Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Leaky gut

I just wanted to put up a post to link people to this site about leaky gut syndrome.  I think almost anyone with Fibro will relate to a lot of this article.  Might be something to raise with your doctor.

http://www.allergyescape.com/leaky-gut-syndrome.html

Friday, March 19, 2010

Weather is helping

As you know if you are living with fibromyalgia, weather can be such an important factor.  When the weather is changing so much, like it is now, you just feel like you are at the mercy of the weather.  When there is a beautiful warm day, you feel great.  And then it gets cold again.  Or too hot.  Or it starts to rain.  For me, this is the time of year when I need to remember my routine and stick to it.  As soon as the weather is great, I start walking outside instead of my indoor exercise routine.  But then, when the weather turns, I am not walking as much and my indoor routine has become an activity of the past.  It feels like work to incorporate it into my day again, since I had used the walking to accomplish things, like walking to the grocery store or the office.

This is the challenge for people with fibro.  At least for me.  I have to constantly remind myself to get so much cardio into my day and so much stretching.  Today, I have done none of the above, and, frankly, I am pretty achy.  And my seasonal allergies are kicking in, so I feel like I deserve a break.  How quickly I forget that a break from my routine will make me worse.  And then it will take several days of commitment to get back on track.

Living with fibro is a journey and you need to keep on track, I guess.  So while others are happy to see spring coming (and I am too), it is still a challenge to keep on track.  Once spring weather is fully in place, I know that I will have my outdoor routine.  It is a challenge, but the rewards are great.

Keep going, keep doing and keep living.....

Friday, January 8, 2010

The beat goes on

Well, the challenges of Fibromyalgia never seem to dissipate, but it is still manageable. The snow has fallen and it is officially a snow day for the kids, so this is a great opportunity for me to try to catch up. Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle two weeks ago (it still hurts) and last night I twisted my other knee. This means I have to re-think my aerobic workout, so out comes the stability ball and two cans of spray starch. I bounce on the ball and use the cans as weights while I raise and lower my arms to build up my heart rate. It works! And without stressing my pathetic leg joints. I also get to watch television or listen to the radio. I recently started downloading a podcast called Fitmusic, and that has been great, too.  Of course, I love my Fibromyalgia Cookbook - quick healthy recipes.

I have wrapped my knee and I am trying to keep moving. I do love the show. It makes everything so beautiful, but it makes walking a little tricky. I might try cross country skiing this weekend if my knee and ankle will cooperate.

Recently our health insurance offered me a free health coach. I took them up on it right away. The best thing she did for me so far is told me to take baby steps. Of course, I have a list an arm long of the things I want to start incorporating in my health routine: lose weight, swim, yoga, tai chi, aerobics, bike riding, work out at the gym, etc., etc. She said I need to slow down, added one thing (additional 15 minutes of aerobics three days a week) (I already do 15 minutes each day). Of course, one of the limiting factors with fibro is that I can only do 15 or 20 minutes at a time so that my muscles can recover. I learned that the hard way when I kept doing 45 minutes at a time, but kept getting worse and worse.

Anyway, things seem good, but it is important to keep focused and work through the pain, make accommodations so that you can stay active and, most importantly, keep thinking positively! I would love to hear from other about their struggles because I know we all have them, but with support we can all overcome these limitations in time.