A yoga class, a leisurely walk, an intense 45 minute spin class? I’ve never been the type to sit on the couch for long periods of time, and it’s typically pretty easy for me to walk at least 20 - 30 minutes a day. So, by most people’s definitions, I routinely “get some exercise”.
All of that changed a few months ago when we did a cross country move. As a result of the move, (and unpacking) it took me a few weeks to get back into a normal exercise routine. I always knew that getting adequate exercise is “good” for you, but I wasn’t aware of how critical it was for someone with autoimmune issues until I wasn’t able to really exercise for a few weeks.
To summarize, I felt like crap. Autoimmune symptoms that I hadn’t had in months came back with avengence. I had forgotten how annoying (and painful) hives on the bottom of your feet can be! I could tell that my body as a whole was much more reactive to foods, to everything. I was scared.
Once I collected myself, I reframed the symptoms I was having as a way to realize how far I’d come. And the truth was, I knew how to get “back on the path” so to speak. I could find my way out of the dark, autoimmune symptom forest. With this in mind, it made the symptoms much more bearable - I knew that they were only temporary and I would feel better once I was able to get back in more of an exercise routine.
Peloton, oh Peloton, where art thou Peloton?
Fortunately the apartment building we moved into had a gym in the basement. As someone with the symptoms of a mast cell disorder, I had heard that we “mast cell people” needed to be careful about not pushing our heart rate too much with exercise. Basically, if the exercise is too intense it can be overly stressful on the body - potentially not good.
I made my way down to the gym and noticed the typical ellipticals, treadmills, and wait...are those Peloton bikes? I had totally bought into the sexy commercials where attractive people are working out on their Peloton - always from their super expensive high rise apartment with amazing water views! Anyway, these Pelotons were in the basement of our apartment building which was inherently not as sexy, but I was still intrigued. With my mast cell disorder, could I handle a Peloton workout?
Turns out, I could. Initially, I gave myself permission to go at about 50 - 60% capacity - I wanted to sweat, not stress my body too much, but also get the blood moving. I felt great afterwards - something similar to the natural runner’s high that people talk about. Truth was - I was hooked! For the next few weeks, I did Peloton workouts at least 2 - 3 times a week, and gradually began pushing myself more - depending on how my body felt during the workout. At the end of each workout, I was amazed at how I felt! I literally had not felt that good in years!
In the matter of a few weeks, I had gone from minimal exercise (and feeling like crap) to doing more moderate, vigorous exercise and as a result - feeling amazing.
I was now very aware of how doing moderate to more intense exercise had a huge impact on my overall health by keeping my autoimmune symptoms at bay. More on this to come!
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