Moving at Your Own Pace: 3 Ways to Measure Progress (Without a Scale)

moving-at-your-own-pace

Everyone’s journey after cancer treatment moves at a different pace. It can be easy to compare your progress with others, but it’s important to remember that physically noticeable results are not the only way to track your progression. Although exercising is primarily recognized for improving your physical health, it can positively impact your overall wellness, including your mental health. Below are three ways to measure progress without a scale. 

Measure Your Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

While visible effects may not come automatically, other important internal factors can be measured. Consistently compare your heart rate (before, during, and after exercise) and blood pressure to keep track of accurate advancement—doing this can also help you keep track of your overall health, helping you to identify other lifestyle changes that you may need to focus on. Your resting heart rate could be associated with other health concerns, like cholesterol, stress, and breathing levels.

Logging your blood pressure assists you in tracking your likelihood of heart disease or stroke. Based on your results, you can take preventative measures to help avoid hypertension or hypotension, which will ultimately improve your overall long-term health and well-being. While blood pressure monitors with cuffs usually give the most accurate readings, Healthline suggests apps to help keep you on track if you don’t have the equipment on-hand at home. Though these aren’t externally evident outcomes, improving these numbers can be an incredible and beneficial assessment of success. 

Write and Log in a Wellness Journal

Find a journal you like and record your workouts and thoughts at least once a day. Key categories can include your routines or a mood chart—a type of journaling where you log your emotions, like feeling irritated, motivated, angry, or relaxed. By doing this, you have an organized place for your dedication and consistency, reminding you that every step you take is significant. 

Other categories can include:

  • Time/distance
  • Eating habits
  • Physical measurements (waist, hips, thighs, or biceps)
  • Flexibility advancement 
  • Hours of sleep

Set Personal Goals

Don’t get down on yourself if you’re not losing or gaining weight at the rate of someone else. One method to feel more confident about your progress is to set your own goals and focus primarily on those. If you’re having trouble with results that involve the scale or appearance, create alternate objectives that don’t rely on physical outcomes. 

Ideas for alternate goals driven by a timeline:

  • Create and implement a routine
  • Reach X number of curls 
  • Exercise X number of days during the week
  • Run X number of miles
  • Touch your toes
  • Walk X distance in X time
  • Take a kickboxing class
  • Squat X pounds 
  • Accomplish X reps 

An exercise that has worked for someone else may not have the same effect on you. Don’t feel behind or embarrassed if you need to modify an existing exercise. (You can even work this in as a new goal!)

Remember, your remission is not a competition. Your body has been through tremendous adjustment, and you are here; you are a survivor, and that in itself is amazing.

Looking for more wellness guidance through your post-treatment?

If you need more guidance on staying motivated and reaching your goals, we are here and happy to help. Survivor Fitness works with cancer survivors to help them regain their health and wellness through one-on-one personal training and nutritional support. We walk alongside you to progress your post-treatment recovery, empowering you to take control of your healing journey. Connect with us today to learn more!

How to Stay Fueled During (and After) Your Workouts

It’s known that both exercise and healthy foods are part of a well-balanced and healthy life, but did you know that certain nutritional elements can actually impact your endurance and results? By intentionally planning your cuisine, you can finish your workouts just as strong as you started them. Here are a few ways that you can stay fueled during your workouts.

Getting Started

Regardless of what time of day you work out, the food you eat before your session can influence how well you perform and even recover afterward. According to Healthline, the right balance of carbohydrates, protein, and other nutrients can help fuel your exercise routine. Fueling your body with these key nutrients will not only help you during your workout but will also help with muscle recovery.

Helpful Habits

It’s not always easy, but beginning (or resuming) a physically healthy life doesn’t have to include extreme measures. If working out is on your agenda for the day, start preparing when you get out of bed with a hearty breakfast. This could include a greek yogurt parfait or eggs with a slice of whole-grain toast. If you are working out in the afternoon, make it easier on yourself by prepping some lean protein to eat directly after so you can repair your muscles. 

A common rule of thumb from the Mayo Clinic is to eat one to two hours before your workout. This prevents cramping and gives your body enough time to begin digesting before you start to burn calories. 

Be sure to drink enough water before, during, and after your workouts, too, as it goes beyond just keeping you hydrated. Based on a Cleveland Clinic article, doing so “replenishes electrolytes, sodium, and glucose” when you exercise and “helps ward off muscle cramps, removes toxins from your body and transports nutrients to parts of your body that need it most” after you exercise.

Regain Your Wellness After Cancer Treatment with Survivor Fitness

As we all have different bodies, the most important thing is that you listen to yours. It can be hard to know exactly what the right plan for you is, but with a little help, you can find it.

Survivor Fitness works with cancer survivors to help them regain their health and wellness through one-on-one personal training and nutritional support. We walk alongside you to progress your post-treatment recovery, empowering you to take control of your healing journey. Connect with us today to learn more!

The Importance of a Daily Routine

Your daily routine can be a stabilizing factor in your life that helps you to stay balanced and healthy. Every day, your actions affect your body and mind exponentially, making it vital that those actions are a positive reflection of the life you want to live. The key to a good routine, though, is to make sure that it reflects your priorities, values, and goals. In this article, we’ll cover how to build an aligned daily routine and why routines are important.

How to Build an Aligned Daily Routine 

The beauty of your daily routine is that it’s yours. You can build it however you like, and however you feel your mind and body will benefit the most. 

So, to begin building a daily routine, ask yourself the following questions:

  • What do I value most about my life? 
  • In what ways would I like to improve? 
  • Are there areas of my life that I tend to neglect? 
  • Is there something that I would like to add to or remove from my day?
  • What are my short and long-term goals? 
  • What would I like to make a higher priority? 

Use your answers to these questions to build out a routine that resonates with you. A great exercise to use to visualize your ideal schedule is to imagine your “perfect day.” If everything went as planned, what would you do? What time would you wake up? What would your morning look like? Ask yourself questions about your ideal day to build a routine that you’re excited to follow. Now, why is all of this important? 

Why Daily Routines are Important

1. It Creates Healthy Habits 

Your daily schedule can be used to create healthy habits. Take your morning routine, for example. You may already brush your teeth and wash your face. But maybe after you think about it, you’d like to add a short yoga session. By adding this into your routine, you’ll create a habit, and your body will naturally begin to crave this part of your day.

2. It Helps You Set and Achieve Goals

You can use your daily routine as a tool to set and achieve your goals. Maybe these goals surround exercise, nutrition, or mental health. Whatever you’re focused on at the moment, try adding an element to your daily routine that will push you closer to making that goal a reality. 

3. It Keeps You Balanced

At the end of the day, routines are all about balance. Humans thrive on our routines because it helps to align our bodies and minds. You can use your morning routine to start your day on the right foot. Or maybe your afternoon routine helps you to wind down and relax. The schedule you create for yourself contributes significantly to your overall well-being. Be mindful of that as you build one that works best for you! 

Are You a Cancer Survivor Looking for Wellness Support?

Survivor Fitness works with cancer survivors to help them regain their health and wellness through one-on-one personal training and nutritional support. We walk alongside you to progress your post-treatment recovery, empowering you to take control of your healing journey. Connect with us today to learn more!