#11: Surely, I should be able to do what I used to? But I'm so exhausted!

Did you expect treatment to end and you’d be able to just bounce back into your pre-cancer life and level of activity?

You are not alone!

I’d like to share a story about one of my clients, don't worry, she gave me permission to share (as long as I changed her name) I’m going to call her Jane.

Jane is in my Healthy Living After Breast Cancer Facebook Community and she sent me a DM one day, asking...

“Karin, why can’t I do what I used to do? Is there some kind of supplement I can take to give me more energy?” 

Jane and I hopped on a call, and chatted for a while, she broke down into tears (I seem to have that effect on a lot of women) and shared that she feels like she's letting everyone down, because she’d expected to be able to do what she was before her cancer and chemo journey.

Jane, like many of us, has a busy life...with 2 young kiddos, a part-time job and her awesome hubby to look out for.

I explained that there is no magic pill (I wish there was) but there’s an opportunity here to learn some life long tools, to help not only improve the quality of our lives, but also our health.

Let me share, a little about those lessons...(listen to the whole episode above for more details)

1. Think about where you are spending your valuable energy...how much of it is spent focusing on things that you can actually control?
2. Consider your bandwidth...it changes every day!
3. Get really comfortable with saying no...and do it without feeling guilty!
4. Consider an anti-inflammatory lifestyle, including what you eat, reducing toxins around the house, managing your stress and focusing on taking care of you first so that you can keep giving to others.

Inflammation not only adds to our fatigue, but also the brain fog, the body aches (and so much more) AND most importantly, increases our risk of getting sick again.

SUMMARY: 

Where are you spending your energy now?

Think about your bandwidth, what can you handle?

Get comfortable saying no, without feeling guilty!

Adopting an anti-inflammatory lifestyle to reduce inflammation and reduce your risk of recurrence!

Grab your one page cheat sheet below, with some more Do's and Don'ts so that you can avoid some of the biggest mistakes after treatment ends.