Hello from Dr Nat! Doctor-Wife-Mother-(wannabe)-Athlete living in Melbourne 🙂

Hi there Steemit peeps!

First up, I think I've broken the cardinal rule of Steemit, and have posted already BEFORE doing my #introducemyself... Whoops!

I'm Natalie, a family physician / general practitioner (depending on what country you're from) living in Melbourne Australia with my husband, 5yo boy and 3yo girl.

I think we're meant to share our "cred"? Seems a bit narcissistic to list it all out here, so I've put it at the end. 😀

I've always been a lover of sports and physical activity. In my younger years I competed in swimming, athletics, tennis, netball. Sadly dreams of Olympic glory (jokes!) were dashed with a ruptured right knee ACL in late teenage years (with reconstruction done). Now that I'm old bird, my activities include F45 and trail running, and general survival/ keeping my head above the waters of life.

I first started blogging when I was pregnant with our first kiddie 5+ years ago. I was super excited to be pregnant and keen to discuss training options with my doctor. So imagine my disappointment when I discovered that the general medical community are still very much taking an approach of "just take it easy when you're pregnant" and I was told not to run, train, or even lift a heavy handbag! The doctors I spoke with all admitted that there is no good reason why women cannot train during pregnancy, however no-one wants to take the responsibility of encouraging their patients to train, and then have something go wrong.

So I took it upon myself to look at the evidence-based medicine surrounding exercise in pregnancy (and also documented my training throughout pregnancy - on a website that was hacked... to death 😥 RIP). The evidence is important, because so much of what women are being recommended to do is on the basis of what celebrities or self-proclaimed experts are advising. (Actually, this seems applicable to the world in general...)

Now I'm some years on from my initial single-minded drive to spread the exercise/health/fitness-love to the world (with strength and resolve weakened by the constant pestilence and sleep deprivation that parenting brings) however will keep looking at health, fitness, medical, nutritional stuff - and anything else that takes my fancy (or yours for that matter - so please let me know!). There will probably also be the occasional sleep-deprived 'has she lost her mind' ramble. Such is life.

On a separate note, I was born in Hong Kong to a Chinese father and Anglo-Australian mother - so get the best of both worlds. In the respective horoscopes, I am a Gemini-Dragon, which according to my husband (who is hilarious by the way) makes me a Two-Headed Dragon.

Anyway I'm super excited to be on Steemit (actually I have my husband to thank for it) and am looking forward to sharing information and ideas.

Dr Nat xx

PS: I have included the obligatory #introduceyourself steemit photo thereby proving I'm a real person! This is probably the 23rd take... I have a very real issue with taking a good photo and most of them have me with my eyes half closed, looking like Randall from Monsters, Inc. 😂

PPS: my "cred"

• Qualified group fitness instructor
• Qualified personal trainer
• Bachelor of Applied Science (Human Movement Studies)
• Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS)
• Post Graduate Diploma in Family Medicine
• Post Graduate Diploma in Child Health
• Fellowship of Hong Kong College of Family Physicians
• Fellowship of Royal Australian College of General Practitioners
• General practice work
• Medical director for the world’s leading international healthcare, medical and security assistance company
• Ex-Associate Professor of Family Medicine, University of Hong Kong