Hey! It is Karen with Wellness Works NW and I am happy to see you!
It has happened. All this talk about exercise and now you are ready to try to begin exercise. You are chronically ill and you pushed yourself until you could hear the “Rocky” theme in your head and the next day you are really in a bad mood. Your eyebrows hurt and the last thing you want to do is exercise.
When you make the decision to workout when you are chronically ill, sometimes it can kick you back when you do too much. Even if you are used to do it, that is not the body you live in anymore. I don’t want you to beat yourself up because then you can become depressed and then you begin to think you don’t need a plan because you are going to do nothing. I don’t want you to do that. I want you to get back up again and make new decisions. You are going to have some hard days and I want to help you.
You can email me or call me and tell me whatever you need, even if you want to cuss me out; that’s ok. I have been in the army, I can take it. All kidding aside, I know it is hard to figure out your wellness plan at first, especially when you have a chronic illness or several chronic illnesses. A lot of times we are also dealing with depression from not feeling well. This makes it even harder to try to get moving because when your body kicks you back, but I want to encourage you. We might need to scale back your workout. Maybe you can’t walk the whole lake, maybe we need to do a shorter walk and that is what I am here for. My goal is to help you thrive, not just survive.
You know how we are going to do that, we are going to start with our mind. We are going to hold onto our super powers and we are going to make this happen. A good plan includes how you eat. We are going to have to create an eating plan so that you are eating better because you are worth it. You might need to dump the tomato sauce or whatever food is triggering symptoms for you. Your wellness plan is going to include several plans all woven together. It may be hard but we can overcome that depression with support. You want to tell your loved ones that you have to put yourself first and how, so they know how to help you and encourage you…you might even inspire them.
When you start to exercise go slow until you can work up to more, unless you are used to harder workouts. Even if you are used to working out harder, you may have days that you won’t be able to do this. Life is different with chronic illness. I know that you are probably living with pain and certain movements make it worse. Chronic illness tends to affect your entire body, whether strenuous exercise causes stomach or head pain for you, we need to discover these things so we can do better.
When you ask, if you should even exercise the answer is always yes! Just take it slow, get some advice from your doctor and me. You can send me an email to tell me how you are doing.
As you’re getting started I want to show you resistance bands. There are all kinds of bands and you can work out with anywhere, even in bed if you can’t get out of bed. I am going to use this long band by putting the middle of the band under my foot and do some curls for my arms. This can be done in bed too. Another easy exercise, is marching in place, especially if you have sciatica.
Summer always says that interval training is your life now. You do a bit and then you rest. You consider your whole day. If you are going shopping today, maybe that is your exercise for the day. You must learn to listen to your body because if you pay close attention, your body will give you a signal that says, “here and no further.” This means you are done or you might not be able to get up tomorrow.
Another exercise I want to show you is with a chair. Hold onto the back of the chair and bend over to stretch the back of your leg, make sure to keep your shoulders straight. You might have things all over your house that can assist you in moving. Make sure to do your mindful breathing everyday!
I am sending you positive vibes and prayers! You got this! Thank you!
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Karen G. Clemenson is not a doctor or a scientist. She is a real person that eats too much sometimes and misses her workout on occasion but is mindful of her path toward wellness, all the time.
Karen understands that your physical wellness does not begin and end with your membership to a local gym. She knows that weight loss management begins with steps; some small and some large. These steps include diet, physical activity and retraining of the thoughts and habits that keep you from being successful on your path toward wellness.
