Saturday, March 10, 2012

Active Weekend

Here's my workout for this weekend:

25 pull-ups
50 pec flys
50 curls
50 tricep extensions
50 box jumps
50 straight arm push-downs
50 lateral raise
50 barbell bench
50 incline bench
50 leg press
50 calf press
50 lat pull-downs
50 v-ups
25 pull-ups

Run for 30 minutes

Certainly don't have to match what I did for my workout, but you should aim to do more today than you did yesterday. Didn't do anything yesterday?? Perfect! It will be easy for you to do more today!! Remember, doesn't matter how strong or fast you are, what matter is that you are moving and breathing. Challenge yourself this weekend and GET ACTIVE!!!

Friday, March 9, 2012

The Comparison Game

**Home workout challenge: I didn't get in a solid workout today. The only thing I did was go for a short walk. Don't be me today!! Challenge yourself. A 30 minute walk perhaps? 10 minute run? Let me know what you do!!
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I posted this on my Facebook page in response to one of my daily devotionals, but I wanted to share it on my blog as well...


It's so easy to get caught in the comparison game. I feel like that's the case times 1000 when it comes to living with a chronic illness. In the CF community, we are constantly asked "what's your lung function?". So ask only because they're curious (I would fall into that camp) and some ask in order to make a comparison to that person. When this happens, I'm always reminded of the phrase "Do you".

What does that mean? In this case, it means to only worry about how you compare to yourself. How are you feeling as opposed to last week? Can you be a better you today than you were yesterday? It's easy to be caught up in being better than "Joe", but what we should really be focused on is just being a better than you were the day before. Can you imagine what would happen if our only health goal each and everyday was to be better than the day before? To exercise a little longer. To do one more treatment. To do 3 more huff coughs? We get so caught up in these "big numbers" that we lose sight of all the little things it takes to get there.

God doesn't call us to be better than anyone. He does however expect us to help other be the best version of themselves. That all starts with an introduction to Jesus Christ. Apart from Him, it is impossible to be your best. His Hand has been all over my recent and deliberate quest to be the healthiest version of myself and without His Strength, I'm not sure that I could make it throughout the day.

Kind of got sidetracked there, but anywho, point is - don't worry about what others are doing. Their health has nothing to do with your health. Their CF story has nothing to do with your CF story. Their beginning wasn't your beginning and their ending won't be your ending. You have you're own story to write.

If you wake up in the morning and commit to being the best possible version of yourself that day, every day, you just may like the book you end up writing. Others can read it and when they're done, give them a pen and tell them to start writing!!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Thankful Thursday: Colder Nights & Partnerships



**Workout Challenge - Knee and foot were bothering me a bit today so I only did an 11 minute run. However, I also went on two 15 minute walks. Get out and enjoy some fresh air today!!
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It's thankful Thursday time! We all have so much to be thankful for and we love to take this opportunity just to write down each and everything that comes to mind. Please take this time to share with us what you're thankful for as well. If you have a blog expressing your thankfulness, please share the link! Without further ado, here's what we're thankful for:

Mandi's List:



I'm thankful for soy milk. I have cut out cow's milk since Mckenna was about 1 month old (it didn't quite agree with her). I never realized how much had cow's milk until I cut it out. I don't so much milk (as it really keeps my eating in check..you can't pig out too much when avoiding cheese, ice cream, etc...although I've managed ha!) but I would be sad if there wasn't an alternative for my coffee. You see, I can't drink coffee black (probably because I don't drink coffee for the coffee flavor but for all the caffeine and yummy extra flavors you can add with syrups and such). So I now drink my coffee with vanilla soy milk and MM MM MMM I like it even better.

I'm thankful for partnerships. We are in the process of working on a HUGE project at CysticLife (more on that soon, I promise). I mean we're talking HUGE. And we've partnered with two other non profits to make it happen. It's been over a year in the making and I can honestly say no one organization could have done it alone. We all bring unique perspectives, resources and skill sets to the table. It's been a great partnership. I can't wait to announce what we have in store...stay tuned because it will be in the next few weeks!!!

I'm thankful for a close gym. Last night I was able to sneak away to the gym by myself, while Ronnie hung out with Mckenna. It was nice to get out of the house for a little "me" time and not spend the whole time driving. Having the gym close meant I was only gone for 45 minutes and could spend 30 of it working out.!!


Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful colder nights. It's been a little colder for the past few nights around here, and it has given me the perfect opportunity to open up an outside door to our bedroom at night to let in some cold air. There aren't many nights in Arizona that you get to use a big ol' comforter, so I make sure to take advantage of any opportunity that I get.

I'm thankful for a growing baby. Mckenna gets just a little bit older each day, and I love it! Maybe I'll miss her being a baby when she is no longer a baby, but as it stands right now, I can't wait until she grows up. Mark my words - my life will be perfect when both Mandi and Mckenna come up to snuggle me on the couch.

I'm thankful for quite time. I've been taking a little bit of time out each day to sit outside and do the workbook to our Bible study. It's been a little windy lately, and the sound provided by the rustling trees is a perfect backdrop to mediate on what I'm learning through the study.


So, what are you thankful for today?

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Lung Workout

At-home workout challenge - Here's my workout for the day:
25 pull-ups
50 hammer curls
50 tricep extension
50 step-ups
50 push-ups
50 v-ups
50 incline press
50 shoulder press
50 leg press
50 calf press
50 face smashers
50 jumping jacks
50 overhead tricep extensions
50 straight arm pull downs
50 pec deck flys
50 jumping jacks
50 mountain climbers
25 pull-ups

You don't have to do all of these, especially if you are just beginning to workout. Pick 5 if you are a beginner, 10 if you are a moderate and try all if you think you can handle it.
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My blog today actually has to do with the workout posted above. When I do this, I move as fast as I can through each exercise and give myself as little rest as possible. It becomes just as much of a workout for my lungs as it is for my muscles. I work up quite a sweat and I'm taking extremely deep breaths almost the entire time. I wanted to throw down a challenge for all of you today.

If you already workout regularly try timing your workouts this week and each day you exercise, try to go a little faster than the day before. The workout above took me 35 minutes. If you don't work our regularly, maybe you can pick 5 exercises from above and time yourself doing them. After you're done, right down the time. Take a day off, and then the following day, do the exact same exercises and try to beat your time from the previous workout. Do that for a couple of weeks and let me know how that feels. If it starts to get too easy, pick 5 more exercises. If it gets too hard, back off a little :)

The key to this workout, and really any workout where we want to hit both muscles and lungs, is to keep moving at a fast pace the entire time. It may feel funny at first, but if you stick with it, I promise you'll like the results. With me, I don't even pay as much attention to form as I do pace. Right now, I'm not trying to bulk up, but I am trying to expand my lungs. The only way to do that is to work them out!!

Anyway, thought I would throw this out there for those that wanted a challenge or a new workout idea!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

4 Minutes?!?!?

**At-home workout challenge - Hope all of you enjoyed your weekend!! For my cardio workout I did a 3 minute warm-up walk, ran for 25 minutes and then a 3 minute warm-down walk. If you're not at the point where running 25 minutes is an option, no worries, walk it!!

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We've had a running toilet for about 3 months now. I don't quite know how he does it considering it's tough for me to even run 3 minutes! (Anyone?) But anyways, seriously, our toilet has been running on and off for the better part of three months. I'm the furthest thing ever from a handyman, but I have gotten better about at least trying to fix things around the house. I used to be held captive by the fear that I would break something completely or make it worse, until I realized that either way, I would end up calling someone or replacing it if I couldn't tackle it on my own.

So back to the toilet. I tinkered with the handle. I messed with the chain. I changed the height on the bobber thingamajig. I even went as far as to by another rubber ring, take the toilet half apart, change out the ring and put it all back together again (Applause??). But to know avail, the stupid thing continued to run. It wasn't running as much, but it was still going on from time to time. I had gotten so fed up with it that I would use the other toilets in the house and turn the water off to ours completely. Pathetic, I know.

About 1 month ago, we had a plumber out to the house for an unrelated issue. I told him about the problems I was having with my toilet and about all of the "fixes" I had attempted. He said that if I did in fact replace the rubber ring, I should probably get a piece of sand paper and run it across the plastic piece where that rubber makes a seal. Great, I thought, I'll get right on that and try it out.

And again, that was a month ago. I don't know why, but I never got around to taking a piece of sand paper to the toilet. Even though the running water annoyed me SO MUCH, I still didn't take the time to try everything. That is, until yesterday. I finally walked out to the shed, grabbed a piece of sand paper, lifted up tank lid, turned off the water, flushed the toilet, sand papered the seal, moved around some little white tube, put the lid back on and turned on the water. I went through the process, because although it sounds like a lot, it took me all of 4 minutes. 4 minutes!!! I can't believe I put off something for a month that took me 4 minutes to do.

Isn't life like that sometimes? We build up a task, event, conversation, etc in our head so much, that we are guilty of "making a mountain out of a mole hill". Or we say that something is bothering us like crazy, yet we don't take the time to address the situation. I know for me, I used to complain about how I felt, yet I wouldn't take the hour or so a day to do my treatments. It's like I was waiting to feel worse in order to react. Kind of like my toilet. Finally, yesterday, something snapped in me and I decided to walk my lazy butt to the shed and get what I needed to get in order to give fixing the toilet a try. Fortunately, my toilet didn't break to the point of no return, otherwise, we'd have a completely different mess on our hands. I'm glad that my urge to do something about it happened before we were faced with that type of situation.

So I don't know what it is in your life, but DO SOMETHING about it. Stop waiting for the perfect time. Or the right tools. Or a better situation. Or for things to get worse.

Don't be like me and the toilet. Oh, and by the way, the stupid thing isn't running anymore.

All it took was 4 minutes.


Monday, March 5, 2012

Mckenna Monday: Back in a Groove

Well it's been awhile since I've written, so I figured I'd chime in and let you know what's been happening with me, now that I'm a big, bad 4.5 month old.

I got into a bit of a rut while daddy was in the hospital. I think I was overstimulated during the day since I was in a fun place with lots of new things to look at and tons of new faces smiling at me, so I didn't nap well, and then at night, sleeping at grandma's, I just couldn't sleep. It was hot, and then cold and then REALLY hot, and then REALLY cold all night. There were different sounds. The pack 'n play just isn't as comfy as my crib at home and my routine all day had been thrown off, so I slept horribly. I was up every hour or so, and would only really sleep if I was in mom's arms. She was nice and let me nurse pretty much all night, which I loved because that was the one thing that felt familiar and comfortable so that's all I wanted all night long. Anywhoo, after dad got out of that fun place with all the cool things, I think they called it a hospital, I was still just out of my groove for another 4 or 5 nights. And then, like magic, I was able to sleep again like before. I swear mom loves me a little more those nights. She doesn't know I can tell, but she sure is happy to see me when I get up in the morning. Now I go to bed between 8:30 and 9, wake up to eat once and then get up for the day between 7:30 and 8:15. Ah I feel good when I sleep well.

And all this sleep is making me one big baby. They were a bit worried at my 4 month checkup that I dropped from between the 25th and 50th percentile to between the 10th to the 25th. Mom wasn't worried. She could see all my rolls and that I was happy, so she brushed it off as if the doctors didn't know what they were talking about (it probably helped ease her mind that I was in the 5th percentile when born, and just happened to shoot up because of her oversupply issue, so she felt like I was finally where I should be). Anyways, to just be sure I didn't keep dropping in percentiles, I went back last Friday for a weight check. Wouldn't you know it, I gained a pound - putting me at 12lbs 11oz like a big girl. They were happy with that and mom said "I told you so" with her eyes...I already recognize her "I told you so" face...which I'm not sure is a good thing because I think I may be in for a lot of those when I hit high school.

Lastly, I want to tell you about all my tricks. I roll tummy to back, sit up when holding myself with my arms for added support, play with toys hanging in front of me while I'm on my belly, skootch around my playmat to get to different toys I want to play with (although sometimes I skootch off the mat so I can get a better view of the TV), and I love talking to my mom and dad! The new trick I'm working on is rolling back to front. I'm getting close, but mom says it'll be another month...I'll show her and then give her MY "I told you so" face!!

That's it from me. Oh, one more thing, I'm still swaddled at night...any tips for how to get my out of it AND me still be able to sleep?