Move Around and Feel Better

I came across this article today.  It talks about what a huge difference it makes in the body to be sitting for hours on end vs. breaking up the sitting with standing and walking around every 20 minutes or so.  What I read there is right in line with what doctors everywhere have been nagging their patients to do: MOVE!

Yes, I know it hurts.  We are a sensitive bunch and we tire easily.  Believe me, I know! I also know that it's not as easy to do as it is to say, especially in the throes of a pain flare up; however, we must make a daily goal to use our muscles and circulate our blood, regardless of how good or poor our health is.  Fibro or not, movement is necessary!  I don't run any marathons and don't expect to, but I do try to make sure I do some sort of exercise each day, even if I'm hurting a lot.  (Stretching and yoga poses count!)

Below is my exercise log, if you'd like to see what I've been doing as an example.  Go ahead and flip through back to the beginning of the year and before, when I started logging my exercise.  See how far I've come.

I'm not perfect, but I do try, and it's important to try.  Keeping track keeps me motivated and helps me remember how far I've come.  (Note: On days where I ended up being too active to do exercise on purpose, I entered the exhausting activities in parentheses.)  Most days, I start with stretches my doctor gave me to do to help with hip pain/bursitis.  There are five different ones and I usually just pick one per day to quickly do before getting ready for work.  I've just recently decided to try to do two per day, if I can.  We'll see how that goes.  On work days, I also take the stairs half-way up to my floor (it's all I can do before my legs give out) in the morning and after lunch.  Every three days I try to do something more, like walking, yoga, or elliptical machine for at least 5 minutes.  As time goes by, I hope to make that minimum a little higher.  Again, baby steps...

Join the movement!  Don't shoot for the moon today, but do try to get some movement into your day and start as cautiously as you need to.