Again, I so sorry to have missed another day for the ’12 Days of Christmas’ – again, yesterday was a bad day so I was unable to get the opportunity to write a post.

The 7th ‘Day of Christmas’ asks us to write about a physical activity or sport that we are thankful for whilst living with a chronic illness.  I suppose for me, I am thankful for the ‘AeroPilates’ machine that I together with my Mum.  Conventional exercise such as aerobics, or even sports such as hockey, netball or football is no good for me due to the weakness in my legs, I am unable to stand or even walk for very long, so any forms of exercise is very difficult for me.

This is why I am so grateful for the ‘AeroPilates’ machine as I am able to do exercise without worrying about my legs giving way, as all the exercises I am able to do whilst lying down.  The machine also comes with a rebounder, which is like a mini trampoline which fits at the bottom of the machine – with this, you are able to get a cardiovascular workout, and can even get your heart rate faster than jogging on a treadmill.

So, with the ‘AeroPilates’ machine I am able to get a full body workout with one machine without the worry of my legs giving way potentially causing a serious accident! This is especially important for a condition like mine, as without exercise, the muscles that are already weak can go into atrophy – making them even more weak, and leaving me with the inability to use these muscles.  As my doctor says ‘use it or lose it’!  Thanks to the ‘AeroPilates machine’ I can!!  I have seen no real improvement in terms of my legs becoming stronger, and have been getting worse, but hopefully with exercising regularly on the machine the weakness won’t progress even further.

And for that I am ‘chronically’ thankful’!