Welcome to The Autoimmune Wellness Podcast Season 1! We’ve created this podcast as a free resource to accompany our upcoming book, The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook: A DIY Guide to Living Well with Chronic Illness.
Episode #12: Step 6: Move – Our Stories is an episode dedicated to talking about our histories with exercise, as well as, where we are today in this area of our lives. We start with discussion of what it was like when we first realized we were losing physical ability as our autoimmune struggles deepened. Next we move on to exploring the two ends of the movement spectrum, too little and too much, and where each of were pre-diagnosis versus where we are today. We also chat about our movement routines before we got sick and our routines now. We wrap up with a look at why we believe walking is ideal for those with autoimmune disease and how we gauge if we are under or overdoing it with movement. This episode is a chance for listeners to understand totally opposite sides of the movement conundrum that those with autoimmune disease face.
If you want to know more about why exactly the balance with exercise and autoimmune disease is such a fine one, check out the section, “Why Is Exercise Difficult for Those with Autoimmune Disease” in Chapter 6. This section adds a little science background to this issue.
How to listen:
If you’d like to have our podcasts sent directly to your device, subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher!
If you’d like to download the .mp3, you can do so by following this link.
If you’d like to play the episode right now in your browser, use the player below!
Show Notes:
0:00 Intro
1:29 Opening the Move topic
2:25 Angie shares what it was like to realize she was losing physical ability due to illness
She recognized her body no longer had additional energy reserves for workout routines.
Experienced a lot of shame with not being able to keep up with others.
4:58 Mickey shares what it was like to realize she was losing physical ability due to illness
She noticed herself becoming weaker, rather than stronger, despite training hard.
More of Mickey’s struggle and recovery.
6:58 Both Mickey and Angie describe the fear that came with muscle wasting
8:08 Mickey talks about exercise obsession pre-diagnosis
This was the result of her lacking other more appropriate stress management tools.
10:30 Angie’s struggle with moving too little
There are complex barriers for those who move too little with autoimmune disease:
Fears/Shame
Incorrect intensity level
Fatigue
Injury
Pain
Overwhelm
13:30 Mickey’s exercise routine pre-diagnosis
Biking over 100 miles/week
Running/gym/yoga 3x/week
Multiple routines per day
Cardio-obsession
She feels she used this to “numb” herself.
15:58 Angie’s exercise routine pre-diagnosis
Hiking
Backpacking
16:42 Angie’s exercise routine now
Walking
17:18 Mickey’s exercise routine now
Walking
Horseback riding
Yoga
Touching on the negative cultural messages about how intense exercise needs to be
19:24 Why walking is so great for those with autoimmune disease?
The benefits of walking
27:23 How we assess where the “line” is for physical activity
Troubleshooting routines
30:20 Your homework for Step 6, Move!
Try out the “Where Are You on the Movement Spectrum” self-test in Chapter 6 of The Autoimmune Wellness Handbook to assess how much attention this area of your healing journey needs.
31:15 Outro
view more