Confessions of a couch potato

I’ve never been a big fan of sports. When I was growing up, no one in my family exercised with any seriousness of purpose. I did ride horses as a child and skied occasionally, but anything involving sweat, heavy breathing or muscle ache on a regular basis was best avoided, as far as I was concerned. (Note to self: help my kids to enjoy sports now – the later you leave it, the harder it gets.)

Over the years, various attempts at getting fit – gym memberships, swimming pool season tickets or African dance classes – ran aground after a few months due to lack of time, energy and interest. Why sweat and suffer when I could be relaxing at the movies, curled up on my couch with a good book or chatting with a friend over a cappuccino?

Imagine my shock when I met my husband 16 years ago, a man bristling with health and sporting enthusiasm and requiring daily doses of exertion for his physical and emotional well-being. After accompanying him on yoga retreats, bike outings and ski trips, and being coached patiently by him on various home training devices, I have over the years become modestly fit. However, I still struggle to take on board the idea of exercise as something I might willingly undertake – and enjoy! – daily.

And yet, it is something I now need and want to do. At 44, I need to strengthen muscles and bones to prevent muscle loss and osteoporosis after menopause. I want to keep my heart and respiratory system in shape. I also want to boost my immune system and prevent cancer (more on this in a forthcoming post). Lastly, I want to improve my sleep, mood and blood-sugar balance – all of which regular sports has been shown to do.

And then there’s good old-fashioned vanity: I dream of shedding 5-6 pounds of winter fat and the abdominal flab I have been sporting since the birth of my twins nearly eight years ago. And since I don’t believe in miracle pills or “slim-while-you-sleep” muscle stimulation electrodes, there’s only one thing for it: exercise.

So I have begun designing a program based on the World Cancer Research Fund’s “Moving More for Cancer Prevention” that should meet my sporting needs. It involves aerobic exercise – which strengthens heart and lungs, lowers blood pressure, improves cholesterol, brain function and mood – and strength exercise which increases muscle mass, helps burn more calories, maintains bone density and strengthens core muscles. On days when I’m doing neither, I plan to do yoga or simple stretches to counteract the stiffness that comes from being hunched over a computer or a steering wheel and to relax me after a hectic day. (I will post my specific exercise plan soon.)

The key to compliance of course is motivation, which I have always struggled with. Not seeing much point in exercising, I never made it a priority. The less I exercised, the more unfit I became, making it even harder to muster up the enthusiasm for exercise – a painful slog when you’re out of shape.

To break out of this vicious cycle, I have decided to take a very structured approach. First, I will make a contract with myself (using this template) setting out my goals. This involves appointing a fitness partner who supports me in getting fit; my husband has kindly agreed to do this.

Next, I will start designing weekly schedules setting out my exercise plans for each coming week. (This online fitness diary can be used both to plan ahead and to record the exercise completed.)

Intentionally setting aside time for exercise – rather than hoping that a free half-hour will magically appear out of nowhere – will be crucial to my success. Planning workouts ahead of time – defining what I will do when and where, and putting out the clothes I will be wearing the night before – will increase the likelihood of them getting done. I will reward myself for any meaningful progress I might achieve (a massage/facial/new pair of trainers?) but won’t beat myself up if results don’t happen overnight.

I’d love to hear what some of you are doing to keep fit, and especially, how you manage to keep at it. Motivational tips very welcome!

The Healing Power of Friendship

Only hours after announcing the launch of my Anti-Cancer Challenge – a year-long cancer-prevention program involving a healthy diet, regular exercise and adequate sleep and rest – I received a powerful dose of cancer protection from an unexpected source: my friends! Six emails arrived within the hour, enthusiastically supporting my project but at the same time expressing concern for my well-being.

“I applaud your new endeavor and wish you very well with it,” wrote my friend Lucy, before adding: “I have a slight reservation about the workload of the blog adding to the pressures that keep you from exercise and sleep rather than reducing the load.” Perhaps another irony to add to my son’s list, she noted wryly.

A few minutes later, Mareike, a friend since first grade, wrote: "One piece of advice: please don't get even more stressed-out because of the Challenge! I can already hear you saying 'Oh no! I've got to squeeze in a quick dose of exercise before rushing off to bed at 10.30'. Please avoid stumbling into the perfectionism-trap!" she wrote, before suggesting: "perhaps you might want to incorporate a few completely ‘pointless' activities: a half-hour on your sofa with a gossip magazine, a spot of window-shopping, a stolen hour with a good book, or an evening at the movies?"

Debby backed her up, reminding me of the importance of “just reading for pleasure, meditating, piddling around the house, or doing nothing!” Recharging time is just as necessary as a healthy diet and exercise, she reminded me. How true.

First of all, I’d like to thank my friends for their wise words of advice. Indeed, I kept putting off the launch of the Challenge while reflecting on whether and how I would be able to create the space for it so that it didn’t overwhelm me. In the end, I decided I could fit it in, as long as I set myself strict boundaries:

• Writing no more than 600-700 words per post
• Writing no more than 5 posts a week
  
• Not posting on weekends
• Not putting myself under pressure to write The Ultimate Post each time
• Not posting during family vacations

When I worked as a newswire journalist, I came to appreciate what we called a "quick-and-dirty" : a simple commentary that didn't necessitate hours and hours of research but got across useful information. I plan to serve these up here occasionally: for instance, a photo or poem that inspired me, a link to a topical article elsewhere on the internet or a recipe for a tasty and healthy meal I cooked. Battling my penchant for verbosity and perfectionism over the next year may itself prove therapeutic!

Meanwhile, I am deriving great strength and nourishment from my friends’ support. Not only does it feel good at a human level to be held by others as one embarks on a journey into the unknown. Having a network of close, caring friends may actually boost immunity and reduce cancer risks.

Indeed, a large-scale U.S. study published in the Journal of Oncology showed that women with breast cancer who had 10 or more close friends were four times more likely to survive their illness than those who did not. Having the support of relatives was shown to help too: women who reported having close relatives had a 2½-fold better chance of surviving breast cancer than those who did not.

Surprisingly, being married or belonging to a religious community was not associated with reduced mortality risk. “The results are consistent with the notion that among women, the most important source of support is often not the women’s spouses, but other significant network members,” the study’s authors commented.

Regardless of whether we are cancer patients, survivors or have remained untouched by cancer, we all thrive on the love and support of our close friends. So why not send an e-mail or make a phone call to a friend today; it won’t just make her or him feel good, it may also boost your own emotional and physical well-being!