Blog
Myth: Autoimmune Disease Can Be Cured…
I was chatting with a new friend of mine and she asked me how long it took for me to cure my autoimmune disease.
I said, “Oh! I’m not cured. And I never will be.”
The Four Factors You Need To Consider When Exercising With Autoimmune Disease
People living with autoimmune disease need to approach exercise differently than “the standard american way”. We can not approach exercise with a “no pain no gain” mindset. Our mindset has to be flipped on its head: if there is pain, there is no gain.
Top Five Tips To Help You Increase Your Energy Through Exercise
When living with autoimmune disease, exercise should not be considered in a vacuum- we need to think of our overall stress health and then figure out where exercise fits into that big picture.
My Favorite Exercise to Relieve Neck Pain
Many of us live with neck and back pain. This is often due to the fact that our lifestyles are not conducive to correct posture. We sit all day, we type of the computer, we text often, we drive while holding onto the steering wheel, and these things cause postural distortions that lead to pain
Training Your Body To Handle The Demands of Everyday Life
There is this really deep misunderstanding that people living with autoimmune disease have about exercise. They truly believe that exercise is not good for them, and that their life will be better without exercise. They believe that a sedentary life is the best option for them, in order to control their pain. They believe that not moving is the ONLY option.
Tips to Create a Morning Routine
Mornings can be tough…but they also set the tone for the day. So I’ve worked to create a morning routine that gets me started on the right foot.
How I Use Music for Motivation
There are so many days where it becomes hard to motivate to get the exercise done. But I know exercise will ultimately make me feel better!
So on days when I’m distracted, want to prioritize other things or just don’t “feel like it” I use music to get myself going.
All About Cardio
In this video Andrea discusses everything you should know about cardio. You’ll hear about the benefits--and risks--of cardio and learn steps to incorporate it into your healing journey.
Recovering after you overdo it
In this video Andrea discusses recovery after you have pushed a little too far. She will explain tactics for building slowly and dealing with consequences after a set back. And after moving on from recovery she will help you to learn how to plan for yourself and make the best choices for exercise and for day to day life.
Caring for Others while Healing your Chronic Illness
In this video, Andrea, discusses managing the role of caretaker while managing self care and healing. You’ll hear about her journey from healing her own symptoms to creating Autoimmune Strong to first heal herself then to help others.
Exercising While Healing Autoimmune Disease
In this video, Andrea, a personal trainer, founder of Autoimmune Strong and an expert in exercising with autoimmune disease and chronic illness, discusses the journey from living undiagnosed with multiple autoimmune disease through her healing journey. She talks about how to discuss exercise intolerance with doctors and breaking the cycle of over exercising and exhaustion.
Weight Loss, Stress, and Chronic Illness
In this video Andrea discusses weight loss and autoimmune disease. She gets into the specifics of how stress can affect disease symptoms and create weight loss roadblocks.
Exercise Motivation
In this video Andrea discusses motivation and commitment to exercise. You’ll learn about navigating motivation for exercise while managing chronic illness and learning to understand your body’s cues. Andrea also teaches tips for incorporating exercise into your daily life.
Overcoming the Fear of Exercise
In this video Andrea discusses how to overcome the fear of exercise after being injured or set back. She discusses not just the physical toll of recovering but also the emotional side. You’ll learn strategies to recover from a flare or setback, tactics to deal with complicated emotions and how to explain the process to loved ones.
Identifying an Exercise Induced Symptom Flare
In this video Andrea discusses how to identify an exercise-induced symptom flare-up.
Andrea will break down how to identify an autoimmune disease flare vs. other illness and how to track your symptoms over time. You’ll learn how to be honest with yourself about the symptoms and the causes and how your body speaks to you through these symptoms. She’ll then help you to understand the steps you can take to heal when in a flare and prevent future flares.
And if you want to learn more about stress, exercise and autoimmune disease visit here:
The Goldilocks Principle
In this video Andrea teaches you all about finding that sweet spot of exercising in a way that feels good and doesn't cause a flare-up. This means slowing down your exercise ambitions and working smarter not harder to achieve real long-term results. Hear about her recent experience and challenge in the gym- stopping, even though she felt great! There is no one size fits all approach- and in this video, Andrea teaches you how to tune in and listen to what your body really needs. Here you will learn about the Autoimmune Strong “rule of one quarter” to find your baseline to begin your exercise plan safely and effectively. Andrea will help guide you to understand how you can meet yourself where you are and build on a solid foundation. Five seconds of the right exercise is better than five minutes of the wrong exercise that will lead to a flare up.
Explaining the Connection Between Stress, Exercise and Autoimmune Disease
In this video, Andrea talks about the relationship between stress, exercise and autoimmune disease. You’ll learn about different types of stress and how to manage stress and exercise when living with autoimmune disease.
My nutrition story...
One of the things I get asked about most often is my own personal nutrition. Everyone wants to know what I eat! And that makes sense, nutrition was (and is) a very big part of my healing journey. So here is my nutrition story.
The Mechanism of Stress and Its Impact on Our Bodies When We Live With Autoimmune Disease
Living with chronic illness means living with constant pain and exhaustion. All. The. Time. This is what people who don’t have chronic illness don’t understand. Basic daily activities can be difficult, like climbing stairs, going to the grocery store, and playing with your kids or grandkids. We aren’t exaggerating our pain and exhaustion, it’s our real life experience. And exercise? It seems impossible. Even if you used to do tons of exercise in your past. Today, exercise can seem daunting, just too much.
Update! New Years Resolution 6 Months Later...
Back in January, I wrote to you with a confessional. I had recently made some HUGE changes in my life- I had moved my family to a new state, I had started full time building a business, and I was in a new town, away from all of the resources and routines I had relied on to stay healthy. It was overwhelming, to say the least. And I wrote to you then about how, in this time of intense transition, I was so busy taking care of everyone else, that I stopped taking care of myself. I let fear and overwhelm take over, and I stopped doing so many of the things I need to do to manage my health.