The one long term effect of TSW that many do not think too much about is the effect long term stagnation has on the body. I spent a solid 8 months on the couch or in bed. My husband did most of the errands. I did go out maybe once a month if that. I remember after I started feeling better around the 9 month mark, I wanted to start exercising. I remember going for a walk outside and barely making it half a mile. Fast forward 2 years and my TSW is long gone but I am still very weak. I work 36 hours a week as an ER nurse and that just about kills me. For the last year I have felt that I could do no more, but dying to get back into shape. I tried so many times but what would happen is I would have a few good days and then go Gung ho thinking I was ready to get back into shape. Each time I would overdue it and then feel even weaker. But I found I was over doing things in all aspects of my life....always trying to do too much because I felt my energy would only last a small amount of time and I NEEDED to get as much done with that energy as possible. I finally decided about 6 months ago that I needed to slow down and start off very slowly in all things. I set a schedule for myself per se and have stuck to it for the most part.
This month I realized I have accomplished a lot in the last 6 months by going slowly. I got my kids situated with all their schooling. I home school them and it gets tough when I work full time but this time I prepared ahead and now we are on a good course. I got our house in shape and I have started the process of building on our property. I have all our papers in order and have everything ready to go once we start the closing process.
Now I am back into my healthy eating. I put our diet on the back burner with so much going on. But now it's time to focus on that. So far one week down of clean eating. The kids are on board and there have been no complaints.
And now I come to the exercise thing. I have been putting this off given how weak I've been. But I know it's time. So I am canceling my Planet Fitness membership as I've barely used it and I feel that would only hinder me. You see when I go in I feel like I'm going to be judged for only exercising for 10 minutes. And I end up pushing myself. But I know I can't push myself. It's too much for me to do more than I should at this point. My muscles are truly very weak. So now I am going to walk outside for only 10 to 15 minutes to start. And today I added in some weight bearing exercises. But only a few where I use big muscle groups. I do push ups against the wall, squats with no extra weight, and bicep/tricep lifts using cans in my cupboard. It may not seem like a lot but after so many starts and failures from doing too much I figured I stand a better chance of success by going slow.
So for all of you starting to feel better, just give yourself a break if you end up like me where the energy is ever so slow to return. And don't have high hopes that things will go back to "normal" like you were pre TSW. Some might and many will not. You have to give your body time to heal everywhere, not just your skin. And you may end up having to define a new normal for yourself and your family. Not trying to be down, but as always, just keeping it real.
