“It’s like my life is on hold and I can’t control it” this is a sentiment that is echoed throughout the cancer community. When diagnosed with cancer there is a loss of control of what happens to your body and a lot of people, including myself, find it difficult to cope with. The physical changes that we experience can be significant and often impact our self-esteem. It’s therefore not surprising that an increasing number of individuals are turning to exercise to regain some control. Physical activity has significant benefits for everyone but managing it during treatment can be a daunting task and to be honest it isn’t something that I have managed very successfully. I know full well that exercise can help fight fatigue, build strength and help boost your mood but getting there is difficult when treatments are taking their toll on your body and all you want to do is hide under your duvet. However hard I’ve tried my activity during chemotherapy has been limited to walking.
The decline of my physical fitness and my weight gain is something that bothers me. When I first moved to London after university I started going to gym. It was a necessity that turned into a love but when I was diagnosed my visits to the gym became intermittent as chemo took its toll. I was fighting for my life and exercise wasn’t a priority. I was told not to worry about the weight gain by friends, family and even my medical team but what I found difficult is that this contrasted with what we are told for our everyday lives. I know that the circumstances here are different and yes, the medics are only concerned if you are rapidly losing weight but what about rapidly gaining weight ahead of major surgery? I was surprised that there seemed to be very little advice to help me with this and guide me as to what I could do.
As I find myself at what could be the end of my active treatment I’m left with a body that feels different, I don’t know what my physical capabilities are any more and to be honest I am uncomfortable with it. I have decided that I need to make a concerted effort to up my exercise, starting with the basics and moving forward as my fitness builds up. The best response to my recent wittering’s about weight gain came from a fellow cancer patient who said, ‘focus on the fitness and the weight will follow’. Little does she know I’m holding her to this and has become a bit of a mantra for me.
Getting back into fitness after a cancer diagnosis is intimidating, cancer slows you down and often we don’t realise the adjustments that we are making to cope with treatment and its side effects. When you do take a good look at your everyday life with a more critical eye it is easy to see. It’s to be expected. Your body is trying to handle the high levels of toxins and getting through the days is the focus; not whether you can set a PB for the weekly park run.
That’s were LISS (low intensity steady state) workouts can come into play. Let’s be honest it’s not a new type of fitness it’s been around for ages, but the idea has recently seen a surge in popularity amongst the fitness fanatics and if you’re an Instagram user you’ll have seen the term banded about. So, what are they? LISS workouts include activities such as walking, cycling, swimming and for those of us with cancer I think they are a perfect place to start. Walking 5km can have the same benefits as jogging the same distance. Ultimately, these workouts are about building strength and endurance so that for those of in treatment can build up or base fitness before moving on to tackle those high intensity classes once you are ready. Music to my ears.
I have also been browsing classes that I could start working into my weekly routine again. Perhaps some Bounce, Boom Cycle, Barre, Zumba or even Clubbersize. I’m voting on the last one because its an exercise class that involves Glow Sticks – why would I not want to do that? The idea is that I want to enjoy what I am doing the more fun the exercise the easier I think it will be to stick to it.
I am continuing with my #walkingthroughcancer challenge of walking the length of the Thames path, but I have also decided to set myself a bigger challenge that I have about 6 months to get fit for. Mentally I am ready, I managed to cycle from London to Paris whilst I was severely anaemic which has proved to me what the human body can achieve. Though I am pretty sure that was not the most sensible thing to do, little did I know at the time I had a significant tumour lurking in my bowel.
I have my fingers crossed that building up my fitness routine and getting my diet back out of the chemo beige diet will help me on my way to get to where I would like to be. We all know that exercise has been said to have great effects with fatigue, anxiety, depression. As I try to make my way from fat to fit it is important for me to remember that I am still recovering and learning about the limits of my body. Fatigue levels vary from day to day and all I can do for the moment I is find the best times for me to exercise and make the most of the times when I do have the energy.
Hiking Boots and Killer Heels 