Category: Aging

Understanding the Injury Recovery Cycle: A Personal Journey

I’ve been taking a much needed mental health break these past few weeks, enjoying some down time. I received some bad news from the doctor regarding my injury recovery just prior to Thanksgiving. Hearing the words, degenerative damage, really sent me spiraling. I had been trying to hold on and push through, so hearing those words felt like a gut punch. Ironically, as bad as it was to hear, it was what I needed to move forward.

I’ve really been in a rut this last month. As my recovery time wore on, I became quite frustrated and deflated. I spent a lot of time trying to kick start my motivation and couldn’t quite get anything going. Having been through this before, I recognized that my mental wellness was suffering. While quite common during injury recovery, that should not be underestimated.

My thoughts recently have centered around injury recovery time and mental wellness of athletes. I am not a high level athlete, but I have always enjoyed participating in sporting events and working out. I thrive when I train and engage in these events, physically and mentally. I think it is the structure of training that fuels me. I love to workout for a purpose – i.e., to run longer distances, or run a distance in a shorter time. I strive to lift a heavier weight or to add a set to the lift. Knowing the end goal really pushes me to do the work.

Recently, I had been focused on my performance in pickleball. I’ve been working out at the gym to improve my performance, as well as drilling and playing games. I made steady progress and was truly enjoying the sport. It felt great to be part of the pickleball community. When the injury occurred, I assumed it would be a quick recovery. As the time passed and I still experienced pain, I began to try to navigate my way through.

I’ve come to understand that there is a cycle many athletes go through when recovering from injury. It doesn’t matter what level you are, though I imagine it’s far worse when you are an elite athlete. What matters is that, much grief, there are stages you move through as you work toward recovery. The mental aspect of this process is what I have been focusing on.

I have a competitive personality. I thrive when I am striving to accomplish a goal. I love to figure things out and especially love the learning process of it all. When I was a runner, I wanted to learn everything I could to make me a better runner. Same, in my professional life. I was always striving to learn and grow. My personal identity was strongly tied to my ability to run the distance, or improve my school. With an athlete mindset, I dealt with life through my sport, it is part of who I was. I was a runner, I was a Principal, I was an athlete.

The athletic part of my life became a strong coping mechanism for me, both growing up and as an adult. What a fabulous stress reliever to go out early in the morning for a long run, or workout. I started most of my days with an early morning gym session, run or walk. Therefore, when I get injured, it can feel like a personal threat to my identity. Suddenly, it feels like my life is altered and my routines disrupted. The morning athletic time is no longer an option, leaving me feeling isolated and sad.

I want to share my journey through this injury cycle. I hope it helps anyone else dealing with a similar situation.

Stages of Injury Cycle

Much like grief, there is a cycle people can experience when they experience an injury. Those, like me, who engage in training outside of professional sports, are no exception. The cycles do not necessarily follow a linear order. Instead, we go through them in response to our personal experiences. Here are the stages and my response to each.

1. Denial

The day I sustained the injury, I knew it wasn’t good. But, I thought if I stretched, I would be fine. When stretching did not help, I knew enough to leave the court. I went home and iced my foot, followed by compression and elevation. I thought for sure I’d be fine in the morning. I planned to take the next day off and expected to be ready to play by Saturday. I truly didn’t think it was anything serious. Honestly, I still haven’t canceled my playing commitments. I’m still going week by week, hoping to be back on the court. Denial of the injury is quite common and considered the first step in the recovery process.

2. Anger

As the days went on and turned into weeks, I started to get frustrated. I could barely walk to the corner without feeling pain. I didn’t understand why the pain wasn’t getting better and refused to stop trying to walk. Each day I got angrier about this inconvenience. I was angry at myself for not doing a proper warmup before playing and blamed myself for the injury. I was angry at my body for failing me. I was angry that I was missing so much playing time.

3. Bargaining

At this point, I was desperate to be done with the injury. I decided to rest for a few days and see if that improved my recovery. It was as if I said to my body, I’ll give you a week of rest, then will you heal? I remember thinking I just need to stop exercising entirely. I’ll recover quickly and it’ll be worth it. When that didn’t work out, I’ll admit I was back to anger. That’s what I say the cycles are not experienced in a linear fashion. When my bargain failed, I was right back to being angry. I was thinking, I gave you what you wanted, why are you not doing your part. It is quite frustrating!

4. Depression

Right before Thanksgiving I felt like I was at my lowest. It have been 8 weeks and I still wasn’t feeling better. Every day I had pain and I was ready to just give up. I remember hobbling in to the doctor’s office that morning and telling him I needed help. I shared with him everything I had done to improve and that nothing was working. I said there must be something he could recommend. I was on the verge of tears and said, soon I’ll be chubby and depressed. I will admit he was very patient with me and truly explained things to me. That is when degenerative issues came up. My feet have logged a lot of running miles. Many years of long distance running and training were not kind to my body.

5. Acceptance

This was the lowest point of my journey. I also think it was the moment that slapped sense into me. It felt like there was a moment of clarity for me here. I understood better the timeline and the reality of my injury. I also understood that it was not my fault entirely and I had done nothing wrong. As I drove home from the doctor’s office, I was extremely upset. When I got home, I got my gym bag packed and headed to the gym.

I decided that day, that I had to do something different. I was going down a slippery slope and needed to find something that wouldn’t cause pain. That day, I did something I’d been resisting. I put on my swim suit and got back in the pool to swim laps. I knew that meant I accepted my injury for what it was. I also knew that I still needed something athletic to engage in to improve my mental wellness. Swimming is something I’d done in the past when recovering from tendon repair surgery. I can’t say I love it, but it is very therapeutic and a great workout too.

Next Steps

I am two weeks past the news that this injury is way more than I anticipated. I have created a new schedule for my workouts. I have been able to lift weights throughout the injury, just modifying for anything that puts pressure on the foot. I’ve now added one mile lap swims two days a week. I also tried a Barre class locally and was able to do the class without pain.

My new routine has been so helpful for my mental wellness. I am focused on my recovery and finding ways to engage in movement is an essential component for me. I am now working out again, six days a week with one full day of rest. I started dry needling at the doctor’s recommendation. It is a bit painful, but I do feel it is helping.

My best advice is to find solace in setting new goals and focusing on other areas of your life. Injury recovery is tough, especially when you are used to being highly active. It is hard to accept that you are not able to just push through. Take that energy and use it to fuel your recovery. For me, setting new goals and focusing on other ways to move has been a lifeline.

I would be very interested to hear about your journey with injury. What have you found helped you the most? Please share in the comment section below, via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, or on Instagram.

Reclaiming Health: How Alzheimer’s Shaped My Wellness Journey

Your mother is always with you…
She’s the whisper of the leaves
as you walk down the street.
She’s the cool hand on your brow
when you’re not well.
Your mother lives inside your laughter.
She’s crystallized in every tear drop.
She’s the place you came from,
your first home…
She’s the map you follow
with every step that you take.
She’s your first love
and your first heart break…
and nothing on earth can separate you.
Not time, Not space
Not even death
will ever separate you
from your mother
You carry her inside of you

-Deborah Culver

I have many new followers and subscribers and thought it was a good time to introduce Reclaiming Health Blog. This is not a money making blog, rather it is a labor of love. I find it very therapeutic to write and document my wellness journey. The road traveled is not always easy, as long time readers know, but the will is strong. I’m thankful to those who are here and would love to hear about they why behind your wellness journey.

In this post, I will discuss my why. We all arrive to the wellness journey at different points in our lives. My why was cultivated as I slowly lost my mother on her Alzheimer’s journey. I made a vow then that I would do anything I could to not have my children take that same walk with me. I’m on a mission to reclaim my health, hence the title of the blog. ReclaimingHealthBlog.com, is a space in which I share my journey with others. It allows me to interact with others and also hold myself accountable to the work, but how did I get here?

When I had my last running injury, my mother was well into her Alzheimer’s journey. I sustained a torn tendon that required surgery. Following surgery, I was on crutches and unable to walk. I remember being in a lot of pain as well. My dad brought my mom out to my house to visit me as I couldn’t drive to them. I remember trying to get up to get something and feeling pain. My mother, who was mostly nonverbal at this point, suddenly jumped up from the couch and said, “Can I help you?” It was such a profound moment with her and reassured me that her love was still strong, despite this cruel and heartless disease.

The day I went into the hospital for surgery, I remember sobbing and saying this was the first time in my life that my mother wouldn’t be able to comfort me. I felt her loss so deeply. Alzheimer’s is one of the hardest journeys to witness, and sadly I’ve witnessed it twice. As a young newly married mother, I watched my grandmother fade away. Then, a mere 30 years later I was watching the same happen with my mother. It was at that point, I began to realize I could be next.

This realization has been the driving force behind this blog and my health journey. I have read, studied and learned that there are ways I can possibly reduce my risk for getting Alzheimer’s. I’ve learned that what I once thought was a disease of pure genetics, can actually be delayed or avoided through lifestyle changes. If there is even a small chance I can avoid this fate, why wouldn’t I try? What have I got to lose?

Watching my mother leave was very painful for our family. She was an amazing mother, wife and friend. When one progresses through this disease, they lose their memories and then their voice. My mother was physically there, but she was gone at the same time. She didn’t recognize any of us and couldn’t communicate. I didn’t get to hear her voice for her last 5 years with us. Truly this was a long goodbye.

When I sat at the care center with my family during those last years, I often left sobbing. It was so sad to see so many people living with Alzheimer’s. It was then that I began reading, researching and learning everything I could about this disease. I made a vow to my mother and myself that I would do whatever I could to live a brain healthy lifestyle.

Sadly, my story is not unique. In the United States, an estimated 500,000 new cases of Alzheimer’s disease are diagnosed each year. In fact, Alzheimer’s is the fifth-leading cause of death among Americans age 65 and older. In 2023, an estimated 6.7 million Americans are living with Alzheimer’s disease. These statistics are staggering. In my family alone, we lost my grandmother, mother and father in law to Alzheimer’s.

After attending the 2024 Food Revolution Docuseries, I realized there was hope.It was the first time I heard talk about prevention, and that that should be more of the focus. I’d long been following work done to find a cure and each time a trial failed, I’d feel helpless. Hearing that lifestyle and nutritional changes can have an impact, gave me renewed hope. This learning has fueled me to live better and share my experience through this blog.

I do not have all the answers and I am not a doctor. I know what resonates with me and am trying my best to continue to learn and grow. I believe the research that says nutrition and lifestyle can prevent Alzheimer’s in some cases. I am hopeful that I am one of those cases. I plan to continue to attend seminars and take courses to learn more about brain health.

I’ve written blog posts that share my learning and specific actions taken, and will continue to do so. Generally, I post one blog per week.

Posts I’ve Written About My Brain Health Journey:

Fork Power

Longevity and Brain Health: Lessons from My 93-Year-Old Father

The China Study: Reducing Health Risks with a Plant-Based Diet

IRAH: Individual Retirement Account for Health – A Personal Transformation Journey

My Mother’s Story:

I wrote this post just after my mother died. It’s a very personal piece.

The Notebook

Resources to Learn About Brain Health:

I took a course recently with  Dr. Dean and Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, co-directors of the Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University Health. Through their research, they have found that lifestyle choices can have a long-term impact on brain health.  You can read more about the work being done at Loma Linda Memory Center at the links below:

https://lluh.org/neurology/our-services/memory-center

https://news.llu.edu/health-wellness/fight-against-alzheimers

I’ve also taken courses and attended the 2024 Food Revolution docuseries. You can visit their site at the link below:

https://foodrevolution.org/

Next Steps:

My next steps are always evolving as I learn and grow. I plan to continue on my whole food plant based journey and definitely notice improvement in how I feel. I am working with a Registered Dietitian who specializes in plant based lifestyles, to ensure that I get the right nutritional balance in my meals. I continue to follow up with blood work periodically and am due to have testing done this month. I also continue to spend as much time as I can with my children making beautiful memories, which I plan to keep.

If you are on a similar path, or have information to share on this topic, please reach out to me in the comment section below. I look forward to hearing from you and continuing this journey to wellness together.

The Impact of Giving Up Running on My Health Journey: A Reflective Journey

“Movement will give you access to joy that will dramatically improve the quality of your life.” – Kelly McGonigal

I’ve been reflecting a lot recently on my current health journey. I feel like I’ve learned so much about myself through this reflection. It’s no secret that this last journey has been by far my hardest. There were many causes that led me to my lowest point, I can not just name one. It was like the perfect storm, a particularly bad or critical state of affairs, arising from a number of negative and unpredictable factors. In isolation, each event that happened was life changing. In combination, they served to wreak havoc on my mental and physical health.

The past four years have been some of the hardest in my life, but as they say, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I am finally in a space where I can reflect on all I’ve learned through my experience. To share, my perfect storm consisted of the following events coming together, 1) physical injury that caused me to give up running; 2) COVID pandemic; 3) death of my mother.

I’d like to reflect today on the impact giving up running had on my overall wellness, as I believe it was deeper than I ever imagined.

Physical Injury

I was always a runner. I was up and out early mornings with my father as we ran around the neighborhood park. The loop was 1 1/3 miles and we did 3 loops to start our day. Later, I ran track in school and found I wasn’t good at the short, fast events, but I could run long distance. I’ve run 5k, 10k, Half Marathon and Marathon races. Running was a great sport for me, as I loved the time spent outside in nature. It truly is meditative.

During 2017 and 2018, I was training for the NYC Marathon. Both years, I did not make it to the starting line as I sustained a femoral stress fracture up near the hip joint. This injury required 12-16 weeks non weight bearing, followed by physical therapy. In 2018, I also sustained three broken toes. My body was definitely telling me it was time to cut back on running, but I had always wanted to run the NYC Marathon.

In 2019, I knew I wouldn’t be able to cover the training distance needed to get to the starting line, but was determined to get there. I used a different approach that year, cutting back on training run distance and working more on my functional strength, stamina and cardio. I signed up for CrossFit and used that as my main method of training, coupled with shorter runs, no more that 10 miles. That year, I was able to complete my goal and finish the NYC Marathon.

As excited and proud as I am about that goal, I know that I sacrificed my body to achieve it. I finished this race with another femoral stress fracture and this one seemed by far to be the most painful. I was back on crutches and back to the healing process. I knew that would be my last race and promised my family I would give up long runs. What I didn’t realize was how hard it would be to give up running and what role running played in my health journey.

Mental Wellness

When I returned to work, following the marathon, I was back on crutches. I was mad at my body and mad at myself for doing this to myself again. I truly felt that my body had failed me and didn’t understand why. Knowing my training and running days were over, I seemed to have less interest in recovery or maintaining my fitness levels. I had what I describe as a pity party and ate anything I wanted regardless of the fact that I wasn’t moving at all.

Going through COVID shutdowns and the death of my mother a few months later, I had no motivation to heal or do anything. If I couldn’t run, I didn’t want to do anything. I gained so much weight during this time and looked like a different person. When I look back now at the photographs, I don’t even recognize myself.

I didn’t understand that movement, not just running, had played a pivotal role on my wellness and its absence would have a profound impact on me.

Movement

I now realize the role movement played in my life beyond just running races. Movement was critical to my overall wellness, both mentally and physically. If I look back, I was running 4 miles most mornings with my dad around the park before the sun was up. Training for long races, required me to do long distances before work, meaning I was up and running most mornings before the sun was up. I’ve seen so many sun rises out on the road and never realized how important seeing them was to my overall mental health.

When I knew I wouldn’t be running anymore, I gave all that up without realizing it was the glue that held me together. Post-marathon depression may not be a clinical diagnosis, but it’s real. To put it into context, when you accomplish any goal that you worked toward for years, it’s only normal that a letdown occurs when it’s over. Add to this the knowledge that it was your last running event and you can see how deep the loss is.

When I finally pushed myself to get back out there, I was walking. It was different for sure, both in distance covered and effort, but it felt good to lace up my shoes. I like to say walking saved me. I wish I had known just how important movement was to my health. I never acknowledged that, just saw it as training or a work out session.

I’ve learned that, movement is vital for overall wellness as it significantly improves both physical and mental health by reducing the risk of disease, boosting mood, managing stress, and improving cognitive function. Essentially, it contributes to a better quality of life across various aspects of health. My journey can attest to these facts. When I stopped moving, my health declined both physically and mentally. In its absence, I was not well. When I started moving again, my wellness both mentally and physically improved.

Movement can take many forms, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach.  Movement can include things like, walking your dog, mowing the lawn, sweeping or raking leaves, working out at the gym, swimming, playing pickleball, taking a yoga class. Honestly, the possibilities are endless. The more time we spend moving and not sitting the better we will feel.

Movement in My Day

  1. Walking – I walk outside twice a day, once when I first get out of bed, before the sun rise and once in the afternoon. I do this regardless of the weather, but do have access to a treadmill should I need to stay indoors.
  2. Pickleball – I play pickleball almost every day, either drills or competitive games.
  3. Weight Training – I am currently lifting twice a week, but will be adding in a third session soon.
  4. Yoga – I try to grab a yoga class whenever I have time.

Possible Movement at Work

  1. Walking – Walk around the block after you park your car before entering the building. Walk at lunch.
  2. Walking pad – They now sell walking pads that you can place under your desk to allow you to get your steps in. I haven’t used one to recommend, but here is a an option that looks portable enough – Walking Pad Compact Size
  3. 1 minute Exercise sessions – Set your timer for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off take a short walk, or do some air squats, or wall push ups in your office. Just get up out of the chair.

Conclusion

I find being outdoors walking in the early morning, before sunrise, to be magical. It’s so quiet and still out there and it’s truly unlike any other time of the day. I’ve been starting my day like this for over 50 years now and didn’t realize how critical it was to my health, until I stopped doing it. I am so thankful to be back out there and know that it’s helped heal me. I hope you find time to experience that time of stillness and beauty in your health regime. There are many proven benefits you will get, mentally and physically. For further reading, consider this article:

6 Proven Scientific Benefits of Walks at Sunrise or Sunset

I’d love to hear about your journey. What has helped you along the way? What roadblocks are you facing? Feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below.

Embracing Personal Accountability for a Healthier, Fulfilled Life

“Personal accountability requires mindfulness, acceptance, honesty and courage.” – Shelby Martin

Personal success can be achieved through taking accountability for our actions. This shift takes time and is one I’ve embraced on this health journey. It’s also one I hadn’t embraced in the past.  It’s hard to come to terms with the reality that you and you alone are responsible for the decisions you make each day, but personal accountability is the key to living a healthy, fulfilled, and meaningful life. Even though it can be challenging, accepting personal accountability will enable you to learn from mistakes and make adjustments to your journey.

Our consistency and day to day life decisions play a huge role in the progress we make and results we achieve. Believe me, I know it feels better to blame work stress, genetics, health or other outside reasons for my failure to make progress. Blaming others or making excuses can lead to giving up when things get hard. There are certainly cases where outside factors are a key reason one is not achieving results, despite putting in the work. I would never want to minimize that, but, today I’d like to talk about accepting personal accountability for your health journey.

My Journey

I’ve been on this health journey for what feels like a lifetime. I’ve honestly tried everything there was to try. I worked with countless nutritionists who wanted to sell me endless products. Everyone seemed to have their own angle on what I needed to do. I would try what they said, not see results fast enough and give up, then blame them. I believed every advertisement I saw that spoke to those who haven’t had results, but would if they only tried their new approach. I worked out endlessly, ate clean and couldn’t seem to ever stay on track. It wasn’t until I shifted my mindset from doing what someone else said I needed to do, to taking control over my own journey, that I began to have success.

Think about this, every single decision you make in a day is in your own hands. I decide every day whether I will sleep in, get up, work out, eat out or cook. I needed to accept responsibility for the decisions I made. Recognizing and honoring this was a necessary first step toward making lasting changes in my health. It was also a powerful tool toward changing unwanted behaviors and ways of thinking about myself.

Many of us spend our days drowning in negative self talk, blame and procrastination. On this journey toward reclaiming our health, we first need to address the elephant in the room – blame and excuses. Yes, it is far easier to say I’m still overweight because I’m a middle aged woman, or my parents were overweight, or, or, or. Accepting these excuses and reasons for our struggle can lead us to accepting where we are, giving up on trying to change our way of life. I know this first hand, as I had given up on even trying. I began to accept that this was just how I was going to be.

Personal Accountability

Personal accountability is the practice of accepting responsibility for your actions, words, and behaviors, and the consequences that result. It involves taking ownership of situations, and doing your best to improve, whether the outcome is good or bad. People who are personally accountable don’t blame others or make excuses, and they try to make amends when things go wrong.

Personal accountability does not mean we place blame, or shame on ourselves. Rather, it is meant to be a means to accept that despite where you are right now on your health journey, including the reasons for being there, you have the power and responsibility to improve your health and make lasting changes.

Roadblocks

Two of the most common reasons for not achieving our goals can be tied to lack of consistency and not having a strong enough purpose – your why.

Consistency:

I’ve written about the importance of consistency on your health journey. This blog is worth your read – The Compound Effect. Consistency is your super power. Quite simply, the small decisions and moves you make over time will determine your rates of success. It’s a lifestyle, not a diet or program.

This hit home for me once when a doctor asked me about my activity levels. I replied that, I run 3 miles most mornings, swim other mornings and ride my bicycle. She said that’s a great way to start your day, but what do you do for the rest of the day? I had to pause and think. I often sat and read, worked on the computer, binged Netflix, etc. Most of my activity for the day was completed by 10:00 AM each day, leaving me feeling like I had put the work in. Sadly, I was thinking of exercise as something I needed to get done.

Exercise is part of an active lifestyle, not something you do to check off a box on your daily list. The more you move, the healthier you will be. I now move throughout my day, not just in the morning. For example, I take a brisk walk when I wake each morning for about 30 minutes, about 1 mile. I then often relax and have breakfast. A few hours later, I head down to the pickleball courts and play games or practice for about 2 hours. I then cook our main meal of the day and we eat lunch. I relax, do some reading, or computer work and then take my afternoon walk, about 1.5 miles. When I return, I either go down to the pool, or go into town to the beach area. We have a light dinner and I walk with the dog for a bit to end the day. Then it’s either relaxing evening home, or we go out. As you can see, I am moving all throughout the day. You can change the walking to bike riding in the nicer weather, or yoga for pickleball. Honestly, it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you are consistently moving your body.

Purpose:

MY WHY -Having  strong reasons for getting healthy can help improve your focus and drive. Losing weight for a special event, while motivating in the short term, won’t sustain you over the long haul. Generally after the event is over, so is your motivation and drive to continue. Further, we often feel we have achieved our goal and begin slowly to loosen up on our decisions.

Center your purpose around longer term goals to keep you grounded when the going gets tough. In my case, my why is to maintain optimum health as I move into the next phase of my life. When I declare my why I say, “I WILL hold on to my memory and live a long, active life.”    This is my motivation and my drive.  It pushes me out of bed when I don’t want to get up and exercise.  It pushes me to think about what I am putting in my mouth.  It helps me hold on to the gains I’ve made these past years and continuously pushes me forward. It helps me not stray far off the path, even though there are bumps along the way.

Next Steps

Success on this journey will require action. This action includes accepting personal responsibility and not allowing yourself to make excuses when you fail to follow through

Here are a few of the ways I have been holding myself accountable.

Planning

They say a goal without a plan is just a dream. Planning is the biggest key to success on any health journey. When I fail to plan, I always end up making decisions that aren’t in my best interest, especially around food choice. Planning for me includes shopping for healthy food, planning for meals and scheduling workouts. Using a calendar and developing a schedule is the easiest way I get my daily workouts in. Blocking out times to move my body has been essential. I wake up, brush my teeth, throw on shoes and go for a brisk walk every day. I do this before I do anything else. It’s now a habit. After lunch, I go for another walk every day. I sometimes bring my phone and catch up with a friend. Build your routines into your daily calendar and you will see improvement in your consistency.

Menu planning and food shopping go hand in hand. If I don’t plan out my meals I end up cooking whatever is easy, not necessarily healthy. Whenever I am off target I know that it means I haven’t been diligent about shopping and planning. I am not a meal prep person, I just don’t like to have the food all prepared for the week. I like to cook easy, simple meals to avoid the one long day of prep. For example, yesterday we ate Miso-glazed Eggplant with Farro . On the table in 45 minutes, delicious and easy. Whichever approach works for you, this area of planning is essential for success.

Share the Journey

Writing this blog over the years has allowed me to share my journey. It’s picked me back up when I’ve fall down and holds me accountable. I find writing very therapeutic, as I work through issues I am facing myself. Making my journey public has held me personally accountable. I can’t write about things others should do if I don’t do them myself. This blog keeps me grounded in my why. One of the best ways to stay strong and focused is to share your journey with a friend or loved one. Find yourself a partner and support each other along the way.

Positive Self Talk

Blame, negativity and excuses are hard to stave off. I’m working hard on using positive self talk to replace them whenever they rear their ugly heads. Find yourself a means to use positivity and gratitude to keep your spirits up. This will be a difficult journey and there will be times when your emotions take over. Having an outlet, or means to keep it positive will go a long way towards keeping you moving forward. I’ve written blogs on this topic, which can be found here Kritajna Hum: I am gratitude, Things I’m Letting Go Of

Tracking Progress

At the gym I always hear this, “What get’s measured gets improved.” Tracking progress will greatly improve your motivation and drive. Don’t just weigh yourself and lament over lack of weight loss. Measure all progress – This week I worked out six out of seven days, Today I ate three healthy meals, I slept through the night, etc. There are so many areas of our life that we can look to for progress. The scale is only one way to track our progress. In past blogs I’ve talked about taking your measurements as an alternative to the scale. Taking photographs is another positive way to see progress. Recognizing our daily and weekly successes helps change our thinking around success.

Move to Live

The more we move, the better we will feel. Movement across the day is an important pillar of my journey. I plan it into each day and have cultivated strong habits around movement. Dr. William Sears clearly states, “sit less, move more, live longer”, which definitely is the plan here. I’ve written a blog post on this topic and you can visit it here – Move to Live. I hope you will take the time to read this and lace up your shoes for a walk.

Reach Out

I hope you are connecting to your current health journey. Moving forward is always our goal. In reflecting on where you are right now, perhaps ask yourself, “What are some ways you currently hold yourself accountable?”,  “How do you maintain your positivity?”, “Do I move throughout the day?”, and “Who can I share this journey with?”.

I’m always interested in hearing your thoughts.  Please take a moment to share your ideas with me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comments below.  Also, consider sharing this blog with a friend who is on this path with you.

Longevity and Brain Health: Lessons from My 93-Year-Old Father

“Caring for your body, mind, and spirit is your greatest and grandest responsibility. It’s about listening to the needs of your soul and then honoring them” – Kristi Ling

My father is 93 years young, living independently and able to walk for exercise. He lives a fairly active lifestyle, going every day to the local senior club. They go on trips each week which gives him a chance to get out and socialize. He has some age-related ailments, but for the most part, he is in great shape.

left to right, My Dad (blue shirt, 93), Me, My Uncle (90)

My father has always been a purpose driven man, getting his Bachelor and Masters Degree in his early 50s, while raising three children. He was a Police Officer in NYC and didn’t need to do that, but his drive pushed him to do so. My father always believed in education and building knowledge. When my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Dad’s sole purpose was to care for her. He did everything for her and treated her as if nothing had changed. When she was in a care center full time, his purpose was to be there every single day without fail and he was. See a post on his dedication here, The Notebook.

At my first session of a new six week learning program, the doctors were talking about longevity and brain health. It was stated that, research found people who had longevity, and were still cognitively sharp, engaged in common behaviors. Specifically, they engaged in physical exercise, ate more plant-centered diets and engaged their brains in complex tasks, leading a purpose driven life. When I heard that, I immediately thought of my father, who at 93 is cognitively sound.

My whole life I have taken after my father. I pray I have his longevity and cognitive health, for the women in my family have not been as lucky. My purpose, or why, is to avoid, or delay this fate. This purpose motivates me to learn, grow and move my body every day. I’ve learned that the risk of getting Alzheimer’s is not mainly driven by genetics. Approximately 3% of the total number of Alzheimer’s patients have specific genetic disease risks that cannot be avoided. Over 95% do not have that risk factor, meaning lifestyle and diet matter most in avoiding, or delaying onset of cognitive decline. (Sherazi, Dr.)

Diet and lifestyle matter, for what we do today and most importantly for our future. Here is what was shared regarding lifestyle choices for brain health and longevity.

Movement

We all should aim to move our bodies every single day for a minimum of 30 minutes. Brisk walking is highly recommended, as is tennis and racquet sports such as pickleball. The type of exercise we engage in matters. For brain health, it is recommended that we do the following:

  • Frequency – We need a regimented system of exercising, meaning organized and scheduled. Should be a minimum of 4-5 days per week for at least 30 minutes a day. Personally, I believe that brisk walks should be done daily for at least 30 minutes. The best time, in my opinion, is first thing in the morning to let the sunlight reset your circadian rhythm.
  • Strength – We lose muscle mass as we age. We need to engage in muscle-building routines, such as circuit machines, use of body weight or dumbells. We should work all the muscles in our body, but for brain health specific attention should be given to our legs. These large muscles keep us physically moving and are connected to vascular health.
  • Aerobic – We need to get our hearts pumping regularly as this increases blood flow through our bodies. Swimming, jogging or any other activity that increases your heart rate should be engaged in at least 3 times per week.
  • Consistency – This is a lifestyle, not a reach your target weight and stop. We are signing up to do this for life, as our life depends on it. I move every single day, as does my 93-year-old dad. When we stop moving, we start declining. Make a doable schedule and stick to it. I use my calendar and book it on there and I’m retired. If you are working, you will need to book this time for yourself and make it happen. For too many years, I skipped workouts. Those days are over.
  • **As with all recommendations it is imperative you speak to your health care provider about your specific abilities and limitations. Start slow and build up to these recommendations. I started with a slow walk around the block.

I’ve written many blogs on this topic if you’d like to read more, Move to Live, Healthy Lifestyle: Food, Exercise, and Joy in My Daily Routine

Lifestyle

  • Food – the research is clear that eating more plant based foods is good for our health. When my grandmother was alive, she advocated eating our fruits and vegetables, so this is not new. Processed foods need to be greatly reduced, better yet eliminated. Eat whole foods whenever possible. I eat whole food plant based and have been for six (6) months. I also do not eat any dairy products. I feel better than ever and will continue on this path. If giving up meat is not for you, you can greatly reduce your reliance on it as your main source of protein and increase your meatless days. Eat food that loves your brain, leafy greens and berries to name two. For more information on brain healthy food, see this https://www.health.harvard.edu/healthbeat/foods-linked-to-better-brainpower. Past blogs on my food choices – Change Our Thinking About Food, Eat to Live
  • Socialization – Far too many elderly people become isolated, due to various reasons. Ensure you have systems to keep you engaged with others built into your retirement plans. That is the main reason my husband and I moved when we retired. We loved our home, but knew the challenges to stay fully engaged and active would cause too much time alone at home. We had friends, but they were working still and to do anything, we would have had to constantly leave our area. We now have a full array of things to do right here in our community. Join a club, or senior center if you do not. Like my dad, who never wanted to join one, it gives him something to do each day and he’s around people. Isolation is not good for our brains.
  • Sleep -Quality sleep is one of the most critical aspects of our health. It is when our body rests, recharges and when our brain organizes and cleans out waste. Many people struggle to get fully restorative sleep, myself included. I am doing much better these days. I went into greater detail about getting quality sleep in the blog post – Sweet Dreams. I highly recommend you read it and work on your sleep, your life and brain health depend on it.
  • Stress – Stress almost killed me and it destroyed my health, no doubt about it. It takes a huge toll on us emotionally, physically and healthwise. We need to reduce our stress. Exercise, yoga, meditation and mindfulness all help. I wrote about these in great detail in these posts – Finding Myself, Just Breathe

Purpose

Some studies suggest that having a sense of purpose in life can be associated with increased longevity and a healthier life. A 2019 Harvard Health study found that people with a higher sense of purpose were less likely to die during a four-year study period, and less likely to die from heart, circulatory, or blood conditions. A 2022 study of older adults in the United States found that people with the strongest sense of purpose had a 15.2% lower risk of death, and that this association was stronger in women than men. 

I recommend your purpose be grounded in your why. Why do you want to be healthy? Why does this matter? Why do you get up each day? This will serve to motivate you to keep going when the going is tough. Believe me, my why keeps me focused and working toward my goal. It matters to me. Find what you are trying to achieve and ask why. Frame your decisions around that why.

I love learning and was an educator my whole career. I have been keeping my brain active in retirement, taking courses, along with completing my yoga certification. I am cooking in different ways now and needed to learn how to do that as well. All of the courses I’ve taken were connected to my why – to live a long, healthy, active life and keep my memories. I do not want to be a burden to my family, nor do I want them to watch me slip away, as my mother and grandmother did. I hope you will find your why and join me on this journey to reclaim your health.

I’d love to hear from you about your journey. Feel free to reach out to me via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog. You can find me on Instagram and Facebook as well, or just leave a comment below.

The China Study: Reducing Health Risks with a Plant-Based Diet

In the next ten years, one of the things you’re bound to hear is that animal protein is one of the most toxic nutrients of all that can be considered. Quite simply, the more you substitute plant foods for animal foods, the healthier you are likely to be. – T. Colin Campbell

Recently, I overheard someone giving out health advice following a game of pickleball. It went something like this, “It’s easy to lose weight, if you want to. I’ll tell you what I did, I eat a lot of olive oil, eggs, meat and fruits and vegetables for snacks.” He then went on to talk about how he puts olive oil on his food because it’s so healthy, and eats meat because he needs a lot of protein and eggs for breakfast every morning. Basically, he was describing a low carbohydrate approach to losing weight, while consuming large amounts of protein and dairy foods. I believe some would call it a Paleo diet.

I happened to be standing there when the conversation occurred. I leaned in and suggested he do some research on the effects of consuming large amounts of dairy and animal protein. His response was, “You can’t get fat by eating meat.” Perhaps that statement has some truth to it, depending largely on the quality and quantity of meat products he is consuming. Sadly, though health is way more than just about being thin or fat. His habit of consuming meat products as a main source of protein, coupled with eggs daily, is setting him up for potential health risk of heart disease, diabetes or cancer. I did suggest he speak with his cardiologist, or a registered dietician, to help him craft a well balanced nutritional plan that meets his specific needs.

So many of us have bought into the food industries ideal of what and how to eat, or not eat, to become thin. Focusing on weight loss, to look a certain way, has certainly led me down many paths in my life. Keto, fasting, shakes and skipping meals, all focused toward reducing the number on my scale had no real impact on my overall health. I used to think thin people were inherently healthy, but I now know that our size doesn’t truly give the full picture of our actual health. Ever hear the term skinny fat?

China Study

When it comes to our health, the association between diet and other diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease has been well documented. For example, the China Project is a survey of death rates for twelve different kinds of cancer for more than 2,400 counties and 880 million (96%) of China’s citizens, conducted jointly by Cornell University, Oxford University, and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine over the course of twenty years.

Dr. T. Colin Cambell, author of The China Study, examined the connection between eating an animal-based diet and developing illnesses such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, autoimmune disease, brain disease such as Alzheimer’s and macular degeneration. His study concluded that diets high in protein, particularly animal protein, are strongly linked to diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. Further, he states, “the findings from the China Study indicate that the lower the percentage of animal-based foods that are consumed, the greater the health benefits—even when that percentage declines from 10% to 0% of calories. So it’s not unreasonable to assume that the optimum percentage of animal-based products is zero, at least for anyone with a predisposition for a degenerative disease.”

For me, the idea that stood out the most was Dr. Campbell’s suggestion that the over consumption of protein-rich, animal-based foods is the real culprit of disease. This was what pushed me to finally make the commitment to living a fully plant based life.

Next Steps in Response

The science and research are pretty clear, in both the China Study and the Blue Zone study. You can dramatically reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes and increase your chances for longevity, just by changing your diet. Both of these studies advocated specific changes we can make to increase our health benefits. Personally, I have a predisposition for Alzheimer’s disease, as the women in my family have suffered from it. If making dietary changes gives me a better shot at avoiding, or delaying this fate, I am all in. Here are the next nutritional steps I would recommend to anyone wanting to take action based on these two studies.

  • Reduce, or eliminate animal products – I am fully eating whole food plant based for six (6) months now. That is what I felt I needed to do, based on my current health and familial health history. If you are not ready for that, consider at least drastically eliminating the amount of animal proteins you consume. You really don’t need to eat meat. Despite popular belief, you can get all the protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals you need from plants. Even if you are a serious athlete, you can perform at high levels while living a plant based lifestyle. Venus Williams, Cam Newton and many other athletes have shared their personal experiences with plant based diets.
  • Ensure variety and balance in food choice – I am committed to eating a variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and legumes each week. I east seasonal foods whenever possible and rotate through a variety of choices each week. I try to eat a minimum of 30 different types of plant foods each week, which is truly not hard to do at all. Eat the rainbow as they say. This variety helps keep our gut healthy and has a strong impact on our health. I shared more about this in a previous post Healthy Lifestyle: Food, Exercise, and Joy in My Daily Routine.
  • Increase fiber intake – I am very conscious of the body’s need for high fiber intakes and seek to eat a bare minimum of 30 grams a day. Ideally, I’d like to get closer to 50. Fiber is a critical component of any healthy diet plan and needed for optimal gut health. I share more about fiber in a past post Fiber Fueled. I get my fiber from my food choice, not in a bottle, though if needed there are supplements out there to at least get you started. Before taking anything, please speak to your health professional.
  • Eliminate intake of dairy products – I do not eat any dairy products at all. According to the China Study, there is a link between casein and cancer. I feel much less bloated without dairy products and believe my sleep has improved as well. Cheese is always the hardest to give up, but feeling well matters more to me than eating cheese. If you are not ready to give it up, perhaps you can cut back and make healthier choices when selecting cheeses to consume.

It wasn’t an easy shift to a whole food plant based eating, mainly because I didn’t know what to eat. My best advice is to focus on one meal at a time and give yourself grace as you go. I went cold turkey, but think it’s best to change one meal at a time. Take some time to eat a plant based breakfast each day for a week. Then change your lunch selections the next week. Lastly, rework your dinner. Another idea, if you just want to reduce your intake of animal products would be to implement meatless days into your week. Many people have meatless Monday on their dinner rotation. The China Study concluded that even a reduction of animal protein intake could improve health outcomes, so begin to rework some of your meals to get started. I shared some other ideas in these past posts you may want to read Change Our Thinking About Food, Eat to Live, Cooking to Nourish Your Mind, Body & Soul.

Conclusions

For me, this journey is truly a personal one, a promise I made to myself during the long goodbye said to my mother. As I watched her slip away, I vowed to try anything that would avoid having my children go through this painful existence. Losing a loved one is always hard, but losing them, while they are still here is even harder. Ronald Reagan called it, the long goodbye, in the letter he wrote when sharing his Alzheimer’s diagnosis. That is surely was. You can read more about my mother in these posts I’ve shared The Notebook and The Long Goodbye.

If you wish to read more about my personal transformative journey, I shared information in this post IRAH: Individual Retirement Account for Health – A Personal Transformation Journey.

I hope you will consider starting a personal journey for yourself to reclaim, or improve your health. It all starts with nutrition and what we eat. I hope you will reflect on your food choices and see what impact they are having on your current health. If you have any questions about any of my posts, feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or Facebook, or in the comment section below.

*This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience. As an Amazon associate, I may receive a small commission, at no additional cost to you. This helps me offset the cost of running this blog and I only recommend items I use and love. Thank you for your support.

Move to Live

“…but I now consider exercise to be the most potent longevity “drug” in our arsenal, in terms of lifespan and healthspan. The data are unambiguous: exercise not only delays actual death but also prevents both cognitive and physical decline, better than any other intervention.”
― Peter Attia, Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

When I was an educator, we had an initiative called, Move to Improve that was instituted by the city as a means to draw attention to health and wellness. The main focus was on the benefits of exercise to student health and its connection to improved learning. When I think of moving these days, my focus is still on the connection of exercise to my overall wellness, but also am focused on healthy longevity. Nutrition is often thought of as the most important of the health pillars, however, movement could actually be far more important. Dr William Sears, lists movement as a key component in his pillars for healthy living and states, “sit less, move more, live longer“.

Doing less sitting and moving more, can be tied to living longer. Replacing 30 minutes per day of sedentary time with 30 minutes of physical activity at a light intensity was associated with a 17% lower risk of early death in a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Thirty minutes (30) would be your minimum movement per day and is a good starting point for many beginning a health journey, after long periods of being sedentary. It can be an simple as a 30 minute walk per day to begin. It is where I began my journey as well, and a commitment I made to myself, that no matter what the day brings, I would get at least a 30 minute walk every day outside in nature. I have kept this promise to myself for over a year now and it has had a huge impact on both my physical and emotional wellness.

Obviously, the hope is that you continue to increase your movement as you feel healthier and more able. I will share my journey to increase movement over the past year below. I would caution you to ease into any new routine and always have a physical with your medical professional before staring any exercise program.

Walking

Terribly out of shape, this former long distance runner needed to start slowly after a year and a half of not moving following a running injury. I made a commitment to myself to walk AT LEAST 30 minutes outside in nature every day. I simply walked my dog for 30 minutes every day. Being outside in nature is great for mental wellness, so please do leave the headsets home and enjoy the sights and sounds.

Tracking Movement

I’ve shared before that I wear a Fitbit tracker on my wrist every day. I now shoot for 10,000 steps each day, but when I started out I shot for 5,000, then increased to 8,000. It’s best to set goals that you will meet at first, because that will motivate you to continue. The tracker counts all movement, so even just walking in your house will get you credit. I never realized how sedentary I truly was until I wore the tracker. The one I linked is currently on a great sale now at Amazon at 25% off. I also wear this to bed to track my sleep (see my post on sleep here) every night, so it’s a win win device for wellness.

Yoga

I was far away from the shape I was in when I used to do daily power yoga classes, but that was just fine. I returned to my yoga practice, taking it slowly. I started out with very gentle Hatha yoga classes, which involved seated poses and stretching of muscles. As I improved, I moved to gentle flow classes and gradually increased the difficulty. Yoga is truly a key to my overall wellness program. It keeps my muscles supple, strengthens, improves breathing through breath work and improves my emotional wellness. I highly recommend yoga to anyone seeking to improve their wellness. It is accessible to any one, as you can modify it to suit your body. You can even take a chair yoga class when starting. Don’t hesitate to take yoga, you don’t have to be “fit” to start, just start. (Read my post on yoga here.)

Strength Training

As we age we lose muscle mass, strength and function, starting as young as 30 years old. The good news is that we can offset these loses through strength training. You don’t have to join Crossfit to build muscle, though it is a fabulous workout. Light weights, body weight movements, or use of circuit machines are a great option to add into your wellness routine. I try to do light weight training, combined with body weight exercises at least 2x a week. I did not start this immediately when returning to exercise, rather, when I felt ready, added it in. I use light dumbells, the Smith machine barbell at the gym, push ups and hanging pull ups mainly in my current routine. Start with a 3 pound dumbell and work your way up from there.

Aerobic Exercise

In order to improve fitness, strength, stamina, mood and cardiovascular health, I worked my way back to including aerobic exercise in my weekly exercise routine. It took me several months to get there, as I slowly increased my readiness. I love playing pickball and play at least 3 times each week, year round. I would love to get back to running regularly, but will never run long distance again. It’s just not necessary. I have been running one mile occasionally and it does feel good. Building our aerobic capacity is an important component of your wellness journey, so begin to think about what you enjoy doing. There are many options including, swimming, biking, interval training, running, tennis, pickleball, etc.

Balance

Balance is key. Do not overdo fitness, especially at first. Remember, we are in this for the long term, quite literally. Make a plan for your week and ensure you include rest days. That doesn’t mean you are sedentary, you still should have at least 30 minutes of movement. Remember walking is the easiest and most powerful tool in your fitness regime.

In his book, Outlive:The Art and Science of Longevity, Peter Attia, MD provides us with a guide to understanding why and what we should be doing to potentially offset chronic disease and live a longer and healthier life. He writes and explains in quite clear and understandable language. I am truly grateful to have come across this book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I highly recommend you become more informed about aging and longevity, even if you are under 30. It is critical to understand that the choices we make have implications on us in the future. Changing our stance from treating illnesses we develop later in life, to living better now to prevent their development will serve us all well. I for one have been on this path for quite some time now and am still far from an expert. I am just living my best life and planning for my future self. I hope you’ll take the time out to read this book, but if not, I hope you’ll take time out to reexamine your daily movement and exercise routines. Your future self will thank you, as will your family who will enjoy more quality time spent with you.

If you have any questions, or comments about my blog, please do feel free to reach out to me at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram, Facebook, or in the comment section below.

*As an Amazon associate, I may receive compensation for any of the links I have provided. This helps offset the cost of running my blog, so I thank you in advance.

Growing Wings

“There is freedom waiting for you,

On the breezes of the sky,

And you ask “What if I fall?

Oh but my darling,

What if you fly?”

– Erin Hanson

When I was teaching, I absolutely loved being in the classroom. I was first asked to be an Instructional Coach back in my early years of teaching and didn’t want to leave the classroom. My Principal at the time said to me that within my classroom, I would impact the lives of my students for the year they are with me, maybe beyond. If I stepped outside the classroom and worked with educators, I’d have impact on many more students through this work. In the end, I made the transition and loved it, going on to become a Principal a short time later.

My Principal was right in his advice, sometimes we have to step outside our comfort zone and share our knowledge and learning with others. It has been said, that the knowledge we gain, if not shared or used, is knowledge wasted. That’s one of the reasons I started this blog years ago, as both a source of strength for me on my journey and to engage with others on similar paths. It is through these connections that I both learn and share my learning.

Over the past year, I have engaged in the study of nutrition and wellness. I am now a Certified Wellness Coach. I am finishing up my 200 hour yoga teacher certification to become a Yoga Alliance Certified Yoga Teacher and taking an additional 20 hour course on Somatic Yoga for Therapy. Additionally, I am completing an 8 week deep dive into Whole Food Plant Based Nutrition. I know it sounds like a lot, but I have always been a certified knowledge junkie. I love to learn and would have chosen full time student as my best career! I am now beginning to think of ways I can share my learning with others. I’m developing plans to begin sharing my learning in a more systematic way.

What I believe I can offer to the conversation on health and wellness, is a deeply rooted understanding of what high stress, example, from executive level positions, can do to one’s health and wellness. I have lived through that journey and know that most corporations don’t offer plans, or take into account how to provide continuous systems to address wellness. Merely offering discounts on outside plans, or apps is truly not enough, as most people don’t take advantage of them. I am hesitant to dip my toes in the wellness water, as I feel the imposter syndrome voice raising her voice in my ear, but will push through those doubts.

I’d also like to work with women like me, who have tried many times to get this right and failed. I’ve lived that journey as well, starting over time and again. I have learned so much this past year, that I wish I knew during the past eight years of my health journey. Perhaps I would have had more success along the bumpy road. Perhaps, I was meant to fail over and over to push me to learn more and find my way. Perhaps I am right where I’m supposed to be. Many of you have reached out and shared your connections to my journey and that has fueled me forward. I’d love to get some groups going and will launch one in the coming months on my Instagram page. I will offer fully online groups, as well as in person for local people.

I’d like to deepen the sharing of my personal journey and use that as the vehicle to help others get started. Most of us are afraid to put ourselves out there and ask for help. We fear judgement from others who are in optimal shape and fear we are too far gone to be able to make this journey. I am living proof that it is never too late to try again. I am going to put together some specific content to help others get started on their path to reclaiming their health.

As you know, I am a small steps, big results person. I know full well that if it feels complicated, it likely won’t happen. In the coming months, I’ll be working on building some content and will be sharing information here and on my Instagram page. I hope you’ll take this journey with me in some form. I always learn from your journey and feedback. Even if just one person is helped by something I share, I will consider myself successful.

If you have any questions, feedback, or comments on any of my blogs, reach out to me via email at laurakump@reclaiminghealth.blog, on Instagram or in the comment section below.

Importance of Rest

“If you don’t give your mind and body a break, you’ll break. Stop pushing yourself through pain and exhaustion and take care of your needs.”

Unknown

I am an overachiever by nature. I get excited about new adventures, jump in without a thought and often become obsessive about them. I know this about myself and have worked hard to manage my enthusiasm. It’s not always easy, but I have paid the price in the past for not doing this work.

Rest is a critical component of any health journey and one that many overlook. You know the pattern, you start exercising and go to the gym every single day, feel guilty if you don’t go, so you push through the signs that your body is tired. This pattern often leads to injury, causing you to stop going to the gym. When I was running long distance and training for marathons, I fell into this pattern as well. I used to run through pain, thinking I couldn’t afford to miss a training day and that the pain would loosen up as I went – think “push through”. What that led to, three times on three separate training plans, was a stress fracture. What that caused was me being unable to run at all for months.

After my third femoral stress fracture, suffered during the 2018 NYC Marathon, which I finished in spite of being in pain from about mile 20, I had a hard recovery. It really hit me mentally harder than the others. I truly felt that my body had failed me. I now realize, I had failed my body. My body was telling me it was tired, but I refused to listen. That day, in particular, I knew I was in trouble at mile 20, but refused to not finish. My injury could have been much milder, had I listened and stopped, but instead I faced 6 weeks on crutches, followed by months of physical therapy and a lot of mental anguish. I know now that the body needs rest and we need to listen to the signs when we are pushing ourselves too hard.

As Spring arrives, I know I will see many of you out there walking and running, so thought it was a good time to remind us all, that we need to build intentional rest into our wellness plans. Here are a few of the things I do that have worked to keep me focused:

Sleep

The first area we need to study and learn about is our sleep patterns. I have no issue falling asleep, but my sleep is restless and I wake super early – think 3 AM. I went to a sleep doctor to ensure I did not have any medical issues preventing me from sleeping. Following that, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I went back to wearing my Fitbit watch and tracking my sleep. Fitbit has a great sleep app and while it may not be completely accurate, it gives me an idea of how I am sleeping.

In looking at my sleep, I noticed that my strengths were in my consistency. I have a consistent bedtime and spend enough time sleeping. My scores in those two areas are consistently high. My deep and REM sleep are usually within a good range. The area I needed to work on was the amount of restorative sleep I get each night. This explained why, despite sleeping a good amount of time, I was waking up feeling tired most days.

In order to address this, I began tracking my sleep in a journal and keeping track of what I ate, drank or did the day before, if my restorative sleep number was low. It was clear as day to see, that alcohol was one of the main culprits of disrupting my restorative sleep. Once I stopped drinking, I noticed an immediate improvement in this area. If I do have a drink now, I try to limit how late in the day I consume alcohol. These simple acts have had a good impact on the quality of my sleep.

Listening to My Body

Our bodies send clear signals when they are tired, pain being the most obvious. While muscle soreness is to be expected when starting a new exercise program, pain is not a signal to be overlooked. If you have a hard workout and feel sore the next day, take a rest day. This day can include some gentle stretching, gentle yoga, a sauna or hot tub session, hot bath or a slow long walk. It doesn’t mean sit on your couch all day, but it does mean you need to change your routine. I cannot state it enough, listen to your body’s signal and slow it down.

Fitbit also provides a readiness for workout score each day, based on your sleep patterns and exercise you’ve already done for the week. I found this information helpful as sometimes my body did not clearly a signal that it was tired, so I kept doing more and more exercise. Again, this doesn’t mean I sit on my couch all day watching Netflix. Rather, it means I intentionally choose different types of exercise to perform on days my readiness score is low.

I hope you consider taking a look at your sleep and perhaps tracking it, along with your exercise. This information can be extremely helpful in ensuring you are getting enough quality sleep and rest for your body to recharge. You will thank yourself for doing it and most likely feel better. My husband took a week off from pickleball this past week, as he kept telling me he felt “beat up.” After much insistence, he listened and took the week. When he returned yesterday, rather than coming home saying how badly he played because of the week off, he came home and said he had a great day. I am hopeful he now sees the benefit of intentional rest.

If you’d like to reach out to share your thoughts on resting as part of your wellness program, feel free to email me at laurakump@reclaiminghealthblog.com, contact me on Instagram, or in the comment section below. I’d love to hear how things are going for you as we move into Spring and what you have planned.