A New Lifestyle

Some of you who have followed the blog for awhile may have recognized a trend, and that is, after each hospital stay, we kind of reset our lives. We set new goals, start a new workout routine, and sometimes, makeover our nutrition. This hospital stay is no different. We like hitting "reset" after a hospital stay because it's when Ronnie is at the top of his game, physically, and it's great to capitalize on that momentum. We like to see if we can get his lung function up even higher post stay (which we usually can), and therefore, he's feeling better a month out of the hospital than when he leaves! So anywhoo, while Ronnie was in the hospital he did some research and reading, and decided that it was time to do an overhaul on our diet and exercise routines, for both of our well being! We eat pretty healthy already, but decided to really step it up, and we worked out 4-5 times a week before, but wanted to step that up also (not in frequency, but in intensity).

Ronnie got out on Thursday night, and it was go time. We went to the store Friday and got all unprocessed healthy foods. You know how they say to only shop on the perimeter of the grocery store (that's where the fresh stuff usually is), well that's what we did. We put together a meal plan that was uber nutritious and set an eating schedule with 5 meals a day...yup, that means we pretty much eat all.day.long!

We also went to the gym and signed up for group personal training. I will admit, I knew it would be tough, but I thought to myself, "I'm in decent shape. I'll be fine." Boy was I wrong. I don't know if I underestimated the "class" or overestimated my fitness level, but we had our first class today and holy cow. The first 25 minutes I was cocky. I was winded, but was thinking I had this in the bag. The last 20 minutes, I thought that I would likely pass out or puke, and that I maybe, just maybe, might die. Ha! It was tough. It had us breathing like crazy! It had our muscles begging us to stop. It was JUST what we wanted and were looking for to get our bodies into shape that we couldn't get ourselves into.

We are jumping in with both feet this week, and it feels good. I tell you what, it's crazy what a healthy diet and getting your butt kicked at the gym will do for you. We are hoping it'll make us both healthier, and who knows, maybe we'll look like a couple of sporting goods store mannequins - HA! I love stepping back and reestablishing goals for ourselves. It makes for a fun way to get re-engerized about our lives!