b'Life with MSSSttiicckkiinnggttooaannEExxeerrcciisseePPrrooggrraammSlow and well-planned progress leads to successWe asked David Lyons, author of the best-selling book Everyday Healthand Fitness with Multiple Sclerosis, and founder of the MS Fitness Challenge,what small changes he thought could make a big dierence when it comes totness for people with MS. Here is his advice.1. When you start an exercise program, take it Makearmcommitmenttoyourselfseriously. Do not work out and just go through and your tness journey and never lookthe motions. Make every minute you spend back. Make tness as much a requirementdoingeachmovementcount.Donotlet as eating, sleeping, or showering! If you canyour mind wander away from what you are do this, you will not fail. doing, worry about your problems, or start 3. Start any exercise or nutrition plan slowly.thinking about what will happen when you Do not rush into going full-blown, all-out,nish exercising that day.and to perfection. Whether its changingWhen I work out, all I think about is the the way you eat to relieve MS inammationstretch and contraction of every rep I do. I or getting set on a daily exercise routine tolet my mind and body connect and make combat weakness, beginning moderatelysureIamgettingthemostoutofeach will serve you much better than trying tomovement. My form is exact and I am not reach 100 percent out of the gate. worried about anything outside of the gym.If you focus on each and every rep you I have seen so many with MS getdo, concentrate on proper form, and allow disappointedandgiveupbecausetheyyour body to really feel each exercise, then began a diet or exercise program expectingyou will make great progress and reach to be perfect from day one. You are settingyour tness goals.yourself up for failure if you demand the2. Do not start a tness regimen unless your impossible from yourself. Of course, as timemind is ready. Mental tness is the most goes by, you want to be tough on yourself toimportantkeytomakingprogressand get maximum benets, but if you expect tosticking with a program. Your body will do be at this level from the get-go, you havewhat your mind tells it to do. So if your nowhere to go but in reverse.mind is not 100 percent in for conquering Nothing happens immediately and ifMS through tness, then you are bound to youdontstartatareasonablepaceforquit at some point during the journey. yourself when beginning a new fitnessI have learned that looking in the mirrorprogram, you will not succeed. Be realistic.and making a commitment to myself is This is new to you and your body. Getparamount in making sure I follow through. accustomed to what you have set out toI never lie, especially to myself! When I say accomplish, because when you can adjustI will do something, I do it, and it is not at a rational speed, you can be victoriousdierent when it comes to tness. for the long haul. msfocusmagazine.org 12'