Jarrod got me a Fitbit for my birthday! I've been contemplating getting one for years. I even asked on a CF forum one time if anyone had one, did they use it much, did they like it; stuff like that. And that was THREE years ago. I don't make decisions lightly...
I know it's still shiny and new right now, but it's definitely getting me up off my butt from my desk during work. Since I work from home, I have very few reasons to get up from time to time. It's not like I'm walking to someone's office down the hall.
The sleep tracking has been surprisingly interesting! I'm not sure how accurate it is on tracking my REM sleep, but I believe it when it shows how much I waver between "light sleep" and "deep sleep." It makes sense, too, and explains why some days I feel more rested than others.
So far, I'm really liking it. Like I said, I know it's still new, but I can see this helping me continue to get off my butt and move more. With the ability to set multiple different goals, it's motivating to see you're close to your goal, and to keep going so you reach it.
And today I took another big step: I joined the Y.
I went with mom to the YMCA on Monday to check it out. I've been feeling for a little while now, and especially since I concluded my recent tune-up, that I needed to get back to a gym. I notice how things are more difficult, like coming up the stairs or getting groceries out of the car. All of the upper body strength and step strength I built up all the way back in pulmonary rehab is long gone. Anything I may have continued at other gyms is gone as well; it's been at least a year and a half since I've been to a gym to lift weights.
But I need someone to go with, otherwise I reason myself out of it and stay home. So my plan is to go with mom a couple days a week, and to treadmill at home the other 4 days. It's great that I have the ability to go during the afternoon when it's less busy, too. I don't like working out around tons of people in case I end up coughing a bunch.
But I'm excited. I'm ready to get back to working out. I think the Fitbit is going to help give me a little nudge, too, so I'm glad I have that for extra motivation. It's probably a good thing all of this is coming together right now, right at the end of my tune-up when I'm feeling my best. Sometimes you really have to strike while the iron is hot, while you're motivated to make a change.
Even so, it's a hard step to take. It's hard for me to keep myself going sometimes, because the improvements I make are SO small, not even detectable for weeks if not months. But I have to keep believing I can improve, I have to believe my lungs will be better for it. It's hard to explain to you how much every day I worry if I'm getting worse. With every task that causes me to get a little winded, I'm analyzing and trying to compare to how I felt last time. Did this leave me more out of breath than yesterday? Last week? Maybe not? I thought I could do this more easily... And with exercising, my gains are so tiny, it's hard to keep going and to believe it'll make a difference when no difference is seen. But, I have to almost remind myself, I'm operating on 30% lung function here... nothing is going to be easy. Things are going to make me feel short of breath.
But here's to making a change! Let's hope in three months I can look back and say "Wow, what progress I've made!" And let's also hope I don't catch a cold because I swear, Murphy's law or something, every time I resolve to do something like this, I come down sick.
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