My New Treatment: O to the 2

I recently started a new treatment that was probably long overdue and needed for quite some time. At the request of our brand new adult CF doctor, I did a 6 minute walk test before I was discharged from my last hospital stay (May). She wanted to rule out anything funky as to why I wasn't recovering quite as quickly as I did before, and the 6 minute walk test was one of the tests she ordered to get more information on my health status. It was a good thing she did.

Leading into the test, I informed them that I would really push it because that's exactly what I do in the gym. I didn't just want to casually walk to see how my body would respond. I wanted to really put my body under some stress to see how it would respond. I walked pretty much as fast as my short little legs would take me. In 6 minutes, I walked .4169 miles, but by oxygen saturation went from a baseline of 93% (which was actually a little lower than normal) to 82% about 3 minutes into the walk. I required 4 liters of oxygen to keep my o2 saturation above the "acceptable" number of 88%. In short, I failed the test.

I was far from disappointed. In 2009, I did an overnight sleep study that showed my oxygen saturation dipping to the lower 80's when I slept. With that info, I was prescribed an oxygen concentrator to use at night with 2 liters of oxygen flowing into me as I slept. 2009 was probably the first year in over a decade that I didn't wake up with a headache and actually felt rested in the morning. Why did I put up with sluggish mornings and headaches for a decade? Only thing I can think of is ignorance. At the time, I don't know that I even recognized oxygen as a treatment option while I slept. Starting oxygen overnight was an absolute life changer for me.

So, with that in mind, I had high hopes for oxygen supplementation during my workouts. I certainly was looking forward to (hoping for?) getting an extra boost during my workouts and not experiencing fatigue so quickly.

After setting up everything with home health, I received 6 mini oxygen tanks and a shoulder bag to carry the bottle around. I am supposed to use 2 to 4 liters depending on the vigorousness of the exercise. Based on my needs and consumption, I am allowed up to 22 bottles a month. (So far, that's been plenty). The first change I made was exchanging the shoulder bag for a backpack. Walking around the gym with a shoulder bag was pretty inconvenient and the backpack has proven to be a valuable upgrade.

So, have I noticed any positive effects from the oxygen supplementation at the gym? Honestly, nothing stands out, but it is noticeable. I'd say the most obvious impact is recovery time. I am certainly able to "catch my breath" faster and resume my work out. There may be a bit more muscle endurance (especially for big muscle groups like legs), but I'm not totally convinced of that. Even with the minimal noticeable effects, it's still be a great decision to start the oxygen supplementation at the gym. We of course all know about the stress that the body, especially the heart, goes through when it's deprived of oxygen, so there's no doubt that is something that I'd like to avoid.

There are potential negatives for some of you out there if you're deciding whether oxygen supplementation during exercise is right for you.

You have to keep up on your oxygen orders. This is just one more phone call to make and schedule to coordinate among the many we are already doing.

It's another potential insurance battle. I ended up having to do another 6 minute walk test that was documented in a different way (failed that one also) and my doctor had to write a special letter justifying it's need and make multiple phone calls before it would be paid for.

One more thing in your already full arms. I'm quite a sight walking into the gym. I usually have one (or two) kids in my arms, my water bottle, phone, headphones around my neck, and now oxygen backpack on. I completely realize that this is a first world problem ;)

You'll get strange looks. I'm convinced that most people at my gym believe that I'm doing some sort of altitude training. For those at the gym that have the courage to actually ask what's going on however, it's a great opportunity to introduce the world of CF to them.

Conclusion: None of the potential negatives above outweigh the potential positives for me when it comes to oxygen supplementation while exercising. I believe it's been a good decision for me and one I believe that all who see a drop in their oxygen saturation while exercising should at least consider.

**As a bonus, I don't get strange looks anymore when I cough. I mean, the guy on oxygen has to cough right? As I said above, I get strange looks, but they have more to do with a dude under 70 wearing oxygen. Double bonus - I don't think people look at me as the SARS guy or Captain Contagious like they use to when I cough my head off...although in a weird way, I kind of enjoyed that ;)

Gym-spiration

I rarely write blogs and think about the fact that people I see in everyday life may read them. I write and send it out to cyberspace, and then, a friend of mine mentions something about the blog, and I think, "oh shoot, people I actually have to talk to face to face read some of my inner-most thoughts and idiotic statements." This is one of those blogs I actually thought about before-hand, and thought, shoot, if these people read it, they may be creeped out...but I think it's an important one, so I'll write it anyways. If you read this Heather and Therace, I'm sorry. I'm a creeper. A major, major creeper.

It's hard for even the most driven and motivated people to stay driven and motivated in the gym all the time. Especially in mommy-world! You're up in the night with kiddos. Your "alarm clocks" don't have a snooze button. Your little buddy(ies) rarely let you pee alone, let alone rest on the couch if you're feeling sleepy. Non-parents have it just as bad. Work is crazy. Relationships are crazy. Social lives are crazy. Shoot, for most of us, if not all of us, we would like another few hours in our days. Exhaustion creeps in...and if you're anything like me, it really creeps into my workouts.

I usually can pull myself into the gym knowing that I will have more energy after the workout. But many days I am not motivated (nor do I have the energy) to push myself quite as hard as I should to get the most out of my hour at the gym.

Enter: My gym-spiration.

There are a couple women in my life that are beasts...and I mean this in the best of ways. They are the kind of women who walk down the street and you think to yourself, "Are they a professional athlete? At the very least a fitness model?!" They aren't just thin. They are the women who look like they just left a hard workout and are headed home to juice something and eat a piece of raw steak with a side of kale. You know the type...ripped, but not too ripped. Skinny, but not too skinny. They look like they work hard. And like they could probably kick the butt of any man at the gym, on their worst day...asleep.

The first of which was Mckenna's swim teacher. The other is a trainer at our gym. Both of which I have befriended and adore because they are even more beautiful on the inside than their well-toned gams. They are both (even though they don't know it...until they read this incredibly creepy post about them in the internet) my inspiration. They are fit, healthy, and work really, really hard to be that way. When I workout with them, I push myself harder because a) I don't want to look like a punk and b) I want to be more like them.

These are the people I like to surround myself with on a lazy day at the gym.

I can't tell you the difference having a motivational workout buddy can make. Of course, Ronnie is motivating in his own right, and we have a blast in the gym. But I can look like Lazy McLazyson around him and not be embarrassed. It literally has transformed my workouts to do workouts with, or take a class from, women who are truly inspiring!!

If you have been feeling a bit lax in your workouts or unmotivated, this would be my one piece of advice. Well, ok, I have a second key piece to go along with it...if you find that person, just befriend them, but don't exactly mention why initially...I think it may sound super creepy...especially for a dude. Although, on second thought, who doesn't like a little stroke to the old ego from time to time? Precede with caution there ;-) But seriously, find someone. You'll be glad you did.

The Lucky Seven: Intensity Class

I know Mandi and I have mentioned this before, but we do a class at our gym called Intensity every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (and sometimes more if we feel like being mean to ourselves). The class is, well, INTENSE. It is 45 minutes of trying not to barf and doing a variety of lifts, jumps, squats, swings, ups, downs and everything in between. I absolutely love it, here's why:

1. Sweat - Whenever I sweat, it feels like I'm working hard. In this class, I'm drenched with sweat within the first 10 minutes and I drip sweat like a madman for the full 45. There are times when I can actually wring sweat from my shirt.

2. Coaching - There is a personal trainer who runs the class and comes up with a different set of moves each time. He's also there to correct improper form and to motivate you when it feels like you can't push any longer.

3. Variety - Like I said above, the class is always different. It's pretty much impossible to ever get sick of it. Only thing I could get sick of is working so hard!

4. Partner - Having Mandi there with me is awesome. Not only does she motivate me by kicking my butt every class, but she looks super hot doing it. Seriously, you should see her in that class. Rarely is the prettiest girl the most fit one also...and she's my wife! #winning

5. Gym friends - We don't have any actual friends in the class, but we have plenty of gym friends in the class. It's like we're all part of the same team when we see each other in other parts of the gym or outside of the gym in the community.

6. Benefits - I of course like the benefits of kicking my butt. I always have more energy when I work out consistently and I usually sleep better too. My lungs remain clearer longer and I have more capacity when I take deep breaths. And I can tell you one thing, that class forces me to take MANY deep breaths!

7. The End - I like the end of the class for a handful reasons: 1) It's the end of the class 2) I no longer have to work to keep my food down 3) I can catch my breath 4) I can see results 5) I feel a sense of accomplishment 6) Lunch time is coming up next! 7) Recovery

If you're not active in something that gives you a sense of accomplishment and pushes you beyond what you think you can handle, I would highly encourage you to find a class at your local gym. If you have the commitment level and motivation to push yourself that hard, then go for it! I know as for me, I would never, ever push myself as hard as I do on my own, as I do in Intensity.

Gym Exchange

This isn't the first time it's happened and it won't be the last, but it's fresh, so I thought I'd rehash while I remember.

Here is an exchange that I had with a woman today two treadmills over....

Me: *Cough*

Her: (Trying to get my attention by waving her hand in my direction)

Me: (Finally give in and look over) Yes?

Her: Do you have that cold or flu that's going around?

Me: Nope.

Her: But you're coughing!

Me: I know.

Her: And you don't have it? (Said very skeptically)

Me: No, I have a lung disease.

Her: So you don't have the flu?

Me: No, but I do have Cystic Fibrosis.

Her: Oh, ok, oh.

Me: (Put headphone back in and continue to watch SportsCenter) *Cough*

Her: (Grabs towel, stops treadmill and leaves)

....and life goes on. 

Jump!!!

We took a big step forward in the old Sharpe household today!! We left Mckenna-bear with complete and total strangers for the first time ever!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.....

Oh, sorry, that was Mandi you heard screaming :)

Mandi and I were on our afternoon walk when she said, "Maybe we take Mckenna to the childcare at the gym and workout together today?" which was quickly followed by, "Ahhh, I just wanted to see how I felt with saying it out loud...and I don't like it!". I figured that was the end of the conversation and we would just split up our gym time like we have been doing since Mckenna was born.

After we got home and I hopped on a treatment, Mandi sent me a message on AIM (which by the way is how we communicate at home even though we're only a room away). It said - I'm doing it. I'm calling right now and we are just going to go for it!. I was very proud in that moment. You see, I have absolutely no reservations leaving Mckenna into the care of others. I've never been a worst-case scenario kind of a guy, so I figure that everything will work out at the very least, acceptable. Mandi on the other hand? I wouldn't say she is a worst-case scenario kind of a girl, but she is a self-proclaimed control freak! Letting go of something so close to her, whether it be me, Mckenna, work, etc can be a little tough for the wifey. So when I saw that message come across the screen, I beamed with pride. Both of my girls are growing up!! (Kidding babe) :)

I had such a great time working out with Mandi. It's the first time we've been able to hang out at the gym together for quite some time and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. Mandi even agreed to partake in the workout I've been doing for the past couple of months that is an absolute killer. It definitely kicked her butt and I can't wait to see how sore she's going to be in a couple of days. She's a trooper though - she looked about 100 times better than I did after my first time going through it.

Anyway, wouldn't you know, after our workout Mckenna was still alive. Better yet, she was sound asleep in a little bouncy chair. All of the caretakers at the gym seem very kind and it was actually heartwarming to see them handle Mckenna with such care. I think it's safe to say that we'll be back.

It turned out to be one of the best times that I've had with Mandi and it was all a result of us deciding (and more so her) to jump!

What are you going to jump into today???

Ever Have One of Those Days?

You ever have one of those days? I can see all of you throwing up your hands right now saying “Uhh, YEAH!!!". And for those of you who don't know what I'm talking about - I'm talking about those days where you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off and just when you think the day is winding down something pops up. The days when you're at the post office and decide to use the self-service machine to “save time” and the woman in the front of the line decides to use said machine to get all of her postage and stamp each one of her Christmas cards individually. Yeah, that kind of day. The kind of a day where all you want to do when you get home is kick off your shoes, put up your feet and just hang out. The kind of the day that the thought of doing something active at the end of it makes you want to cringe. Do you guys know what kind of a day I'm talking about now?

Yesterday was that kind of day.

All day I knew that at some point I was going to have to get my butt to the gym. It was tough to get done everything else that I needed to get done, including treatments, but gym time felt like it was looming over my head. I made a commitment to myself and to my family that I would make my health my number one priority. A big contributor to my increased lung function and energy has been consistently getting to the gym. It's not that I love being there, I actually love leaving the gym, but I know it's what I have to do if I want to be the best version of myself. Still, there are days like yesterday. The kind of a day that even a priority in your life seems just too hard to accomplish.

When I finally got home from running around the city, the first thing I did was love up on my family. It was probably a little bit of a stall tactic on my end thinking that the further off I put the gym maybe it would go away. I asked Mandi what our plans were for last night (take note guys) and she responded with, “you're going to the gym”. I love that woman. I felt guilty about being gone a good part of the day and even when I was home not really “being” there, but Mandi made me feel at peace with it by saying those five words. It's so nice to have a supportive wife that is willing to recognize how important it is that my health needs to be our family's priority. Admittedly, it makes my life about 1000 times easier. And it's not something that I think we can expect out of our spouses either, it should be, but sadly it often times isn't. I think communication was key and is key for us in terms of setting priorities for our family. Mandi made it very clear that she wouldn't be a nag when it came to my health, but she also made it very clear that she would kill me if I didn't take care of myself (Duly noted). That made setting my priority pretty easy. Oh yeah, I did in fact make it to the gym and I had a very good workout.

I guess my main point of this blog though is to encourage you guys to not only put your health as your number one priority, but to be willing to do anything to be the healthiest version of yourself. This doesn't have to just be for CFers either. To you parents, start right now with instilling in your child that there's nothing more important than their health. Without good health, we don't have much. And we must make taking care of ourselves the most important thing in our life.

Don't want to start with health? That's fine. Here's my challenge for you. Do something today that you've been putting off. It could be cleaning the bathroom, running errand, doing an extra treatment or finishing a school paper, whatever it is, promise yourself that you'll get it done today. Because here's the thing -  both you and I know that once you do it, you won't regret it.

Updates from the Couch Potato

I figured I'd give a little update about what crazy things we've been up to.

(Silence. Crickets.)

That's how eventful things have been around here, and it's been AWESOME! This last week has consisted of work, working out and watching TV.

The highlight for me has been our workouts. It's been really nice to be back in the gym consistently, and actually WANT to work out. I've found that the last few weeks I've actually been eager to wrap up my work day so I could go get a workout in. Even better, most days we've done cardio I haven't been eager to be done. I think my new energy for working out is two-fold: 1. It's different. We've been so focused on running for the last several months, and the change of pace (elliptical, stairs, treadmill) has been nice. I find that if I'm sick of working out, if I just switch it up a bit, it becomes fun again. 2. I want to get into great shape before we're pregnant. I (POSSIBLY, with a capital P-O-S-S-I-B-L-Y) only have another month or so before I'm pregnant, and I want to start off the pregnancy in good shape, so I can hopefully remain very active! Sitting on my bum for 10 months sounds like a recipe for boredom and a whole lot of jiggle, so my goal is to work out as hard/much as my doctor thinks is appropriate!

This weekend consisted of a lot more relaxation (for me). Ronnie was in Stony Brook, NY to speak at a CF Education Day (was anyone reading this blog there??) so his weekend was busy, but I just held down the fort. Friday night I had a friend come spend the night (slumber party, what what!) We went to a movie (No Strings Attached - Love Natalie Portman, but it was a little crude for my comfort...the sex scenes were just awkward and the cussing and crude jokes were unnecessary). We then just sat on the couch and talked until we fell asleep. I was really nice to catch up. Saturday was full of more nothingness. We went shopping in the AM - we actually went to hike a mountain near by, but it was so packed that you couldn't get parking, so we decided we'd just shop instead!) The best thing about the shopping trip was that I actually bought something (good for me, bad for the savings account). Typically I just window shop. I'll even go as far as trying something on, but then talk myself out of it by saying something like, "I don't need another pair of black shoes." But I bought a pair of gray Converse, and they're awesome! After the mall, I rode my bike to the gym and got in a solid workout. That was the last of my activity for the day. I sat on the couch from 4pm until the Sunday morning (I even slept there). It is glorious. I watched TV and played Scrabble online (against Ronnie while he was doing his treatments in his hotel room in NY). It felt really nice to just regenerate! Sunday consisted of church, a nap, and then I went and picked up Ronnie. Let me tell you - I sure missed him. Isn't that stupid? He was gone for only 2 days and I missed him! I was so excited on my way to the airport to pick him up. We headed for a nice little happy hour (because Ronnie only eats out when the food is 1/2 price) and came home to (you can guess it) watch more TV. I think the couch may have a permanent butt indent after this weekend.

It was an uneventful, relaxing weekend (for me...I think Ronnie's pretty wiped). One of those weekends you wish would happen more often! Leave us a little comment and let us know how your weekend went. Did you have a lazy weekend like mine? Or a busy one like Ronnie's? Did anyone get snowed in? (I kind of felt like I was, since I acted as if I couldn't leave the house!) Need help having a lazy weekend? I found this while searching for a picture for this blog. Really? There's an article about this?

PS - A quick IVF update: I start my stimulant med on Sunday (1/30) and will be on it for 8-12 days. Then it's time for Ronnie's biopsy, my egg retrieval and 5 days later, embryo transfer. Everything is moving along very smoothly and we'll post another update next week. Please keep the process in your prayers!

Thankful Thursday - Mommas and Gyms

We can't stress enough how important it is in our own lives to slow down when things seem to be getting "fast" and just think about the little things that we're thankful for. We had 2 brave souls join us last week in expressing their thankfulness last week and we're hoping that more climb on board today! I have a little "Linky Tools" at the end of this post that you can use to join the party and link up your thankfulness post! Feel free to spread this around to anyone you know that may like to participate.

Mandi's List:

I'm thankful for the time I've had with my mom. I always love when she's in town, and she's leaving today :( We've had an absolute blast together the last 3 weeks, and I'm bummed to see her go, but man oh man am I so thankful that we have the great relationship that we have and that she'll be back relatively soon. I'm so thankful that she was able to be back in the states for 3 weeks.

I'm thankful for our gym. The last two weeks we've been back into our workout routine at the gym, and I LOVE it. I am so thrilled that we have such a wonderful gym, and one that is so close to our house. It eliminates the excuse of travel time - we just ride our bike there. How blessed are we that we can work out at a nice gym, that is close to our home!

I'm thankful for hot chocolate. I've cut out all caffeine because I read somewhere that cutting out caffeine can help the quality of your eggs, and even though my doctor said it won't effect anything if I drink caffeine, I cut it out just to be safe. But man, I miss coffee! I am so thankful that I at least have hot chocolate to start my day with!

Ronnie's List:

I'm thankful for mommas. Yesterday was my mom's birthday and I'm so lucky that she was the woman God punished with raising me. I'm not sure anybody else could have done it. My other momma, Nancy, is leaving town today and I'm sad that we're not going to have her around any longer. I am however thankful for the time we were able to spend together.

I'm thankful that Mandi and I have had the energy to nail our new routine. Granted, it hasn't been for very long, but so far so good. We're eating better, getting to the gym consistently and have been getting our run groove back. I'm hoping we can keep it up as you all know how important I think it is!

I'm thankful for our neighborhood. I was just thinking this this morning when I was walking Jezzabel. We have "green belts" that run through our hood with sidewalks weaving on them that make the most perfect walking path for our morning dog walks. It's very green and peaceful in the morning and doesn't really look or feel like the Arizona that I grew up in.

Changing it up a bit...

For the new year, Mandi and I have decided to change up our routine a bit. We'll still be going for daily walks, but we're going to try to commit to the gym 4 times a week plus running 4 times a week PLUS (and it's big for a reason) pay more attention to what we eat. Now I know the first thing many of you are thinking is "What? He needs to just eat everything in sight!", but for me, I'm blessed to actually be in a position to "diet". We're not talking the celery and water diet or anything crazy like that, we're just talking about focusing on more well balanced meals. I'd also like to eat smaller meals throughout the day instead of eating until my stomach explodes at dinner. I've gotten to the point where my clothes are actually uncomfortable at times.

Many years ago I was diagnosed with gastroparesis. I don't want to bore you with the text book definition, so let's just say that instead of digesting my food in 2-4 hours, it takes 4-8 (or something like that). I'll often look and feel pregnant after a meal and if I go into a coughing spree, the meal with often come out looking like it did when it went in. I'm hoping that smaller meals will not only help with this issue, but also help cut down on some of the bloating throughout the day.

Who am I kidding though? I also need to lose a little bit of my belly fat. I'm getting older. I'm slowing down. All of the fat on my body seems to be collecting at my belly. I want to change that. Sounds simple enough right? It should be, it's only science. Calories in, calories out. So while I'm eating smaller, well balanced meals, I'll also be making sure to be hitting up the gym and keeping up with the running. Calories in, calories out.

I'm also looking forward to seeing if I feel better overall by doing this. I've done it once before, but it didn't last very long and I forget how it actually made me feel. Hopefully this time I'll be more aware of it's affects and I can share it with all of you here. And of course, if any of you have any suggestions, I'm all ears!!

The New "Sort Of Detailed" Workout Plan

Alright, so I was asked what my new workout plan consisted of and I will try my best to lay it out for you. As we all know, sometimes these things can be flexible, but we are going to try our very best to make sure we get done what we set out to do every week.

M, Tu, W, Th, F- Wake up between 6am-7am to walk at least 1 mile at a decent pace to get all of the junk out that's been kicking it my airbags as I slept. We always will take Jezzabel on this morning adventure and it usually turns into closer to 2 miles. We will usually go for a walk on Saturday and Sunday also, just the waking up at 6am part doesn't hold true.

M, Tu, W, Th, F, Sat, Su- I will do AT LEAST 3 treatments a day and hopefully 4 barring in legit excuse. My treatments consist of Albuterol/Atrovent (3-4 x a day), Pulmozyme (2 x day), 7% (1-2 x a day), Cayston (3 x a day) and the Vest for 30 minutes a session. This is an absolute vital part of my workout plan. If I mess up on this, everything else goes down hill.

M, Tu, Th, Sat, Su- This is the tentative running schedule. We're still trying to figure out when leg day will be at the gym and we don't want to run that day plus we get one rest day. So the days could change, but the goal is to run five days a week. We'll start slow but then get back into a plan similar to the first running plan I ever tried.

Monday, Thursday- Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Dumbbell Bench Press, Dumbbell Flys, Pinwheel Curls, Standing Barbell Curls, Cable Preacher Curl

Tuesday, Friday- Deadlift, Barbell Rows, Lat Pull Down, Seated Cable Row, Seated Calf Raise, 45 Degree Calf Raise

Wednesday, Saturday- Seated Barbell Press, Seated Arnold Press, Barbell Front Raise, Dumbbell Lateral Raise, Close Grip Bench Press, Seated French Press, EZ Bar Skull Crusher, Cable Tricep Extension

Friday Only- Squat, Leg Press, Front Squat, Leg Press, Leg Curl, Romanian Dead Lift

Sunday- Long Run, No Gym

We also ride our bikes to and from the gym and usually find an excuse to ride them around again at some point during the day. It's usually to get the mail, but then sometimes we just end up cruising around.

So there it is!! If you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask.

The Honeymoon is over...

I absolutely love Monday Holidays. I totally get that having a Friday off is just as long as having a Monday off, but somehow having the day off added to the end of the weekend makes it feel so much longer. Am I alone in this? Truthfully, I'm not quite sure why I don't have to work today -the day AFTER a holiday - but I'll take it!

We very much enjoyed our 4th of July. We spent it with our brothers (Josh, Grant, Andrew), sister (Chrissy), cousin (Steven) and friends (Mike, Brittany, Brendan and Julie) in the pool; playing any game we could make up with a football. It was a good time, but man-oh-man, it was also a good reminder of how out of shape we've gotten. I mean, I just thought my new scale ran a bit heavy....but unfortunately I don't think that's the case ;-)

So hence the title - the honeymoon is over. Tomorrow is the day we get back into our normal workout routine. Between the wedding, honeymoon, new job, hot weather, family trip, settling into married life, etc etc etc, (insert more excuses here), we haven't quite settled back into a good workout routine. We rode our bikes daily and took short walks, but based on our performance in the pool today, it's not cutting it. SOOO it's back to morning walks, the gym, and runs daily. It's not going to be fun, or comfortable for that matter, but we're going to have to force ourselves to do it until it feels natural again.

We've decided that we're going to take a Day 1 photo of ourselves and hop on the scale to get our starting bodies well documented, and then take weekly photos of ourselves to chart the progress. We'll also keep track of what kinds of weights we're throwing up at the gym, as well as how far/long we're running each day. There's no better way to see progress than to actually SEE the progress.

Anyone want to join us?? It's not gonna be pretty, but it'll be worth it!

Workouts Galore!!!

A little update on my workouts:

I've been VERY good at going to the gym since I asked you guys to hold me accountable. And I guess I shouldn't just say that I'VE been good as Mandi has really been pushing us to get to the gym everyday. Yesterday we only had a 20 minute gym session because of work, errands and a quick trip out of town, but we made the most of it. We both lifted as much as we could as fast as we could and were sweating like crazy at the end of the workout. It's amazing how much you can get done if you just put your mind to something and push. We may work that "power" workout into our routine from time to time as it gave us a nice cardio workout as well!!

Since asking you guys to push me and making a promise to Mandi that I would work hard to be healthy for our wedding, I've missed running ONCE. It was actually yesterday that I missed it, so it was good that we got some "cardio" in at the gym. Two days ago I pushed myself during my run and probably ran the fastest mile that I've run for quite some time. I was huffing and puffing when I was done, but of course I felt a big sense of accomplishment. On my way back to the house, I actually found a shade tree and leaned against it to catch my breath and a woman stopped to ask if I was alright. She even offered me water and stayed there for a bit. I didn't realize I looked that bad after a run, I must have done something right!!

So anyways, another big thanks to you who are holding me accountable and cheering me on along the way!! Oh and I should mention, apparently I was sending too many messages through Facebook and my account got disabled. We're hoping to resolve the issue, but if you need to get a hold of me in the mean time, you can do it through here or through email at ronnie@cysticlife.org.

Have a good day guys :)