, which brought even more tension into the body and a complete physical and mental malaise. It was hard to focus, feeling of frustration, overall lack of energy, mentally exhausted from trying to figure out what was wrong with me and moreover if it would ever improve.
While I was still able to work (not dancing anymore) as an executive coach I had to be extremely vigilant about my daily commitments and this put additional stress on my overall health. My colleagues were very supportive, but it was also challenging for them because this was such a complete turnaround from who I had been before. A former professional dancer who now has difficulty doing basic activities was a bizarre turn for everyone around me to comprehend.
It made me feel like I had some rare disorder that was going to get progressively worse. As the Dutch would say, wanhopig (desperate). I spent two years in the medical system bouncing from one specialist to another, trying to find some “diagnoses.” All sorts of titles were thrown around, Rheumatoid arthritis, Fibromyalgia, some type of rare auto-immune disease, chronic fatigue syndrome and finally when they gave up, you’re just suffering from depression and need therapy.
Turning Points
Two major events happened that started to turn this whole nightmare around. First was a casual dinner with a dear friend, Ted Willemsen, a truly amazing Physiotherapist, and all-around super guy shared his opinion with me. Sadly, Ted is no longer with us, gone much too soon. Ted was the person who not only extended my dance career to the ripe age of 43 as a magnificent physical therapist, but he and my husband Robert helped get my health back on the rails, forever grateful to both men.
Ted’s question, which not one medical practitioner ever asked was, “Have you ever thought about your diet?” He went on to say you’ve tried every imaginable avenue when it comes to medical processes but not looked beyond. I bristled up at first, being then a long-time (20-year) vegetarian I had food blinders on. I thought my “diet” was perfect, and in fact told him so.
However, I went home, thought hard about it, called him the next day to apologize for being so negative. This started the slow crawl back into a different nutritional path that included meat on a regular basis. The change didn’t happen overnight many more months went on, but immediately energy and focus returned and a day-by-day quality of movement improved, like someone lifted the curtain.
I first heard about the Low-Carb Lifestyle from my husband who read the article What If It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie? by Gary Taubes that came out in 2002 in the New York Times Magazine. At that time, I was slowly making the change mentioned above from twenty years vegetarian to a more inclusive one with meat. Our household then went completely down the rabbit hole of nutritional investigation and obsessive experimentation.
Further, when Taubes’ ground-breaking book, Good Calories, Bad Calories, came out in 2007 a new level of health transformation started to evolve both practically and knowledge based. What I realized was that through my decades of vegetarianism I had substituted many nutritious foods like meat for carbohydrates. At that time, I was not aware of the damage high blood sugar and insulin could have on the body. Throughout my two year medical investigation nutrition was never mentioned because I didn’t have a weight problem. I had a joint and tissue inflammatory nightmare. Looking back, I imagine I was probably pre-diabetic with some level of insulin resistance.
Why Health Coaching?
Having grown up with a father, Sherrill Hanks, who was a very successful basketball coach in Illinois at the High School and Collegiate level as well as a brother, Mike Hanks, who coached at the Collegiate and internationally for decades, coaching is in my DNA. I saw the power and the confidence they built in individuals and wanted to do the same. Additionally, throughout my dance career and decades in the fitness industry I’ve witnessed a great deal of frustration and disappointment in individuals who have been the recipients of poor health advice, particularly as pertains to nutrition.
Had I not had my own battles with health I don’t think I would have dived so deep into trying to understand the power of a well-formulated health plan, not just x numbers of minutes in exercise and maniacal calorie counting. That real food nutrition which minimizes the impact on blood sugar and insulin is paramount to vibrant health and aging gracefully. The support team of smart level resistance training, getting adequate sunshine, maintaining regular sleep patterns must be included, as well as a strong social network and community.
My Hope
I think instilling the power to the individual that they can be their own health coach. Empowering them with the education, tools, and practices for longevity. Being their partner, providing accountability, a voice of support and challenge at every step of the way. Creating passion in the individual for consistent high-level performance in life, focused on the future.
My hope is someday folks will say there were several good coaches in the Hanks’ family, two in basketball and one in health.
Dare to think different!
