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Sharing my thoughts on exercise
Prior to my fibromyalgia diagnsosis, I used to walk 40 minutes to 2 hours per day generally all at once. I thought you *had* to walk all at once for it to count. I actually figured out that I had problems because I couldn't do this anymore. As a matter of fact, I generally couldn't walk more than 20 minutes at a time. And some days, 10 was all I could do. That added to my depression--not to mention my weight.
During my journey to find a way to include exercise in my life with a chronic illness, I started wearing a pedometer all the time and trying to get 10,000 steps per day. I initally didn't even worry about aerobic steps--just getting as many as I could. Slowly I added shorter aerobic walks (10-15 minutes) throughout the day. I noticed that my appetite was easier to control and I naturally lost weight (almost 30 lbs). I then started doing research and learned that contrary to what I always thought, aerobic exercise can be obtained in smaller (10-20 minute) intervals throughout the day and there are even some studies such as:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/dm1728x289262744/
Which indicated better glucose control from multiple sessions. I had stumbled on to something that didn't just work for me--it probably worked better for me.
Now, the one thing longer exercise does have going for it is a more impressive impact on the "good" cholesterol (which I could certainly use). But I can't do longer term ones (although I now do 35 minutes at a time so I'm getting better). I can combine mine just fine.
Now as for interval training--great idea but unfortunately, that's how I caused my achilles tendonitis. Just an example of how someone with chronic pain can miss warning signs when pushing too hard. I'm back after a year (and now on South Beach which is wonderful). I was trying to boost my metabolism so I didn't have to make as significant a change to how I ate. If I do try this again, I'm going to be much more aware of my pain level. But, as I said, I'm in some pain all the time so that can be difficult.
Georgia
Diet Calendar Entry for 09 June 2009:
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3250 kcal
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Activities & Exercise:
Walking (moderate) - 3/mph - 53 minutes, Sleeping - 7 hours, Resting - 8 hours and 7 minutes, Desk Work - 8 hours. more...
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