For Astrid, quitting wasn’t an option
After an injury benched Astrid Astacio, she accepted her limits and decided to grow around them.
“Everyone has limitations,” says Astrid Astacio, controller at GEA Puerto Rico. “You can make progress, or you can stay where you are forever. We all get to choose.”
Astrid has chosen.
She’s always been an athlete. In school, she played volleyball. In college, running gave her an outlet— a form of therapy she’s enjoyed into adulthood. “Running helps me sweat out the stress,” says Astrid.
But in March of 2020, Astrid tore a ligament in her ankle. She made it in to see a doctor for a temporary cast, and then the world shut down.
During the pandemic, physical therapy wasn’t an option. Doctor appointments were cancelled. Astrid struggled to heal.
“The pain was unbearable. I almost couldn’t be left alone,” says Astrid. “My husband had to help carry everything while I walked with crutches. I was so stir crazy.”
While her bone eventually healed, her ligaments didn’t fare as well. The doctor told her she’d never be the same.
“I went one and half years without exercise,” says Astrid. “I eventually gave in and began working out at home, but the pain wasn’t gone entirely. I was constantly worried about making my ankle worse.”
That’s when a friend invited Astrid to CrossFit.
“She kept telling me how much she enjoyed the community,” says Astrid. “We had been so isolated in the pandemic. I’m a major extrovert, so the idea appealed to me.”
Her friend was right; the room was warm and welcoming. Astrid made new connections and friendships.
Would you like to find community and strength at a gym?
GE Appliances offers reimbursements to help you save on a variety on gym memberships, fitness classes and weight loss programs. These are included in your employee health benefits. And your family members can use them, too. You’ll get 50% back of whatever you paid for a gym membership, streaming fitness membership, a series of fitness classes, or weight loss programs, up to $300 a year. Look into GEA’s fitness reimbursement benefit.
“It can be intimidating to walk into a gym where people are a lot more experienced than you, especially after an injury,” says Astrid. “But I had to remember that I was my own project, my own competition. Thankfully, everyone treated me like part of the team.”
The fear of injury lingered. Astrid was cautious, so she mentioned her ankle pain to her coaches.
“The coaches were kind of my safety net,” says Astrid. “They helped me work around my injury safely.”
To this day, Astrid still wears an ankle brace every time she exercises, but she’s back.
“I never thought I’d jump again,” says Astrid. “Now I’m doing 90-100 jumps per workout.”
What began as hesitation rekindled into athletic drive. Her energy at work shifted. Her excitement was palpable, contagious enough that her husband asked to join her at the gym.
“It’s brought us closer,” says Astrid. “We have more time together. Working out together helps us build a stronger connection. And we have built-in couple friends!”
Astrid’s choice to jump back into exercise was a scary one, but it has paid off.
“If you think you won’t be able to do it, you won’t,” says Astrid. “Being able to do the things I love again is so empowering. You’re stronger than you think, but you have to know your limits in order to keep making progress. It’s a balance, but it’s totally worth it.”