Myth: Autoimmune Disease Can Be Cured…

I was chatting with a new friend of mine and she asked me how long it took for me to cure my autoimmune disease. 

I said, “Oh! I’m not cured. And I never will be.” 

She was surprised and said, “But you seem like you are cured! You are so healthy.”

I have to tell you, I was flattered that she thought so! It’s most certainly validating to hear these words, since I work so hard to make healthy choices in my life to help me life happily. 

But it’s simply not true. I am not cured, and I never will be. 

So I responded with honesty. “That’s because I spend a ton of time, effort and money in managing my health. I give my body the best chance possible to be as healthy as possible. I do the work to keep my inflammation down, so that my autoimmune disease can remain under control. Basically, I spent a huge amount of energy simply managing my life so that my autoimmune diseases don’t wreck me. ”

I have said this before and I will say this again. 

Autoimmune diseases cannot be cured through lifestyle. 

However, things like proper exercise,  healthy food, plenty of water, sleep, sunshine and  stress management can most certainly keep our autoimmune diseases under control, so we may appear like we are cured. 

But I will never be cured. I will always have an autoimmune disease. And the minute I forget that, I promise that my body will remind me. 

Let me tell you a story about that. 

The year leading up to last year, I had made so many lifestyle changes for so long that I started to feel good consistently, everyday, for 9 months. Can you believe that? 9 months of feeling good- no flares! Sure, I had moments here and there of exhaustion and some other symptoms, but they were really quite manageable. 

So I started to lighten up on my vigilance. I let some of the things I used to say no to creep in. I started getting tempted by the things that people do- like eating pizza with cheese, skipping my exercises, staying up late, or having 3 drinks, or cookies! (All GF, of course. I am celiac and I don’t mess around with that). 

But I got a little taste of what a more relaxed, more “fun” lifestyle felt like, and I wanted more and more. I had said no for so long that once I said yes, the floodgates opened. 

And when my body started fighting back- I ignored it. I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to go on pretending that this more relaxed lifestyle was working for me. Until the symptoms started piling up. That “fun” me wasn’t really fun at all. My flares came back, my anxiety increased, my panic attacks returned, my skin exploded like a teenager, and I was exhausted and had no energy. That doesn’t sound like fun, does it? 

I realized that this isn’t me. It can never be me. To feel good and whole and vibrant in my skin, I must stay vigilant. So I am back at it. Doing the things that make me feel good. 

And I have to tell you, I feel great. I hope you do too.

The Mechanism of Stress and Its Impact on Our Bodies When We Live With Autoimmune Disease

Living with chronic illness means living with constant pain and exhaustion. All. The. Time. This is what people who don’t have chronic illness don’t understand. Basic daily activities can be difficult, like climbing stairs, going to the grocery store, and playing with your kids or grandkids. We aren’t exaggerating our pain and exhaustion, it’s our real life experience. And exercise? It seems impossible. Even if you used to do tons of exercise in your past. Today, exercise can seem daunting, just too much.

And so- we sit. We rest. And we talk to ourselves in a negative, self-defeating way. We wonder what’s wrong with us, why other people can move around the world without this kind of pain. We wonder if something is wrong with us, and then we start to think, maybe we are just lazy??? Maybe those doctors who tell me my pain is all in my head- maybe they are right?

Is this you? A few years ago, before I learned about the relationship between stress, autoimmune disease, and exercise intolerance, it was definitely me. 100%. But here’s the thing. We aren’t lazy. And it's NOT just in our head. And there IS something wrong with us. We live with autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, lyme disease, or some other type of chronic illness. Our bodies are not like other people’s bodies- so how should we be expected to do what their bodies do?!

In order to figure out how to help our bodies feel better, the first step is for us to understand why we are different in the first place. And that means understanding how stress impacts the body when we live with chronic illness.

STRESS AS A POTENTIAL TRIGGER OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE

There have been many medical studies that suggest the possibility of stress as being a trigger of the onset of autoimmune disease (1,2, 3,4). While there is not a definitive link, many studies have indicated that stress may play a part in the development of autoimmunity. Here is a quote from one such study:

Physical and psychological stresses have been suggested in the development of autoimmune disease, since numerous animal and human studies demonstrated the effect of stressors on immune function. Moreover, many retrospective studies had found that a high proportion (up to 80%) of patients reported uncommon emotional stress before disease onset. This, however, is not surprising as the disease itself causes significant stress in the patient. 1

This means that, while the researchers cannot yet prove that stress is one possible trigger to the onset of autoimmune disease, the indication of a large percentage of retrospective interviews describing uncommon emotional events before disease onset is a compelling one. And in my own personal experience, in talking to so many people every day living with autoimmune disease, the links between personal trauma and autoimmunity are certainly observed.

For example, one event I hear about often as a possible trigger to autoimmune disease is the experience of labor and delivery of a child. Personally, this is part of my story- my autoimmune disorders came on soon after I had given birth. And while my son’s birth was a glorious moment and I love my son with all my heart- the stress and trauma it inflicted on my body perhaps was too much to handle.

So, while there is no definitive proof about the relationship to stress and the onset of autoimmune disease, it is very likely that stress plays a role here. So- as we continue to unpack the role that stress plays within our bodies while living with autoimmune disease, I think it’s an important piece of information to keep in the back of our minds as we continue to dig in deeper to the mechanism of stress and how it impacts our daily experience of managing our chronic illness. **

THE MECHANISM OF AUTOIMMUNE DISEASE & CHRONIC ILLNESS AS A STRESSOR ON THE BODY

So, now that we have discussed the possibility that stress could have contributed to the onset of diease within our bodies, let’s look at what type of impact chronic illness has on the body after it has been triggered.

Autoimmune disease is defined as “an illness that causes the immune system to produce antibodies that attack normal body tissues. Autoimmune is when your body attacks itself. It sees a part of your body or a process as a disease and tries to combat it.” 5

As we read above, the autoimmune disease basically causes our own immune system to attack our internal body systems as if they were an outside intruder, like the flu. Our immune system is built to protect our bodies from illnesses, virus’s and bacteria. However, in layperson’s terms, when we live with autoimmune disease, our immune system goes haywire, gets confused, and begins a constant stream of attack within our own system. It’s a constant stream of attack, because unlike the flu, which can be destroyed, your internal organs, your thyroid for example (in the case of Hashimoto’s disease, Graves Disease, and other autoimmune disorders)- weill, your thyroid can’t be easily killed off. So if the body considers the thyroid to be the outside intruder, it’s going to spend an intense amount of time trying to protect your body from it’s own thyroid.

This constant barrage of attack, as well as the constant inflammation caused by the immune system activity, creates a very large stress load for our body to handle and process. This internal stress activates the sympathetic nervous system, otherwise known as the “fight or flight” mechanism of the central nervous system. 6 And then, this fight or flight mode remains active indefinitely, which has a major effect- depleting the body of its energy. This is a significant contributing factor to the exhaustion and pain that we feel when we live with autoimmune disease. 7, 8

THE CYCLE OF ADDITIONAL STRESS AS AN AUTOIMMUNE SYMPTOM TRIGGER

Now that we understand how our body is under constant physical stress and duress from our autoimmune disease, it perhaps becomes more clear why our bodies, living with this chronic illness, as less able to handle additional outside sources of stress. As our nervous system is already overloaded from this constant barrage of internal abnormal activity, any additional outside stress will cause our already maxed out systems to go into overdrive.

So then let’s think of the many additional types of stress that we encounter every day. These everyday stressors can have a big impact on our ability to manage (or not manage) our disease.

External Stressors: These are stressors on our systems that we don’t often think about. When we eat chemically processed foods, like fast food or colas or sugary sweets, our body has difficulty processing it. For those of us with an already overloaded system, this type of stressor can aggravate our symptoms further and make us feel worse rather than better. Other types of external stressors are things like the ding of a cell phone (which stimulates the sympathetic nervous system), lack of sleep, or dehydration, when we don’t drink enough water. All of these things make our systems overloaded without us even knowing it.

Physical Stressors: These are the stressors that cause us physical difficulties and aggravate our physical pain. Things like poor posture, under-active and tight muscles, cause pain for all people- but when you are someone who lives with the additional stressor of autoimmune disease, this pain (like lower back pain, neck pain, and joint pain) is excruciating. Other more extreme types of physical stress are things like broken bones, surgery, and other types of physical trauma.

Emotional Stressors: We all have emotional stress on a day to day basis. Emotional stress can be triggered by things like traffic, or our interactions with other people. Relationship stress, family stress, work stress, all of this takes a toll on our bodies, triggering an even more overactive fight or flight response. Emotional stress can also be from trauma that occurred long ago.

It’s extremely important that we examine these stressors in our lives and that we make sure find ways to limit and balance out the intensity of these stressors in our everyday life. This is essential for disease management. The more we can control our own personal stressors, the more likely it will be that you can keep your autoimmune disease from flaring-up.

There are a multitude of options for stress management. Therapy, meditation, nature, art, play, love, hugs and snuggles- these are just a few. What works best is different for everyone- but as long as you find joy in your life, the joy will outweigh the stress, and you will benefit.

EXERCISE AND THE BENEFITS OF POSITIVE STRESS

And of course, since this IS Autoimmune Strong, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention exercise as a method for managing and reducing stress.

You see, while we most often think of stress as a negative, there is such a thing as positive stress. This is called eustress.

Eustress is the type of stress that actually improves our life in a positive way, and actually has the ability to help us manage and reduce our symptoms of autoimmune disease. 8 And exercise is a perfect example of eustress.

Exercise is defined as a stress on the body. That’s how exercise creates change within the body- by putting a certain kind of stress on the body- the body responses with adaptation. So- if exercise is done properly, it becomes a positive stress- because it creates positive improvement on the body. Exercise can elevate mood, reduce anxiety and depression, improve blood flow, heart and lung health. Exercise can fix postural problems, can make daily physical activities easier, more fun and less prone to injury. Exercise can tone muscle and develop strength and improve balance, which has long term benefits as we age. AND- exercise can actually have an effect of reducing the symptoms of autoimmune disease 9

The key here is that phrase “if done properly”. When exercise is too aggressive or intense, it can flip from eustress to distress. And then it becomes a problem for people living with autoimmune disease, because it can cause symptom aggravation, rather than symptom management.

This is why Autoimmune Strong is so important- it’s the only exercise program out there designed to help you find this sweet spot of eustress and exercise. Every person’s body is different and reacts differently to exercise. And every person’s body is dealing with a different amount of stress overload in their system. So- with a self-paced program, designed to go gently and slowly and progress over time- this will allow the body to access that place of positive, healing stress that will help repair and nourish the body, rather than deplete it.

Stress, Autoimmune Disease and Exercise- How This Creates Exercise Intolerance

Keep reading my next article here on exercise intolerance- to learn about how stress and autoimmune disease work together to make to make exercise difficult for you and your body. This article will tell you all about exercise intolerance- what it is, how to know if you have it, and what to do to overcome it. Click here to read.

**Please note here that I do not believe, nor am I implicating that researchers believe that stress is the only factor that causes autoimmune disease. There are many factors at play with autoimmune disease, stress is simply one possibility in this complicated matrix of disease.

1. Stress and autoimmunity.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19931651
   

2. Stress as a trigger of autoimmune disease.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18190880
   

3. The role of stress in the mosaic of autoimmunity: An overlooked association.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30118900
   

4. Association between stressful life events and autoimmune diseases: A systematic review and meta-analysis of retrospective case-control studies.
   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26708168
   

5. https://www.aaaai.org/conditions-and-treatments/conditions-dictionary/autoimmune-disease
   

6. Current Directions in Stress and Human Immune Function

   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4465119/
   

7. Restoring the Balance of the Autonomic Nervous System as an Innovative Approach to the Treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis

   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3188868/
   

8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2911881/

   The role of stress in rheumatic diseases
   

9. Physical activity and autoimmune diseases: Get moving and manage the disease.

   https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29108826

What is Exercise Intolerance, and How Can I Exercise if I Have It?? Part 2: Exercise Induced Symptom Flare Ups

Have you ever done more than you thought you could during a workout, just to find that the next day you feel exhausted, perhaps even feverish and flu-like? This is an example of an exercise induced symptom flare up. In it’s simplest terms, exercise induced Symptom Flare-Ups are what happens when someone with exercise intolerance pushes too hard in the gym. When exercise is too much for us, our system gets aggravated and over-taxed, and the body’s way of responding is to go into a flare 1, 2, 3

What is a flare-up? People who live with autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia and other chronic illness know it well, they are intimately connected with the concept of a flare-up. A flare-up looks like this: when you have been feeling ok, perhaps even feeling good, and then all of a sudden you feel awful, you can’t get out of bed, your body is in pain and you can’t even move? That awful, indescribable but totally debilitating feeling is a flare-up. 

Flare-ups look a little different for each person, depending on the individual disease (for example, a Crohn’s flare-up has some symptoms like diarrhea that are different from a Hashimotos flare-up, which may be more flu-like) but generally, a flare looks like this: exhaustion, muscle aches, brain fog, painful body that is tender to the touch, lack of ability to function normally, along with heightened anxiety, depression and/or sadness.

Flare-ups can be caused by a wide variety of factors that can range from the change in seasons, to eating certain foods. Basically, anything that puts stress on the body can cause a symptom flare up. Stress has been documented as a trigger of an autoimmune disease and of a symptom flare-up (you can read my blog on stress here). And while there is a limited amount of research linking exercise directly to the experience of an autoimmune flare, the connection is obvious.

If stress causes a flare-up, then exercise causes a flare-up, because- exercise IS defined as a physical stressor on the body. At its most basic, that is actually the goal and purpose of exercise- to put the body under stress, so the body can adapt to the stress. In this adaptation, change happens- our muscles get stronger, our heart and lungs work more easily and efficiently, our body is better able to regulate hormones, and on and on. All of these adaptations are wonderful- these are the things our doctors want us to experience, to increase our healthfulness.

However, to get these benefits of exercise, we have to actually perform exercise, which causes a temporary increase in cortisol in our system. And for people with autoimmune conditions, that increase in cortisol (otherwise known as our stress hormone) can be too much for our system to handle. As I said before, stress (otherwise known as cortisol increases) can trigger autoimmune symptoms. This is how exercise induced symptom flare-ups happen to people with low tolerance to stress- i.e. people living with autoimmune disease and exercise intolerance. 

However, just because your exercise intolerance puts you at risk for an exercise induced symptom flare-up, it does not mean you should avoid exercise.

Exercise has significant health benefits, especially for people living with autoimmune disease and chronic illness.

It simply means that we need to modify our exercise plan to stay in line with the actual needs of our body.

As I have said before, exercise has been medically proven to be beneficial for those of us living with autoimmune disease. If done properly, not only can exercise provide long term overall health benefits, but it can also help us manage our specific autoimmune symptoms and flare-ups. Chronic pain and autoimmune conditions are exacerbated by inflammation, and, if done properly, exercise can help to reduce inflammation and pain caused by inflammation.

Additionally, the right exercises can teach our bodies adapt to a pain response, which can help us get through the pain and exhaustion of our daily activities. Our bodies need to learn to be comfortable being uncomfortable in a safe, protected way, so that when we are exposed to surprise, challenge and discomfort in our daily lives, our bodies are prepared to handle it.

Without exercise and movement, our physical aches and pains will actually increase over time. The goal here is to exercise daily, doing the right kind of exercise, to help your body reduce the pain experience and increase healthfulness. 

This is where Autoimmune Strong comes in- it’s a workout designed for people living with exercise intolerance. It helps us build strength without overwhelming our systems. It’s designed to help us avoid exercise induced symptom flare ups. It’s designed to help us get back to living our life, loving our bodies, and feeling good every day.

Click here to join Autoimmune Strong’s workout program and see if it’s right for you.

1. Severity of symptom flare after moderate exercise is linked to cytokine activity in chronic fatigue syndrome
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4378647/

2. Exercise and fatigue
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19402743

3. Post-Exertional Malaise in Patients with ME and CFS with Comorbid Fibromyalgia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5464757/

What Is Exercise Intolerance and How Does It Impact Those Living With An Autoimmune Disease

Stress and Autoimmune Disease and Exercise

In a recent blog post, I wrote all about stress and how it is linked to autoimmune disease flare-ups. Stress (which comes in many different shapes and sizes) has been medically proven to have an intense effect on the symptoms of chronic illness like autoimmune disease and fibromyalgia. Stress is a trigger to chronic illness symptom flare-ups. This is majorly important when understanding how our bodies process exercise. You can read that article here.

Exercise Intolerance and Autoimmune Disease

At it’s most basic definition, exercise can be defined as stress on the body. In fact, the stress that exercise puts on the body is what makes it work to create change. It is due to the stress of exercise that our bodies are able to adapt and become stronger, better, faster.

However, for those of us living with chronic illness like autoimmune disease, we are already living under so much stress, simply due to the activity of chronic illness within our bodies. And as I wrote in my article on stress, any additional stressor added to the body can aggravate this already overwhelmed system. And this is what leads to exercise intolerance.

Exercise intolerance is a condition of inability or decreased ability to perform physical exercise at what would be considered to be the normally expected level or duration. It also includes experiences of unusually severe post-exercise pain, fatigue, nausea, vomiting or other negative effects.

Exercise intolerance has been medically linked to chronic diastolic heart failure and metabolic disorders, yet not much has been published on its connection to autoimmune disease. However, after talking with hundreds of people living with autoimmune disease and chronic pain, I have heard firsthand how exercise intolerance impacts their life.

After explaining exercise intolerance to people living with autoimmune disease, they’ve always responded with, “Yes, that describes me! No matter how hard I try to exercise, I am always exhausted, weak and debilitated. I can barely do the things I want to do.”

And they’re comforted in knowing there is a term for this experience, and understanding that this experience doesn’t mean they are “weak” or “lazy.” Because they aren’t -- there is a real reason for why their bodies won’t do what they want their bodies to do.  

So, why does exercise intolerance happen when you have autoimmune disease?

In order to understand the connection between exercise intolerance and autoimmune disease, you first have to look at the impact that both autoimmune disease and exercise have on the body -- and what happens when you combine them.

Autoimmune disease is a condition in which your immune system goes haywire and mistakenly attacks your own internal organs/systems as foreign invaders. That means that even at rest time, your body is working overtime both to attack and protect you from these “foreign” invaders. This is exhausting to your system, even before you add on any extra exertion like daily activity and exercise.

Additionally, when you live with autoimmune disease, it means that you have systems in your body that don’t function in a normal capacity. These body parts have been under attack by your immune system for a long time and have experienced malfunction and deterioration. Therefore, they have less capacity to function properly. With a malfunctioning organ/internal system, it is more difficult for your body to not only do exercise, but also to recover properly from it so you can do it all again.

All of this together makes exercising with an autoimmune disorder difficult. But bodies are designed to be able to push through tough situations -- at least in the short term. They have the ability to overcompensate using adrenaline. To get through the stress and effort of exercise, your body kicks your adrenaline into gear so you can work harder, sweat more, and keep going. This can lead to an overexertion of your adrenal glands (which produces adrenaline), causing more fatigue and exhaustion. Over time, these little glands become overworked and stop producing the adrenaline as needed, and your body loses the ability to push through.

That’s why those of us living with an autoimmune disease have struggled with exercise intolerance -- it’s just too hard for our bodies to power through in this “no pain, no gain” fitness society. We quickly burn ourselves out when we try to overexert ourselves with traditionally-designed exercises like lengthy cardio sessions, High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), Cross Fit and Power Yoga. And for many people, even just walking or restorative yoga can be too much. If we push through and do the exercises anyway, we often end up with an exercise-induced symptom flare-up, which puts us out for days, if not weeks on end.

So, if you think that exercise intolerance is something you have, the first and most important step is to acknowledge it and accept it. This is a very hard thing for people to do. When it comes to exercise, we often have in our head “what we think we should be able to do” or “what we used to be able to do”. We set our expectations accordingly, and when our bodies fight back and won’t let us do these things, we often respond with anger, frustration and negativity- and we direct those thoughts and feelings inward. We feel badly about ourselves. We tell ourselves that we just need to “get it together”, that we are lacking in determination, effort, or willpower, and we fill ourselves with negative self-talk around this issue.

If you have exercise intolerance, it’s critical to take a moment and realize that no amount of willpower or determination will change the fact that your body is simply not capable of achieving that aggressive goal that you set for yourself- or at least not at this moment in time. So- by accepting that exercise intolerance is something that you are experiencing, you can release yourself from this cycle of picking the wrong exercises, pushing too hard, and having a bad experience by either not being able to finish, or having an exercise induced flare-up afterwards. Through the acknowledgement of exercise intolerance, you can begin setting your body up for success.

However, this does not mean that you should give up and stop exercising.

It also does not mean that you should use your exercise intolerance as a reason not to start exercising.

It just means that you need to create a modified exercise program to work in tune with your body.

This is where Autoimmune Strong comes in- it’s a workout designed for people living with exercise intolerance. It helps us build strength without overwhelming our systems. It’s designed to help us avoid exercise induced symptom flare ups. It’s designed to help us get back to living our life, loving our bodies, and feeling good every day.

Click here to join Autoimmune Strong’s workout program and see if it’s right for you.

Why Daily Commitment To Exercise Matters, Even If It's Just For Five Minutes..

This week, Lorri, one of my Autoimmune Strong members, had a big moment and I wanted to share it with you.

When she signed up for Autoimmune Strong, she set a goal for herself of doing her Autoimmune Strong exercises every day.

Then, her daughter had to go in for emergency surgery. Like any mom would do, she rushed to her daughter's side, and stayed with her for days, nursing her back to health.

And while there was nowhere she would rather be than taking care of her daughter, a little voice inside her head expressed concern that she was not accomplishing the goal she had set for herself of doing her Autoimmune Strong exercises every day. So she reached out to me with concern, wondering how she was going to take care of her daughter and herself.

And here is what I told her:

"We all have unexpected stressful situations that come up in our lives, right? Well, exercise helps you manage that stress. When life gives you stress, exercise gives you an outlet. Otherwise we just store up all that stress inside of us and it festers. When you exercise, your body and your mind can process and release all of the negative and scary thoughts and feelings that might come up in a situation like this. So yes! The best self care you can do is to take a few minutes and exercise. You will feel better and calmer afterwards, and you will be a stronger caretaker for your daughter."

And guess what? She took my advice and took a few minutes to do her Autoimmune Strong exercises. And here is what she told me afterwards:

"I really do feel better. I thought I needed cardio to feel the exercise endorphins, but I am feeling them now. Off to the shower and heading to the hospital feeling better than I did an hour ago!"

I know that many of you have emailed me, saying that you really want to exercise, but that life is too busy with all of your responsibilities- taking care of elderly parents, or of your young kids, or working a tough job, or even just feeling too tired.

I encourage you to push through that voice in your head that says "I don't have time".

I encourage you to make time- even just 5 minutes- to help yourself get stronger.

Not only will you feel better, but it will make you a better caretaker, a better friend, a better parent, a better spouse. The exercise endorphins that Lorri mentioned- they are real! And they do make us feel better. So take 5 minutes for yourself, and everyone around you will be thankful.

How I Overcame My Sugar Addiction

There is something I have been thinking about, and I wanted to share with you.

"Sometimes, in life, your situation will keep repeating itself until you learned your lesson."

I stumbled upon this quote on Instagram one day, and it stopped me in my tracks. You see, I have been talking to you about motivation (you can read about my struggles here and here), and about doing the things that are good and healthy for you. Eating healthy food and incorporating movement into our days are important for taking care of our bodies and our minds. I developed Autoimmune Strong to teach you how to eat and move in a healthy way, that will help you take control over your pain, and restore your energy and zest for life. 

However, I have also been talking to you about how this change is hard to make. It’s a struggle to change our habits- we want to do the thing that is easy- and taking proper care of our bodies is not easy. In fact, it’s really hard work (you can read my blog about that here).

For me, my willpower challenge is staying away from sweets. I have always had a sweet tooth, as a kid I used to live for jelly beans and cupcakes. As an adult, I still crave those sugary treats, but every time I eat one my body goes nuts- I get puffy and swollen, and my anxiety increases, I worry more and have trouble sleeping. And for me, it doesn’t just happen with sugar, but with dairy, chocolate, and wine too.

My mind knows that these things are not good for me, and that they aggravate my fibromyalgia, my thyroid and my small intestine. I even wrote a nutritional guide about why and how sugar, gluten and processed foods negatively effect our bodies and make our autoimmune conditions worse (which I highly recommend reading- click here to join Autoimmune Strong’s free trial and once you are in, follow the instructions to access the ebook).

But even though my mind knows that sugar makes me feel awful, sometimes I just lack the willpower to say no. Sometimes I just want to be what my son calls “a normal person” and I don’t want to have to worry about what I eat and how I move every day. And then I give in to the cravings, and then I feel awful and have to make a resolve to stop the cycle.

But this quote stopped me in my tracks. It made me realize that these challenges, this willpower battle, is forcing me to confront the need to take care of myself 100% of the time. That I don’t have the opportunity to relax and rest- that I always need to put my body and my health first. That is the lesson I need to learn, and until I really truly learn it, the cycle will keep repeating.

So now that I am honest about my greatest struggle, I can deal with it head on. Here are my three tips for calling your willpower into action when life throws a challenge at you:

1. Breathe: Sometimes we fall into our bad habits when life gets stressful. I know that for me, when life gets overwhelming, a cookie or a jelly bean can feel like comfort. I have learned over time that it is not the food I need, but the act of comfort. So I have been trying to provide that comfort in other ways. When we get stressed out, we often forget to breathe. So step one is to pay attention to your breathe. When you feel like you want to give up the challenge, that the work is getting too hard, remember to take a few deep breaths, and maybe you will find that you have the willpower deep down inside you after all.

2. Distraction: Boredom leads to a lack of energy, and then to more boredom. When we are bored we often lose the willpower and energy to go out and do something. So instead we watch too much TV and snack. Instead of letting boredom take over, find something you like to do, and force yourself to do it at least 1x a week. For me, when I feel the cravings take over, I try to use exercise as a distraction, and usually by the time I am done with my exercise, even if it's just for 5 minutes, the craving has disappeared. You can read a book, go for a walk, leave your house and run an errand, or take a warm bath. Any of these things are a good way to distract yourself from the challenge at hand.

3. Start again. So, you fell off the wagon. You ate a cookie (or 3). Or you missed your daily movement for a few days. No worries, you can always start again. Every day is a new opportunity to break the cycle. Each day is a new day. 

So now that I have been honest with you about my unhealthy habit- tell me- what is yours?

What lesson do you need to learn??? What habits do you need to break? What things are the hardest for you?

The first step is to be honest and open about the challenges you face. Once you are aware of your struggles, they are easier to overcome.

With Love,

Andrea

5 Recommended Ways To Exercise Safely When You Have Fibromyalgia

Many of you have fibromyalgia, as do I. Some of you have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia by itself, and for others, it comes alongside other types of chronic pain and autoimmune issues. And as many of you know, fibromyalgia is a tough disease to treat. For many of us living with fibromyalgia, finding ways to manage the pain is extremely difficult.

And for many more of us, our fibromyalgia symptoms keep us from doing things that we want to do. We all know that exercise is good for us, and many of us want to exercise. Some of us long for the days when we could exercise. But for many of us, the thought of exercise is too overwhelming, as we know it can cause discomfort, pain, and intense symptom flare-up.

I know that this used to happen to me. Before I got sick, before I became Autoimmune Strong, I used to be a long distance runner, and so after my diagnosis, I wasn't ready to give up my long runs. So I would go for a run, just like I used to. But instead of feeling great, the next day I would wake up in a flare. It took me a long time to realize that I was doing the wrong kind of exercise for my body, and I was hurting myself rather than helping myself.

You see, fibromyalgia is a chronic condition distinguished by complex and varied symptoms. People who live with fibromyalgia most often experience widespread pain all over their bodies, particularly felt deep within their muscles and joints. Fibromyalgia suffers often live with non-restorative sleep, brain fog, tenderness to the touch, chronic fatigue and debilitating exhaustion.

Given these varied but uncomfortable physical symptoms, exercise does not seem like the obvious choice of activity for someone living with fibromyalgia. In fact, many fibro warriors talk about not wanting to move their bodies at all. Many find it hard to leave their house, as any movement at all can cause pain.

But in fact, it’s the opposite. Many medical studies have shown drastic improvements in the physical symptoms of fibromyalgia when paired with exercise.

One medical study shows that “Short-term exercise programs for individuals with fibromyalgia have consistently improved physical function, especially physical fitness, and reduced tenderpoint pain. These effects can persist for periods of up to 2 years but may require participants to continue to exercise.”

And another states that “Regular physical activity and exercise has numerous physical, psychological, and functional benefits for individuals with fibromyalgia and should be included in treatment plans.”

This is a major finding- that basic physical activity can help reduce fibromyalgia pain and symptoms.

However, this prescription of exercise does not come without limitations. While exercise can make fibro warriors feel significantly better, there is a tipping point. Too much exercise can make them feel worse.

According to this medical study, it is important to find the RIGHT kind of exercise program for fibromyalgia. “Undoubtedly, successful exercise prescription requires finesse. To gain optimal benefits and ensure long-term adherence, care must be taken to avert exercise-related pain and fatigue and musculoskeletal injury… A gradual intensity progression for deconditioned individuals with fibromyalgia toward “moderate” intensity is recommended.”

As I developed Autoimmune Strong, I tested this over and over again, on myself and on others. And I found that not only was this true- that the right exercise program for people with fibromyalgia needed to have a number of different considerations in order to prevent nerve overload and symptom flare-up.

So, to get the perfect balance of great restorative exercise without injury or symptom flare-up, follow these 5 Recommended Ways To Exercise Safely When You Have Fibromyalgia:

1. Exercise every day, but for shorter time periods. 

Frequent exercise with short durations are the best types for people with fibromyalgia. Daily movement can significantly reduce the pain, while short exercise periods allow your body to get strong without getting overtaxed.

2. Focus on exercises that strengthen your stabilization muscles. 

Since exercise is hard on our bodies, we want to make sure we select the most effective moves to start with. Most people with chronic pain struggle with back, neck and hip pain. Often, this pain is misinterpreted. Most yoga teachers, physical therapists and personal trainers will try to stretch these areas out in order to eliminate the pain. However, that technique rarely works. Instead, try using strengthening moves in the core and glutes in order to reduce the pain and inflammation in the back, neck and hip.

3. A good exercise routine should include both stretching AND strengthening exercises.

No muscle works in isolation; instead, muscles all work in conjunction with each other. Some muscles are too weak, and some are too tight. A good exercise program should be stretching the tight muscles while simultaneously strengthening the weak muscles. Doing one without the other will not be effective.

4. Find an exercise program with an instructor that is knowledgeable about fibromyalgia.

Many fitness instructors, personal trainers and yoga teachers don’t know how to work with a fibromyalgia body. Before you commit to a program, make sure your instructor is someone who knows about the medical benefits and challenges your body will face, so they can guide you towards safe and effective exercises.

5. Be sure to breathe during your workouts.

Often, those of us living with pain hold our breath. You probably don’t even know you are doing it. We do it unconsciously to protect ourselves- our bodies often stiffen up when we feel pain and discomfort. However, breathing is extremely important- getting oxygen flowing can reduce pain and give us energy. AND- when we are relaxed and breathing deeply, our bodies experience lower stress, which reduces inflammation, which increases our ability to exercise without risk of pain or flare-up. It’s a win-win! So, to put this tip into practice, make sure you check in with yourself throughout the day, and remind yourself to breathe. You can even set an alarm in your phone to remind yourself to breathe! Over time, these check-ins will turn into habits, and you will remember to breathe deeply on your own without reminder.

By following these 5 tips, you are well on your way to exercising in a safe and effective way for your fibromyalgia!

10 Tips for Reducing an Autoimmune Flare-Up

Even though I consider myself Autoimmune Strong, there are still a few days where I struggle. 

And my flare-ups are no joke. My body feels like it's on fire. I have aches and pains everywhere, especially in my neck and back. I feel swollen and bloated, and even my teeth hurt. I am more anxious and crabby than usual, and I have lots of headaches in my temples. I don't like to be touched- even a hug can be aggravating to my pain. I am lethargic, having lost my typical energy, and all I want to do is sit on the couch and watch TV and wallow. But, I have learned that wallowing only makes things worse.  

So what do I do instead? Well, I have a typical routine that helps me manage my flare-up, and keep it from being too intense or painful. Today, as I am working through my self-care routine, I am inspired to share these tips with you.

1.       Drink a lot of water. Like, a LOT of water, more than you think you might need. I like to add a little sea salt or a splash of coconut water to my water to help balance my electrolytes during this time.

2.       Eat extra good fat. Fat is important for coating the myelin sheath, which is the outer wrapping of our nerve endings. When we have a flare-up, our nerve endings are extra sensitive, so we need extra fat to protect them. I like to chow on avocado and chicken skin (my husband makes the best roast chicken!). I also like to cook with extra olive oil and grass-fed butter during this time.

3.       Load up on veggies for detox. During a flare-up, our bodies need extra help pushing toxins out of the body. Veggies that are full of water are my favorite during this time, like cucumbers, romaine lettuce, and celery.

4.       This is not the time for sugar. For me, this is the hardest rule- when I am having a flare-up, my body actually craves sugar in a super intense way. However, the sugar only increases the body’s inflammation, making the flare-up worse. So, when I am fighting a sugar craving, I try to keep extra protein and veggies around and eat that instead. And when I really can’t help it, I will eat a bit of 80% dark chocolate, a teaspoon of raw honey, or drink a Kombucha. All of these items curb the sweet craving while giving you nutrients.  

5.       Get sweaty. When I am in the middle of a flare-up, I like to go to a hot yoga class, but that might be too intense for your stage of healing. So see if you can find a sauna- perhaps at the local gym or yoga studio? Getting sweaty helps with that detoxification process.

6.       Roll it out. Spend some extra time with your foam roller. It will hurt more during a flare-up, but I promise it’s worth it. It will decrease the pain and inflammation, while helping move all those important fluids through your body. (And if you don't know how to foam roll, Autoimmune Strong has a wonderful tutorial available to members that can guide you. To join and get access to that tutorial, click here)

7.       Meditate. Meditation has been proven to decrease inflammation and decrease pain. Do it even for a short time, even sitting still and quiet for 3 minutes is better than nothing.  

8.       Sleep! Whenever you can. Your body needs rest and recovery. Even if you have 10 minutes to rest- lie down and take a snooze. It will help.

9.       Daily movement. When we are in the middle of a flare-up, the last thing we want to do is to exercise. Our mind tells us to be careful, and to just lay on the couch. But I have realized that the more movement you give your body, the more quickly the flare-up will pass. Just be cautious- do gentle exercise during this time- don’t push your body too hard. Autoimmune Strong is perfectly designed for this scenario- it's the right mix between stretching & strengthening, without overstimulating the immune system. (I wrote a longer blog on this subject, which you can read here)  

10.   Trust that this will pass! Flare-ups do not last forever. Take care of yourself, and think positive thoughts. The flare-up will pass and you will feel better.

With an Autoimmune Strong membership, you get access to so many more tips and tricks to feeling flare-up free. Click here to sign up for your free 7 day trial of Autoimmune Strong today! 

Autoimmune Strong Tips on How to Manage Stress & Anxiety

Autoimmune Strong is, at it's core, an exercise and physical fitness program. However, for me, the idea of being "Autoimmune Strong" is a metaphor for life in general. You see, there are two ways people typically exercise, and these represent two very distinct ways of living our lives.  

1. People who don't exercise at all. These people find exercise scary, painful, and overwhelming. The idea of sweating, being in pain, or sometimes even just going to the gym fills them with dread. So, even though they know that exercise is good for them, they avoid it. OR...

2. There are the people who work at intense levels of exercise at all times. They push themselves harder and faster, working their bodies to the limit. They feel that failure means not working hard enough. They push through the pain and exhaustion, and they try to accomplish what they think needs to be done to stay healthy and fit.

These two examples are both different ways to deal with the same thing- stress and anxiety. And in life, these metaphors hold true. For some, the anxiety is paralyzing, for others the need to "overcome" the anxiety is so strong that they push far beyond their physical and metal limits. I have lived at both extremes, and I can tell you personally, neither is healthy.

So, for people living at both ends of the spectrum, I challenge you with this-

Get Comfortable Being Uncomfortable 

For those who relate to the feeling of paralysis, this is a time a time to push through. Challenge yourself. Try something you thought was scary or intimidating. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "You must do the things you think you cannot do". This will feel uncomfortable, your brain and body might resist. Push yourself forward a little bit despite that discomfort, and you will find that you are stronger and more capable than you think.  

For those on the other extreme, this is a time to slow down. Press pause. Listen to your body, and take a rest. Take some time for yourself, relax your mind, take deep breaths. Do something fun and silly. Let yourself go for a few days. Don't hold yourself up to such a high standard all the time. This will also feel uncomfortable. Breathe into the discomfort, and push yourself to find a space to unwind. You will find that when you return to the things you are passionate about, you will be better focused and more capable of handling the pressure that comes at you.     

Both types of people can most certainly participate in Autoimmune Strong's fitness program. For some, they will feel that these exercises are challenging. For others, they might find the exercises too slow. I encourage both groups to give it a try- I promise you will learn something about yourself through the process.

Either path you choose, no matter what, requires hard work. But I promise you, it is worth it. I designed Autoimmune Strong's exercises as a progression- it is a slow buildup of foundational strength over time. This too is the metaphor for life. Build proper foundations, go slow but keep moving forward, take rest days when you need them, and soon enough, you will find yourself at the crossroads between strength and security- at peace with yourself.