Old habits are hard to break and new ones are harder to learn. When faced with life’s tougher tasks such as changing lifestyle patterns, it’s easier to tell yourself you can’t and why you can’t. Examples of excuses include…. “Doing that’s impossible! I’m too tired all the time for exercise! I don’t like salty foods! I have trouble finding time for Progress Records! These changes are too difficult to do! I’ve tried these before! Besides, these changes won’t make me feel better anyway!”
The time for excuses, pessimism and discouragement is over. It’s time to move from don’t to do. While nobody likes waiting for results, procrastination is no longer acceptable. It’s time to begin the healing process, setting realistic goals and taking positive steps for recovery.
Keys to Your Recovery and POWER over POTS
- Avoid and overcome triggers
- Correct low blood volume
- Increase salt and fluid intake
- Reverse cardiovascular muscular deconditioning
- Reverse lower extremity muscular deconditioning
- Establish a strengthening and endurance exercise training program.
- Reduce stress
- Learn relaxing abdominal breathing
Don’t allow your recovery to be dependent on a parent constantly watching over you, nagging you and reminding you what to eat, drink and the need to exercise. None of us like being policed over, that only adds to one’s stress and feelings of guilt. Negative feelings about self are not likely to encourage positive change.
Practice making decisions for yourself. When it comes to improving lifestyle patterns, nobody can do it better than you. Establish your priorities, set realistic goals and make changes. Enjoy the rewarding feelings of personally improving your POTS symptoms.
Initially, many of life’s challenges seem impossible, making it difficult to take those first steps, translating goals into actions. But, remember … all behavior is learned and learning never ends. With each change, you are moving from feeling POWERLESS to feeling POWERFUL.