Guest Article: Exercise Proves to Be Highly Beneficial for Cancer Patients

So, a few months ago Liz approached me to guest write on my blog. I know, right? Does that mean I'm cool now? Ha! I *love* her article. If you like it be sure and show her some love in the comments!!


Cancer patients face a range of emotions upon the diagnosis. Unfortunately, an unintended side effect is patients becoming sedentary when hearing the diagnosis of cancer. Formerly active patients sometimes abandon exercise routines with their new primary focus being on the illness and treatment. This is a mistake as exercise is highly beneficial to cancer patients.

 Cancer patients that have never adopted an exercise routine greatly benefit from doing so while undergoing cancer treatment and continue it after the illness has gone into remission. Suggestive evidence states that patients exercising regularly have a lower risk of recurrence. During treatment exercise is highly beneficial to combat many physical and psychological effects of treatment.

 Those exercising during treatment have a greater quality of life, sleep better, feel more self-confident and do not put on excessive weight from certain systematic treatments. Added health benefits include lower levels of fatigue and nausea, reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes and osteoporosis and less reports of severe depression. Depression over the diagnosis and the major life change it brings causes people to slow down when they need most to keep moving, keeping their body healthy and their outlook positive.

 Some cancers call for specific attention to certain exercises. Gastrointestinal, head and neck cancers lead to loss of muscle mass to the point that range of motion is decreased. Those undergoing treatment for these types of cancer benefit from exercises that build lean muscle mass such as barbell curls and squats. 

 Breast cancer patients are at odds with weight gain due to increased appetite due to corticosteroids, taken to combat nausea, causing increased appetite. Another factor is that chemotherapy sometimes leads to early menopause in younger cancer patients, making their metabolism slow down, causing weight gain. Breast cancer patients benefit from weight loss exercises such as brisk walking, cycling and jogging. Pilates is also a favorite of many breast cancer patients. Pilates builds strength and flexibility and deepens the mind and body connection, making it a great exercise for any cancer patient well after treatment. Breast cancer patients often deal with the onset of lymphedema, which is a building up of lymph after breast cancer surgery. Moving muscle by exercising moves lymph fluids which prevents the lymph build-up.

 So far breast cancer has been the most thoroughly researched when it comes to its correlation with exercise. After seeing positive results other cancers are now being looked into more like lung cancer, pancreatic cancer and peritoneal mesothelioma.

 Doctors often fear overwhelming newly diagnosed cancer patients by influencing them to begin a fitness routine. This makes it important that patients do their own research if not lead by their medical professional. Of course, any fitness plan must be approved by the oncologist prior to a patient beginning.

 Liz Davies is a recent college graduate and aspiring writer especially interested in health and wellness. She wants to make a difference in people’s lives because she sees how cancer has devastated so many people in this world. Liz also likes running, playing lacrosse, reading and playing with her dog, April.

7 Mins and Stairs = WORKOUT

Seriously. I challenged myself to get a quick workout in using nothing but my stairs and imagination. I did and I feel it today!

Equipment:
- Timer (I used my phone)
- Stairs (You could probably use a small set but I have an upstairs so it's a large set)
- Workout clothes if you want...I put on a sports bra and didn't change out of my jeans.

Workout:
These are each done in 1min increments. The cool thing is that if you're less in shape you can half it (30s each) and if you're in great shape you can double it (2min each).

- Running stairs (up and down)
- Pushups (Lean forward on the stairs)
- Forward Bends (I stood at the bottom and touched the bottom step. Kind of like a dead lift...do it slowly)
- Deep Squats (Again, standing at the bottom. Squat down until you're almost sitting on the bottom step. Knees over toes.)
- Plyo Step Ups (Kind of like this: http://youtu.be/2-IvoOYxt04 But I wasn't jumping as high. Just tap and switch)
- Regular Step Ups (30s each leg http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/exercises.asp?exercise=25)
- Crunches (I laid on the floor and put my legs on the stairs at a 90 degree angle...so for me that was laying them on the 2nd step)

DONE! Try it!

Yesterday's Run

Source

Monday night I did a dumb thing...

I was doing the moves from P90X Chest and Back without the video (I had them listed) I wasn't paying attention to my form and tweaked my neck. I quickly developed a huge knot right at the base of my neck. I took an Advil and went to bed.

Tuesday (yesterday) I woke up sore. I pulled out the Arnica, Tiger Balm, and Advil for the day. By the end of the day I felt almost 100% better and decided to go on my run. I planned to keep it short and easy.

And then I started running...

The burn in my chest and legs felt amazing. I could actually feel the muscles in my back and neck start to RELEASE as I ran. The stress of the day melted off of me with each step. I realized I was running pretty fast and tried to check my pace and actually couldn't make myself slow down.

I walked a bit and came up on one of the steeper hills in my path (my neighborhood is full of them). At that point the chorus for Crossfade's No Giving Up came on and I took it at a dead sprint. I made it halfway up before I slowed to a run to finish it out. The way back is mostly downhill and I took that at an easy run/jog.

I got back and started using the music to calculate how long I'd been out. I hadn't planned on keeping track so I rounded UP a lot (because it felt fair) I had to do the math twice...each time it came out to less than 10mins.

This morning there's still some tension and soreness, but it's the kind that can be expected from working out.

I felt amazing. Can I officially call myself a runner now?

Exercise Tips For A Busy Mom

Check out 10 Minute Trainer for a GREAT 10 Minute workout!http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/KasMorin?bctid=25219892001

Move for the week

This is a new thing I want to do...a Move for the Week.

This week we're going to focus on your butt! But I'm not going to tell you to do squats. You're going to do a Hip-Lift Progression

Hip-Lift Progression

This is an awesome way to relieve tension in your lower back and work your butt at the same time. (A cushy mat will keep your tailbone from crying afterward.)

Do it:

• Lie on your back with your arms at your sides with your knees bent and your feet on the floor.
• Lift your hips toward the ceiling. Hold for 1 count, and then lower back down.
• Repeat the lifts for 60 seconds, squeezing your glutes and hamstrings at the top of the range of motion. Be careful not to overarch your spine.
• To make this exercise more difficult, extend one leg at the top of the lift. Keep your thighs parallel and hold the lifted position for about 5 seconds.
• Keeping your hips up, place your foot back on the floor and then lower your hips.
• Repeat this exercise for 30 seconds; switch sides and do the move for another 30 seconds on the other leg.

I want you to do this move AT LEAST 3 TIMES this week! If enough people participate maybe next month we'll turn this segment into a competition of some kind...

So, are you in?

Progress Photos

I'm SUPER proud!

I'm getting sleek lines and toned muscles! You want to see a MAJOR change?

Seriously!


Okay, how did I do it?

I have a Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD that I do sometimes. I also do a lot from the Exercise TV website.  AND I had my Shakeology for a good part of the month (before I ran out giving samples)

This month, however, we're starting P90X.  THOSE photos will be extreme!


Linking Up

June Results!!

Check this out:

See the slimming in the waist?

My favorite part: Check out the butt lift!!!

Yes, this is all from eating healthy and exercising *almost* daily!


On top of that, I recently became a Team Beachbody Coach. So head on over and check out this cool company:
beachbodycoach.com/kasmorin
myshakeology.com/kasmorin

Shakeology (the second link) is AWESOME.

Fitness in June II

I've been trying to stay on top of my exercise and whatnot. I do pretty well. I've also been tracking my calories. I've started doing this again for 2 reasons.

1) I need to eat a minimum of 1800 calories a day for breastfeeding purposes.

2) It's really interesting.

Let's talk about number 2 for a moment. Seriously, when you start watching calories you find out a lot of interesting things about food. Like, a couple of Oreo Cookies and a glass of milk is about 200 calories...and not very filling. OR a two egg omelet with avocado is about 200 calories and keeps you full for hours. I've really started watching my food choices. Like, I *could* eat the cookies and be hungry in 20 minutes or I could eat something more nutrient dense and actually do my body some good.

I can't show photos yet (because I promised myself I wouldn't take the "after" pics until the end of the month...so another week!) but I'm losing inches. My hips are slimming out! It's so exciting.


This morning I took the kids on a walk (meaning, I walked while wearing the baby and pushing the toddler in the stroller) Now, I have a set path that I walk. There's a point about 5mins in where I have a choice. I can go left and only walk 5 more minutes OR I can go right and go 15 more minutes. On days when I kind of don't want to walk I make myself get to that point. Last week I felt icky so I went left. Today, however, I hit that point and could feel my body changing and going into the aerobic mode. So, I went right. My goal is to work out two more times today...we'll see!

Fitness in June

I'm being super brave and putting photos of myself out here. No makeup, hair not fixed, etc...These are my before shots.

Not terrible for 5 months postpartum...I still have the "Mommy Pooch" that comes from my belly muscles and skin being stretched...

My goal is to exercise every single day. Even if it's just 10mins.

I Need To Workout More

Yesterday I got my youngest to nap by himself (big deal if you consider my oldest rarely napped alone) I went to Hulu and clicked on my Dance And Be Fit channel I saved. Instead of the Brazilian Dance I had been doing I decided to try Latin Dance.

It was a bit easier but still worked up a sweat. I'm glad I chose this one. I wasn't totally exhausted at 15mins like I was with the Brazilian Dance. (Yes, I'm THAT out of shape) This one I was able to finish the circuit and still feel like I did SOMETHING. So, I got 30mins in yesterday. If you combine little bits of exercise with the calories I'm burning by breastfeeding I'll have this weight off in no time!

I'm determined to not take a year to get the weight off...that's what happened with my first. Of course, I gained 50lbs with Franklin and only 30lbs with Jonathan. AND when it was just me and Franklin I did a lot of sitting around...now that it's me and two kids (one a toddler) I'm much more active during the day.

We're going to go to the zoo this weekend so that will be a bit of walking around. It's been so hot lately that getting outside is miserable. (It's Texas so we get heat and humidity. Sometimes it's hard to breathe)

I need to get an official weight and measurements in for these posts...so that you can really follow my progress. I can't do a diet list because I'm too busy during the day to keep track. I know I eat a lot of cereal, peanut butter, and lunchmeat...oh, and the occasional bowl of yogurt when I have some made.

Click on some of my past posts below or click HERE to enter the Giveaway. Be sure to comment!

Every Little Bit Counts

I found the Dance and Be Fit channel of Hulu yesterday. Today I tried the Brazilian Dance Workout. My thoughts are as follows:

1) I felt like a total dork. These women are graceful. Obviously they're going to choose people that are ACTUALLY GOOD AT IT to demonstrate. Trust me, you did NOT want to see me doing it.

2) It was really fun. Franklin liked watching me and even mimicked me a few times.

3) I only got through 15mins of it (that's including the brief warmup) so I don't FEEL like I did a good workout...However, every little bit counts. And I can't really talk about what feels like a good workout. If I'm not dying on the floor afterwards I don't feel like I've done anything (it's a leftover from my eating disorder days...I'm working on that)

I thought about eating a sandwich...and then I thought about a hotdog...and THEN I saw my homemade yogurt. So, I went with yogurt with honey and strawberries! It was light but filling and didn't have the guilt attached like a hotdog.


Basically, I want to try to inject exercise into my day. I found a way to do it through DANCE so I can include Franklin. I want my kids to see a healthy attitude toward weight loss and exercise! I also know that, even though my husband finds me attractive, I will feel better if I tone up a bit. Plus, I hate feeling so out of shape. It wasn't too many years ago that I was in excellent shape. I'd like to get back there...or close to it. (I'm not 18 anymore, guys...I'm 24! That's now "mid 20's")