Our New Year's Resolutions Are Crushing us

For so many of us, we start off each new year in the same way. Here’s what happens:

In the week between Christmas and New Years, we start feeling badly about our bodies. Our bodies hurt, we are in pain and exhausted. The holiday season is exhausting, we have over-eaten and over-drank, and we spent all our energy shopping for the perfect gifts (and shipping them, which is always the biggest hassle). The pressure of the holidays, combined with the shift into winter, is detrimental for so many people, especially those of us who live with autoimmune disease. 

The holidays are stressful and we don’t take care of ourselves… so by the time January comes we are exhausted, spent, depleted. And our brains begin to panic. We start feeling like we need to fix everything, and stat. We feel extra “lazy” “out of shape” and “disgusted with ourselves”, and we start making statements like “This is the year when I lose the weight” or “This is the year I get in shape”. We then go into overdrive trying to make this happen for ourselves, looking for quick results to feel better. We hit the gym, with the goal of working out more or we start a diet… and this always leads to crash, burn, flare-up. We feel worse rather than better. 

The media messaging capitalizes on this, selling us fitness equipment and gym memberships and diet programs up the wazoo, to make us feel like if we just worked harder, exercised more, we would look and feel differently. 

But instead what happens is that we go at it too hard, and we fizzle. 

You see, we are already depleted from the holidays. Our bodies are exhausted from the stress and busy-ness of the holidays, and what we really need is recovery. Our anxiety spikes when we are in depletion mode, which is where these negative self-criticisms come from in the first place. 

So when we push ourselves to exercise harder or to eat less food, and our bodies are already feeling depleted,  our bodies rebel. Our bodies are trying to say “enough!” Because we live with autoimmune disease- if we push ourselves too hard and ignore that voice telling us that recovery is needed, our bodies will end up taking over and ignite an autoimmune symptom flare-up. That means, our body triggers a flare-up that will force you to take the rest and recovery time it requires. 

Has this happened to you before? I bet it has. Here are my 3 tips for doing things differently, so that you can actually feel good about yourself in the new year. 

1. Recover first. Your body needs to replenish after the December rush. Take a few weeks to focus on sleep, healthy eating (think protein, fruit and veggies), and hydration. Don’t restrict on calories, just think instead about selecting foods that nourish you. Sugary sweets and carb cravings are a sign that your body is depleted, so if you take the time to rest, recover and eat healthy foods, your body’s sugar cravings will subside naturally.

2. Listen to your body. When these inner anxious thoughts happen, they tend to take over. They are hard to ignore. So don’t ignore them. Instead, use them as a cue. If these thoughts come up, pay attention. Take a breath and ask yourself- “What am I feeling right now?” I bet you’ll find that what you are feeling is something like overwhelm or exhaustion. Acknowledge that, and instead of trying to restrict your food or hit the gym when you are exhausted, ask yourself, how can I modify that in a way that is restorative?

3. Exercise Daily. I know I know, this whole blog is about not pushing yourself hard to exercise. But that doesn’t mean don’t do anything at all! Movement is essential for healthy living. But there is a happy medium between crushing it at the gym and doing nothing. So, think small. Start with some nourishing stretches and a few strengthening moves. Start with just a few minutes a day and see how that feels. No flare? Then great, you can add a little more to your routine.  (Want to exercise like this but don’t know where to start? Let Autoimmune Strong help!)

Think about January as a reset- but ease your way into it. The themes should be rest, recovery, rejuvenation! Let’s break this new year's resolution  cycle once and for all, and actually start the new year feeling good. Because let’s be honest, we are all ready to kick 2020 to the curb and ring in 2021 with excitement! 

The Importance of Proper Rest and Recovery Days When Living with Autoimmune Disease

Here at Autoimmune Strong, we believe in the importance of “training for everyday life”. The idea here is that we need to exercise and train our bodies for the physical demands of our day to day activities, just like an athlete would train for the physical demands of his or her job.

As a coach and personal trainer who specializes in working with people with autoimmune disease, I encourage folks to do a little bit of exercise each day, consistently throughout the week, so that we are able to increase our body’s strength, flexibility and mobility over time. The goal here is to gain strength, energy and physical capacity, so that the physical demands of running errands, playing with our kids or grandkids, or going for a walk doesn’t completely wipe us out. (If you want to know more about the concept of training for everyday life, you can learn more here)

When we think of strength training, we always think of the exercises. We think about what we need to do in order to get stronger. But in actuality, there are two components that are necessary for strength training: exercise and recovery. Exercise and recovery must go hand in hand in order for us to build the strength and energy that we need.

In the previous blog post, I talked about exercise. Here, I want to talk about rest and recovery. 

So many people think of resting as being lazy. As giving up. As not trying. This is a misperception, an incorrect notion. A body needing rest is not a weakness. It is an essential component of both exercise training and basic self-care.

In the same way that we need to exercise and train like an athlete to be able to handle the physical demands of life, we also need to take rest and recovery days, just like an athlete does. This is an important part of increasing strength and without rest and recovery, we completely deplete ourselves of energy, which ultimately lands us back on the couch with a flare… and nobody wants that. 

So, let’s go deeper into why we need to alternate our exercise days with rest and recovery days.

Think of the body like a machine- like a car for example. We have a certain amount of energy available to us, just like a car has in it’s gas tank. When we exercise or have a demanding day (either physically or mentally) our body uses up energy. Now, when you use up the gas in your gas tank, what do you do? You head to the gas station and refill. Yet we don’t often do this with our bodies. We often push our bodies day after day without replenishing the energy stores. Eventually we are going to end up with an empty tank, which is where the exhaustion, fatigue and flare-up comes in.  

The tricky thing with the human body is that we have something that a car does not- a back-up energy source. This makes it more difficult for us to tell if we have depleted our main energy source. Here’s what happens. We deplete our main stores of energy, and our body begins to send messages that it needs recovery time. These messages can look like exhaustion, sugar cravings, a bad mood, body aches, a headache, joint pain, and other such symptoms. Typically, these symptoms are slight and somewhat easy to ignore- and they also can trigger our backup energy source. If we keep ignoring those exhaustion signals and push through, we often experience “a second wind” which helps us power through the physical and emotional demands of the day. That second wind comes from adrenaline, and while it feels like energy (and often feels like a really good, productive, super-human kind of energy)- it’s actually a sign that we are so depleted that we will soon crash out. We only have a small amount of adrenaline reserves and once they are gone, that’s when the real flare sets in and we experience true exhaustion and other uncomfortable symptoms. 

So, factoring in rest and recovery days are very important- even if you think you don’t need them. We need to rest and recover BEFORE the situation gets desperate and our body calls upon adrenaline to come in for backup. 

This isn’t just important for restoring your energy levels, it’s also important for muscular recovery. Our muscle fibers break down during movement and that’s actually how they get strong- as they break down, they have to re-build, and as they re-build, they knit themselves together in a stronger, more durable way. If we don’t rest, then the body continues to break down without moving into it’s re-build state, which is not a good thing. Our rest days give our muscles the time to recover and re-build and create strength. 

Now- this is important point. A rest day doesn’t just mean taking a rest from your daily exercise routine. This means taking a true rest and recovery day, from all things demanding.

Jenessa, an Autoimmune Strong member, shared this on the members only Facebook page and I think it covers this topic nicely: 

Yesterday (day 7) was the kind of day I used to think of as a rest day, back when I started AIS:  a day when I didn’t do AIS exercises because I needed to do too many other physical things that day. I’ve realized that that isn’t really a rest day, since I’m not resting, I’m just busy! So today I’m going to take a real rest day.

A rest day is not a recovery day simply because you are not doing exercise. It actually needs to be a day when you slow down and give your body time to recover. 

This is especially true if we have had a very busy week- whether it’s busy with stressful things or happy things- the busy-ness still uses up energy that we need to restore. So, if there is something different about the week, like a birthday event or a work deadline or a trip of some kind- I do not recommend pushing forward, and I encourage you to take extra rest days until the big thing passes. Any event can cause stress- even happy ones! And so we want to manage your stress levels and keep the demands on your body in check until this event passes. 

Hopefully this helps give you extra insight into when and why we need extra rest days, and how to make that decision for yourself. There is no badge for busy-ness and pushing through, our job is to give our body what it needs so it can replenish and restore itself, so we can continue living the life we want. 

There are going to be some weeks where you need a little extra rest and recovery. I hope that this blog gives you permission to take those extra days when you need them and gives you the ability to give yourself some grace, love and understanding on those harder days. Rest days are self-love days, just like exercise days. They go together hand in hand. 

Autoimmune Strong is an online exercise program designed specifically FOR people living with chronic illness, BY a personal trainer who lives with multiple autoimmune diseases herself. Click here to learn more about Autoimmune Strong.

Foam Rolling: A Love Story

Each product featured here has been selected by Andrea as her favorite most recommended and useful items. They are recommended but certainly not required to purchase in order to be successful at Autoimmune Strong. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

I am not one to swoon over exercise equipment… but anyone who knows me knows that I swoon over my foam roller. In fact, over the course of the 8 years I have been foam rolling, I have amassed quite a collection of foam rollers- all different shapes and sizes, some hard, some soft, all with their unique and different uses. I carry one with me wherever I go, and rely on it daily to help me feel better in my body. 

Why do I love foam rolling? Well, it’s simple. It brings me immense relief to my tight and sore body. 

In the most simple terms, foam rolling’s purpose is to help loosen up tight fascia, the connective tissue that wraps around the muscles. Fascia can become tight after years of non-movement, sitting, dehydration, stress, and pain from autoimmune disease. When fasica becomes tight, this causes problems for us, because the fascia holds tightly to the muscles it surrounds, preventing them from moving in a fluid motion. This is where the soreness and pain comes from. 

When we foam roll, we begin to break up that tight fascia, which feels incredibly great. Well… it feels great afterwards at least. The honest truth is that foam rolling can be incredibly painful at the beginning, and that stops so many people from giving foam rolling a try. 

Typically, the Autoimmune Strong mantra is that if anything causes pain, you shouldn’t do it, but with foam rolling, it’s actually a different story. “It hurts so good” is a phrase I have heard often to describe foam rolling, because even though the first few days (or weeks) can be difficult, the payoff is worth the effort.

A few things about foam rolling that you should know before trying.

1) There is an art to foam rolling. It’s a difficult thing to do correctly by yourself if you haven’t been taught how to do it- or how to do it correctly. Following the step by step instructions I lay out in the Autoimmune Strong videos will be very helpful to make sure you do it right.

2) There are many different people with many different bodies and physical capabilities. Correspondingly, there are also many different ways to foam roll. Foam rolling can be done on the floor, against a wall, or sitting in a chair. If one way doesn’t work for you, there is always an alternative option that will work. In the Autoimmune Strong program, I demonstrate a number of different ways to foam roll, so you can find the right one for your body.

3) Using the correct foam rolling tool in the correct way will help you achieve relief, without causing too much pain. Choosing the right one for your body will make all the difference. Here is a quick guide to my favorite foam roller options:

The basic foam roller: (white and black)
This is the most traditional kind of foam roller, the one you see in most gyms. For most people, this is a great way to start. The long roller shape allows you to work with both legs at one, which can reduce the intensity of the initial pain. You can also use it to do simple spine and chest opener stretches, which feels great and is a great compliment to the foam rolling regiment. There are two densities, hard (black) and soft (white). If you are very sensitive to touch and are in a lot of physical pain, I recommend choosing the soft (white) version. However, if you can handle a little more pressure, the harder (black) version will be a little more effective, because it goes a little deeper into the tissues. 

For limited mobility: 
This foam roller, called the Tiger Tail, is perfect for people with limited mobility or have an extremely high sensitivity to pain. The basic foam roller requires being on the floor to work, and also requires that you have enough wrist strength to hold you up on the roller. The Tiger Tail does not require either of these things. It’s very gentle, you can do it sitting in a chair, and it’s a perfect introduction to foam rolling. 

For a deeper experience: 
My personal favorite are these infinity rollers. They require a little more mobility to use than the basic foam rollers, so my best advice is to start with the basic foam roller, get good at that, and then advance up to the infinity roller. (This is what I did). The infinity roller comes in two densities, hard (black) and soft (grey). My favorite part about it is the groove, which allows you to foam roll around your spine. The shape of it is more nimble, and helps you get into more crevices that the basic foam roller can’t get to. You will find nooks and crannies that need attention that you didn’t know you have! 

Foot Rollers: 
Finally, foam rolling your feet is a delicious experience and really important for your physical well being. Give it a try with a tennis ball or a lacrosse ball, or anything similar that you have lying around the house. Or you can order one of these for the ultimate foot foam rolling experience. 

If you are new to foam rolling, be gentle, don’t push too hard, especially in the beginning. Ease into it, don’t do it every day until you can be sure it doesn’t trigger a flare for you. Drink lots of water to hydrate and help push out all the toxins that you release from that stuck fascia. I often recommend electrolytes too.

Foam rolling can be incredibly cumbersome at first, but once you get used to it, I think you will find it beneficial. As always, I love to hear about your experiences so please let me know how foam rolling feels to you!

Not an Autoimmune Strong member yet and want to check these foam rolling videos out? Click here to give the 7 day free trial a try! You can watch all the foam rolling instructional videos for free!

Andrea's Favorite Things

It’s the holiday season!!! So I wanted to be like Oprah and share with you a few of my favorite things. These are the things that are bringing me joy right now, and I hope they bring you joy too! 

First, let’s talk about foam rolling. Foam rolling is an essential part of the Autoimmune Strong program, because it has such a major release on our muscles, which takes the pressure off our joints, releases us from pain, and prevents injury.

I have two favorite foam rolling tools: the infinity roller and the tiger tail. 

The infinity roller is amazing at getting into your body’s cracks and crevices. The round balls on either side are great for massaging out your feet, and the indent allows you to roll out your back without putting your spine at risk. I carry this tool whereever I go. It is absolutely my favorite. And In the Autoimmune Strong program, I have a number of videos that teach you exactly how to use it!

Get the Infinity Roller Here!

If you have trouble getting up and down off the floor, and you feel more comfortable sitting in a chair, the tiger tail might be a better foam rolling tool for you. I love it because you can give a gentle workout to your legs or your arms, and t feels oh so good. There are also videos on how to use this tool in the Autoimmune Strong member portal. 

Get the Tiger Tail here!

And finally, if you love a good massage but want a less expensive at home option, then the Myobuddy is for you! This tool allows you to massage your whole body, from the comfort of your own home. It seems a bit pricey- but when you consider that a massage is typically about $100, the Myobuddy can actually help you save money over time. I have to tell you- I didn’t think I would love it- but I do! And I use it all the time.

Get the Myobuddy here!
Use Coupon Code andreaw to save on your myobuddy!

Now to something a little different. I have been talking about how the change of season affects our mood, right?

Well, a significant part of that is our exposure to sunlight. As the season changes, our exposure to sunlight gets smaller, and it has a significant effect on our health. I have been using this little sunlight boost at my desk, and I must say, I love it! It’s tiny and cute, but super effective.   

Get the light therapy lamp here!

And in the kitchen, the things I am loving are my… 

Immersion Blender and my Instant Pot! In the winter I love to steam and mash veggies. I use my Instant Pot to steam the veggies quickly, and then I use my Immersion Blender to mash it up. These cooking instruments get a good workout every week in my kitchen. My favorite mash to make? I peel and cut up a rutabaga and a sweet potato, cook them until soft in the Instant Pot, and then mash them with salt and a little olive oil and/or chicken broth. It’s creamy and sweet and makes me feel warm and fuzzy. You can even make broth in the Instant Pot and then stir in some of the mash as a broth thickener. It’s a delicious soup! 

Get the immersion blender here!

Get the instant pot here!

And- if you get those pesky sugar cravings, here are two of my favorite no sugar options to curb that sweet tooth.

Sweet Apricity sea salt caramels and Honey Mama chocolate! Hard to find in local markets- but they are worth it to order, I swear. I keep them around so I have a healthy, non-inflammatory option to indulge in. 

Get sweet Apricity here!

Get Honey Mamas here!

Each product featured here has been selected by Andrea as her favorite most recommended and useful items. They are recommended but certainly not required to purchase in order to be successful at Autoimmune Strong. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.

4 Secrets To Making Exercise Work For You, So You Can Get Back To Living Your Life

The idea of starting an exercise program seems daunting, right? 

The idea that exercise could actually make you feel better is crazy, right? 

Because how can you exercise when you are living with so much pain and fatigue? 

This guide is to help you dispel some commonly held myths about exercise and autoimmune disease, so that you can be armed with the correct information about how exercise can help bring your body into health. 

The Myth: Everytime I exercise, I get more exhausted, more pain, and more flare-ups. So I guess exercise just isn’t for me.   

The Reality:

Not all exercise is bad for your body when you live with autoimmune disease and chronic pain. In fact, numerous medical research studies have shown that exercise can reduce autoimmune disease symptoms, like flare-ups, pain and exhaustion, while increasing energy. 

The Solution:

You need do be doing exercise that works with your body’s needs. Most people living with autoimmune disease aren’t aware that exercise intolerance is a side effect of autoimmune disease. Exercise intolerance, defined as a lowered capacity to tolerate exercise without symptom flare-up, for some people can be caused by just 15 minutes of exercise, or by higher intensity of exercise. So, people living with autoimmune disease should be exercising according to their level of tolerance, which most people exceed. As the only online exercise designed for people with autoimmune disease and chronic pain, Autoimmune Strong is designed to help you identify your baseline of exercise tolerance and work within it, so you can exercise and feel good. The goal is to slowly build your exercise tolerance over time, to produce more energy and reduce pain and exhaustion.  

The Myth: I have so many physical ailments and limitations. My joints hurt, I am waiting for a hip or knee replacement, I have limited movement in my shoulders, and I can’t get up and down off the floor. Exercise just isn’t for me. 

The Reality:

If you have a body, then you can exercise. It’s as simple as that. Just because there are some moves you can’t do does not mean that you can’t do anything. The key is to find the things you CAN do, and work from there. 

The Solution:

Autoimmune Strong is designed for all bodies and all physical abilities. In the Autoimmune Strong program, there are many modifications for each exercise- so if you have a physical limitation like painful joints or difficulty getting up and down off the floor- there are options for you. And if you need more hands on guidance, our specialized coaches can help you find a way to move that works for you. 

The Myth: I am doing something else, like walking, yoga and water aerobics. This seems like enough to me. 

The Reality:

Even “gentle” activities like these can still exceed our levels of exercise intolerance and contribute to our pain, exhaustion and flare-ups. If you are doing these other activities and feel great, then wonderful! Continue on. However, if you are having problems with pain, exhaustion or flare-ups, then those activities are most likely contributing to your flare-up continuation, and they aren’t best suited for you right now. 

The Solution:

Autoimmune Strong is designed to help you build strength and exercise tolerance, so that you CAN get back to these activities- but in a way that doesn’t aggravate your autoimmune disease. Autoimmune strong even has its own cardio program, to teach you how to build up your cardio tolerance to be able to walk and run with ease.  

The Myth: I am so busy right now, I don’t have time to take on the commitment of exercising. I am struggling to handle what’s on my plate already. 

The Reality:

If you are a busy person struggling with autoimmune flare-ups, by NOT exercising you are making life harder on yourself. Through slow and steady exercise, your body becomes more able to handle the stressful requirements of your busy life, and you will be more capable at doing all the things on your plate. 

The Solution:

The Autoimmune Strong program is designed with you in mind. Each video is less than 15 minutes long, and each exercise takes only a minute or two to practice. So- do think you could find 5 minutes a day to focus on taking care of you and your body? 5 minutes a day is all you need to begin to see results like increased strength, reduced pain, more energy and less brain fog. By just taking 5 minutes to take care of yourself, you are more likely to live a pain free day, which would allow you to do the things you want and take better care of the people you love. 

Exercise has been medically proven to reduce your pain and flare-up caused by heightened autoimmune activity. The reason that it hasn’t worked for you before is because nobody has actually taken the time to sort through the research and design an exercise program that follows the guidelines laid out by these medical studies. Autoimmune Strong is the ONLY exercise program based on the research of what works and what doesn’t. AND- since hundreds of people have gone through this program before you, Autoimmune Strong knows firsthand what really works and how to get the best results.  

Are you ready to give Autoimmune Strong a try? Sign up now for your free trial and see what it’s all about. 

Happy New Year! A Confession Follow-up...

In my last blog post, I made a HUGE new years revelation to you. I confessed how my life had gotten so busy and complicated that I had put aside many of the things that are critically important for my own self care and health management. You can read that entire confession here.

And SO many of you responded with care and concern! I love hearing from you, so thank you for sharing your own stories right back with me.

But here is the thing- my story is not unique. I put aside my own self-care habits in order to focus more on caring for others. This is something we all do, right? We put other people’s needs before our own.

Finding balance between self-care and caring for others is extremely difficult. There are only so many hours in the day and we all have to make choices about how to spend them. These choices are HARD to make. I know that exercise makes me feel better, look better, sleep better, and have more energy throughout the day. But still, I struggle with the choices. I know my days are better when I exercise in the morning. Do I wake up early to exercise or do I choose to sleep? Do I spend my precious before work hours snuggling with my kids and getting them ready for school, or do I go do my Autoimmune Strong exercises? For me, those choices are super difficult because I want to do them all.

And then comes the bigger challenge- exercise is HARD WORK and I don’t always want to do it. Ok- there, I said it. Sometimes I moan and groan about doing my Autoimmune Strong exercises. Often, it’s easier to find something else to, rather than exercise. Even for me, finding the motivation deep within can be a challenge.

So, for these reasons, I designed Autoimmune Strong to be short, effective workouts that you can do at home. I didn’t want to have to spend hours exercising to be fit- I don’t have the time for that, or the mental energy. And more importantly, my body can’t handle that kind of pressure and intensity. That's why Autoimmune Strong exercises are designed to get you fit without taxing your immune system or causing a flare-up.

So in this new year, let’s make a resolution together to make choices to help improve our health that don’t take up too much time and energy in our days. Ten minutes of Autoimmune Strong every day, or every other day, or even every few days, can actually make a major impact in your body.

Check out how Julie, an Autoimmune Strong member, fits Autoimmune Strong into her busy life: (and you can follow her on Instagram @paleolifehouse to get a play by play commentary on her Autoimmune Strong experience)

"Because I know it only takes 5 minutes, and because I know how good I feel, I knew I needed to get Autoimmune Strong done and I am so glad I did! And I still had time to meal plan, journal, read, and have a relaxing night and had the energy to do so. Love how this program is teaching me consistency and trust in the process of not only the program but also healing my body"

So think of it this way: 

2017: Thank you for all the lessons learned. 

2018: Let's put that learning into action, and make a change. 

That's what I am trying to do for myself, and I hope you will join me!!! Let's make 2018 the year we do something different, the year we take a chance, and the year we put ourselves first. Together we can do our best to feel our best. We are not defined by our disease, so let's overcome. 

Preparing for the Holiday Season

As you all know, sometimes the holidays can be a wonderful time, filled with joy. But other times, the stress and general "business" of the holiday season can be difficult for those of us living with chronic pain. And we tend to eat too much sugar, drink too much alcohol, and don't have much time to exercise or rest. This is me- every December- and maybe this is you too? 

All of these things- eating unhealthy foods, dealing with the stress of the holidays, and not having enough time to rest and recoup- this can all lead to an immune system flare-up. It is very common for people with immune system ifficulties to get overwhelmed during the holidays, and many of us struggle with exhaustion, fatigue, anxiety, depression and symptom flare-ups. 

So I encourage you to take care of yourself during this time! 

Here is my list of the 3 things I will be doing this holiday season to take care of myself. 

1. Drink Water

We get so busy during this time, we often live on coffee, soda, tea, and other energy boosting drinks, and we forget to stop and drink water. Our body is made up of 65% water, and when we get dehydrated, we lose our energy, and start to feel tired and anxious. Plus, our body cannot store water, so we need to drink water every day! Hydration is the first step I take to recover when I start feeling exhausted and stressed. 

2. Exercise Daily

Exercise boosts energy and metabolism, and releases hormones that make us feel happy. Who doesn't want that, especially in the holiday season! I know it's hard to squeeze in time for exercise, but even just 10 minutes a day can have a huge impact on our bodies. You don't need to go to the gym, you can get a good workout in at home! Try Autoimmune Strong here or try some of my at home stretches here. 

3. Let Go Of Perfection

I often feel during the holiday season that I need to be the best version of myself. Cheery wherever I go, bringing home made goodies and perfect presents, beautifully wrapped. But the reality of that looks bleak- I often end up stay up super late after my work day to make those home made goodies and wrap the presents, and then I am often too tired the next day to spread that holiday cheer. So this year I have resolved not to take on more than I can handle this season, so I can take care of myself instead. 

And if you happen to have a flare-up anyways- check out my blog tips here on how to manage a flare-up and make it disappear. 

I wish you nothing but happiness this holiday season!

Practice Being Uncomfortable...

“Practice doing uncomfortable things in a controlled setting- that way you are ready for all of life’s surprises.”

Living with chronic pain often means feeling discomfort every day. Your body hurts, aches, screams at you- but somehow you still have to live your life, right? You don’t want to miss out on all that life has to offer. It sucks to stay inside, feeling exhausted, hanging out on the couch watching others live an active busy life.

Well, it may seem counterintuitive, but putting your body through “purposeful discomfort” may actually be the thing you need to make the pain go away. Autoimmune Strong is built upon this philosophy- that purposeful discomfort can come from movement, and that movement can, over time, with practice and dedication, serve to minimize pain and discomfort.

Movement by itself doesn’t make the pain go away; in fact, many people find that moving their bodies throughout their daily routines causes the pain and discomfort they feel at the end of the day. But purposeful movement is different. Purposeful movement means doing things that actively serve your body in a way that makes it more capable of moving properly through the world.

For example: carrying groceries from the store to your car is movement, but it’s not purposeful. It does nothing to improve your posture and musculature. So, perhaps you have tight muscles and a weak back; carrying groceries will feel painful, because the weight of the bags will put strain on your body’s weaknesses and only make them weaker, causing you pain. An example of purposeful movement is performing an exercise that helps your body correct these issues, so you are more capable of carrying groceries without straining your body, neck and shoulders. So- if you practice strength and stretching exercises focusing on the total body- core, glutes, legs, shoulders, arms and back - this will prepare you for carrying your groceries in a safe way, which will minimize pain, discomfort, and risk of flare-up. The exercises you have practiced will have helped your body adapt to proper movement practices, which then get put into action during these real life settings.

And it’s not just your muscles and your posture that needs to adapt, it’s your immune system too! With chronic pain, if we push our bodies too hard to do movements we aren’t prepared for, we put ourselves at risk of overloading our system with stress, which sets our system into overload, and can cause an immune system flare. By working on purposeful movements a little at a time, bit by bit, your immune system will adapt to the stress on the system, and it will learn how to cope. Over time, you will be able to add more intensity without overloading your system.  (You can read more about exercise induced system flare ups here)

And it’s important to practice this purposeful movement in a controlled setting, like in your home or a gym. That way, you can make sure that you focus completely on the movement, giving your body time to adapt to the pressure of the movement. And when you come across the same movement in your daily activities (like how a deadlift mimics picking a dirty sock up off the floor) your body will know how to do that movement properly, without stress or strain.

You see- exercise itself is not comfortable. Nobody ever feels great while exercising- especially in the beginning of a new exercise regimen. It feels uncomfortable, and at times, painful, and it’s hard to summon the motivation to do it. But there is a reason it works. It prepares you for the challenges you will face outside the safe security of your workout regimen. And for people living with chronic pain, that is invaluable, for it will lead to less pain, fewer injuries, more energy, and a desire to get out there and live an active life.