During the first few days of detoxing from your former drug of choice, you probably won't feel like exercising. After all, the symptoms from withdrawal can be pretty severe and include body aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fatigue and others. While getting up and moving may be the last thing on your mind, remember, detoxing means your body is ridding itself of the drugs. Exercise may help that process go faster. In addition, it will keep your endorphins up, which in turn, will make you feel better. Use the following tips to introduce exercise into your detox regime.
Go slow: Running a marathon right now is not feasible. As your body withdraws from drugs, your energy level be will lower than normal. Expect this and know it will not last forever. For now, choose low-impact, light activities such as scheduled walking or riding a stationary bicycle at a slow pace. Don't overdue it. The key is to get moving, regardless of how fast or slow you go.
Be Consistent: Plan to exercise twice a day. Map out a morning and evening walking route and don't let yourself back down. If you have a park or walking trail nearby, take advantage of it. Enlist a friend or family member to walk with you for encouragement and added safety. If you are going to use a stationary bike, decide what time you will get on it each day. Perhaps you can walk in the morning and ride the bike in the evening. Tell yourself you will exercise twice a day, no matter what. It is too easy to rationalize not going if you allow yourself to do so.
Build Up: Obviously, during the first few days of detox, you may not feel well enough to exercise for long. For example, a five or ten minute walk may be all you can do. That's okay. Starting the routine is what matters. Increase your exercise by a minute or two each day until you are at 30 minutes each time. As your body rids itself of toxins, you will gain more strength and stamina for exercise.
Some fun ways to exercise include: - Throwing a ball back and forth or playing yard games with a friend or a child
- Walking your dog. If you don't have one find a friend who does and offer to walk that dog
- Chopping and stacking wood (hard while detoxing but think of the winter fires you will have!)
As long as you are being physically active, it counts as exercise.