At my last oncology visit- the dr informed me that I had gained a few pounds. 3 from the last visit to be exact. She also asked if I was walking every day. Well no...it's been rainy. I am trying to exercise at my house but with everything going on - I honestly have not been exercising every day like I should be. Well after this past week I learned a very important lesson, one that has me changing my priorities a bit.
As you all know my MIL had a lung surgery on the 11th. And then an emergency surgery 21st of this month. Before surgery my MIL had a pretty sedentary lifestyle. She would get out and feed and water her dogs and sometimes go to the pasture - the edge of her back yard to see the sheep. And she had been helping feed some baby lambs. She would do basic cleaning like sweeping and vacuuming. She would run errands - like to the bank, post office, and picking up groceries in the nearby town. But other than that - a lot of her time was spent watching tv. I think this is what contributed to her having such a hard time with being weak. Yesterday when I was at the hospital she asked how she could go from taking care of herself to an invalid so quickly. And as I thought about it I thought that is was sad that she had not been in any better shape before these last surgeries. Not only that - had exercise been a part of her routine - and after the lung surgery began to walk and get some exercise- there is a very good chance that it would have helped her body to continue to move and she may not have needed the emergency surgery. All of this hit home for me and I realized that I needed to make walking a priority. Not above my quiet time with Jesus, but I needed to make sure that I could walk or exercise some most every day. A day off here and there is not going to hurt you but exercise is very important. There is a book that I have that is called Strong Women Stay Young - and I think it is true I think that if we will work at keeping ourselves mobile and moving it will help us all the way around.
So because of this shock therapy that I have gone through - at seeing how a woman that seems like she is doing quite well can go from doing things for herself to not having the energy to hardly move her arms and legs and having a difficult time sitting on the side of the bed- of course some of this is due to the incisions that she has but when the therapy people are trying to work with her and train her how to roll to her side and then push the trunk of her body into an upright position - and she does not have enough strength in her arms to lift herself up - it made me pay attention.
I will be doing a much better job at making time to walk/exercise. And I know that the effort will pay off and I will feel SO much better. Exercise is SO good for you- there are so many benefits - to name a few - build strength and stamina, helps keep the systems of the body going, helps you sleep better at night, keeps your heart strong, and helps you recovery from surgeries better. Like I said, there are many benefits and it is well worth the effort and time put into taking care of your body. I hope you will join me in trying to make exercise a part of your daily schedule. Please leave a comment and let me know what you are doing for exercise or that you will join me. We can encourage one another. :o)
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Thanks for this post, I'm about your age and trying to push myself to exercise more, as I'm seeing that older adults cope with illness and stress so much better when they are active and fit. I just checked Amazon, there are several used copies of that book for $0.1 plus $3.99 shipping. I think I'm going to order one!
ReplyDeleteNita~ I think you are very right- it is easier to bounce back after illness and stress when we are active and taking good care of myself.
DeleteIt's funny that I feel so great when I make good choices of what I eat, when I go to bed, getting exercise, drinking plenty of water - and I have no idea why I leave that lifestyle when I feel so much better when I do those things! Good luck on your journey to a healthier you! Thanks for stopping by and for the comment! God bless, Lisa :O)
I have a treadmill, so walk on that every morning except Sabbath for 30 minutes. It really helps me feel better throughout the day, and I notice when I miss! I bought it about 14 years ago when we first moved to TX, because I couldn't handle the at outside in the summer. I got it new, so it wasn't cheap, but over the years it has been worth it for me. I know they are often found used, though, because people buy them and do not end up using them! My trick is to have something else to occupy my mind--I have a TV and VCR combo in front of it that I used for a long time. Now a days, I usually read my email on my iPad as I walk on it, or sometimes I even read books, as long as I keep one hand on the handle part so I don't end up falling! I have also used exercise DVDs in the past, which are pretty cheap at Walmart. They are excellent for stretching, which I need to get back doing!
ReplyDeleteYou remember I got a good deal on that cool exercise machine- I am thinking I might ought to try to sell it and then try to find a treadmill- something that I can exercise on for a decent amount of time- this is just too intense for me right now. I am praying about it to see what I should do. :)
DeleteI found out this winter that I have the beginning stages of insulin resistance, although at this point I am not diabetic or prediabetic. It turns out that exercise is one of the really important things to get your body to be more sensitive to insulin, so I'm working on taking a fifteen minute walk after each meal to help with blood sugar control, and I bought an exercise ball to start doing some core strength exercises. I'm hoping to try to jog some too--hard when it's hot! Exercising that much is really new to me, especially after each meal, and it feels like it takes so much time. But I'm glad you did this post, because I think you're right--our health is worth the effort. The more we talk about it, and share our goals with each other, the more inspired and accountable we'll be to keep at it and actually reach our goals.
ReplyDeleteHeidi~ I know what you mean about the exercising seems like it take so much time. I have an exercise ball and think I need to also add those core exercises that I learned at Pt last year, to my days. Thanks for reminding me about that. :)
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