Defeating Rheumatoid Arthritis With Fitness & Nutrition
It’s hard to believe that Cindy Lane Ross has been dealing with serious health issues most of her life. A fitness instructor and nutritionist, she owns a 12,000-square-foot fitness center with 14 personal trainers, plus two fitness clothing lines (including one for joint support at medicalfitnesssolutions.com), a website design company, and online fitness and nutrition program (cindylaneross.com). She also regularly appears in nutrition and fitness segments on the local Fox station in her hometown of Mobile, Ala.
Cindy, now 37, was diagnosed at 22 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), was nearly 100 pounds overweight at one point, and recently was diagnosed with osteoporosis. With each new challenge, she steps up and takes control.
She played professional tennis until she was diagnosed with RA. “My tennis career came to a screeching halt,” Cindy says. “I was depressed and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.” The pounds crept on, accelerating during the four years she cared for her mother. When her mother died in 2006, Cindy, at 5 feet, 6 inches tall, topped the scales at 220.
That was a wake-up call. She overhauled her diet and started working out again. Slowly, over 14 months, she lost more than 100 pounds, and took stock of her life. She earned a B.S. in exercise science, got certified as a fitness instructor and nutritionist, launched Bodies by Cindy Outdoor Boot Camp in 2009, and opened her fitness center the following year.
She’s able to maintain her hectic schedule by controlling her RA with twice-monthly biologic injections, and she follows a dairy-free, gluten-free diet and exercises an hour a day. Still, she recently fractured some ribs and was diagnosed with osteoporosis, so she takes prescription bone-building supplements. She’s taken up swimming to maintain cardio fitness, and to build her bones she’s training with weights and easing back into running.
“I know what it’s like to sit on the sidelines,” she says. “For many years, life was passing me by. I am very fortunate.”
And she’s committed to helping others improve their health, too. She created a fitness program for the City of Mobile, she’s a strong supporter of the Arthritis Foundation, and her clients include people with arthritis, amputees and paraplegics. “There is a passion that drives me to help people get back their quality of life,” she says.
Cindy, now 37, was diagnosed at 22 with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), was nearly 100 pounds overweight at one point, and recently was diagnosed with osteoporosis. With each new challenge, she steps up and takes control.
She played professional tennis until she was diagnosed with RA. “My tennis career came to a screeching halt,” Cindy says. “I was depressed and had no clue what I wanted to do with my life.” The pounds crept on, accelerating during the four years she cared for her mother. When her mother died in 2006, Cindy, at 5 feet, 6 inches tall, topped the scales at 220.
That was a wake-up call. She overhauled her diet and started working out again. Slowly, over 14 months, she lost more than 100 pounds, and took stock of her life. She earned a B.S. in exercise science, got certified as a fitness instructor and nutritionist, launched Bodies by Cindy Outdoor Boot Camp in 2009, and opened her fitness center the following year.
She’s able to maintain her hectic schedule by controlling her RA with twice-monthly biologic injections, and she follows a dairy-free, gluten-free diet and exercises an hour a day. Still, she recently fractured some ribs and was diagnosed with osteoporosis, so she takes prescription bone-building supplements. She’s taken up swimming to maintain cardio fitness, and to build her bones she’s training with weights and easing back into running.
“I know what it’s like to sit on the sidelines,” she says. “For many years, life was passing me by. I am very fortunate.”
And she’s committed to helping others improve their health, too. She created a fitness program for the City of Mobile, she’s a strong supporter of the Arthritis Foundation, and her clients include people with arthritis, amputees and paraplegics. “There is a passion that drives me to help people get back their quality of life,” she says.