A self-proclaimed workaholic, Jillian O’Neil describes the early days of her career as a Coach with one simple word: hustle. When a client canceled their session at the last minute, she would have a waitlist of eager members ready to fill it. Any time leftover in her busy schedule was used for a quick workout. Optimization — of her time, of her training — was essential.

Over the last decade, though, the dietitian and COACH X at E by Equinox Madison Avenue has realized that you can’t achieve peak performance and support your longevity without planned moments of rest. 

“You know the saying, ‘If you don't choose to rest, your body will choose for you?’” she says. “There have been periods of time where I had to learn the hard way, whether it was being in the hospital for lupus after pushing myself too hard, or, you know, my period is taking me out and I need to crash out on the couch. I think I've learned all too well about how I can't try to recover from burning myself out — I need to be strong ahead of time.”

Now, as a 33-year-old, O’Neil is prioritizing herself. She tweaks her pre-planned workouts to accommodate her lupus-related joint pain or opts for a walk when her period is draining. She incorporates activities that put the fun back into fitness, like pickleball. She’s also prepping her body now — building and maintaining as much muscle as she can — so that she doesn’t have to play catch-up in the future. (Without intervention, muscle mass can decrease by up to 8 percent per decade, starting at age 30, research suggests.) In practice, that looks like choosing nutrients and workouts that support her muscle mass, bone density, and strength.

That also means taking charge of her fertility. This fall, O’Neil completed two rounds of egg freezing, a move she hadn’t even considered until a year ago, when her healthcare providers suggested it during a lupus flare simply for peace of mind, she explains. She had some savings from the grind era of her 20s, so when the idea came up, it was a “no-brainer,” says O’Neil.

“I’m in my early 30s, and I'm not falling victim to societal pressures about a timestamp…that you have to have babies by the time that you're 30. Or that by the time you're 35, you're going to be considered geriatric,” she says. “I think choosing to freeze my eggs and choosing fertility preservation for when it makes most sense in my life was an incredibly empowering decision.”

Though the scientific community is just beginning to scratch the surface of women’s health concerns, with more research comes more resources and options, says O’Neil. Who knows, she adds, maybe it will become common for someone in their mid-40s to have a child simply because they have access to a plan B — or C or D.

“I feel excited and motivated for not just my own wellness journey,” says O’Neil, “but for my girlfriends’, my family members’, my clients’ who have become family — knowing that there is more true research and protocols that's going to come up for every stage of a woman's life and feeling more empowered to make well-informed decisions, both as a patient and a Coach.”

Written by Megan Falk