Exercising with a chronic illness

[JennyDS]

I just wanted to put a shout out there to anyone else who has a chronic illness and knows the challenge of trying to stay motivated to keep fit. Keep going everyone! 🙂

[barelyconscious]

Hi @JennyDS!  I'm just getting started, and it's not easy.  Everything hurts and/or exhausts me, so I'm trying to start slow and easy, but steady.  We just have to stay motivated!

[SunsetRunner]

I know the feeling Jenny and  barely conscious. I was stuck in a depressing loop. I have several health issues including copd, so I would eat comfort food not exercise because I can't breathe and sit on the couch. Which made me fatter and depressed, which caused me to eat junk and not move, etc. Some friends gave me a Fitbit Tracker as a gift and I started walking, slowly. I tried to make 250 steps an hr. sometimes could sometimes couldn't. Logged everything I ate and drank. The point is, my lung capacity is a ton better, I can walk and do walk for 40 minutes nonstop. Feel much better mentally and physically. Have dropped 20 lbs. in 4 months, and continue to feel better. So, yes keep going the payoff is huge. Stay strong, walk on.😎

[DavideFitbit]

Welcome to the Fitbit Community @JennyDS! This a great topic.

I was very active and going to the gym right until the beginning of last year when I found that I had 3 hernias and was not able to walk for a few months due to the pain. I can walk now and barely feel any pain, but I was told by the doctor that I can no longer exercise they way I used to if don't want my problem to be worse in the future. 

I felt bad in the beginning, but I started to make short term goals that I knew I could reach and I've managed to stay active (daily step goal) and I have been eating even healthier that I was, before my diagnosis. 

I'd love to see what other members of the Community are doing to stay motivated. 😀

[emili]

I think for most the act of doing something for yourself for health is difficult enough without added layers of difficulty. I don't know why that is, we take better care of our cars, shoes and plants than we do ourselves, but that's how it goes. Factor in limitations and it becomes a mental fight to do what we should instead of what we would. Flip the switch to make you most important, ahead of everything else and as others here pointed out, it makes all the difference in the world. 

[DavideFitbit]

Absolutely @emili! We should start putting ourselves first, before the material things.  😀

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @JennyDS!  I live with chronic pain from severe degenerative arthritis and nerve damage. I stay motivated in two ways:

• I change my step goal. Many days, 10,000 is too difficult to attain. But if I lower my goals to more realistic numbers, I can feel the excitement of making my goal. Yeah me!! On better days, I bump the goal back up.
• I changed HOW I was getting to goal. This allowed me to keep moving and feeling proud of myself for moving, moving, moving! Walking can be difficult most days so I looked into recumbent exercising. I start most mornings with my Fitbit on my ankle as I peddle away on my under table recumbent elliptical. (Called a Cubii). We have a cottage in northern Michigan where I enjoy a paddle boat. I’ve also discovered a recumbent cross fit. My Fitbit spends time on my ankle (which skews my heart rate but steps are my main concern). It gets me to my “step” goal every day. And because I am succeeding at my Fitbit goal, I stay motivated!   

On a side note, I’ve happily discovered that the more I move my bad knee, the better it feels! 45 minutes on my Cubii as I read the news and enjoy my coffee, gets me ready to face the day. 

[DavideFitbit]

Thank you for sharing @SunsetRunner! 👏 👏

I can identify with this, because I do the same thing every week. I try to reach the 10,000 step goal, but some days it's just not realistic for me, so I change it depending on how I feel that day and I feel any discomfort in my leg and my back. 

But I can confirm that walking everyday has been very beneficial for me. 😀