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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 129 x 198 x 8 mm (White Bond, Matte Laminate)
When Toby Morrison was sixteen he was a superbly fi t young man playing three games of high-level basketball every week. Then something happened that brought his world crashing down – Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
This is the story of his bewilderment at suddenly having no energy, the search for a diagnosis and his eventual triumph over an insidious illness that threatened to defi ne the rest of his life.
Toby’s story is not just an inspiration, it is a ‘how to’ guide for overcoming CFS. Together with founding the CFS Health Centre, he hopes this book will spread the word of what he
learnt during his battle and what steps fellow sufferers can take to get their lives back.
“In the space of six months Toby helped take me from hardly able to get out of bed, to be � t enough for the Stawell Gift … if it were not for his help I’d probably still be in bed! What a bloke!.” ASH HUMPHREY
ChronicFatigueFatigueFatigue
Syndrome
TOBY MORRISON
A guide to recoveryC
hronic Fatigue Syn
drome A
gu
ide
to re
co
very
TO
BY
MO
RR
ISON
cfshealthcentre.com.au
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Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
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ChronicFatigue
SyndromeA guide to recovery
Toby Morrison
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Published by CFS Health Centre cfshealthcentre.com.au
First published 2013
© 2013 Toby Morrison
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright restricted above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.
A Cataloguing-in-Publication record is available from the National Library of Australia.
ISBN: 978 1 922 21971 8 (pbk) 978 1 922 21972 5 (ebk–ePub) 978 1 922 21973 2 (ebk–mobi)
Designed, typeset and printed by Palmer Higgs Pty Ltd palmerhiggs.com.au
Distributed by Palmer Higgs Books phbooks.com.au
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To my mum and dad.
You were the wind beneath my wings that got
me through the hardest four years of my life.
Thanks for being there when I wasn’t.
This book is dedicated to every sufferer out there.
You can have a life after CFS.
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Contents
Foreword viii
Introduction 1
CFS – The Facts 7
My CFS recovery 15
Acceptance 23
Mindset is where it all starts 29
Getting moving – less is more to start with 35
Graded Exercise Therapy, Rest and Recovery 51
How? 59
Nutrition 65
Protein, carbohydrates and fats 75
How am I going to stick to this healthy eating? 91
Summary 95
Client success stories 99
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Foreword
Toby Morrison is an enthusiastic, fit and healthy
young man. But he wasn’t always like this. When he
was sixteen he developed severe Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome (CFS). His symptoms, although quite
typical, were so severe that I investigated him for
many other conditions that I felt could be causing
such severe debility. He had CFS and was very sick
with it. He did not have anything else.
The impact of this condition on his education,
family and social life was profound but he slowly
improved after an intensive four-week inpatient
rehabilitation program at the Austin Hospital,
Melbourne.
vi i i
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ix
His condition slowly improved using a carefully
controlled, graded exercise program and with
careful management he was able to complete his
schooling and go onto tertiary studies. As the CFS
slowly resolved, he decided to dedicate himself
professionally to helping others with CFS. With his
understanding of the condition and his infectious
optimism he has brought hope to many people with
this condition. His approach is sensible, safe and often
successful. This book is a synthesis of his journey
and his understanding of CFS and I commend it to
people with this condition.
All the best
Dr. Lionel Lubitz
Consultant Paediatrician, Dept of General Medicine, Royal Children’s Hospital
Associate Professor (Clinical), Dept of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne,Royal Children’s Hospital
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CFS can also stand for Choice, Future,
and Success.
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1
Introduction
This book is designed to educate you on the
importance of the key health aspects in relation to
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and what it can do
for you in a logical and simple way. After suffering
CFS myself, I understand the anxiety and stress
related to CFS when it comes to starting life all over
again. The first step towards better health is the most
important and the scariest too. I aim to inspire you to
better health with my own story of overcoming CFS
and to show you that it is possible to feel good again.
You will be able to see the steps I took to recover my
own health and also the work I do with my clients.
You will be educated on how to exercise safely and
correctly without making your condition worse,
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
the importance of nutrition, and how to work on
your mindset for the better.
I was struck down with CFS when I was sixteen
years old. For three years I was severely debilitated.
Fast forward to the present and I am now fully
recovered. I’ve gained an education in health and
fitness that has enabled me to fulfill my dream of
helping many others with CFS regain control of their
lives and get their health back.
Since I established the CFS Health Centre in
Melbourne (2009), I have helped a wide variety
of people who have suffered from CFS. From ten-
year-old school kids, to state netball and basketball
champions. From highly successful business owners
to teenagers who couldn’t get out of bed and even
grandparents who lived with CFS for more than
fifteen years. All are now fitter, healthier and more
knowledgeable than ever before. With amazing
results in the three years since the health centre
opened, I’ve decided to write this book to further
educate and inspire other CFS sufferers out there
who desperately need help and guidance.
I am truly passionate about helping people regain
control of their life and get their life back, perhaps a
better one than they had before. I am walking proof
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
that you can recover from CFS and I am definitely
not the only one, with every single patient benefiting
greatly from my wellness program. Although CFS is
terrible, it can be a blessing in disguise. It makes you
more health conscious, more aware of your body,
more grounded and makes you appreciate the small
things in life. It puts things into perspective.
Yes CFS sucks, yes it’s hard and life can be unfair,
but one thing you can do is to choose how you deal
with your illness. This is where you can take charge.
You can take control of your attitude.You can choose
to make things as GOOD as possible towards YOUR
recovery. At the end of the day you are in charge
of you.
With the right attitude and good support, you can
make a difference to your health.
I love doing what I do because I love to see people
return to good health. There is nothing better than
when someone comes to see me absolutely shattered
with life to then turn around twelve weeks later and
say, “I am feeling ten times better”. I know how hard
it is for them, I have been there too.
To see them start achieving things in their life
that they thought were never going to be possible is
so rewarding. It gives me such fulfilment to see my
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
clients strive for the best and do so well in life after
overcoming chronic fatigue syndrome.
CFS can also stand for CHOICE, FUTURE, and
SUCCESS.
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Chronic fatigue is an unusual disease and
one that doctors do not yet fully understand.
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7
CFS – The Facts
Chronic fatigue syndrome is very different from
every day fatigue. When a person is experiencing
normal fatigue they will feel worn out, drained and
tired. But this eventually goes away with rest.
Chronic fatigue syndrome is stronger and lasts
for much longer and cannot be cured by simply
getting more sleep and resting up. It leaves sufferers
exhausted after even the smallest activities. Even
walking around the block may be enough to leave a
chronic fatigue patient bedridden. Often people with
chronic fatigue were once fit and active, so finding
even small tasks draining becomes frustrating and
aggravating and often makes the person feel helpless
and depressed.
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
It differs from normal fatigue in two fundamental
areas: severity and time.
It is more severe in that it actually disables the
sufferer and it is more prolonged because it can last
for more than 6 months, or even years on end if they
don’t get on top of their health.
Chronic fatigue is an unusual disease and one
that doctors do not yet fully understand. Symptoms,
causes and recovery processes often differ from
person to person, however there are some stable
facts and consistent experiences for most, if not all,
suffers.
Definition and symptoms of CFSIn 1994, a panel created by the US Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) came up with
a definition for chronic fatigue syndrome, which has
since become widely accepted as the basic model for
diagnosing the disorder.
According to them the main feature of CFS is
constant and reoccurring fatigue, which displays the
following features:
• Lastsfor6monthsormore
• Isnotcausedandaccompaniedbyanother
medical condition
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
• Isnotduetocontinuousexertion
• Isnotrelievedbyrest
• Disruptsthepatient’snormallifeandstopsthem
from functioning
On top of feeling overwhelming fatigue and tiredness,
the CDC decided that the patient must also present at
least four of the following symptoms for four months
or longer:
• Sorethroat
• Badmemory
• Difficultyconcentrating
• Sorelymphnodesintheneckorunderthearms
• Muscleachesandpain(medicallycalledmyalgia)
• Jointpain(medicallycalledarthralgia)
• Inabilitytogetrefreshingsleep
• Headaches
• Feelingof bodilydiscomfort(medicallycalled
malaise) after exertion
Other symptoms include:
• Brainfog
• Irritability
• Soreeyes
• Musclespasms
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Depression
• De-conditionedmuscle
• Nausea
• Diarrhoea
• Constipation
• Lackof appetite
• Weightloss
• Weightgain
• Andmanymore
Causes of CFSScientists and doctors are still unsure of what actually
causes CFS. The CDC suggests that it is likely that
CFS has multiple triggers, some of which include:
• Infections
• Immunedysfunction
• Verylowbloodpressurewhichcancausefainting
• Adeficiencyof nutrients
• Physical andemotional stresswhich targets the
HPA axis in the brain; the axis where the hypo-
thalamus, pituitary and adrenal glands interact.
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
Diagnosis of CFSBecause there is no medical way to actually diagnose
CFS, no brain scan or blood test or any other type of
lab test, it is a diagnosis that can only be made once
every other possible illness has been ruled out.
Because of this the doctor must take an extremely
detailed patient history and conduct a thorough
physical and mental health exam. After this a series of
lab tests must be done to rule out any other possible
causes of the symptoms the patient is displaying.
Then, if the patient displays four of the eight
symptoms of CFS, they should be diagnosed and
treated for the disease. If the patient has experienced
fatigue for six months or longer, has been through
tests and has no other cause for their symptoms but
does not have four of the eight symptoms of CFS, the
doctor may diagnose them with idiopathic fatigue,
which is managed the same as CFS.
Managing CFSManaging chronic fatigue is as complicated and
hard to understand as the disease itself. There is no
miracle cure, no drug, and no overnight quick fix.
Having experienced chronic fatigue myself I
know that it is possible for patients to regain control
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
of their health and feel better; I did! Managing and
dealing with chronic fatigue is a slow process which
requires patience and commitment. Working on
the five health aspects of sleep, nutrition, graded
exercise therapy (GET), mindset and stress and
anxiety management can have a positive effect on
your overall health and wellbeing.
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It was the small steps I took towards better health that helped me
the most.
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15
ChApTer 1
My CFS recovery
When I was a kid I was always on the go. Full of
energy. Nothing could hold me back.
In my early teens sport was my life, playing
or training every day of the week. I was an elite
basketball player, playing at a high level from the age
of twelve to sixteen. I was fortunate to be born with
natural talent and good sporting genes.
By the time I was sixteen I was playing for three
different basketball teams, training five times a
week and playing three games a week. I was also
representing my school in many different sports and
athletic events, along with extra gym sessions when
I could.
I was unaware of how much I was actually doing
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
and the strain and load I was putting on my body
and mind.
My body went into meltdown.
I had no energy and there were days where I
couldn’t lift my head off the pillow. I was seriously
sick and there was nothing I could do about it.
After six months of seeing specialist after specialist,
being tested for every illness under the sun I was
finally diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
Three years went by. I missed most of my senior
school years, most of my teenage social life and many
family events. All of my sport came to a complete
stop. I felt as though I had no life left. I thought my
life was over and that I would never get better and be
able to do what I once done with ease.
After three years of seeing all types of specialists
from all different medical backgrounds (that didn’t
really help me much at all), I was lucky enough to
find out about a four-week inpatient rehabilitation
program at the Austin Hospital in Melbourne run
by Dr Lionel Lubitz. The program was specifically
designed for teenagers with CFS and consisted of a
little bit of everything: exercise, physical recovery,
lifestyle and recreation, counselling, nutrition, and a
little bit of school work.
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
The program was great as it was run by a group
of professionals who helped me every step of the
way, each day over the four weeks. From only being
able to do half a push-up on day one and walk for
two minutes, I managed to do seventeen push-ups
and walk for ten minutes by the end of week four.
The program was about building up over time and
progressively doing more. Consistency over intensity
was the key that got me to do those seventeen push-
ups and the ten-minute walk at the end of the four
weeks.
The Austin program showed me that it was
possible to do things again because after three years
of doing nothing, I had lost all confidence to try
things. I thought it would only worsen my symptoms.
With a new outlook towards trying things
again and after seeing my strength improve quite
dramatically, I started to believe that one day I would
be completely healthy again. It was challenging on
every level but I learnt so much.
This was the start of my journey towards better
health.
After completing the Austin program I was keen
to keep my progress going.
The team at the Austin Hospital organised a
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
personal training group just for chronic fatigue
sufferers from the program. It ran twice a week and was
run by Erin Splatt. In a non-threatening, encouraging
environment she reinforced the importance of
exercise and diet and taught us how the body adapts
according to the amount of exercise we do. We also
worked on our mindset and attitude. With a gradual
build up of cardio, strength and recovery I started
to regain my fitness and energy levels. I was able to
cope with more at school, was able to hang out with
friends again, partake in my Year 12 ball and more
importantlypassmyV.C.E.
Of course there were days, sometimes weeks,
where I didn’t feel that great at all, but I was
determined to help myself get healthy again.
It was the small steps I took towards better health
that helped me the most.
Even if it was only a one-minute walk a day, I still
thought to myself, “I am doing this”, and the week
after it was a two-minute walk per day and the week
after that it was three minutes. By week four I was
able to consistently walk five minutes each day.
I remember I used to get my dad to take me to
the pool before school to do recovery and walk some
laps – some days I would only last five minutes in
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
the water, but I said to myself, “At least I am doing
something, and I will get stronger eventually if I stick
at it”.
Socialising was another really difficult obstacle to
overcome – it was such a mind game for me to go out
and see my friends. I used to think to myself, “What
will happen if I stay out for too long, or if I don’t
sleep tonight or if I’m not in bed by 9 pm? Will I be
sick in bed for two weeks?”
With support from my family and good friends
I was able to push through that mental barrier and
socialise, even if it was only an hour at a time to start
with. My confidence grew as I started believing that I
was slowly getting better. It made it easier to try new
things again and be proactive about my recovery
from CFS. Instead of letting CFS and my situation
have control of my life, I started to control it.
Of course I was lacking in energy but I knew that
I had to try and do something to help myself. As long
as I didn’t go backwards in my recovery, these were
the things I could do to help regain control of my life.
Was it easy?
No.
Did I do it?
Yes I did.
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
I know what it is like to have Chronic Fatigue
Syndrome and I know how it makes you feel: helpless,
restless, frustrated, sad, angry, weak, miserable and
uncertain about the future. I also know what it takes
to regain control of your health again. I know that it
is possible for you to regain control of your health
and feel better. I did, and now I am here to help guide
you towards better health.
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Once you have accepted that you are
unwell and that you need to give your body
time to recover, you can start your recovery
process.
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ChApTer 2
Acceptance
The hardest part of CFS for me was the fact I wasn’t
able to do what I previously found so easy … exercise.
For me, there was nothing worse than not being
able to run or play sport, let alone get out of bed.
I was devastated that I was no longer the person I
once was physically.
I remember early on when I was diagnosed with
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome how angry I was. Even
though being diagnosed with CFS meant all other
serious illnesses and diseases had been excluded,
I was still angry. I felt like CFS was the end of my
life. I was absent from school for months at a time,
I couldn’t play sport, was sleeping sixteen hours a
day, barely able to walk from the car to my bedroom,
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
being too tired to even eat, always too tired to see
friends and the list goes on.
There were nights where I literally tried to punch
holes in my bedroom wall with not much luck as I
barely had the energy to lift my arms. I would cry
myself to sleep.
Keep in mind I was only sixteen years old, so I
was really just a lost boy wondering what the hell was
going on with my body. I didn’t even care about CFS,
I just cared about missing out on everything – sport,
friends, school, dinners, exercising. Instead my days
were filled with visiting doctors’ clinics, specialists,
being in bed or on the couch. It was uneventful and
depressing to say the least.
It took me several more months to realise that
being angry and frustrated wasn’t helping my
recovery process and that if I didn’t accept my
situation and take proactive steps towards recovery,
I was either going to stay still or go backwards.
Acceptance has a big part to play in recovery
from CFS. If you don’t accept that you have CFS and
that it is real, you will just go around in circles and
never progress to better health.
Accept where you are at with your CFS and forget
about the past and what you were like. Let it go. Start
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
with where and how you are now. Once you have
accepted that you are unwell and that you need to
give your body time to recover, you can start your
recovery process. Being overwhelmed by frustration
and anger will only retard your recovery.
It took me a while to accept the fact that I had
CFS and that I couldn’t play basketball or run any
more. I continued focusing all my energy on all the
bad stuff and my mind was going crazy. Full of anger
and frustration I kept thinking about how I was such
a good basketball player and so fit, to now being
sick, unfit and not being able to do anything. I didn’t
realise the impact it had on my recovery (my stinking
mindset).
I soon realised that I would need to forget about
the past and how fit I was. I had to stop comparing
my current situation to my past and ACCEPT where
I was physically at this present time. There was no
more ‘poor me, life is unfair’ stinking thinking. I started
living in the now, not the past or the future, NOW.
Once I did this I was better able to listen to my
body and implement an exercise program.
I learnt early on that if I over did it with anything,
I would go backwards in my recovery very quickly.
Some days I felt great and I’d go for a run like I was
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
back to normal but then it would take me two weeks
to feel half okay again. Starting slowly was the best
way to manage my CFS symptoms. It didn’t happen
over night but I certainly got better at doing the right
amount for me as the weeks and months passed by.
I was so focused on being strict, not overdoing
it and not underdoing it at the same time. On the
days I felt good, I would only do what I had planned.
Nothing more or nothing less, just the right amount.
There were only so many times I could have a
bad setback as the pain and lack of energy got the
better of me. I was determined to respect where I
was at and start slowly and progressively.
I remember when I was quite ill with CFS, there
were months where I would refrain from going
outside because it was all too hard mentally to get
myself going. Those small steps I took with exercise
proved to me that I could do things. Even though it
wasn’t much to the average healthy person, to me it
was an achievement to go for a ten-minute walk. It
made me think that maybe in the future I could get
back to good health and be able to do things I really
wanted to do such as playing sport and perhaps even
get bigger and stronger than ever before.
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Mindset is something we have to work on forever, not just for
one day, one hour or even one thought.
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ChApTer 3
Mindset is where it all starts
Before you even start to think about your journey to
better health you need to make sure your mindset
is right.
One of my great teachers from high school would
come up to me when I was walking to the sickbay
to lay down for a rest and say, “Mind over matter
Toby. Start visualising and believing that you will get
better”.
At the time I didn’t have a clue what he was
talking about. Now looking back it makes sense.
I had the drive, the commitment, the perseverance,
the attitude to believe that I would one day get better.
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
Even when times got tough and I was bedridden for
weeks I would still lay there and truly believe that I
could one day overcome this.
Mindset is something we have to work on forever,
not just for one day, one hour or even one thought.
CFS brings you to your weakest point, it sucks the
life out of you and makes you feel like there is no
hope of getting better. It makes it harder to have a
good mindset when you are at such a low point in
your life. It’s almost like your mindset is either your
best friend or your enemy. There were months and
months where I would be my worst enemy and think
the worst of things. Today is going to be crap, I am never
going to play sport ever again, I can’t believe I am this
sick even though my mates aren’t, how unfair is this, etc.
Little did I realise how much impact those thoughts
had on my recovery. It definitely did NOT help.
Being a victim of your situation will only keep you in
that situation for longer.
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
Believe, succeed, achieveIt’s amazing what happens when you change your
beliefs and thought patterns from negative to positive.
Soon after I started exercising again (five minutes
a day to begin with) my mindset started to change.
I thought to myself, “Hold on, I am actually able to
do stuff. Maybe, just maybe, if I keep working on this
and be consistent and do the right things I will be
able to get back to the old me again”.
As time went on the picture became clearer.
I wrote down what I wanted on a piece of paper
every week: “I want to run, I will run, I can run. I am
running.”
Before I went to sleep each night, I would lay in
bed for ten minutes visualising myself running along
the beach with a big, buff body and feeling strong.
Same produces same, different produces change.
In order for you to change, you need to think
differently, for the better. A lot is dependent on your
mindset.
Make a proactive choice today and start with
small steps. You will be surprised how far it will take
you if you stick at them.
You are going to have good days and bad days,
so just keep a positive mindset at all times and know
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CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME
that you are working towards something better for
you.Accept thebaddays forwhat theyare.Justa
bad day. Tomorrow is a fresh day.
Setbacks are bound to happen. It happens with
healthy people, caused by all sorts of things like
injury, stress and relationships. It’s how you deal
with the setbacks that is important.
Try not to panic when you feel like you’re getting
a cold or flu; just give yourself time to rest and get
better from it.
I remember there were days where I thought I
would never be able to run again. After starting my
progressive walking program I was eventually able to
jog and soon after being able to jog I was able to run
properly again. I believe it may have taken me two
years to be able to run my first fun run of fourteen
kilometres. That day was amazing looking back, as
two years prior I thought to myself I would never be
able to run again. The most important thing to me
was that I got my life back, I was functional again and
could have a go at anything I wanted to try.
It’s amazing what happens when your mindset
changes for the better.
One thing that really worked for me in order to
achieve a positive mindset was to write down what I
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wanted in my life. I kept up the writing, “I want to jog,
I will jog, I can jog, I am jogging”.
I would put everything in to past and then present
tense. I found this technique extremely helpful.
Even though I was only walking at this stage, it
gave me the motivation to keep my walking program
going. If there were bad days, I truly believed that if I
kept doing it I would eventually start jogging sooner
or later.
Once I could jog (even if it was only fifteen
seconds to start with), it’s still jogging. I re-wrote my
affirmations. “I want to run, I will run, I can run, I am
running.”
As I built up my jogging over a few months in
intervals – walk … jog … walk … jog – I was soon
able to run.
It wasn’t a miracle. It was commitment and
persistence over time that got me to be able to walk,
jog and run again. It took time. There was no magic
pill, just pure determination to get my health back on
track. Slowly and surely.
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Everything needs to be in balance.
Too much of one thing will overdo it and too
little will undo it.
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ChApTer 4
Getting moving – less is more to start with
So how do I go forward rather than backwards with
exercising in my recovery?
To start with you need to make sure you ease into
exercising and not overdo it. It varies for each person,
usually anywhere from one minute to ten minutes of
light exercise is the norm, however, it depends where
you are at with your recovery.
Choosing the right exercises to do at that time is
important. Make sure they are low impact exercises
(see Chapter 5 for exercises) that don’t make you too
sore to begin with. Over time you can increase the
intensity and load and exercise as your muscles begin
to build strength and recover faster.
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Before you try and run for five minutes like you
used to, make sure you can walk it first and see how
you feel the day after, before deciding to bump up
your exercise load.
Progressive overload is the gradual increase of
physical stress placed upon the body during exercise
training. If you go too hard, your muscles take longer
to repair and recover, leaving you feeling sore and
sorry. However if you train at the right level for YOU,
and consistently do that week in and week out, you
should see a steady increase in your overall fitness.
My priority was my health, so in order for me to
be as healthy as I could, I went to bed early every
night and I ate really nutritious food for breakfast,
lunch and dinner. I always carried a drink bottle full
of water so I was hydrated. If I was at a social event,
I would take some fruit with me so I wouldn’t have to
eat the not-so-good food like cakes and lollies.
I didn’t drink alcohol or take drugs and I would
never be up too late as I knew sleep was an important
part of the recovery process.
These are some of the actions I chose for myself
so I could really give myself the best possible chance
to feel good again and regain energy in my life.
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Everything needs to be in balance. Too much of
one thing will overdo it and too little will undo it.
Find a manageable pace you can handle and go from
there.
Consistency rather than intensity should be your
main focus.
Most people will ‘overdo it’ in their recovery,
sometimes more than once.
I did it more than once. Being a sporty kid I was
always getting angry with myself that I wasn’t playing
sport or running around being active with my mates.
I would try to play a basketball game even though I
wasn’t fit or conditioned to do so. After learning the
hard way numerous times, I started listening to my
body. I learnt to do enough but not too much exercise
so that my body could handle at that given time.
Don’t overdo it! Listen to your body.
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There were setbacks where I over did it because I
was feeling good on a given day and then over did it,
however I learnt from these setbacks and made sure
I didn’t over do it again.
I found a great trainer who knew a bit about
CFS and the importance of taking things slowly and
ensuring that my health was my number one priority.
It’s imperative that you find a trainer that reads your
body well and work together to take positive steps
towards exercising consistently rather than training
too hard and getting worse.
I started off very slowly as I hadn’t done much
regular exercise in the past years.
I began with a one-minute walk, five push-ups
on my knees, five sit-ups and five squats, resting in
between.
After two weeks of sticking to this program most
days of the week, I bumped the walk up to two
minutes and the three strength exercises from five
reps to eight reps.
After four weeks of consistent exercising I
increased the walking to three minutes and two sets
of five reps for each exercise – so now I was doing
all up ten push-ups, ten sit-ups and ten squats. To me
that was quite impressive considering I found it hard
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
to do one set of five push-ups four weeks ago. It’s all
relative.
As I was becoming more conditioned again
and my strength built up, my trainer added in new
exercises – light weight exercises like bench presses,
shoulder presses, DB row, bicep curls and tricep
extensions.
After about twelve weeks I was able to train for
half an hour four days a week in the gym. I was getting
stronger and could start to see physical changes in
my body. I looked fitter, had developed muscles on
my arms and felt a lot more confident with my body
and what it could do.
I added in pool sessions (hyrdrotherapy) where I
would wade through the water for two minutes then
do a light stretch and go back to wading again. After
a few weeks of building up my endurance in the pool
I added in a few laps of slow freestyle. Six months
later, after consistently going and progressively
making it harder according to my health, I was able to
swim two sets of ten laps in a row. Not bad for a guy
who struggled to wade through the water six months
prior. Again I took small steps towards a bigger goal.
Slow and steady wins the race.
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A good rule of thumb is that if you can do the
exercise you do and wake up the next day feeling no
worse than you did the day before then it should be
okay for you to continue on with that program.
Consistency is the key to a maintainable fitness program.
Before having CFS I was an elite basketball player and
also one of the fittest teenagers at my school, hence
for me to have no energy and not be able to get out of
bed was depressing. The hardest part about it all was
accepting the fact I couldn’t do what I once found
easy to do. Going from a beep test of 15.6 (very good)
to only being able to walk a few laps of 20 m shuttles
(not so good) was disappointing to say the least. My
biggest hurdle with CFS was accepting the fact that I
had to start all over again with my exercise and that
I wasn’t going to be playing basketball anytime soon.
It took me months to accept where I was at
physically and that I had to start off exercising
slowly again. I was fuelled with anger at not being
able to play sport with my friends or not being able
to participate in my sport class because of CFS. This
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
hindered my recovery purely because I wasn’t being
proactive about my health and where it was at and
instead was focusing a lot of my energy into thinking
about all things I couldn’t do. No sport, no running,
no fit and fast Toby Morrison that I once was. When
I was healthy I would never have thought one minute
of walking was exercise, but after having CFS and
not being able to walk for one minute, I definitely
didn’t take it for granted anymore.
It took me quite a while to accept the fact that I
had CFS and that I couldn’t play basketball or run
anymore. I kept focusing all my energy on all the
bad stuff. My mind was going crazy, full of anger
and I didn’t realise the impact it had on my recovery.
I eventually realised that I would need to forget about
the past and how fit I was. I had to stop comparing
my current situation to my past and ACCEPT where I
was at physically at this present time. Once I did this
I was able to listen to my body better and implement
an exercise program.
I found a CFS specialist who was well educated in
fitness and conditioning.
Even though I was barely able to walk for more than
a minute to start with, there were exercises I COULD
do. Whether it was stretching my legs, or doing four
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squats or four push-ups, or even on a stationary bike
for one minute. At least it was something.
I had been bedridden for months before starting
an exercise program, so small increments was the
key otherwise my muscles would get too sore.
As the weeks went by and the training was kept
consistent (five minutes a day to start with) I was able
to do more each week. It may have been an extra five
push-ups or an extra two minute walk. I was definitely
improving and was starting to get my strength back.
It was such a confidence boost and something I
enjoyed doing.
Yes it was challenging at the time but it was a good
challenge and something I looked forward to doing
each week. I wanted to get fit and healthy again and
maybe one day be able to run again.
That day did come again! Looking back at my
own recovery is quite amazing and inspiring to me. I
remember nights I would cry myself to sleep because
I truly believed I would never be able to play sport
or run ever again. Because I was stuck in such a rut
and wasn’t accepting the fact I was sick. At that time
I had a terrible mindset towards the future.
As I changed my attitude I was able to change
my actions. I might have seemed a little obsessive
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but I really wanted to make sure I gave myself the
best possible chance of getting better. Everything I
did during this period of my life was productive and
proactive and aimed towards a healthier/fitter future.
It has been six years since I overcame CFS. In those
six years I have done a lot of physical activities
including a fun run of fourteen kilometres in under
sixty minutes. In the same year I was back playing
high-level basketball and I also managed to play a
few games of football too.
In the gym I also became stronger – when I had
CFS I think I managed three push-ups to start with
on my knees. Now I can crank out more than sixty
push-ups on my toes in a row. I can do over fifteen
full chin-ups, I can benchpress more than 95 kg.
I recently got a beep test of 13.6 (not having done
that test since before I had CFS). Overall I am the
fittest and healthiest I have ever been. I have gained
over 15 kg of muscle since recovering from CFS.
I sleep better, eat better and train smarter.
The funniest thing is that six years ago, I would
have thought all this was impossible. Not a chance
would I ever be able to run fourteen kilometres.
I have to say that there is no better feeling than
feeling strong after a workout.
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What is important to remember here is that all
this success didn’t happen overnight. This is six years
of physical training, whether it was five minutes of
walking or three push-ups, or a ten-minute swim. It is
something I built up over time.
It is crazy what you can achieve when your
mindset is good.
Six years ago for me to be able to walk for more
than five minutes was a success. Then when five
minutes got comfortable and easier, ten minutes of
walking was an achievement. Small steps are the key
to success.
When clients come to see me for help and have
heard that I had CFS as well, they don’t believe it.
I remember I met this girl who had CFS, she looked
at me and said, “You didn’t have CFS, your arms are
way too big and strong for you to have had CFS”.
I laughed and then told her it was years of physical
rehab and conditioning that got me to where I am
today. Along with a good diet and well-balanced
lifestyle.
Unfortunately success doesn’t happen overnight.
With that in mind, accept the situation and then
work towards something better for you!
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Dealing with setbacksAs you read before I learnt the hard way by overdoing
it with exercise. There are also many other ways you
can overdo it and have setbacks:
• Noteatingtherightfood
Avoid sugary foods, fast food, high GI foods,
foods that make you feel sicker and that give you
tummy aches.
• Sleepingtoomuch
Over sleeping can make you feel even more tired
than you were before you went to sleep – leaving
you feeling groggy for way too long.
• Sleepingtoolittle
Not enough sleep has a terrible effect on your
body and your mind also, leaving you feeling
dazed and unrefreshed. Try having a minimum of
7-8 hours a night.
• Notdrinkingenoughwater
This leads to dehydration which can also have an
effect on your energy levels leaving you tired and
lacking in concentration.
• Alcoholanddrugs
Obviously a big NO NO when you are recovering
from CFS and building your health up again. It
simply isn’t good for you, will leave you feeling
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more tired than before and with side effects that
are not fun.
• Toolittleexercise
Will lead to de-condition, loss of muscle strength
and energy, and create more problems in the
future as well as the now. Start with baby steps.
• Toomuchexercise
Also known as the push crash cycle – going too
hard will only make you feel worse. Too much
exercise will strain your muscles, deplete your
energy stores and worsen your recovery in
between exercising, which will then lead to more
damage resulting in a lowered immune system.
• Concentratingfortoolong
Leaves you feeling drained and sometimes
even faint. Have breaks for whatever you’re
concentrating on. It doesn’t take much to stop
and have a minute or ten off, especially if it is
going to impact on your health for the better.
• Doingoneactivityfortoolong
Again leaving you drained, tired and weak. Have
breaks and relax in between.
• Notenoughrestinbetweenactivities
Find something relaxing in between activities and
make TIME to do NOTHING.
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• Latenights
Inconsistent bed times can have a negative
impact on your sleep patterns. Try to go to bed a
bit earlier each night.
• Staying in frontof acomputerorTVfor too
long
Too much digital stimulation can leave you feeling
drained, energy zapped and really tired. Try and
have short breaks in between using the computer
orwatchingTV.If itzapsyouof energythenstay
away from it.
• Spendingtoomuchtimeonyourphone
Talking can be tiring in itself. Don’t overstrain
you and your voice by talking for too long on the
phone. Explain to your friend you can only chat
for ten or twenty minutes then you have to do
something.
• Gettingemotionallystressedandlettingittake
control of you
Be in control of your stressors – if you feel you’re
starting to get emotionally stressed, STOP and
address the issue.
This list could go on but you get the idea. Everything
I have listed above can have a negative effect on your
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overall health, resulting in damage to your immune
system and leaving you feeling more weak and tired
than before.
It’s very important to get the balance right. At the
same time try not to get stressed about the balance!
It is okay to stuff up, but learn from your mistakes.
What works for you can be different to what works
for someone else.
Listen to your body. You will get better at this
over time. Be conscious of what is good and bad for
you and gauge your energy levels for the particular
activities you have given yourself for the day.
Whether it be going to school or work for half the
day, or even having a shower and doing the grocery
shopping, talking to friends on the phone for too long
or socialising for too long, doing the washing up and
cleaning your bedroom. All of these daily activities
can be quite taxing if you have been unwell for an
extended period of time. So give yourself time to rest
in between your daily routine.
It is normal to be scared and anxious about doing
things after such a long time of doing nothing, but
is what you’re doing right now helping you? If not,
then try something different. There are things you
can do to help yourself. Even if it’s getting up out of
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bed and moving around for five minutes. Or going
grocery shopping, or some gentle stretches. Doing
something is better than doing nothing. It will help
increase blood flow, build up resilience for you to
perform daily tasks better and give you a sense of
satisfaction that you are doing something whereas
before you were doing nothing at all.
Be positive; look for solutions not problems.
Try not to panic when you feel like you’re getting a
cold or flu, just give yourself time to rest and recover.
Everything needs to be in balance because too
much of one thing will overdo it and too little will
undo it. Find a manageable pace you can handle and
go from there. Consistency over intensity should be
your main focus.
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Most people will overdo it in their recovery
and sometimes more than once.
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ChApTer 5
Graded exercise Therapy, rest and
recovery
Most people would say exercise and chronic fatigue
don’t go hand in hand. However, done in the correct
way with the right amount, it can actually be of great
benefit to your health. It can be very beneficial in
more than one way.
Graded Exercise Therapy (GET) is physical
activity that starts very slowly and gradually
increases over time. This approach is used as part
of a treatment plan for people not only with CFS but
certain other chronic health conditions. This method
avoids the extremes of the ‘push-crash’ cycle of over
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exercising during recovery or not exercising at all
due to concern about relapse.
Typically, the GET begins with active stretching,
followed by range-of-motion contractions and
extensions, done for five minutes per day for a
completely inactive individual. Avoiding extremes
is the key, and activity must be balanced with rest.
Exercise sessions should be preset by the number
of repetitions or amount of time. The duration is
determined by the patient using trial and error, with
the goal of stopping before becoming tired. Research
has shown that gradual, guided physical activity can
be helpful for those suffering from CFS.
Rest can be taken whenever needed. Typically
you would rest 1–3 minutes after performing a gentle
exercise for thirty seconds to a minute. Allow your
body to recover and then having enough energy to
do another exercise after that period of rest.
GET has an extremely important part to play
in whether you go forwards or backwards in your
recovery from your physical exercise program.
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When should you increase your exercise load?It varies for each individual but here are some tips
for when and what to do when you increase your
exercise load.
It’s time to step it up with your exercise program
when:
• you feel like your exercise is doing nothing for
you and it’s far too easy
• you have maintained your health (haven’t got
worse, lapsed or worsened) after exercising
consistently for more than two weeks
• youhaveincreasedenergyformorethanaweek
consistently (not in ebbs and flows)
• yourmusclesdon’tgettiredorsoreatallafteror
during exercise (you want to feel it a little bit).
These are a few key indications for when you should
step up your exercise program.
How do I do it though? Am I back to the old me?It all depends on your current level of exercising.
If you are just managing a five-minute walk a day
and feel okay, I wouldn’t recommend going straight
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into running. It’s really important that you step your
exercise program up gradually over time.
So if it has been a five-minute walk once a day
and you’re ready to increase your load, go to seven
minutes of exercise. Once you feel comfortable with
seven minutes then try ten minutes. This may take
more than a few weeks. Be mindful that your body has
been bedridden and has not been used to exercising
for quite some time. Pace yourself and give yourself
time to recover after exercising.
No one goes from zero to hero overnight.
Slow and steady wins the race – pacing yourself
with exercise is imperative, especially to begin with.
The last thing you want to do is go backwards in your
recovery. The problem that I see the most is people
trying to do TOO MUCH too early in their recovery.
They think they SHOULD be able to run like they
used to because it wasn’t hard back then. So in the
midst of their frustration they try to run when they
shouldn’t. They push through the pain barrier and
overdo it. The next day they feel like they have been
hit by a bus and are bedridden for days.
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Most people will overdo it in their recovery and
sometimes more than once.
Acceptance has a big part to play in recovery
from CFS. If you don’t accept that you have CFS and
that it is not real, you will just go around in circles.
Accept where you are at with your CFS and forget
about the past and what you were like. Once you
have accepted that you are unwell and that you need
to give your body time to recover, you can start your
recovery process. Being overwhelmed by frustration
and anger will only delay your recovery.
Tips on how to step up your program:
• In all programs you should progress in gradual
increments of volume (how much) and intensity
(how fast).
• Smallincrementstoexistingprogramsshouldbe
made as good health is maintained. For example,
if you are comfortable with being able to walk
twenty minutes then try walking every second
minute a bit faster. Once you feel comfortable
with that then you could complete two minutes of
fast walking and one minute of slow walking over
twenty-five minutes. If you feel you are ready to
start jogging, start by jogging fifteen seconds of
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each minute for a total of ten to fifteen minutes.
See how you feel the next day and if okay and not
worse than the day before, then continue on.
• If itallseemstoohard,youshouldfindanexercise
physiologist or a good personal trainer who can
point you in the right direction.
• EachpersonisdifferentandIhaveseenpeople
go from not being able to walk for more than
a minute to people who are quite fit but have
other problems with CFS like concentration and
fogginess. If this is the case then it is best to see
someone who can assess you personally and
write you a specific personalised program.
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The most important thing to remember is to start slow and steady,
choose the easier version first and then
progress when you feel you can.
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ChApTer 6
how?
Now you have an idea of when to step up your
exercise program, it is important to learn how to do
that safely and correctly.
First of all you have to assess your current level
of fitness condition.
• Howmanypush-upsonyourkneescanyoudo?
• Or, if that is too hard, how many can you do
against a wall?
• Howmanysitupscanyoudo?
• Howfarcanyouwalkorjogorrunwithoutfeeling
worse than you did before you went for your walk,
jog or run?
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You are at a different level to everyone else who has
CFS, so don’t do a program that is made for someone
else.
There are typically three variations to most
common exercises.
1. Beginner
2. Intermediate
3. Advanced
There are also guidelines for sets and reps.
Sets – the number of exercises you choose to do.
Reps – the number of times you do one exercise
movement in a set.
A common protocol would be three sets of ten
rep push-ups.
So that being said here are the general guidelines for
sets and reps:
1. Beginners – 1–2 sets, 1–10 reps
2. Intermediate – 2–4 sets, 10–15 reps
3. Advanced – 4–6 sets, 10–20 reps
For example, a push up:
1. Beginner – either against a wall or elevated rail/
bar or on the floor on your knees.
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2. Intermediate – on the floor on your toes.
3. Advanced – feet on a bench and hands on the
floor in a decline position, or push-up clap or
even weight added onto your back (very tough).
You should know where you are at in terms of your
strength. Choose your variation safely. You know
your body better than anyone else does.
A good rule of thumb is that if you can do the
exercise and wake up the next day feeling no worse
than you did the day before then it should be okay for
you to continue with that program.
Consistency is the key to any fitness program.
The most important thing to remember is to start
slow and steady, choose the easier version first and
then progress when you feel you can. Don’t throw
yourself in the deep end and then be sore and sorry
for a week. You want your health to be maintained,
not go backwards.
PACEyourself.
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Before starting an exercise program, you should
always consult your doctor first and then seek the
right help.
It is also helpful to make yourself a chart to keep
track of your progress. By noting your sets and reps
you will be able to clearly see how far you’ve improved
over a week or month. I’ve included a sample chart
on the next page to give you an idea. You can choose
your own exercises.
Remember, nothing great happens overnight
and nothing great is ever easy, so stick at it and be
consistent. Whether it’s exercising one minute a day
or ten minutes, it’s better than nothing!
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A GUIDE TO RECOVERY
E
xam
ple
of a
dai
ly a
ctiv
ity p
lan:
Pus
h-up
sSi
t-up
sW
alk/
Run
/Jog
Sets
Rep
sSe
tsR
eps
Sets
Rep
sSe
tsR
eps
Km
Tim
ePa
ce
Wee
k 1
Mon
day
Tue
sday
Wed
nesd
ay
Thu
rsda
y
Frid
ay
Satu
rday
Sund
ay
Wee
k 2
etc
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Know that breakfast is good for you and will help you regain some much needed energy
in the mornings.
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ChApTer 7
Nutrition
1. Food is fuel – nutrition is importantFood is fuel – you are what you eat. Our body is our
temple so why not give it the best food possible to be
the strongest it can be.
Let’s put it into context, say a car for example:
If we put fuel in the car and fill it right up, the car will
function and get you from A to B. If the car is running
on empty and has barely any fuel in it, the car will take
longer to start up and potentially run out of gas and not
be able to move.
The same rule applies to the human body. If we
eat breakfast, it will give us the energy (fuel) to kick
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start our day and do what we need to do. By lunchtime
your energy may be running low, so you fuel up again
for lunch, maybe a steak and vegies or even a salad
sandwich, that gives you the energy you need to
perform tasks from lunch to dinner. By dinner you’re
starving and you could eat a horse (hopefully not), so
you should have a substantial meal to replenish your
body from what it has done throughout the day.
Here is an example of two similar people who do
the same stuff day-in day-out but eat completely
differently.
Mary and Jane live very similar lifestyles, they are both
in their twenties, they both work in the corporate world
and they both try to go to the gym or do some exercise
five times a week. The only difference is their diet. Let’s see
who gets through the day better and what happens both
physically and emotionally throughout the day.
Mary and Jane both have to be at work by 8.30 am.
Mary knows how important breakfast is and sets her
alarm half an hour early so she can get ready for the day
and cook a nutritious breakfast: eggs, spinach, avocado
and some mushrooms along with a fruit smoothie.
Jane on the other hand, hates getting up early. She
says she would rather have an extra thirty minutes laying
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in bed than getting up and having breaky. So Jane skips
breakfast altogether because apparently she doesn’t have
the time.
By 9 am Mary feels good, she is wide awake, focused
and fuelled up with a good breakfast. Jane not so good,
she still looks like she is half asleep and seems a bit grumpy
today and she’s definitely not focused. She wonders why
she has no energy so she grabs a coffee, with two sugars
of course.
Mary on the other hand is organised and has a one-
litre bottle of water at her desk. She is flying through her
work today and feeling great.
It’s almost lunchtime and Jane is still feeling flat, so
she is on to her second coffee for the quick pick-me-up.
Because she got up late and also didn’t bring any money
with her today, she is eating the staffroom biscuits by the
handful.
Mary who has already had breakfast and a litre of
water, gets her lunch out. Tuna and salad – perfect.
The clock strikes 3 and who’s hit the wall? You guessed
it – Jane is struggling. She finally borrows some money
and gets a roll with chicken in it. She makes another bad
choice though by getting a coke instead of water. So all
Jane has eaten today is a few biscuits and a chicken roll
with a can of coke. Not one glass of water, and two coffees.
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It’s 5.30 pm now and they are both off to their local
gyms for a workout.
Mary feels well and does her program without feeling
too drained.
Jane made it to the gym but not for very long, she
lasted five minutes on the treadmill before she got dizzy
with low blood sugar and so tired that she had to go
home to rest.
Mary goes home, has a good dinner with lots of
protein and vegies and has a good night’s sleep.
Poor Jane is almost too exhausted to eat dinner and
has a piece of toast with jam. She has an interrupted
sleep as she drank too much coffee during the day, the
caffeine keeps her awake.
So who’s the winner?
Mary by far – she ate breakfast, lunch and dinner,
drank more than two litres of water throughout the
day and did an hour workout at the gym. Her overall
performance was great and she is feeling good. And
her boss is rapt that she is so productive at work.
We can’t say the same for Jane, she skipped
breakfast (not a good start) then dehydrated herself
with two coffees and a coke and ate high GI food that
only gave her energy for a short period of time. Her
overall performance was below par and she definitely
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needs to change her diet if she wants to have more
energy throughout the day.
Although these women don’t have chronic fatigue,
you can see the impact diet can have on your overall
health and wellbeing. Who is at risk of burning out
and creating health issues and potentially getting
CFS?
Janeis.Shebarelyeatsandwhenshedoesitisnot
a healthy choice, she doesn’t drink any water which
makes her more dehydrated, she cannot exercise as
she lacks energy which then leads to de-conditioned
muscles which can cause injury problems and
imbalances in the future. If she doesn’t change her
habits for the better it will only get worse.
If you have CFS, the effects of poor nutrition will
be magnified due to the small amount of energy you
have.
Consistently choose to eat better food. Your body will
thank you.
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2. The importance of breakfastBreakfast stands for BREAK – FAST – break the fast,
meaning you haven’t eaten for 8–10 hours as you
have been in bed and it is time to eat again.
If you don’t eat breakfast you are going off
last night’s fuel (dinner), which has predominantly
been used to replenish your body from yesterday.
So it makes sense to start a new day with new fuel
(breakfast).
Recharge the batteries and get some energy again.
I know that breakfast is sometimes hard to eat
and you might not have much of an appetite. You
might simply have got out of the habit of eating
breakfast regularly. However, you can change this
negative cycle into a positive one. Even if you start
with a small breakfast, it is better than nothing.
Like point one, you need fuel in your body to get
started, otherwise you are running on empty and will
not be able to function at an optimum level.
Whether it’s cereal, eggs, toast, smoothies, vegies
or fruit. The list goes on and in Chapter 4 there are
lots of good foods you can choose from to get started.
Bottom line: know that breakfast is good for you
and will help you regain some much needed energy
in the mornings.
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Remember, small steps. Changing habits can add to
your recovery.
3. Five meals per dayNow you might wonder how you can have five meals
a day – that’s too much and plus it will make me fat.
Well it’s five SMALL meals a day – breakfast,
snack, lunch, snack, dinner.
This is extremely effective in energy efficiency.
Why? Let’s say you have a huge breakfast where you
are so full you feel like you could fall asleep. Some
people call it a food coma. This sudden tiredness
occurs because the energy it takes to digest such a
big meal is so great that the meal itself is not doing
you favours.
• Breakfast
If you have a smaller breakfast you will digest it
easily and be able to function better.
• Snacktime
Usually around 10–11 am depending on what
time you have breakfast. This is where you will
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have some fruit or a lighter meal or smoothie.
The snack is to get you through until lunch with
energy.
• Lunchtime
Take 30–60 minutes off and recharge yourself
for the last half of the day. In European countries
they usually spend 2–3 hours having a nice
relaxing lunch. Lunch is where you have a hearty
meal – usually some meat or fish (protein) with
some salad or vegies. I know this is not ideal for
everyone as they cannot cook at work or school.
Remember you can pre-make meals the night
before.
• Anothersnacktime
3–5 pm, where you should have another small
meal or snack – piece of fruit, some nuts, a
smoothie.
• Dinnertime
As you have already had five smaller meals
throughout the day you probably won’t be too
hungry. Again, have a hearty meal full of protein,
vegies or salad.
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Water!Did I mention water is kind of important?
Water makes up to 60% of our body, so keeping
your fluids up is very important.
The guidelines are men should drink around
3 litres of water per day and women 2.2 litres of water
a day. This is just a guideline and not specific to an
individual. It will vary for each person as it depends
on how much physical exercise they are doing, what
they do for work, the climate they live in and so on.
Bottom line – DrINK MOre WATer.
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The type and timing of carbohydrate
intake needs to be considered to maintain
our blood glucose levels, otherwise we
experience side effects like energy and mood
highs and lows.
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protein, carbohydrates and fats
We have all heard of protein, carbohydrates and fats,
but what are they and what do they actually do?
In this chapter I have broken down each food
category to give you a simple way of understanding
what each food group does and the reasons why we
need each one.
Eating a balanced meal
Vegetablesand salad
Protein
ComplexCarbo-hydrates
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ProteinAll tissues in our body are made and repaired
with protein. Protein is responsible for growth and
repair of muscle tissue, structural support for vital
organs, enzyme and hormone production, antibody
production for the immune system, and transportation
of nutrients.
Amino acids are the building blocks of protein
and there are twenty amino acids that the body
requires for efficient functioning. Eleven of these the
body can make, but there are nine ‘essential’ amino
acids that the body can’t make, so we have to get
them from eating the right food.
Animal sources are a very rich source of protein,
providing all the essential amino acids so they are
referred to as ‘complete’ sources of protein (see list
below). Plant sources (apart from soy products) on
the other hand, only provide some of the essential
amino acids and therefore need to be combined with
other foods to provide a complete source of protein
(see page 77). Protein should take up one-quarter of
our plate at every meal.
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Animalsources:
• Leanredmeat
• Leanwhitemeat
• Fishandshellfish
• Dairyproducts(organicmilk,yoghurtandcheese)
• Eggs
Plantsourcestocombine:
• Legumesandgrains
• Seeds,nutsandgrains
CarbohydratesCarbohydrates are a primary source of fuel for our
body. Once digested, carbohydrates are broken
down into glucose that the body uses for energy.
Carbohydrates also provide us with fibre, vitamins
and minerals and approximately half of our calorie
intake for the day should come from carbohydrates.
The type and timing of carbohydrate intake needs
to be considered to maintain our blood glucose levels,
otherwise we experience side effects like energy and
mood highs and lows. The glycaemic index (GI) is a
system for ranking carbohydrates depending on the
rate of digestion and absorption and hence, influence
on glucose levels. High GI foods (often referred to
as simple carbohydrates) are digested and absorbed
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quickly, causing a spike in our blood glucose levels,
whereas low GI foods (often referred to as complex
carbohydrates) release glucose slowly and do not
cause a rapid rise in blood glucose levels. Lower GI
foods give longer-lasting energy.
The best types of carbohydrates to include in our
diet are low GI, complex, wholegrain carbohydrates
that are less refined and full of nutrients. All fruit and
vegetables, wholegrain and dairy products provide
you with carbohydrates, however, the following lists
the best sources and should take up one-quarter of
your plate at every meal:
Vegetables:
• LowGIpotato
• Sweetpotato
• Parsnip
• Pumpkin
• Corn
Wholegrains:
• Barley
• Corn
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Brownrice
• Rye
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• Millet
• Buckwheat
• Wholegrainbreads
• Wholegrainwraps
• Wholegrainnoodles
• Wholegraincereals
• Wholegrainpasta
Beansandlegumes:
• Navybeans
• Cannelinibeans
• Kidneybeans
• Butterbeans
• Broadbeans
• Azukibeans
• Soybeans
• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Splitpeas
Fat We only require small amounts of fat in our
diets because fat is so energy dense, providing
twice as many kilojoules per gram as protein and
carbohydrates. We need fat for insulation, organ
protection, energy, supply of fat-soluble vitamins, and
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to make hormones. However, if we consume excess
fat in our diets, problems like obesity and a very long
list of other health complications can emerge.
There are certain healthy fats that we should
consume most of our fat requirements from and
others that we should limit. The fats to limit include
saturated and trans fats. These fats increase the LDL
‘bad’ cholesterol in our blood that contributes to
plaque formation and the build up of fatty material
that blocks our blood vessels and greatly increases
our risk of heart disease. Healthy fats, also known
as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats
(omega-3 and omega-6), reduce LDL ‘bad’ cholesterol
and also increase the levels of HDL ‘good’ cholesterol
in our blood as well as having many other important
functions in the body.
Cholesterol in foods has only a very small effect
on the cholesterol levels in your blood. It is the
saturated fat from foods that increases your blood
cholesterol levels and should be kept to a minimum.
All fats should be included in small quantities in
our diet and the best sources of healthy fat for us to
include in our diet are:
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Oilyfish:
• Salmon
• Mackerel
• Herring
• Sardines
• Tuna
Seeds:
• Flaxseeds
• Sunflowerseeds
• Pumpkinseeds
• Sesameseeds
• Chiaseeds
Nuts:
• Almonds
• Walnuts
• Brazilnuts
• Cashews
• Peanuts
• Pinenuts
Oils:
• Organicextravirginoliveoil
• Coconutoil
• Sunfloweroil
• Sesameoil
• Peanutoil
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Nutandseedspreads:
• Tahini
• ABCspread
• Naturalpeanutbutter
Avocado
WaterWater is an absolute essential for a healthy diet.
So many of us live in a dehydrated state and are not
even aware of it. We can live weeks without food, but
will only survive a few days without water.
With our bodies made up of approximately
60% water, it is important to know your individual
needs for water intake, as this can vary for everyone.
Aim for at least two litres of water per day but keep
in mind the following conditions require additional
water intake:
• Exercise/sweating
• Hot/dryclimates
• Alcoholconsumption
• Caffeineconsumption
• Consumptionof meat,eggsorsaltyfoods
• Fever.
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The best source of water is filtered water, however
plenty of water can also be consumed from fruit,
vegetables, grains cooked in water, soups, broths and
herbal teas.
Other important nutrients for people with CFS to
consider which help to maintain energy levels and
reduce fatigue:
Nutrient Function Source
BVitamins Required for energy production and formation of red blood cells.
Wholegrains, beans, legumes, vegetables, nuts and seeds, seaweeds and microalgae (spirulina).
Omega-3 fatty acids
Reduce inflammation and boost the immune system, deficiency has been associated with fatigue and depression.
Fish and shellfish, flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts.
Iron Transports oxygen around the body and we need oxygen for energy.
Seaweed, molasses, wholegrains, beans, legumes, nuts, beets, sesame seeds, prunes, raisins, dates.
Magnesium Energy metabolism and action of insulin which controls blood glucose levels.
Seaweed, wholegrains, microalgae (spirulina), beans and legumes, seeds, leafy green vegetables.
Zinc Antioxidant which can help fight the effects of oxidation which can damage cells.
Seaweed, whole grains, legumes and beans, nuts, seeds, mushrooms, soy beans, unrefined salt.
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Nutrient Function Source
Folate Help produce healthy red blood cells. Deficiency can result in weakness and feelings of depression.
Microalgae (spirulina), sprouts, leafy green vegetables, whole grains, dates, beans and legumes, mushrooms, oranges, beets and root vegetables.
Fibre Keeps digestive track healthy and helps to maintain stable blood glucose levels.
Whole foods. (Avoid juicing, peeling and refining processes.)
Importance of metabolism and energy output Maintaining energy levels comes down to the
importance of a balanced diet comprising of fresh,
whole foods without additives, preservatives or
colourings. Another aspect that is essential for a
healthy diet to energise you is regular consumption
of meals.
When we consume foods it affects our blood
glucose levels. We want to avoid rapid rises in our
blood glucose levels throughout the day because
this is when we start to become fatigued, lose
concentration, experience feelings of depression and
weakness and hunger cravings.
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The best way to maintain our blood glucose levels
is by consuming regular meals and snacks throughout
the day and ensuring each meal and snack is low GI,
fresh whole foods.
The optimal times to have the three main meals
are below:
Breakfast: 7:00 am – 9:00 am
Lunch: 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
Dinner: 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Note: snacks should ensure there is no more than three hours without food.
Example of a daily eating plan:
Time Meal Examplemeal
7:30 am Breakfast Porridge with nuts and seeds and yoghurt plus a herbal tea
10:00 am Snack A pear and a boiled egg
12:30 pm Lunch Chicken and salad rye wrap
3:30 pm Snack Celery sticks with nut butter and herbal tea
6:30 pm Dinner Fish, brown rice and steamed vegetables
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Intolerances and allergiesFood intolerances and allergies are common with CFS,
particularly wheat and dairy. It is best to avoid these
foods in your diet if you experience any bloating, gas,
stomach pain or indigestion after consumption. There
are plenty of replacement foods you can use when
eliminating wheat and dairy from your diet.
Wheatreplacements:
• Buckwheat
• Quinoa
• Millet
• Amaranth
• Brownrice
• Rye
• Spelt
• Barley
• Oats
Dairyreplacements:
• Soymilk(nonGMO)
• Oatmilk
• Almondmilk
• Ricemilk
• Quinoamilk
• Coconutyoghurt
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• Soyyoghurt
• Ricemilkyoghurt
• Vegancheese
Human bodies should exist at a pH of 7.4 (slightly
alkalised). Our bodies work best at this pH because
our immune system functions optimally in an
alkalised environment. On the other hand, when our
bodies are exposed to an acidic environment (one
that is created by too many toxins in the body from
poor food choices) it promotes the growth of disease
and infection.
Our bodies try to combat acidity by storing the
acid in our fat cells. These fat cells then become very
difficult to burn off because the body doesn’t want
to release all that stored acid into our bloodstream.
A vicious cycle then begins between eating poor
foods, storing acid in our cells and gaining weight.
Not only does the excess weight become difficult
to shift, but our bodies also try to restore the pH
balance by using water and minerals (calcium,
magnesium, potassium, sodium and iron). This can
result in water and minerals being stripped from the
body, leaving us dehydrated and undernourished.
The food we choose to eat can have a large
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influence on our pH levels due to the alkalised or
acidic residue that is formed during the digestion
process.
So what foods should I eat to maintain a slightly
alkalised body pH?
You will notice that almost all vegetables are
alkaline but there are some fruits that can have an
acidic effect on our body. This does not mean we
should avoid these fruits, but we should include
these as 20% of our whole diet. This complies with
the recommendations that we should have more
vegetables than fruit per day (two serves of fruit and
five serves of vegetables).
Here is an example of some meal choices that
will help fuel your body.
Healthybreakfastchoices:
1. Muesli with yoghurt, fruit and cinnamon
2. Fruit salad with yoghurt, nuts and seeds
3. Poached eggs on one piece of rye toast with
avocado, spinach, tomato
4. Two egg omelette with spring onion, capsicum,
mushroom, spinach
5. Smoothie (banana, berries, yoghurt, LSA,
cinnamon)
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Healthylunchchoices:
1. Turkey and salad rye/multigrain/wholemeal
wrap
2. Tuna, beetroot, carrot, rocket, spring onion, feta
cheese and walnut salad
3. Barley, quinoa and vegetable soup
4. Chicken, roast vegetable and spinach salad
5. Vegetarianricepaperrolls
Healthydinnerchoices:
1. Chicken stir fry with soba noodles
2. Fish with brown rice and steamed greens
3. Lamb cutlets with mashed sweet potato and
steamed vegetables
4. Fish with nicoise salad
5. Home made vegetarian pizza on wholemeal pita
bread
Special thanks to nutritionist Steph Wearne for
contributing to the Nutrition section.
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Choice – we get to choose whether we
eat poor food or good food; poor fuel
or good fuel.
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how am I going to stick to this healthy eating?
You are now educated enough on the importance of
food. As the old saying goes – You are what you eat.
This is very true. How many times have you eaten
fast food (that seemed like a good idea at the time)
to only feel tired and lethargic afterwards. Whereas
if you eat a healthy meal you feel like you have more
energy, your skin starts to clear up and you generally
feel healthier.
CHOICE– we get to choose whether we eat crap
food or good food, crap fuel or good fuel.
We can consciously choose what food to put in
our mouths. Making good, wise food decisions will
impact positively on your recovery from CFS.
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When your health is in a bad way and you’re sick
and tired, your goal is to get better and feel good
again. One significant thing to help you get back to
good health is healthy eating. Not just for one meal
or for one day or for even a week. Consistent healthy
eating over a long period of time. If it makes you
feel even 1% better, when every percent can make a
difference, why wouldn’t you choose to do that?
I remember when my health was at its worst, my
priority was to regain some kind of control over my
health and at the very least feel okay again. I made a
massive conscious effort to get up and eat a healthy
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sometimes I couldn’t be
bothered eating healthy, and there were times where
I just wanted to eat fast food. However I always
reminded myself of why I was eating healthy. If I
want to get healthy and better again I need to choose
healthy foods. It really is a matter of self discipline.
Do what makes you feel good, and that includes
eating as well as you possibly can.
I know it’s not easy to eat healthy all the time,
however go back to the reason why you are eating
healthy. If it is to feel better or help you to regain
your health than it is definitely worth doing right.
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CFS can also stand for Choice, Future,
and Success.
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Summary
This book is not intended as a cure for CFS, but
rather as a practical guide to educate and inspire
you to recover, step by step and to have a life after
CFS, a better more fulfilled life. Although I struggled
with the illness for four years, I would not have it any
other way. It was a blessing in disguise. I don’t take
a minute for granted, I am grateful to be alive, and
more so to be in the position I am in to help people
regain control of their health and life.
CFS was the hardest thing I have ever had to
deal with. It was something I would not wish upon
my worst enemy. As I slowly recovered from CFS
I appreciated my life much more. Be kind to yourself,
recovery and healing takes time, believe in yourself,
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never give up and look for the small positive changes
in your day today.
Bless you and your health. You can do it.
CFS also stands for CHOICE, FUTURE, SUCCESS.
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“As my strength increased, so too did my ability to go out
and do things such as see my friends, and do
some casual work.”Ash humphrey
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Client success stories
Ash HumphreyMy journey with chronic fatigue started just after
I turned twenty-two when I was diagnosed with
glandular fever. Initially I didn’t feel at all worried by
this diagnosis, rest up for a few weeks and then we’ll
be back on our feet running around again was the
thought process. However, as a month went by and
I still wasn’t feeling a whole lot better, I started to
get a little concerned. I went back and forth between
different doctors trying to get an answer for what
was happening to me, until I was finally diagnosed
with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome about two months
after contracting glandular fever. Upon this diagnosis
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I spent the next six months virtually incapacitated.
I slept upwards of fifteen hours a day, constantly
felt light headed, and seemingly lost all my strength,
struggling to even walk at times. For someone who
had been very active all their life this was a huge
shock, as just months before I started feeling unwell
IwasplayingfootballintheVFL,wasaneliterunner
and possessed a pretty hectic social life. Needless
to say I was devastated with my state of affairs and
was desperate to try anything that may help improve
my condition and get me back on my feet, from
trying special diets, to seeing specialist doctors and
even drinking weird herbal potions. Nothing I tried,
however, was guaranteed to help my condition, nor
could any medical specialist give a timeframe for
how long it would take to regain full health, if I was
ever able to at all. This was not the reassurance I was
hoping for, especially as I heard stories of people that
suffer from CFS for ten years and never fully recover.
For months on end I woke up feeling terrible, on a
good day I could get out and complete small tasks,
such as going up to the shops, and on a bad day I
scarcely left my bedroom. There seemed to be no
respite, day in day out I had feelings of lethargy and
severe exhaustion, and no one could guarantee me
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a definitive recovery process. It wasn’t until I started
the CFS wellness program with Toby that I was
implanted with some hope. Having suffered from,
and then overcome CFS himself, Toby provided me
with a real life story I could draw inspiration from,
and also endorsed the use of a very gradual exercise
program, something all other health professionals I
had spoken with had frowned upon. This exercise
program started out with a few short walks, as well
as two sets of five push-ups, which for a former elite
athlete wasn’t really my idea of a workout. The first
few times I completed this program I could hardly
walk the next day, but as time went on I managed
to progress from two sets of five push-ups, to two
sets of six, and then seven, and so on, until after a
few months I found myself able to do a number that
would almost have resembled a workout pre-illness.
As my strength increased, so too do did my ability to
go out and do things such as see my friends, and do
some casual work. This step was initially daunting, as
I would worry about how I would feel the next day
if I stayed out past certain times, however I found if
I applied the same principle to such steps forward
as I had with my strength program, I was able to
take the small steps and progressively increase my
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confidence. After about six months of this ‘recovery
phase’ I was able to return to competitive sport, as
well as a much more normal life. Opting not to play
football again, I chose to pursue my athletics for a
year and within a year of recovering from CFS, I
was able to compete at a national level and also run
overseas on the European circuit, suggesting I had
not only recovered from CFS, but was in fact fitter
than ever before! Overcoming CFS taught me a great
deal about my body and how to look after it, and also
gave me a great perspective on not taking things for
granted. Ultimately CFS is an illness you would not
wish upon your worst enemy, however as challenging
and traumatic an experience as it was, I would say,
thanks to a lot of help from a lot of people, I have
come out of it a much better person.
Lisa – Campbell’s mumEver since I can remember, Campbell was an active
child. He began walking at eight months; not well,
but he was the kind of child that had their ON switch
on all the time. Within weeks he progressed to a run
and he never stopped running from that day on.
As a nine-year-old boy, he was like a lot of other
boys his age. He was bright, loved physical activity
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and was always on the go. He played football,
attended swimming classes and played tennis. Life
was good to Campbell as he did well at school and
on the sports field.
When the day came that he was unwell with a
throat infection, my husband and I thought that with
some rest, he would recover. But as the months
passed, he seemed to lack energy and enthusiasm to
do anything. Every task was an effort. From getting
out of bed in the morning to eating meals, everything
became hard.
As the initial weeks went by and we could see
that he was slowly getting worse, we started getting
him tested for everything. After eight blood tests the
doctors finally diagnosed him with chronic fatigue.
Being a physical education teacher, I had taught a
few children with this illness over the years, but I had
never heard of it affecting a nine year old. I always
assumed it was a teenage illness.
The doctors diagnosed his illness, suggested he
exercise for half an hour a day and told us to come
back if we had any questions.
My husband and I felt at a loss at what action to
take next. Sure, I could walk him around the block
but it was hard enough getting him out of bed and
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dressing him every morning. I could see that I was
in for a lot of work over quite an extended period of
time. And when your child is sick with an illness that
runs its own course, you need to mentally prepare
yourself for this long journey with them.
I went to naturopaths and had tonics made up,
bought vitamins to build up his immune system.
After Googling every site on chronic fatigue, I
became a little worried by all the information about
people’s terrible afflictions and the worrying effects
of what CFS had done to them. So I decided to stop
researching on the internet.
That’s when a friend of mine, a physiotherapist,
referred me to Toby Morrison.
Initially, I was sceptical. I wondered what a
twenty-year-old young trainer could offer me when
I had been to so many doctors who could only offer
me vague advice.
In hindsight, I think going to Toby was the best
thing I could have done.
His initial consultation offering a twelve-week
course sounded too good to be true, but I was ready
to try anything to get Campbell well.
After that first consultation, I realised that Toby’s
understanding of CFS was far greater than a lot
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of people I had talked to because he had lived the
experience of having CFS himself.
He offered a positive solution to our problem.
Toby was living proof that someone could have CFS
for a long time and come out the other side living a
healthy, active life. He was a living point of reference.
It was so great to have him speak to Campbell
as someone who understood what he was going
through. Someone who was aware that CFS not only
affected one’s body, but also their mind. Toby was
also acutely aware of the need to keep Campbell in a
positive mental state.
He modified Campbell’s diet to increase protein
and even offered help to me as a parent by providing
his details in order to contact him anytime to discuss
any questions or concerns.
I was surprised at the amount of activity he got
Campbell to do over the course of those twelve
weeks. Even on days where Campbell didn’t feel good
and didn’t want to go to the session, he always came
back from the session smiling and feeling better.
As a parent, it is sometimes hard for you to
motivate your own child so it was great to have this
young, happy, active guy encouraging my child and
telling him that he was doing well. He became a
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mentor figure for Campbell in a very positive way.
It was also great as a parent to have these sessions
with Toby to keep Campbell on track and positive
for another week. We tended to live week by week
with this illness, taking small steps towards recovery.
I say ‘we’ because this illness has an effect on the
whole family. We all had to keep positive, even if
we felt despair at the situation. Our social life was
affected, my work life ceased while I had to care for
Campbell and the family became either housebound
or separated with different family members doing
different activities. Toby’s constant reminders that
life would get better was good for our whole family.
I liked the fact that he also tested Campbell’s
fitness level at the start and end of the course. It
is always great to have factual reinforcement that
proves your child is improving and it was great for
Campbell to see good, positive results in a medical
capacity rather than negative results.
Toby also read Campbell’s energy levels well and
modified exercise on the day depending on how he
was feeling.
I am grateful to my friend for recommending Toby
and I am so grateful that Campbell did his twelve-
week course.
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It is great to have an outside person tell, show
and reinforce that your child is getting better and I
am so grateful to have had Toby to talk to, bounce
ideas off and take a genuine interest in my sick son.
He became the person who could help us when I had
exhausted all other avenues.
Bec PierceI’m currently sitting on a plane heading to a month-
long snowboarding holiday in Canada. This is a trip
that I could never have imagined five years ago.
It was five years ago that I first injured my knee,
which started me on a journey that led to chronic
fatigue. After a drawn out period I finally had knee
surgery to correct the problems with my knee.
Unfortunately everything led to me getting chronic
pain syndrome, further delaying my recovery and not
allowing me to do many of my daily activities. Before
the knee injury I was a competitive netball player so
being sedentary was hard for me. I overcame this by
doing things I couldn’t do when I was playing netball,
like getting fake nails. I also decided to focus more on
my schoolwork and aimed to meet specific goals in
that area of my life instead of sport for once.
However, after barely being able to move from
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my bed let alone open a school book for a few weeks
I went to the GP. She suggested that I see a specialist
and it was at that appointment that I was told I had
chronic fatigue and would most likely have to go
to hospital. I don’t even remember what happened
after that. It had been about a year and a half since
my initial injury to get to this point. I started seeing
another specialist after that and was making minor
progress but wasn’t going anywhere fast. My mum
had taken leave from work to be my full-time carer
because I could not do much for myself. It was
decided in August of 2010 that I would go to hospital
for four weeks. Those four weeks fell at the same time
as my annual family holiday and the end of school
for the year twelves, which was a big celebration at
my school. I cried, a lot, when I found this out. I think
some point during those couple of days I figured out
that I couldn’t keep fighting being sick and I just had
to accept that I was and do what I could to make the
best out of what I could do.
Only one week before I was meant to go to hospital
I felt a lot better and it was as if everything I was
doing was starting to work. Thankfully I didn’t end up
having to go into hospital and got to attend my holiday
and school events. Over that summer I started to feel
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a lot better. I even got a summer job, started running
again and it was looking like everything was on track
again. I got to play two games of netball for school
which was the most amazing feeling ever because I
never thought I’d get back onto the court.
I unfortunately injured my knee again and again
needed surgery. I started to feel like I did in the
previous years. I got through year twelve thanks to
the help of my mum, my house dean – one of the best
teachers out there – and management by a team of
doctors, naturopaths and physios. After I finished my
last exam I started seeing Toby. Within two weeks of
starting the program with him I began to feel better.
I was able to go to schoolies and keep up with all
my friends. I came back and finished the program.
I was feeling well enough half-way through to enjoy
my eighteenth birthday and all the celebrations that
go with it.
The one thing that kept me going and staying
positive throughout the whole experience was my
dream to be a paramedic. I have now finished my
second of three years of training and this time next
year will hopefully be out there helping people full
time. I also have a part-time job, got to play netball in
a social team and learnt to snowboard.
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Although chronic fatigue absolutely sucks, it
taught me quite a few things. Firstly I learnt not to try
to be perfect all the time, I also learnt how to study
effectively which comes in handy quite a bit. I got
to spend a lot of time with my mum. And I watched
so many cooking shows I learnt to be a good cook.
I’ve learnt to accept what is and be thankful for what
I’ve gained rather than what I’ve lost from chronic
fatigue.
Maxx HartAfter finishing school in 2009 I took a gap year and
decided to travel. I had a fantastic time travelling
through Europe and South America but with little
regard for my body.
Knowing how to treat my body was not something
I knew much about before being diagnosed with
chronic fatigue, but it is something that is an integral
part of my daily routine now.
Before being diagnosed with CFS I was playing
volleyball at a national level and loved sport, I was
training and playing 5–6 days a week.
My chronic fatigue journey started when I was
diagnosed with bronchitis mid-2011. I recovered from
the illness but was still struggling to get back to being
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my normal self again. Going out and socialising with
friends was now a challenge and after one Saturday
night party my body pretty much broke down. I had
no idea what was happening and thought it was just
a short phase of being really tired. I was sleeping 14–
15 hours a day and feeling completely disconnected
from everything that was happening around me.
Things like socialising, which came naturally to
me before, were an effort and close to impossible to
do. I couldn’t concentrate on my uni work and would
come home from half a day at uni and go straight
to bed. I went to see a GP who suggested I might
have post-viral fatigue and to take it easy. I literally
couldn’t do any uni work and had to take a leave of
absence.
It was a really tough time for me and my family as
they were as worried, if not more worried, as I was
about the state of my health. Following the doctor’s
instructions I didn’t do a thing for the next two
months, which was easy for me to do but definitely
not getting me any better. In fact it was probably
making my condition worse. My daily routine would
be waking up at 1 pm, eating lunch (maybe) and
watchingTVoramovieuntil7:30whenIwouldhave
dinner and spend time in front of the computer until
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2 or 3 am and after laying in bed for another hour I
would finally get to sleep. By this stage I had seen
four or five different GPs, all as unhelpful as the next,
some even discounting CFS entirely because they
didn’t believe in it.
I will not forget the day I walked into the practice
of a doctor who had a ‘special interest’ in chronic
fatigue, only to be met with confused looks, unhelpful
advice and information read to me off a pamphlet.
Realising this wasn’t working, my mum was given
a name by a friend of hers that turned out to be Toby.
After her having a chat to him and deciding it would
be worth seeing him as he had come from a similar
background to me, she made an appointment. To
put it plainly, I didn’t want to go, I thought he would
be some guy who wouldn’t help and would just be
another person to see. After some convincing from
my mum I got myself there and I was in a pretty bad
state. I remember walking in to see him, nervously
sweating and shaking. This had become a norm
for me with my social interactions. Comparing this
to only the year before when I was travelling and
working as a promoter who would stand outside a
nightclub all night chatting to people and convincing
them to come in, I had gone backwards a long way.
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I think what made me want to go back to see Toby
a second and further times was the fact that I could
relate to him very well and he had been through a
similar experience to what I had been going through.
No promises were made to me and he put things
into perspective in that it was up to me and nobody
else to get myself better. To say he was the facilitator
for me getting back to good health would be accurate.
By no means was my CFS journey over after
the twelve-week program, but it gave me the skills
to realise what’s going on with my body and how to
treat it.
In the early stages of recovery a similar pattern
emerges in nearly everyone thinking they’re going
well, pushing themselves and then going back a
couple of stages in their recovery
In my opinion it’s one of the hardest parts of
recovery and it definitely took me more than a couple
of times to learn my lesson.
My state of physical health now is superb after
managing to do less than ten push-ups in a minute in
the initial consult I can now do over forty in a minute.
I play soccer twice a week and do gym work two
to three times a week, something that a year ago I
thought would be close to impossible for me.
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After completing the program I was inspired to
do something like Toby and help people on their
CFS journeys, so I started a personal training course
which is in the final stages of completion now. It was
a challenging time to take on a task like that but
something I’m very glad I did. I have been doing work
experience with Toby learning things about people
on the road to recovery. Sitting in on consultations
is fascinating and also pretty tough sometimes as
you can draw many similarities with people and
remember how tough it was for you when you were
going through that.
Matt Young October 20th 2010, the day my life changed forever.
It was my second round of glandular fever after
having it once before when I was nineteen or twenty.
Everything was exactly the same as the first time
except now I had responsibilities, a great girlfriend,
a job, in fact my life was how I imagined it would
be. One month had passed and I was starting to feel
better. I was getting pressured to come back to work
as they needed me for a big shutdown job in rural
NSW. I’m a refractory bricklayer which is a very
demandingphysicaljob.Jackhammering,demolition,
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construction, all very hard for a fit healthy person
let alone me recovering from glandular fever. Three
weeks I was away for. It had been bloody tough, I
pushed my body to its limits but I got the job finished
on time. The six-hour drive home was hard, I was
tired, it was 38 degrees and I needed a well-earned
rest.
January4th
I opened my door to my apartment after the long
drive home, dropped my bags and jumped straight in
the shower. Fifteen minutes later I’d collapsed on the
floor unable to move. My legs had lost feeling, my
body had finally given up on me. My girlfriend, Amy,
drove me straight to the hospital.
The weeks after that day were the worst time of
my life. I literally felt like I was going to die, I vomited
hourly, didn’t sleep more than five minutes at a time,
I was sweating then I was cold. The worst was the
muscle pain, it felt like someone was pulling on my
calfs, hamstrings, biceps, triceps. I’d lost 21 kg in
three weeks, I was so physically sick and unwell I
couldn’t leave the bed/house.
Seeing doctor after doctor and getting the same
response: “Rest Up”, “It’s a really bad case of
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glandular fever”, etc. I knew it was something more.
I was fed up with all these doctors, lost and looking for
answers as to why I was feeling this way. By chance I
was referred to a ‘quirky old doctor’ who had treated
a friend with CFS once before. His name is Dr Zennin
Gruba. He took one look at me and said you look
horrible, let’s find out what’s wrong with you and fix
you. Within a week I had an answer, I had CFS. I was
put on 15–20 supplements and a strict three-month
diet plan.
Being so physically sick, your emotions kind of
take a back seat for a while. Once I had answers to
why I was sick along came all the emotional feelings.
All these thoughts about your future, the relationship
that’s been neglected/strained for the last month,
money, friendships. I needed help. The psychologist,
Dr EliseJulien,whoIwasreferredto,wasanother
saviour. A person who still to this day suffers from
CFS and understands everything about what people
with our condition go through day to day. There were
many great things she taught me.
1. Pacing. How to read the signs my body is telling
me and take action.
2. Goals, short term and long term. Strive for them
no matter how many set backs.
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3. Relationship advice. My relationship with Amy
was at its worst and was probably the hardest
thing to work at. Having CFS limits everything
you do day to day, unable to do the simple things
like go for walks, socialise, sex, everything you did
together before. I was so lucky to have an amazing
partner who was supportive, understanding and to
go through so many lows and come out the other
side so strong now I wouldn’t change a thing. CFS
made our relationship stronger and more loving
in a weird kind of way.
I think it was two or so months later I was having lots
of little relapses and a big one which put me in bed
for three weeks. I was starting to lose hope, as you
do. I then stumbled across this personal trainer, Toby
Morrison, on the internet and his story battling CFS.
I rang him straight away. I still remember the day I
first spoke to him. He was so helpful and wanted a
meeting as soon as possible. Before he let me get off
the phone he said one thing to me which stuck: “If I
meet you, you have to give this 100%. No half arse!”
By this stage I was at my lowest weight, 79 kg, and
no muscle whatsoever. My first meeting lasted 30–45
minutes I think. I managed to lift a 2 kg dumbbell
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with a great struggle, one push up and one of a lot
of other things. Toby also provided great motivation
by setting short weight goals, small goals each
week that gave me something to strive for as I had
lost all my motivation. Twelve weeks, with massive
improvement I’d put on an average of 1.5 kg a week
and got back to my original weight of 94 kg.
Half-way through the twelve-week program, I’d
started back at work 2–3 days a week doing four-hour
days.Myemployer,JimDewar,wasamazingandso
supportive. I’d been with the company five years
previous to getting sick, and the whole time off I had
their support and a job to go back to. I started doing
the half days, three days a week then lifted one hour
every month until August this year where I’m now
back to eight-hour days five days a week. I believe
they thought I would never get back to work full time
and neither did I. But with hard work, determination
and a little help from everyone at work I was able to.
I’m now reasonably healthy, still pacing myself
day to day, still have little relapses but overall getting
on top of CFS. I learnt so much over this journey, so
much about myself. One thing you learn very quickly
is who your real friends are, the people that were
there for you, cared for you through the hard times,
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the people who you didn’t have to explain everything
to, the people that understood what you were going
through. I weeded out a lot of people in my life and
couldn’t be happier now. You learn the things in life
that are most important to you and most of all what
you want out of life, like being healthy, living a healthy
life, relationships, family friends, a job you love and
can manage. I see the bigger picture more now than
ever before. I learnt to read and understand my body,
what my body was telling me and take the steps in
order not to relapse.
My family and Amy’s family were amazing, they
went above and beyond what I could ever have
expected. My dad, who is also my supervisor at work,
was great through this whole journey, he was there at
the drop of a hat. Having a supportive family went a
long way in helping me recover. Last, but definitely
not least, someone who goes through this journey
with you but doesn’t feel the physical pain, BUT
definitely goes through everything else: my girlfriend
Amy. I wouldn’t have got through any of this without
her love, support and motivation. She was my rock
through that difficult time and always kept me in line
and motivated me everyday to become “that person
I was before I got sick”. I love her so very much.
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For help and information go to
cfshealthcentre.com.au
For online support you can become a member of
my website. You will receive weekly articles, videos,
podcasts, success stories and inspiration on how to
become healthy again. Included in the membership
is an online chat forum so you can talk and support
others going through similar situations to you.
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