Struggling to stick to good habits like healthy eating and regular movement isn’t something only the chronically ill face. But add in being more prone to injury and illness, fatigue and feeling horrible, and all the other things that come with being chronically ill, and motivation to move and eat well become what can feel like insurmountable tasks.

Here are some of Ellie’s hints and tips for getting into a good routine and sticking to it.

 

Listen to your body

We all know what dreading going to the gym or not wanting to get up and get cooking feels like. So there’s an art to really tuning in to listen to your body and determine whether those feelings come from a place of lethargy or laziness, or whether it’s our body saying “I’m not up to this right now”. Often I’ll actually sit still and close my eyes and really ask myself “am I feeling this because I can’t be bothered, or is today a genuine fatigue day?”.

Even harder to decipher is whether the tiredness you feel is just that, tiredness, or whether your body is telling you activity and exertion isn’t wise right now, and you should rest instead. It takes practice and some mistakes (I have woken myself up snoring in yoga classes and abandoned meals half way through cooking more than one occasion) but it’s worth learning when to ignore your inner voice, when to listen but push yourself, and when to listen and stop.

 

Make movement a habit

The idea that we should move every day is a daunting one. But even 15 minutes of gently stretching or a short walk around the local park counts and is still good for you. Here’s some tips for doing that:

• Try to schedule time into your day and week to get moving so that you’re not struggling for time or energy.
• Explore exercise classes online that you can do from home. This way you don’t need to factor in travel time, and you can do a class when the mood takes you! Yoga With Adriene is a great place to start – her yoga classes are varied and there are plenty of beginners ones.
• Ask to borrow pets (if you don’t have one). The responsibility and commitment a pet that needs walking brings can be a useful motivator, and it can make walking, running and getting outside even more enjoyable. If you don’t have a pet that needs walking, ask a friend or family member if you can help walk theirs. Failing that you could also use a site like Borrow My Doggy.

 

Support and be supported

Partnering up is a good way to stay motivated and be held accountable. Whether it’s a weekly walk together or a regular training partner at the gym, you can buddy up with one or more people and use it as a way to be more social, to strengthen relationships and to make challenges feel easier to conquer.

In the past I’ve had people who would text me to ask why I wasn’t at a gym class (in a nice way!), and who would get me to send them pictures of my dinner to make sure I was a) eating a meal and b) eating healthily. I have friends who I don’t see often but when I do see them we go for a walk (usually with a stop at the pub!). I’ve been adopted by elderly ladies in an aqua class who get what it’s like to be achy and sore and who go on to invite me to the cinema with them… the list goes on, but the point is facing challenges together and being held accountable can be a really great motivator!

 

Find what’s fun

I always say that if you hate running on a treadmill, don’t do it, but if you find swimming a calming and meditative form of exercise, then do that instead. Because you’ll never be motivated by something you don’t enjoy doing, and there’s such a diversity of activities to do out there that there really isn’t any excuse for finding at least one thing you enjoy doing.

Similarly with food, don’t force yourself to eat meals you hate cooking and eating. Instead focus on meals you enjoy and look forward to, and if needs by find ways of making them healthier.

By focusing on those activities and foods that you love, you’ll want to push yourself to go or cook them because you know just how much you’ll enjoy and get out of them.

 

Set small targets

In my experience, setting yourself big goals for the medium to long term is a recipe for disappointment. Pretty much any time I’ve set myself a big target, my health has taken a big downward turn and I’ve had to scrap it, inevitably leading to frustration at myself and my illness.

And let’s be honest, we already have huge challenges in our lives, so why should be create more for ourselves?!

I’ve found short-term targets to be a better bet. It might be to move for 15 minutes and eat a healthy breakfast every day for a week. Or it might be that I want to increase my time on the rowing machine by 1 minute every other day until I can row for 20 minutes straight. It doesn’t really matter what the target it, it just needs to be achievable in the short-term so that you can see progress and in doing so be spurred on to keep going.

Zoe (also known as Actively Autoimmune) has a great Movement Motivator available here that allows you to set a goal and measure your progress towards it.

 

Celebrate progress

Linked to setting small targets is celebrating progress. Whether it’s going up a kilogram in your weight lifting, or managing a week of eating well, you should give yourself a pat on the back when it’s deserved.

A great way to do this is to choose some rewards that you allow yourself when you hit your goals. It could be anything from a hot chocolate to buying yourself your favourite magazine or, if you’ve been working with someone else or as part of a team, you could go out for lunch or dinner together.

By celebrating hitting your goals you recognise how far you’ve travelled and the obstacles you’ve overcome, which will increase your confidence and motivation to carry on and keep setting your sights higher.

 

Learn from setbacks

Setbacks are part of any journey, and probably more so if you’re living with chronic illness. They can be frustrating and disheartening, but they’re part of life and can be a valuable opportunity to learn. The strictest diets often lead to the biggest binges, and working out too hard can increase your chances of injury. Being healthy includes eating and doing things you enjoy, taking breaks and resting.

Ask yourself whether your setback was because you weren’t dealing with difficult emotions in a healthy way, or whether you were trying too hard or being too strict when you should have cut yourself some slack. Your set-back might also have come from becoming too complacent; in the past I’ve got comfortable and over-confident in an exercise class and not set up a move properly (in this case a push-up) which has led to injury.