Tulsa, OK: If you have any plans of earning a scholarship to a Division 1 university, you’re going to need a level of discipline, talent, and focus that is well above 99.9% of the rest of the American population.
Without it, you will join the rest of us in the average category of human beings.
Monica Crawford is that very small percentage.
She spent her entire teenage years training and preparing for a life of athletics as a gymnast. The amount of time she put into her craft was the equivalent of a full-time job while being a student.
The effort paid off as she earned a scholarship to Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH, a division 1 school, and often competed against some of the most competitive gymnastics programs in the country.
An impressive accomplishment.
After Monica graduated, she spent time working within the courts and mental health before transitioning into law enforcement.
As her past has proven, she was never afraid to confront a challenge.
She started her LEO career as a Probation and Parole Officer, to a part-time police officer, and ultimately a full-time municipal police officer.
However, within that time, Monica endured a serious shoulder injury during the police academy that required surgery.
During her time with the agency, Monica experienced many challenges and chronic stress that led to the decline of her mental and physical health.
She then made a bold decision.
“Unfortunately, the only way I started to break out of that rut was removing myself from that environment by resigning. However, it has been a three-year mental and physical healing journey in which I am still working through,” Monica told LET.
Although she is still working on healing herself she found a new purpose during her journey in helping others, specifically women. But she took her idea a step further.
As a former police officer and woman, Monica knows exactly what it’s like being a woman in uniform.
“Women do have more specific challenges they often face which can add to the mix. One of which is proving ourselves and showing that we deserve to wear the badge and are as capable as our male co-workers,” she said.
She continued, “However, the ongoing problem is that some will always believe women shouldn’t be cops or that we will never rise to the level we need, which keeps women in a state of working to constantly prove themselves with it never actually being achievable based on others’ opinions."
"When in reality", she went on,"women can and do prove themselves and are just as capable as our other male and female counterparts.”
Everyone knows hindsight is 20/20. Monica took the experiences and lessons she’s learned to help the next generation of female officers. One is the early warning signs of trouble.
“Some symptoms of chronic stress, and red flags I wish I knew when I was in the middle of my challenges are: Gut issues like leaky gut, bloating, stomach pain, and constipation, migraines, joint pain, skin issues like rashes or regular breakouts, hormone issues–for ladies it can throw off menstrual cycles, increase period symptoms, and cause weight gain,” she said.
“Being wired when it’s time for bed and sleepy when you wake, lack of motivation, irritability, cynicism, brain fog, fatigue, and unexplained weight gain. This applies to any LEO.”
Monica warns that if women are going through these physical difficulties and nothing is done about it, it will only get worse.
“Some of the things I have seen as a nutrition and fitness coach for women in male-driven fields include: depression, anxiety, weight gain, PCOS, diabetes, migraines, high blood pressure, and burnout. I have seen all of these things improve in different clients over the years through working with me inside of their Five-0 Fierce and Fit Programs,” she said.
“These things don’t have to be a life sentence. They can be improved and/or reversed by improving food quality choices, eating enough food to fuel your body well, and with prioritizing sleep, self-care, and creating a schedule and lifestyle habits that support your goals and lifestyle you want to live. LEOs spend so much time taking care of others, they often neglect themselves.”
Monica believes the key to breaking out of a rut is structure.
“As LEOs we thrive on structure at work. However, it is somewhat ironic that most have no idea how to create the same structure within their off-duty time. You have to be able to create the time to implement new habits. Nothing changes if nothing changes,” Monica said.
Her work with the Five-0 Fierce and Fit Program is proven. Monica has scores of female clients turn their lives around, both physically and mentally. In fact, one of her clients acknowledged Monica’s guidance in earning a Medal of Honor.
“One of my former clients, Joy, received a Medal of Valor for her actions off-duty, during the time she and I were working together. She stated that because of the work she had put in, inside of her Five-0 Fierce and Fit Program, she was much less winded than she was in her previous foot pursuit and was able to keep up with the suspect. She also lost 11 inches of body fat, a total of 20 pounds, reversed her pre-diabetes, improved her mental health, and was able to get rid of her antidepressants,” she said.
If any of this sounds familiar or you can relate to these feelings of stress, fatigue, and burn-out, Monica urges you to take action.
“I challenge you to think about what it means to you to THRIVE inside of the thin blue line. As we start our careers in law enforcement, we eagerly map out what opportunities we want and a rough timeline of when we’ll get there. When we get somewhere between 5 to 10 years on the job, many of us get to a point where we feel chained to the eat, sleep, work, repeat cycle - constantly griping about anything and everything, and we lose our passion for the job. If this is you, realize you’re not stuck. You’re only one decision away from a totally different life,” Monica said.
Learn more about Monica Crawford, her challenges, how she overcame them, and learn how you can take back control by implementing the foundational tools in nutrition, fitness, self-care, and more, by reading her book “Thriving Inside the Thin Blue Line" and visit her website at https://www.five0fierceandfit.com/info and subscribe to her YouTube page HERE.A Message from Trudy Jacobson
“Monica uses her personal experience to help female first responders - how inspirational!”
– Trudy Jacobson
To learn more about Trudy Jacobson and her support of female first responders, veterans, and entrepreneurs, go to www.TrudyJacobson.com
Subscribe to Trudy Jacobson’s YouTube channel to watch the other Great American Warrior interviews at https://www.youtube.com/@trudyjacobsonta
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Writer Eddie Molina is a veteran and has over 25 years of combined LEO/military service. He owns and operates the LEO apparel and accessory company www.BuyHeroStuff.com
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