Walking With Wellness Wednesday

The current recommendations for physical activity is at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week.

As many of you know, the past month I have been increasing my physical activity.  Due to the fatigue from my cancer journey, I have had to make slow, yet steady changes to my lifestyle.  In the past, I typically would last maybe one or two days with a routine.  I would then be to tired or sore to make it to day 3.  This time, I have listened more to my body. 

Here are just a few tips that have helped me succeed this time:

1--Rest.  I find I don't have the energy to exercise if I don't get enough sleep at night.  Also, I give myself a day off when I start to feel "run down."

2--Make every movement count.  When time didn't permit a trip to the gym, I added extra activity throughout my day.  Some examples:  I marched in place while waiting for the microwave to heat up my lunch.  I did toe raises while standing at the printer.  I did a few squats when I went to the bathroom. 

3--When I was in the "don't care" mood and didn't want to exercise--I gave myself permission to stop after 5 minutes.  Typically, the 5 minutes would lead to 30...just getting started is soooo hard to do.

4--I plan my work out times according to my weekly schedule.  I write the times in PEN in my calender.

So, you would think with this healthy living, I would lose some weight...nahhhh...at least not yet!  But I do feel better and have a lot more energy.  (Can't you tell...with all my blog updates and posting?)

Q.  Do you struggle with getting enough physical activity?  If you have some physical activity tips, please share them.

Something new--Pilates, anyone?

At 5:20 AM, my daughter and I grabbed our gym bags and ventured off in the cold to try out a new exercise class.  Today's class:  Mat Pilates  It's a good thing I wasn't fully awake, when we first arrived at our class. For if I would have been, I would have turned around and left when I saw how many people were in the class.  Really? Don't people believe in sleeping in?  And they all looked so perky!  It is hard to believe 2 weeks ago, I could hardly get up by 7 am and today I spent 45 minutes twisting, turning and tightening. Amazing! 

Anyways, in the past, the class size would have intimidated me.  I would have been too afraid to let others see the pathetic state of my deconditioned body. 

Guess what?  I found out today, nobody's really watching you...they are too busy trying to follow the instructor to notice you.  Trust me...I had to modify many of the moves.  For me, showing up and trying a new class was a celebration and a victory! (Someday, I will be strong enough to keep up.)

I thought of you all when I was laying on the mat...exhaling in and exhaling out...especially when the instructor shared some words that made me do a "stop and think."  She stated, "I want you to really concentrate on your breathing.  Nice and relaxed.  Deep breath in and out.  For some of you, this may be the only time today you stop and breath..."

How true I found her words.  How many days do we go without stopping to breath?  Without fully appreciating "the miracle of today!"

Well, my muscles aren't very happy with me right now, so think I will go soak them in a tub of nice hot water.

Q. Did you have any "stop and thinks" today?

We did it!

Island of Denial

In my quest to swim off the land of denial...I have made some changes!

1)  Sleep--I am working real hard at aiming for 7-8 hours of sleep every night.  Thus the reason why I haven't been able to do much blogging.  I write best in the evening, but am unable to get up and achieve #2 if I don't get to bed at a decent time.  (So this will be a quick post as the clock is ticking...)

2) My 16 yr old daughter loves to exercise.  (No, she wasn't adopted...who knows where she received this desire??)  So, over the Christmas holiday, she explored several different gyms in our area.  On her own she requested passes to try out the different facilities.  After she had tried out several different gyms, she requested we obtain a membership from gym A.  I was hoping she would choose gym B as it was a bit more affordable and really close to both of our places of employment.  Well, my daughter has a great gift of persuasion. We compromised...she agreed to pay the difference in the gym memberships and promised to encourage her mom to get to the gym 3 days a week. 

Something amazing has happened...we signed up for gym A on Saturday, Jan 21st and I am in love!  This gym is fantastic.  Part of my fears in gyms is that when coordination was handed out, I was absent that day.  Plus add a few extra pounds...and major deconditioning...I was scarred silly.  My daughter gave me a tour and held my hand the first few days. 

TODAY....I went all by myself to the gym and day 2 of my weight lifting program!


PS.  My coworkers have also convinced me to join them on our noon hours to exercise...we did a circuit training session last week--let's just saying walking down the steps for a few days was a bit challenging!

Next step:  working on how to schedule some writing in my day.

 

 

 

 

 

Q.  How are you doing on your 2012 Wellness Goals?

Exercise and Green Tea May Help Breast Cancer Survivors Beat the Blues

Here is an interesting article from Cancer Consultants.com

Exercise and Green Tea May Help Breast Cancer Survivors Beat the Blues


Exercising and drinking green tea may help prevent depression among breast cancer survivors, according to the results of a study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.[1]

Depression is a major concern among breast cancer patients and survivors. Some estimates report that the prevalence of depression in this population is as high as 55%.[2] Depression can reduce quality of life and also potentially affect survival.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University conducted a study to determine whether lifestyle factors prevented depression among breast cancer survivors. They analyzed activity levels; food, tea, and alcohol consumption; smoking; and supplement use among 1,399 Chinese women who were treated for breast cancer in Shanghai, China, between 2002 and 2006.

Eighteen months post-diagnosis, 26% of women experienced depressive symptoms and 13% met the criteria for clinical depression. Women appeared to benefit from regular exercise—exercisers were 20% less likely to be mildly or clinically depressed. Furthermore, the higher the exercise level, the lower the likelihood was for depression. When compared with non-exercising women, those who exercised two hours per week were 28% less likely to be depressed, and those who exercised more than that were 42% less likely to be depressed.

Regular consumption of green tea also appeared to reduce the risk of depression. Among the 183 women who drank tea, the risk of depression was about 36% lower compared with the non-tea drinkers. The majority of tea drinkers (90%) reported drinking green tea.

The researchers concluded that regular exercise and tea consumption could help prevent depression among breast cancer survivors.

So, I have the tea boiling and my walking shoes on....see ya later!