It was a scary time for Real Housewives of Orange County star Tamra Judge and her husband, Eddie Judge, when Eddie’s doctor diagnosed him with an irregular heartbeat (AFib) back in 2019. Now that he has recovered from his heart problems and is feeling better, Eddie is realizing the impact his illness had on his mental health.
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Five years after his initial diagnosis, Eddie took to the podcast he does with Teddi Mellencamp’s husband, Edwin Arroyave. On September 24, Eddie shared the impact his heart issue had on him.
“I am still pushing myself really hard and full circle,” Eddie shared. “You know, still, to this day, I’m trying to figure out what caused it. I’m taking clues here and there. I’m still learning the best nutrition practices, the best way to avoid these things from happening. And it has completely changed my way of looking at fitness, where I’m looking at longevity now.”
The inability to be physically active during his heart problems spiraled Eddie Judge into a depression on RHOC
Even though his heart condition is “pretty much gone” these days, Eddie admits that navigating his health journey wasn’t easy. He’s always relied on physical activity to help maintain his mental health, but having his activities restricted by his heart condition was very difficult.
At the time, Eddie and Tamra owned a gym, CUT Fitness. The personal trainer found it hard to motivate his clients to work harder while he wasn’t able to keep up. The feeling of inadequacy led him to “a little bout of depression.”
“Here is, you know, a coach and a leader in the space where I am motivating people to do things they don’t think they can do physically, right, and I can’t keep up myself,” he explained.
“Prior to that, I used to think depression is just a stupid excuse not to do anything right,” he said. “But I think I actually experienced a bout of depression because I couldn’t exercise."