Exercise and fitness

In July 2020 a colleague challenged me to walk 10,000 steps a day.  I did it, and in August she challenged me to walk 12,000 steps a day.  Having managed that I have kept up that kind of level of exercise, usually one “fast” walk of about 30 mins and then the rest at a mixed pace including walking the dog.   At the same time I changed my diet to increase the fruit and veg, cut out lunchtime sandwiches, have soup or salad for dinner. I only did this Mon-Thurs and kept weekends normal.  I have lost around 3 stone in 10 months and maintained this weight since. I also work from home, but I build the walks into my day, start, at lunch and at the end.  Maybe this gives you some ideas. Good luck

Thank you x

Hi I applied to do the McMillan 6 month SafeFitTrial. Took a little while to do it but I’m 3 weeks in now. This first month is 1-3 sessions a week (I chose 3) with a cancer exercise  PT specialist.  Online. It reduces to once a week for a couple of months then once a month. I have found I very helpful to get me started exercising again. I’m not very good at posting links sorry but someone posted on here a little while back.  Good luck with it all x

Hi Angua1 there’s lots you can do! As Irishgirl16 says, walking is a good way to exercise and can be tailored to how you’re feeling during chemo. Short walk on days you feel tired, longer when you feel stronger.

I also did the Safefit trial and really enjoyed it. I found the link to share and it says it’s oversubscribed right now but they hope to release more slots soon. Worth bookmarking and checking regularly if interested

https://safefit.nhs.uk

Also worth checking where you live to see what might be on offer in your local community. There was a post here a few days ago which created sharing details of an initiative in Hertfordshire. I expect other areas might have similar

Maybe have a look and see if there’s a 5K Your Way group near you, usually attached to a local ParkRun. Don’t worry, you’re not expected to run 5K every week!

 https://5kyourway.org

The Penny Brohn charity also has loads of stuff online and covers a multitude of areas that can be beneficial to your overall health and well-being - exercise, relaxation, nutrition, there is so much there! Look at Support For You and Resources under the main menu

https://www.pennybrohn.org.uk

Hope you find something that works for you. Wishing you well with the rest of your treatment xx

Hi Angua1. As the other ladies here have said, walking is a great way to start. I walk regularly (we have a fairly energetic dog that needs two good walks a day). I also have severe asthma (so did the whole shielding thing), so although I cannot necessarily walk every day, I do make every effort to walk as much as I can whenever I can. I did buy a Fitbit which I found helpful but isn’t necessary in any way. Start slowly. Any exercise is better than no exercise. I also follow https://www.midlifemakeover.co.uk. There are a number of really simply very short exercises which can be done at home in a very short time, which Sam Palmer demonstrates on YouTube. I have found the walking and any other exercise I do really helps my mental health too (I have suffered in the past with severe anxiety and depression). I have even got the to the point where I actually do enjoy it. What I would say is, if you look at exercises on line, make sure it is being done by someone similar to you in terms of age etc. I’m 60 and as much as I would like to exercise like a 20 year old, it simply isn’t helpful and there is the chance that you will injure yourself. The other thing I sometimes do is simply to dance around the house - any movement helps. All the best Ros x