#Exercise4Survival was something I found out about through the Instagram community TNBC Thrivers (@tnbc_thrivers). It is a great little part of the Instagram world that gives young women with TNBC a place to connect, tell their stories, and educate one another through their experiences. Here is my feature from 2020 (I wrote this during an infusion after the Benadryl hit so forgive me):
Kelly Thomas (@iamkellythomas), creator of the online community, started this "challenge" in May of 2019 when her oncologist presented research that women who exercise a mere 150 minutes a week dropped their cancer recurrence and/or breast cancer mortality by 40%! That is just 30 min/day, 5 days a week or 22 min/day, 7 days a week.
For the longest time I thought the sole purpose of exercise was to lose weight. When I got sick my perspective on exercise changed completely. On days when I did not feel very good or had little energy I craved the feeling I used to get after a run. This was the first time I realized exercise was about more than just weight loss. It was actually something that made me feel better. It wasn't something I had to do, it was something I could do. It wasn't a chore, it was a privilege and one I had taken for granted.
I was always a chubby kid. I have heard doctors tell me since my childhood to lose weight and "diet and exercise" was the way to do that. In grade school (hopefully) no one even knows what it means to diet. So, I just ignored that part and started to assume people would only exercise to try to lose or, at the very least, not gain weight. The only time I can remember anyone ever talking about exercise was at the doctor and around the conversation of weight. Exercise also did not mean sports because I was already on sports teams and apparently I still needed to do more. And it definitely couldn't have just been a 30 minute walk because it seemed like I walked all over my neighborhood as a child. Anyway...
When I started working out in college weight loss was my only goal and it worked. I gained confidence in myself because of an image I had attained. It was a great feeling but for the wrong reasons. When we gain confidence only due to losing weight it reinforces the (false) idea that your weight and your worth are directly correlated. Yikes. Thank you, diet culture! So let's redefine why we exercise and the many reasons it can improve your life.
When I started to follow Kelly & TNBC Thrivers not only did the study she shared and her #Exercise4survival mantra stuck with me but it also made me curious about the other benefits of exercise, cancer related and in general. Karen Basen-Engquist, Ph.D., a researcher at MD Anderson, claims "Exercise may actually make cancer treatments work better." The Mayo Clinic lists several reasons why exercise can help with anxiety and depression. Memorial Sloan Kettering discusses how weight bearing exercises can improve bone health. A quick Google search can lead to many more articles from good sources on the benefits of exercise and while weight loss is one of those listed benefits, it is certainly not the only one.
I do remember hearing about other benefits of exercise in the past but another false assumption I had was that you had to be losing weight from your exercise to experience the added benefits of it. As if my exercise would not improve my brain health, for example, unless I was also losing weight from it. In recent years I have become more aware of the negative effects of diet culture and am doing my best to take a big step back from its false promises. It takes a while to unlearn things you thought were right for so long and you are allowed to give yourself some grace during that time. Cancer woke me up and made me question everything I thought I knew. And for that, I am forever grateful.
Today my body is healthy and well enough to sweat. I have promised myself to never take that for granted again. It is something I prioritize in my day because it improves my mood and my sleep, makes me more productive and a better mom, and it truly just makes me feel GOOD. Finding the type of exercise that is right for you can be difficult. I was a runner for over 10 years. However in early 2022, after almost 4 years of trying to figure out why I was having pain in my right hip, I finally found a doctor who sent me for a hip x-ray and discovered I have Stage 3 osteoarthritis. Running was a bad idea and I needed to stop immediately.
While that was disappointing to hear, it was also kind of a relief. There was an answer. It put me on a new path to find the right type of exercise for me. The kind that makes me feel good but also doesn't create pain - like running used to do. This is something I have been working at for a while though and it was tough finding a different solution - lots of trial and error! I needed that mood boost and everything I was trying wasn't giving it to me. I am thankful to have had such a positive experience with running in the past because I knew there was a feeling I was trying to get back. I just needed to figure out how to do it.
First I tried walking, a natural alternative from running. I love a good walk but for weekly exercise it takes too long, it does not get my heart rate up high enough for an endorphin rush and after a couple miles my hip starts to hurt. I tried a boutique gym for a bit with scheduled class times but after having kids I needed to be able to workout whenever I could fit it in. Next, I lifted weights through the SWEAT app. I enjoyed the app because it put together the workouts for me and I could workout wherever/whenever I had weights but my body wanted cardio too. SWEAT has HIIT workouts but those are difficult because of my limited range of motion in my hip and well, because any type of jumping after babies is just not much fun. I worked out at a standard 24 Hour Fitness-like gym for most of my life but it was mostly just to use the treadmill so when I went back I didn't really know what to do there. Then I tried the Nancy Anderson Fit pelvic floor rehab for a while. This was working well but I needed two rest days (usually the weekends) and with a 7 day schedule I felt like I was falling behind and failing the program which was creating anxiety. I have no room for a Peloton and yoga or cycle studio memberships are usually more than my budget allows for. Whew. All the while I knew that even if my exercise didn't give me the best outcome, it was better than nothing. I kept trying new things.
Four years of trying later, I think I have finally found something that works for me again! If you follow my Instagram (@healthyotherwise), you have seen my praise for Hotworx. Hotworx is a 24 hour gym concept that hosts virtual exercise classes inside an infrared sauna. They offer mat based classes (yoga, Pilates, etc.) that start every 45 minutes or low impact cardio classes (cycle, rowing, etc.) that start every 15 minutes - 24 hrs/day - leaving me no excuse and every opportunity to get even a quick 15 minutes in. Since we're airing out all of my old bad ideas, I also used to believe that for your workout to "count" you had to workout for at least an hour. The older we get and the more responsibilities we add to our day, you realize an hour is a lot of time to commit every day. Sure, if I have an hour that's great but just because I only have 10-15 minutes doesn't mean I can't do something for me, for my survival and for my family.
The only reason I have rambled on about my experience with exercise is in hope to help others realize that exercise really shouldn't be anything that you do for anyone but you and those that rely on you. Recently one of the gym instructors said, "You can't show up here for anyone else, so you might as well be here for you." That really stuck with me. If weight loss is your goal when you exercise, there is nothing wrong with that and it can support other goals. I am working daily to change the voice in my head that tells me everything/everyday is about weight loss to a voice that is supportive of anything that makes me feel good. Just because I do not have a weight focused goal it does not mean that I do not have fitness goals. This shift in focus has relieved me of so much unnecessary pressure and has in turn highlighted anything that gives me joy, makes me a better mom/wife/friend, and makes me feel better.
I exercise for me because I have learned my health is a privilege. Every time I get the chance to sweat I am honoring the air and LIFE in my lungs; I am celebrating the blessing and opportunity to move. It is a form of self-love. As the great Jordan Peterson says,
“Self-love is the only antidote to the chaos of existence. And if you don’t love and care for yourself and your own needs, you will cause unnecessary suffering both for yourself and others.”
However you choose to move your body I hope do it as a form of self-love. I hope you know that it is benefiting you (and those around you) in more ways that you know. It is a (free) gift you can give yourself whenever you'd like, whenever your body needs it - even if it is just a walk around the block. Finding the right type of exercise for you may be challenging, but try to listen to what your body is asking for and don't be afraid to try something at least once - it might just be what you've been missing.
Xx.
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