How Fitness DVDs Improved My Exhaustion

It was not until the last couple of years that I paid the least bit of attention to fitness videos. Sure, the thought had occurred to me (over the course of several years) that getting Richard Simmons' "Sweatin' to the Oldies" might be fun. For some reason I just never bothered.

I was doing a lot of walking, and when I wasn't walking I was fairly active. As a result, I was never awfully concerned about not getting enough exercise. Life has a way of dumping things on us, though, and even though I seemed to be fairly resistant to the effects of stress (at least on the outside) , I was noticing that I was feeling increasingly exhausted when I walked my (usual) six-mile walk. All it took was the addition of a bad Winter to make walking even more of a physical drain, and eventually I was barely going out walking at all. Believing Spring would make walking easier again, I wasn't awfully concerned. When Spring came, however, I was feeling really exhausted. I didn't really have any signs of depression. Instead, I was having fierce cravings for salt. I'd go into the grocery store, needing to buy my week's groceries, and all I could think about was getting some Campbell's chicken-rice soup (and lots of it). In the store, I'd start imagining how I'd dump yet more salt into soup that was already loaded with it. Once I'd stocked up on chicken-rice soup I'd start thinking about a couple of those Styrofoam cups of noodles (with six pieces of freeze-dried vegetables) might be good. I'd get a couple of those and, again, imagine dumping more salt into them.

After living with these fierce salt cravings for a while, I realized I should look up "salt cravings" online to see what might be causing them. Almost immediately I ran into several sources that associated salt cravings with adrenal fatigue.  It should be noted, however, that there is some difference of opinion (coming from the medical profession) as to whether what is called "adrenal fatigue" is really one condition, or is, instead, a collection of isolated symptoms that result from stress.  In other words, "adrenal fatigue", is not (according to Todd B. Nippoldt, M.D, on the Mayo Clinic website) a "medically accepted diagnosis".

Over and over again I kept running into information about how too much stress for too long can essentially lead to exhaustion. Because I wasn't particularly surprised to see the connection between stress and feeling physically exhausted, and because salt-craving was my only symptom, I didn't seek any medical attention.  (Craving salt can be a sign of other medical conditions, but I pretty much knew what was "getting to me" and doubted my salt cravings were related to anything else).  From what I read, the cure for this problem is a specific diet and rest. When the condition is severe there are treatments, but I had no reason to believe I had anything more than a "beginning case" (if I even had that). It occurred to me that there was the chance the salt cravings could be related to an immediate response to stress (or being tired) without my really having any "condition". I did read that adrenal fatigue is often mistakenly diagnosed as depression, and that people are often inappropriately prescribed anti-depressants. Again, though, I had no symptoms of depression (other than feeling exhausted). In fact, I'd feel in a great, happy, mood and think, "Today, I'm going to do some yard work." I'd head out, get a ton of things done outside, and come back in the house and shake.

It is said that with adrenal fatigue (and I'm assuming with any "precursor" condition) exercise makes a personal feel depleted, rather than invigorated - and, boy, did that strike a familiar chord with me.

I didn't rule out the idea of seeking medical attention; but I kept thinking how that would involve a whole bunch of tests, only to discover that I had been living under too much stress, needed to eat the diet recommended for people with adrenal fatigue (essentially a healthy diet without caffeine, sugar, or other non-nutritive substances). There would probably be, I guessed, the recommendation of getting more rest (which I knew wasn't going to happen). In any case, I decided to hold off on getting into some "complicated medical deal". I didn't have time for that; and, to be honest, I was just too exhausted to be bothered. I was getting so I had to work around the worst "bouts" of exhaustion and do things when I was "only tired", rather than "absolutely out of steam".

Another option would be to try to reduce the stress in my life, but sometimes life puts stress on us without our having any control over it. So, that option was out. I kept think about how I felt like an 8-cylinder vehicle, running on 2 cylinders (in other words, just barely).

The only other option was to think of something that might help me counteract the exhausting effects of so much stress for so long. Since all my existing "approaches" and coping techniques were no longer working it had to be something different. It occurred to me that I could go one of the gyms in the area, but - really - I wasn't in the mood, and I certainly didn't have the time. That's when I decided to order a set of fitness videos (Turbo Jam from Beachbody). It seemed like the perfect solution. Even though I knew I would probably have to take things slowly, I'd have the freedom of working out when I was feeling up to it, as well as the freedom to stop if it started to feel like "too much".

Every medical professional and fitness instructor will warn people to check with their doctor before beginning any exercise program, but because I had always been quite active (with the exception of the relatively brief period prior to ordering the videos) I didn't see exercising as anything I generally wasn't accustomed to.

When I got the set of DVD's it took me a few times to learn the kickboxing/dance moves, and I began doing the basic workout on just the days when I was feeling up to it. I had no particular schedule for working out. I'd just get my little bottle of water and weighted gloves when the mood struck (or at least when I knew I could make the mood strike once I got moving). In about a week I
was no longer feeling as if I was "going to die". The stress was still there, and I wasn't getting any more rest; but I think the combination of the actual benefits of physical activity with the psychological benefit of feeling as if I had "something just for me" added up to my feeling just that much better.

Since my first introduction to the "whenever-you-feel-like-it" approach to working out, I've built up a nice little library of DVD workouts; and I've learned that keeping a couple of small hand weights at the computer desk can help keep me in the "moving mode", rather than allowing for too much "slipping away from" that "mode".

It hasn't been a miracle cure. I didn't go from feeling like I was running on two cylinders to feeling like I was running on my usual eight. (I say "eight" because I'm generally a pretty high-energy person.) Instead, I'd say that I went from thinking of nothing but Campbell's soup with lots of additional salt, and feeling as if I was about to just going die to, maybe, running on a few more of those cylinders. More importantly, my overall mood improved dramatically.

Today, I see my library of fitness DVD's as my guilty pleasure, as well as a way of incorporating working out into my lifestyle for "the rest of time". I've carefully selected workouts that are right for me, which means those which don't involve a lot of equipment. My guilty pleasure offers me something else; and that is a reminder that, regardless of how much stress I'm under, I'm still me - and that, by itself, has been very therapeutic.

Note: When it comes to what fitness program is right for any one person, no two of us are alike. It happens that Turbo Jam was the first such program I bought and that it was right for me. I'm not affiliated with any company that produces fitness DVD's or any workout programs. I'm not necessarily specifically recommending Turbo Jam to any readers. I have, however, been very pleased with the program and with the upbeat "flavor" of the DVD's.