Sharon Heng, Medical Oncologist and Palliative Care Physician at Ipswich Hospital, shared a post on Substack:
“What if you’re too tired for the ‘healthy lifestyle’ version of recovery? So much of wellness advice sounds lovely on paper and impossible in real life.
It assumes you have the energy to batch-cook, the mental bandwidth to sit still for twenty minutes, and a body ready for spin classes, interval training, or long walks before (and after!) meals.
If you’re going through or recovering from cancer treatment, you may have none of those things. You may be tired, sore, under-slept, anxious, deconditioned, menopausal, dealing with neuropathy, or managing urgent needs that require a bathroom within arm’s reach.
You’re barely getting through the day. There is no way you can do more, even when part of you knows it might help.
That doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means the plan needs to match the reality of cancer fatigue.
Persistent low-grade inflammation can be a problem for some cancer thrivers during treatment and even long after it ends. It may partially explain why fatigue, reduced physical function, and other symptoms stick around.
Calming inflammation doesn’t require a perfect lifestyle. It calls for reducing the biggest burdens on your system in ways that are realistic, sustainable and kind.
Here is the anti-inflammatory plan I’d start with for someone who cannot meditate, meal-prep, or exercise hard.
Start with less
When people make up a wellness plan, they usually think about what to add. More supplements, more rules, more discipline, more effort…
A better starting question is almost always ‘What is currently overloading my system?’
For most people during and after cancer treatment, the biggest inflammatory driver isn’t a lack of turmeric. They’re ongoing sleep disruption, blood sugar swings, physical deconditioning, pain, loneliness, treatment side effects, under-eating, and a nervous system that never feels safe enough to settle.
Think of your energy as a limited budget. Before you decide where to invest, look at where you’re hemorrhaging the most.
If you’re eating more sugar than you did as a child, that’s a place to start. If instagram scrolling is leaving you more depleted than rested, cut that out.
Remove friction before you add anything new.
Pick the lowest-effort food upgrades
You don’t need to meal-prep to eat in a less inflammatory way. A better goal is simply to make your next meal slightly better, not perfect.
Some really easy options:
- Greek yogurt with berries, chia seed, and a handful of nuts.
- Pre-washed salad greens, olive oil, and rotisserie chicken.
- Pressure cooker bean soup.
- Eggs with avocado and cherry tomatoes (my go-to on long work days).
- A green smoothie with protein powder, avocado, frozen berries, and nut butter.
Frozen vegetables, canned fish, and pre-packaged fermented foods count. This isn’t about dietary purity. It’s about reducing the metabolic chaos that comes from relying on high sugar and ultra-processed food when you’re exhausted.
On your hardest days, use this rule:
Assemble your food, don’t prepare.
Please note that if you’re immunocompromised or at high risk of neutropenia, general precautionary advice is to avoid pre-cut fresh veges/fruits due to the risk of infection. Please check with your healthcare team if you’re not sure if this applies to you.
Move, don’t workout
If you cannot exercise, don’t exercise.
All-or-nothing thinking is one of the fastest ways to end up doing nothing. The belief that movement only counts if it’s a proper workout keeps a lot of people on the couch.
Your body often responds well to gentle, frequent movement instead:
- Five to ten minutes of walking after meals
- One lap around the house every hour or two
- Light stretching while the kettle boils
- Sit-to-stand repetitions from a chair
- Gentle resistance bands while watching TV
- A few minutes of stretching before bed
The goal isn’t athletic performance. It’s reminding your body that it’s safe to circulate, oxygenate, mobilise muscles, and come out of stagnation.
Think of movement as an anti-inflammatory signal, not a fitness test.
If you can’t meditate, regulate another way
For some people, hearing the word meditation is enough to make the mind race. For many going through cancer, sitting quietly with your thoughts doesn’t feel calming. It feels uncomfortable, frustrating, or impossible.
That’s OK. You just need a different doorway into regulation.
Try alternatives like:
- A ten-minute slow walk without your phone
- Sitting outside in morning light, looking at the sky
- Music that helps your body soften
- Deep breathing for one minute, not twenty
- A hand on the chest and a longer exhale
- Prayer, journaling, knitting, gardening, or even gentle tidying
The aim is to give your nervous system more moments where it isn’t bracing, to create a little more safety in the body.”
Protect your sleep
Good quality sleep is part of the treatment plan. When sleep breaks down, everything else follows.
If you’re struggling, read my series on managing insomnia during cancer treatment.
Stop chasing the perfect anti-inflammatory lifestyle
Perfection is inflammatory.
The stress of trying to do everything right can become its own burden, especially if you’re already overwhelmed.
A rigid plan often works for three days, then collapses under the weight of ordinary life.
A better approach is to build slowly, with one small step at a time. When you’re ready, you take the next one.
Your anti-inflammatory plan should support your recovery. It should not become another full-time job.
On the days when decision fatigue is real, this checklist does the thinking for you.
Paid subscribers can download the Low-Energy Day Checklist.”
