Pacing

Pacing, I gather, is the principle whereby you work out your limits, start by doing that much per day and no more, then gradually work up, doing a little more each time. The analogy I've come across is with a car running out of petrol; CFSers have less in the tank to begin with.

Okay, I can grasp that. Thing is, cars have a little dial to tell you when the tank is nearing empty ...


... whereas with CFS you only find out once you're stuck in the middle of the M6. Or in my case, Sainsbury's.

On the one hand you're told not to do too much, to avoid the boom and bust cycle. On the other hand you're told not to do too little, because the body adapts to inactivity. How on earth do you find the golden mean? My energy levels vary hugely from day to day, for no apparent reason. I haven't a clue what my baseline is, nor how to know when I've found it.

Still, here's hoping it'll all become clear when the experts tell me what to do ...