Working out and staying active can be a hard struggle when you have fibromyalgia. Dealing with the pain issues and fatigue, you can quickly find yourself out of shape.
Add in being a busy Mom and having twins and things quickly stack against your favor. We live in a small town and fortunately, our town offers a Wellness Center free for residents during certain hours and “extended hours” for a one-time fee to pay for a key fob. While money is tight right now so I haven’t gotten a key fob to go in on the weekends or after the kiddos are in bed, I decided it was time to go check it out when I could.
The one thing that sucks about fibro is the fatigue and not feeling like you have the energy to get things done. As you can imagine, if you don’t have the energy for your basic tasks, working out can sound like a nightmare. When I had free time, I looked at my husband and said “I’m going to go work out.” With me, it’s all or nothing. Just like any time in high school or when I was preparing for a 5K, you have to push yourself through. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy but as I joked on Facebook, “Fibro has kicked my butt long enough, it’s time for me to kick my own butt!”
Our Wellness Center has treadmills, ellipticals, strength training equipment (medicine balls, jump rope, weights, etc.) and recumbent bikes.
I started on low levels and sure enough, found myself annoyed and pushing up the resistance and speed. When I got going after a little while, I found myself “Should I quit or keep going?” Instead of taking it easy, nope, five more minutes.
I’ve had some flare up from working out but overall, I could handle it. I had to take some medicine for some of the discomfort and made sure to down extra water. While my body felt worn out, it was hard to describe but, I actually found myself having more energy and focus after working out.
While I can’t work out everyday with how busy we get with the kids and appointments, I’m going to make a point to get up there atleast once or twice a week. With warm weather on the way, we’ll be making plenty of time outside with the kids and heading for walks on the bike trail or down to the playground.
Today, I braved it to take my “Before” pictures. I really think the twins ripped my abs apart while pregnant as I did not have these types of issues after the girls. I have lots of inches to lose. This is me “sucking in”/flexing as much as I can.
I have people all the time telling me “You look great for having twins!” for having twins.
I know I can look better. I want to look better. It will make me feel better.
2 Comments
You’ll get back to where you want to be. You’re always working so hard, so I have no doubt you’ll be there in no time.
“FOR HAVING TWINS?” Who thinks that is appropriate?
My problem is that I get the, “you look great for having two kids” comment – and yet, I have never been pregnant (my family grew through adoption). Does that mean that I don’t really look very good after all?