"Just do it!" Just make yourself get out of bed and get on that treadmill today...just do it. But I hate exercise. The only exercise I've ever really enjoyed is hiking. Since I don't have any mountain trails around here to hike on, the next best thing is my trusty treadmill. Oh it's been sitting in my office for the past year. It's gotten used a few times, too, but I know, I have to commit to do more.
On my last visit to the oncologist, he told me that I needed to work really hard on losing some weight. His reasoning was very clear..."fat cells produce Estrogen and Estrogen feeds your cancer. The leaner you can become, the less chance you'll have at recurrence." Okay, doc...I get it. I have to get my butt in gear and start moving.
But I haven't felt like moving. Since surgery and radiation, my body has been in constant pain. I mean, I HURT ALL THE TIME! There hasn't been one single day that I haven't felt aches and pains all over my body. When you're hurting, it makes it hard to want to move much. In fact, it feels pretty good to just sit. But the more I sit, the more I spread! And I don't want to become a big, fat, squishy blob, now do I?
So, I had a high protein breakfast this morning. I figured that's what runners do before they start their jog...they load up on protein to give them lots of energy, but I don't really know, because I'm not nor do I ever want to be a jogger! After eating breakfast, I slipped on my sneakers. (I'd found some Ryka training shoes online at Ryka.com I'd read many reviews about walking/running shoes and found these to have great reader comments and excellent rebounding qualities.) I was determined that today was going to be a new day. I was going to do what I had to do. I was going to fight to live, and if beating cancer meant I had to walk when I didn't feel like it, so be it. I was going to "JUST DO IT!"
Before I just "did" it, I needed to find out how to maximize my walk. There had to be more to walking than just walking. I knew I needed to learn what my Target Heart Rate should be, so I went to this site. After doing all that math, I was wiped out...NO, NOT REALLY LOL! Anyway, I got my numbers and then looked online for some walking playlists with songs that fell in the 128 to 150 BPM (beats per minute) range. After loading the music up to my ITunes, I cranked up the volume and jumped on the treadmill.
I started out fairly slow, just to give myself a little warm up...2 miles an hour for 5 minutes. At each 5 minute interval, I changed the incline and the speed of the treadmill. Periodically, I checked my pulse to make sure I was getting close to my target heart rate and as I continued walking, I noticed I was having to work at little harder and my breathing was increasing.
The music helped take my mind off what I was doing. I was actually getting into it after 15 minutes. I pushed the incline up to a 5% grade and increased the speed to 3.5. I was walking pretty fast now and almost in a slow jog. I was proud of myself!
I only got thirty minutes of fast walking in this morning, but it's a start. I did notice while I was on the treadmill, my body didn't seem to hurt as much as it did when I was sitting still. Maybe it was because I was moving everything all at once and I just didn't have time to focus on one individual portion of my body...maybe it was just that I was caught up in the music and didn't care...who knows?!
I don't really like walking on the treadmill, to be honest with you. I'd rather be outdoors but we don't have anywhere suitable to walk near my home. To compensate for this, I fake myself out. I have a huge canvas of one of my photos hanging smack dab in front of my treadmill. It's a photo I took while in Alaska of the snow covered Mt. Denali (formerly known as Mt. McKinley.) As I'm walking, I imagine myself climbing slowly and surely up that mountain. When I look at those snow covered peaks, I can't help but think about the sheer determination of mountain climbers. They know their sport is dangerous. They know one mistake could take them to their death and yet, they do it anyway...the conquest of the mountain takes precedence. They move forward one icy step at a time. They just do it.
I'd like to think I have the determination and dedication to do what I have to do now to stay alive. I know it won't be easy but I'm not giving up without a fight. Before cancer, I never thought I'd have to fight to stay alive and now, it's all I think about. I want to live so I have to fight, and if fighting means I have to exercise every day of my life to keep my body from producing excess Estrogen, then I'll just have to come to terms with that. Hey, if I do it long enough, I might even begin to enjoy it, but until then, I'm going to JUST DO IT! Thanks, Nike.
"I discipline my body like an athlete training it to do what it must do." 1 Corinthians 9:27
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