Real Life Examples: A Series on Pacing • Part 3

Over the last two posts, we’ve talked about what pacing is and how to find your baseline. Now let’s look at what pacing might look like in everyday life.

Example 1: Cooking a Meal

Ian wants to start cooking dinner again, but standing in the kitchen for too long usually leads to a pain flare-up.

Over a couple of weeks, he keeps track of how long he can stand and do light kitchen tasks on both good days and bad days. He finds he can consistently stand about 15 minutes before his pain starts to increase. That becomes his baseline.

Instead of trying to prepare and cook the entire meal at once, Ian breaks it into smaller steps throughout the day. He chops vegetables while sitting at the table in the morning, sets out the pots and pans later, and starts the rice ahead of time.

When it’s time to cook, he sets a timer for 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, he takes a short break before finishing the meal.

By the end of the evening, Ian notices a small increase in pain, but it settles quickly. Instead of a major flare-up that keeps him from cooking again for days, he feels confident that he can repeat the same plan next time.

Example 2: Walking

Sam wants to get back to walking for exercise, but she often walks too far on good days. Later that day, or the next day, her pain flares up and she doesn’t feel able to walk again for several days.

After finding her baseline, Sam realizes she can consistently walk for 10 minutes. 

Instead of walking until the pain tells her to stop, she walks for 10 minutes most days of the week. After a week, she increases to 11 minutes. The following week, she increases to 12 minutes. Gradually, she’s able to walk farther without the setbacks she used to experience.

Building From Your Baseline

Both Ian and Sam started with a baseline, but they didn’t stay there forever.

Once they could repeat the activity consistently without a significant flare-up, they gradually increased what they were doing.

It’s important to remember that progress isn’t always a straight line. Some weeks you’ll be ready to increase your activity, while other weeks you may need to stay at the same level a little longer. If you have a significant flare-up, go back to your previous baseline and try progressing again when you’re ready.

It can be frustrating when progress feels slow or you have a setback, but that’s a normal part of the process. It doesn’t mean you’re back where you started.

Over the last three posts, we’ve explored why pain isn’t always the best guide, how to find your baseline, and what pacing looks like in everyday life.

The goal of pacing isn’t to limit what you do. It’s to give you a starting point that allows you to gradually build your confidence so you can do more of the things that matter to you.