 Have I told you how much I love doing interviews? I love them because I get to learn how real people care for their health. Sure, we're all inspired by Jack Lalane, Jane Fonda, and, ehem, Richard Simmons; but it's regular folk I'm interested in. That's why I talk to my clients about their health habits, and then pass the info on to you. Maybe you'll learn something new, maybe you'll get inspired, maybe you'll say, “Gee, I do it that way too. Right on!” I think we can all learn something by talking about health.
This time around I interview Hollywood television and film screenwriter, Julie Wolfe. Ms. Wolfe has been working her craft for nearly a decade, and she spends her spare time playing and watching sports. She's been a client of mine for a couple of years and I've had the pleasure of watching her transform. Without further ado, I present Ms. Julie Wolfe.
Doctor Campos (DC): Hi Julie. Tell me how you became a screenwriter.
Julie Wolfe (JW): I was doing standup all through college, and the reason I moved to LA was because I had just been laid off of a copyrighting job; the whole agency was cut in half. It was my first job right out of college. I was doing standup at the Improv in La Jolla, and I was really bummed out, and another comic said, “What are you doing? Why aren't you in LA writing? You're a writer; you should be writing for sitcoms.”
That was sort of the epiphany that got me here. I didn't really know anybody, and I didn't know what to do, but I sort of just figured it out.
DC: How long did you do stand up for?
JW: For four or five years.
DC: You don't do it anymore?
JW: Writing sort of gets that out for me. I feel like I satisfy whatever that is by writing instead of being on stage.
DC: Tell me about your work.
JW: Right now, my whole thing is romantic comedy, or children's comedy, depending on the day. I write primarily for television, but I'm trying to move into features [film], so I can have a baby and stay at home, and I don't have to be on a set all the time.
DC: How long have you been doing this?
JW: I've been working as a writer for nine years, writing without having to do anything else.
DC: What's some of the stuff you've done?
JW: 3rd Rock from the Sun ; a couple of animated shows; a little show called, Oh Baby . I was a writer's assistant on Everybody Loves Raymond . I've had a Lifetime movie this year. And I've sold four screenplays, but nothing's been made yet.
DC: So the lifetime movie I saw (I Me Wed), was that your first?
JW: That was my first Lifetime movie, which was originally a regular movie that didn't go anywhere, so we took it back and sold it to Lifetime.
DC: So when you work on television shows, are you actually on the set, writing?
JW: Yes.
DC: How about with film, are you on set or off?
JW: When you do features, real movies, you are off doing your own thing. That's why a lot of people say they are writers, but not everybody can do it, because it takes a lot of discipline to get yourself to sit down and write. Which is actually why it's hard for me sometimes to work out, because I feel that it takes that same amount of discipline to make yourself go to the gym. And on those days that I have to work out, and I have to write, it's so hard to do both. You have to get that inspiration twice in a day. But when I work on a show I actually end up working out more, because I have to go [work out] in the morning; if I don't, that's it.
When I'm writing at home, which has been for the last two or three years, you know, you have all day, which makes it almost worse; but basically, I'm a big morning person, so it's hard for me to motivate—to do anything in the afternoon—so if write in the morning it's really hard for me to motivate to go to the gym. That's why if I have a trainer, or I'm paying somebody, I try to make it in the afternoon because then I have to go.
DC: How important is your health and fitness to your work.
JW: It's more important than I realized, once I got out of shape; you don't realize how much more tired you get. Once you start to have a path, it keeps going, so when you are on an up-path, and you're working out and you're healthy, you feel like your accomplishing more, and when you're tired, you're sort of on a vicious cycle that just keep spinning you downward.
After being injured four times from [playing] sports, and not being able to get back in shape—you know—that's where I've been; and then trying to slowly get back into the healthy phase that I was in before. I was extremely healthy until about three years ago.
DC: And then what happened?
JW: I got injured. I had three or four severe injuries in a row, and I tried to get back too quickly, I pushed too hard. And I started playing with people that were maybe too young—because I forget how old I am…
DC: What's that, twenty-one?
JW: I'm thirty-six. When you're thirty-six and you're playing twenty-one year olds, they don't treat you like you're thirty-six; they treat you like you're twenty-one.
DC: Of course not, you're on the field.
JW: Yeah. So I just kept getting injured. It started with a tear in my calf, and then I got a labrum tear (shoulder injury), and then a grade three ligament tear in my other shoulder.
I got back into shape the first time, but after the next one, and the next…I just kept getting more bummed every time I got hurt. So now I'm trying a different technique.
DC: Which is what?
JW: Which is really more about the inside—you know, I'm doing Pilates, and watching what I'm eating—I'm eating organic—and just trying to treat myself a little better.
DC: So how is that affecting your life—eating better and working out and stuff?
JW: I just feel more positive about getting back into a healthy place. You know, it just gets discouraging…my MO has normally been, as soon as I'm allowed to work out, I hire a trainer and kill myself to get back into shape. Well the last time I did that, I hurt my back and just really couldn't do anything. I thought, I'm not doing myself any good, this isn't working. I just started thinking about health in a different way. You know, Pilates has been great.
DC: How long have you been doing Pilates?
JW: Only for about three or four weeks, but I really love it.
DC: Tell me about it. I don't really know that much about Pilates.
JW: It's almost like yoga, but there is more resistance involved.
DC: Do you do The Reformer and all that?
JW: Doing all that stuff, yeah. It's just about posture and balance and getting lean. What I found out from doing Pilates is that my inner thigh muscles are completely weak compared to the outside, because of the way I stand and the way I walk. I also found that out from getting orthotics from you at around the same time.
DC: That's right.
JW: While we were doing Pilates, [my instructor] couldn't believe it—I was completely shaking anytime I did anything that required using just those inner thigh muscles.
DC: That's going to change with the orthotics too, you know?
JW: It's just about balance. I'm so out of balance with all my injuries—four out of five were on the right side.
DC: So when you say “balance” you're talking about muscular balance?
JW: I'm talking about that. I'm talking about being able to move again. I'm more flexible. I feel like I'm working out my whole body, like every muscle is working out. I feel like jelly afterwards. But I don't feel like I've stressed anything out, like I've injured anything. After a lot of my training sessions I felt like I had tweaked something. But now I just feel like I'm strengthening and lengthening. You know, I usually can't touch my toes, but I've been able to get lower and lower by doing this. I do a private lesson once a week and I do group classes, which is mostly just core work.
DC: So the classes are just abs?
JW: All core—hips, butt, abs.
DC: Stretching?
JW: Stretching is built into it.
DC: Any balance work.
JW: Yeah, but I haven't gotten to it yet. I can still tell how much weaker my right side is compared to my left. My shoulder is finally getting back to normal. I haven't been going back to physical therapy anymore. You know, that also took a lot of time too.
DC: Tell me about the shoulder injury.
JW: Well I was a swimmer my whole life, so my rotator cuff was already on the weak side. The same day that I hurt my ankle, I sort of tweaked my shoulder. Because the ankle injury was so much more acute, that I sort of ignored the shoulder. As soon as the ankle got better I started dealing with the shoulder. It wasn't totally torn or anything, so they just cleaned it up.
DC: So the surgeon went in and removed the scar tissue?
JW: Yeah, so I pretty much have to keep it strong.
DC: How long did you have to do physical therapy for?
JW: Eight weeks.
DC: What did you do?
JW: We did bands (rubber tubing)
DC: Did it work?
JW: Yeah. I feel like I got stronger. But the Pilates helped much more. You know, because it's functional—you know, because I'm holding things…
DC: Yeah, functional exercises are superior (functional exercises are exercises that simulate real movements).
JW: The cool thing is that at the 49er games (Julie is a huge San Francisco 49er fan and travels to San Francisco for games), I would whip my hands in the air and clap, which is actually something that used to tweak my shoulder.
DC: So you definitely notice differences in your work, your ability to work, when you focus on your health. Do you notice differences in your creativity?
JW: I think it's just a stamina thing, because I can force myself to do what I need to do, no matter what. But I just think everything you do is better when you are in a better place; you're in a better mood, everything.
DC: You mentioned dietary stuff. What do you do?
JW: I try to count calories because, to me, it actually makes the most sense. I try to keep under a certain amount of calories. [My husband and I] have gone more organic in how we eat, you know, when we can. We try not to go crazy and spend a million dollars on it, but we definitely try to get the organic version of something, especially milk and eggs.
DC: Where do you shop?
JW: Trader Joe's—they have pretty good organic food.
DC: Are you a vegetarian?
JW: No, we eat meat. But we try to stay away from the stuff that has antibiotics, hormones and all that crap.
DC: So you've been under my care for awhile. What brought into chiropractic care?
JW: Because I was so hunched over my computer all day, I started getting migraines. And my neck and shoulders were always hurting—constantly, constantly. But I also stopped using Splenda or Nutrasweet; so the combination of that and doing chiropractic made my migraines go away about 90%. That's huge. I now use real sugar.
DC: That's great. I'm definitely into people using real foods—real fat, real sugar, real meat.
JW: Yeah, I know; I've read your blog. I try not to drink too much coffee out, either. There are so many chemicals in coffee.
DC: So what's your experience with chiropractic been like?
JW: It's been fabulous! Because I know that anytime something hurts, I know we're going to fix it, even my back. How long did I go before coming back in? Like two months. This last time when my back was hurting, I kept coming and coming, and it kept getting a little better each time, and now it feels better again.
DC: What happened to your back?
JW: I think I just tweaked it working out. You know with the personal training, when I jumped back in. The problem is the trainers see that I'm an athlete, so they push me harder at first; harder than they would another person. They had me doing stuff that other people wouldn't be doing for six weeks.
DC: That's not good.
JW: No. I'm just now trying to be more consistent with working out and eating right. I'm just trying to take care of myself on the inside. You know, with Pilates and eating in the right way—I don't eat as many carbs, especially at night—it's an inner thing. I feel like I'm really doing something.
DC: Yes, very important, very good.
JW: You know, coming to see you, doing the chiropractic, just helps to keep me on top of things. And now I've got my orthotics.
DC: I was going to ask you about them. How have they been?
JW: They're great. Mostly I notice that nothing is hurting now that I'm wearing them. They felt kind of weird at first, you know, under the arch, but now it's all good. It gives support.
DC: That's good. They are not going to make you leap tall buildings or anything like that. They'll just keep you from having back pain while you are leaping those tall buildings, you know?
JW: Yeah, when I take them out of my shoes, I notice feeling kind of that, well, there's nothing there.
DC: Yeah, that you'll definitely notice. You've got to wear them. Would you recommend chiropractic to other writers?
JW: Oh yeah, because you're always hunched over when you're writing. It made me realize how much so when you see the neck model you have (in my office) and the angles you get in when you are in front of a computer. I've also gotten one of those shelves for my laptop, so that I'm looking straight ahead. So my neck hasn't been hurting as much since I've been doing [chiropractic]. And also because of what you've shown me, I've started trying to stretch every hour, and get up and walk around. Writers don't really realize how much they are hunching over. You've taught me to really stretch the chest and open it up.
DC: That's excellent. How many hours a day do you write.
JW: Between six and eight.
DC: So you're stretching everyday?
JW: It's something that I find very painful, but as I'm doing it, I'm getting more comfortable, so it's definitely something I'm trying to do more of.
DC: Well, the more pain you feel when you're stretching, the more that muscle needs to be stretched. Not farther necessarily, just more often.
What are your sleep habits like?
JW: That's a struggle that I'm actually working on.
DC: Yeah, me too.
JW: Before I got married, I went to bed about ten or ten thirty every night. And I'd get up about six thirty, seven every morning. So I'd get plenty of sleep. Now, just the nature of being married, I go to sleep later. And my husband (he's a teacher) and he has to get up about 5:30-6 am, so I'm really only getting about six and a half hours of sleep. But I'd like to start getting ready for bed around ten again, I keep telling my husband.
DC: Sure, blame the husband.
JW: Well, he's a night owl, so it's tough for him to get to sleep. I took Ambien once, but it freaked me out; it made me feel like I couldn't breathe. I had really weird reactions to it; it really scared me, so I stopped.
DC: Yeah, there have been some really weird reports with people taking Ambien…
JW: Like people getting into their cars and driving.
DC: Yup. And going to the refrigerator and eating, or having sex, and having no recollection of it. So, it's not something I recommend.
JW: Yeah, I even have trouble taking pain pills.
DC: So you're sensitive to medications?
JW: Yeah.
DC: Well, the reality is that your body has everything that it needs, for the most part, as long as you take care of it and condition it in the right way.
JW: I feel like I've been sleeping much better now that I've started exercising again.
DC: When you don't get enough sleep, does it affect your work?
JW: Oh yeah, I don't last as long. And it definitely affects me in other ways, like I can't work out and write on the same day if I'm tired. I just don't have the energy.
DC: Do you do any sort of special mental work, meditate, anything like that?
JW: No, I took a class once, but it bored me. The teacher was really weird and just sat in front of the class meditating before it started. He was so into his own meditation, he was just sitting there, and nobody knew whether the class had started yet, until somebody had to ask him.
DC: Oh lord. Where was this?
JW: At the Bob Hope Health Center.
DC: That's too funny.
JW: You know, I feel like there are so many things that we are supposed to do, and that's one of them. But it's hard for me to do, although I think it would be good for me because I'm definitely in need of some stress reduction.
DC: It is a difficult practice, and it takes time for you to get mentally conditioned enough to focus your mind to do it. But you can be helped, really, with as little as five to ten minutes a day; so it's worth trying.
So listen, let's wrap it up with a plug for chiropractic.
JW: OK, every time I've ever had pain, and I've gone for chiropractic, it gets fixed. And that's it—I'm a fan.
DC: Awesome, thanks.
It was great spending the morning talking to Julie about her health. Like so many people, Julie is on a quest to care for and maintain her health. And also, like many people, she's had some rough experiences with pushing too hard, too soon and was injured as a result. It's great to see that she's now taking a more managed approach. She's working from the inside out, addressing some muscular imbalances, and working on her overall strength and stability. She'll be better off in the long run. And best of all, she's incorporating several healthy habits into her regimen—exercise, diet, sleep, chiropractic—the most effective way to ensure good health. Who knows, maybe we'll see her back in meditation class one day, if someone can get that guy out of his trance. Either way, it's about putting energy into your health. Julie is doing it the right way. I hope this interview has motivated both writers and non-writes alike. Your health is what you make of it. Ultimately, you get write the script and then live it out—any writer's dream come true.
- December 24, 2007
*COMING SOON
The Six Keys to Optimal Health by Dr. Nicolas Campos
For More Advice on Health and Optimal Living Read
The Six Keys to Optimal Health by Dr. Nicolas Campos
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