I talk to people all day long about diet, and exercise usually comes up as a way to help improve their lifestyle, help with lowering blood sugars, or help maintain weight loss. What I’ve noticed is that everyone is in a different stage of what I call “exercise tolerance.” Some people are running marathons and working out daily, while others struggle with just taking a walk. Regardless of your current activity level, I just want to remind you that activity is a privilege. When we look at being active as a privilege, it becomes more enjoyable and feels less like a chore.
My family has a hereditary muscular disorder called HSP (hereditary spastic paraplegia). Just as it sounds, it causes the muscles to become tight and lose strength. Activity is a privilege that people diagnosed with HSP do not have, at least not in the normal sense. They can often do some modified activities, but it depends on the severity of the disease for each person, but it’s not likely someone with HSP will be running marathons. It’s also a progressive disease with the rate of progression variable.
What I am getting at is…
People with HSP, just like my mom, were active and loved doing active things and moving their bodies, but given the disease state, it’s no longer an option for them. Modified activities, at best, are the only option.
So evaluate where you are.
Do you have the privilege that your body can handle exercise?
Do you have the capability of increasing your strength and/or endurance to improve your quality of life?
Do you wish you were more active than you are now?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, remember that it is a privilege that your body can still be active and do those things you are wishing you could do.
Make activity a priority because there may come a day when you cannot.
Every morning when I wake up at 5:15 am to workout and wish I could just hit the snooze, I remind myself that there may come a day when I will not have the privilege to workout and the decision becomes very easy.
The time is now, don’t wait to get active!
