Not what I was expecting...

I'm in week 5 of the CFit program and it's going great! Three days of lifting and 3 days of running, combined with no soda intake during the week, a minimum of 44 oz of water a day, veggies at 5 meals a week and continuing to do two sets of treatments a day has been doing work on my body!! I'm loving every second of it! Part of P90X is tracking your reps/weights for all the exercises on worksheets. Watching the amount of weight I lift go up every week and number of reps on things like push-ups and pull-ups is awesome! The week 5,6, and 7 DVD's are some of my favorites.

I have yet to weigh myself on my scale at home, but at clinic yesterday they had me at a 5 lb weight gain! I'll take it! I got a compliment from a lady at church Sunday too. She said I looked good and she asked if I had put on some weight, lol! I take that as a compliment (she meant it that way)! I feel really good!

My runs are getting longer and more intense, but so far I'm able to do them with relative ease. My 35 minute run Saturday was a little tough, but all the rest have been good. I'm excited to have some nice weather in St. Louis finally. Now I can start running outside instead of on a treadmill watching Rob & Big episodes, haha!

As I said I went to clinic yesterday. I went after I got off work, which I always feel puts me at a disadvantage. I do a lot of running around at work and don't get much break time to hydrate and eat besides lunch. I was falling asleep in the waiting area before my PFT's, lol. My FEV1 was down to 58% from 64%. I was very surprised. It was not what I was expecting...

I could tell once I did my first attempt it was no good. I was really congested and not at all how I had been feeling. The other attempts were the same with no improvement. Whether it's because I was tired and junky from not having done any treatments since 5am or because I'm having a slight exacerbation, I'm not sure. Ronnie assured me that he had seen this before and it has happened to him. After starting an extreme workout regimen like the one I'm on, our lungs can get a little upset at us, lol. Maybe that's it, I made them mad. Either way I landed on cipro for 3 weeks. Hopefully it'll do the trick. I'm gonna push even harder than I was before. It's amazing how you push hard and always feel you're giving your all, then you get a little motivation and are able to push even harder. Last nights workout was proof! After I got done, I couldn't lift Jeriah (aka skinny boy) above my chest. My chest, shoulders and triceps were toast!

Ronnie told me a saying that works for him and it has stuck with me. I find that it not only applies to my CF but life in general in a lot of ways. "It's not about me." It's such a simple phrase. Since Ronnie told me that I've used it many times, even saying it out loud while running or lifting. It's not about me... it's about my wife and my boys, I do my treatments and push my body to the limits to improve my health for them. Powerful stuff huh?!

Anywho, besides the little speed bump of a dip in my FEV1, everything is going great! I'll keep you guys posted! Thanks for reading!!!

Feeling the Sweet Pain of Success!

I started a pretty intense workout regime 2 weeks ago today. I'm doing 3 days of lifting via P90X lifting DVD's and 3 days of running, training for a 10K. It's pretty intense. Going to 6 days of exercising a week from 0 days is a kick in the butt! It hurts so good!!! :) I'm doing this for the next 3 months. I'm super pumped to see what kind of results I get. I'm also changing my diet. I'll be eating healthier and trying to maximize my workout with my diet as well. Time to get my PFT's up, get in shape and get ripped!

It was pretty hard to go workout the first two weeks. I had to force myself to push play and give it all I had. It's one thing to go downstairs and start the DVD. It's another thing entirely to give it all you have when it hurts and your body is screaming to stop. I think the mental aspect of exercising is by far the toughest. My mind starts telling me to quit before I hit my maximum number of reps in any exercise. When it starts to hurt/get hard is when most people stop. Gotta push through it to get results!

So far it's going good! It feels great to be running and lifting again (despite the hurting muscles)! In a weird way I enjoy the hurting. I know it's kind of sick, but I like it! After I workout, I think to myself, "I wonder how bad I'm gonna hurt tomorrow and the next day?" I almost get excited to see how sore I can get, lol! It's a great feeling not being able to walk right or having to literally roll out of bed! I'll keep you all posted. I took some pre-measurements of my biceps, thighs, weight, etc. that I'll post at the end of these 3 months with my new measurements.

The goal of this is that by the end of 3 months it'll become more of a habit and I can keep working out. I've always struggled with keeping motivation. I'll workout for a month or so and gradually fizzle out. Life gets busy. It's easy to skip a day here or there and next thing you know, it's been a week, then 2 and 3 since you've exercised. I want that to end, and I'm extremely grateful that I have someone holding me accountable and helping me through this!!

I can't wait to post the results in 3 months! I'll keep you posted!

Sticking to the Program

Yesterday was Day 3 of working out since I started my one year commitment. It went great!

The whole thing started off bad on Monday when I barely made it to 1.5 miles with really bad pain in my right knee. This was the 3rd time it had happened to me and forced me to stop running way before I should have. I couldn't run at all the rest of the trail.

Going into yesterday I was very hesitant about running. My schedule is to run Monday and Thursday and lift (P90X) on Tuesday and Friday. I've been having a lot of headaches lately and have had no appetite at all. So, yesterday when I got home, I had a pretty bad headache and waited to run until after dinner and the headache had subsided. By then it was dark so I ran on the treadmill in our basement. I usually hate running on a treadmill. It seems like you run 3 times as far as you really do and the mental aspect is hard because of the boredom. I've found that if I stick a movie in, I can zone out into the movie and just go!

I made it 3.1 miles with no pain in my knee! My time was horrible (35 minutes) but I got it done. Usually I could care less about running exactly 3.1 miles, but there's a 5K in 2 weeks that I'd like to be able to run in. My running form is always bad on a treadmill so I felt it a lot more in my calves and Achilles tendon than normal, but my knee was good. I wore different shoes to run inside too. Whether it was the shoes, the bad form, the treadmill, or that my knee is healed, I had no pain in it. Awesome! Hopefully it continues to do fine so I don't have to see a doctor about it.

The day was topped off by Jace being so adorable you could scream! He was laughing more than I've ever heard him laugh last night. At silly things too. He seemed giddy! He would giggle and giggle at everything and then belly laugh like I've never heard him do before! It was awesome! A great night!

Tonight I'm looking forward to working my shoulders, biceps and triceps! Or the glamour muscles as Tony Horton from P90X calls them, lol!



Thankful Thursday: Teeth, Hurting & Being Out Done

It's Thankful Thursday ya'all!!! It's been quite some time since I've done a Thankful Thursday post. You have my sincerest apologies! We've been pretty busy lately, but what else is new right? I know I always say that. Sometimes the daily routine does get exhausting and my blogging slacks. Wake up, treatments, work, treatments, play with boys, eat, exercise, relax for 30-60 min, put boys to bed, go to bed. Weekdays are pretty jam packed! Who'd have guessed that twins would be so much work, lol! Not me obviously! Haha! Life is still fantastic though! No matter how busy it may seem, we are always surrounded by so many blessings! It's so nice to step back and observe a few once a week! So here they are, our Thankful Thursday lists:

Monica's List:

to be continued....

Jeremy's List:

I'm thankful for hurting! Sore muscles from working out, hurting that is. I started my One Year Challenge this week. I ran Monday (and discovered I may have developed some knee issues) and lifted Tuesday via P90X DVD. Man, oh man did I forget how tough those are! I am really out of shape. I coughed a ton! I felt completely spent halfway through the DVD. Somehow I mustered the will power to finish it out, and I'm glad I did! It feels good to be able to "feel" my muscles again. There's nothing like waking up, trying to get out of bed and going, "Whoo buddy I'm sore!" Let's you know you're alive and accomplished something! I'm really looking forward to being in the best shape of my life at the end of this year long commitment!!!

I'm thankful for two little teeth! Our boys are growing up so fast! Jeriah now has two little teeth! It's so cute when kids get their first two teeth and are running around with two little teeth at the bottom of their smile! It's a little sad, as we're used to seeing gummy smiles up until now. It's getting harder to accept that they're growing up. I like the sleep on your chest, cuddly, baby phase. Jeriah is quickly growing out of that. It's a little easier since Jace still enjoys his cuddle time!

I'm thankful for a motivating wife! When Monday rolled around I was not feeling it. Usually I make up my mind to start working out or running and mentally I'm determined and strong. Not this time. Mentally I was not there. Not ready to run. Partially because I knew it was going to be hard, and partially because I knew I was going to cough like crazy! It was hard and I coughed like crazy! Monica was ahead of me the whole time and she was pushing the boys in the jogging stroller! How lame am I? Haha! She even sprinted up the hill at the end pushing them! She's a very determined individual and it's super motivating! I love her and am so thankful for her!

So, what are you thankful for today?!??!?!?



Motivation comes in many forms

Yesterday was the day I told myself I was going to start working out along with running. Last week my buddy and I began running again. We ran 3 times last week. The first time we made it to 1.7 miles and I had to stop. I was no longer able to control my breathing and had to stop and walk. I hate it when my lungs force me to stop. With CF I know it's gonna happen. I would much rather have to push through some pain in my legs than have to stop because I lose my breath. But it was a pretty good start considering I hadn't ran since November. The second time we made it to 2.7 miles before stopping. The last run of the week, Saturday we made it to 3.22 miles! It took us almost 38 minutes to complete, but we ran the whole thing.

To give you an idea of how far we've backslid, my fastest 5K, which I ran in November, was 27:39. I'm really happy with the progress we made in just 3 runs though. It felt great after the runs were over! Going into each run was still tough. I was still fighting the mental aspect of it. Thinking about the boys and Monica and telling myself I had to do it. By the end of last year, the mental aspect of not wanting to run was virtually gone. It was more a mental challenge to push myself harder each time.

I told myself Monday was the day I was going to add working out with running. Yesterday on the way home from work, I was so wiped out from not sleeping much the night before and working that I was falling asleep at the wheel. Falling asleep at 3 o'clock in the afternoon driving home! I was thinking to myself that Monica was probably going to be exhausted from being with the boys all day and that I was going to have to do my vest, help cook dinner or watch the boys while Monica cooked, and work out. I was thinking the working out wasn't going to get done.

I came home to a smiling wife, two smiling, happy boys and this wonderful aroma coming from the kitchen! Monica had dinner already going and just about done! I was astonished, excited, bewildered and starving! :) We ate dinner around 4:30 or so, which is really early for us. I did my vest and treatments a little after dinner. Then Monica asked me "Are you going running today?" I told her "No, we're going to run Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week." She replied, "Oh..... well then when are you going to work out?" Hahaha! I was in the other room grinning from ear to ear. I said "What do you mean 'when', don't you mean 'are you going to work out?'" "No, I meant when and what are you going to work out tonight. If you're not running, you're working out." She proceeded to tell me that I didn't have a choice. I was working out and that was that!

So... I did the P90X Chest & Back DVD last night! It felt goooooood! I'm sore today. I forgot how much I love feeling sore! It's great! I'm also like my buddy Ronnie. I enjoy to sweat! I prefer to actually run in the heat of the day because you sweat like crazy! It makes it feel like you're really working! In my mind, if I'm not sweating I'm not accomplishing anything!

Yesterday my motivation came from Monica giving me a swift kick in the rear and telling me I was going to work out! Whatever it takes!

Thankful Thursday: GoPro, P90X & 3D Ultrasounds

It's Thankful Thursday! Time to take a moment and share what we're thankful for! Another week down in the history books. Seems like all the time I'm finding things I can be thankful for. A lot of times it's something I never thought to be thankful for. Something minuscule that I overlooked on a daily basis.There's always something to be thankful for! What are you thankful for this week?

Monica's List: (pontificated by Jeremy)

Side Note: Monica is working on a cake right now and does not have time to type. She is however telling me what she's thankful for from the kitchen)

I am thankful for 3D ultrasounds! Jeremy and I can't wait to see what our little rugrats are going to look like and 3D ultrasounds bring us that much closer to seeing them. So far it appears as if they both have Jeremy's ears and my nose :) We are so excited to meet our little ones! They'll be here in 8 or 9 weeks at the most! 3D ultrasounds make us that much more excited to meet our boys and we get to watch them develop almost right before our eyes!

Jeremy's List:

I'm thankful for my GoPro camera! I haven't even gotten to use it yet, but I'm already thankful for it. I sold some things lately in order to be able to buy one. They are very versatile and give extremely good picture quality. It can record in 4K cinematic mode! Which, rumor has it, is the next thing to come in TV resolution. 4K will be the next upgrade to 1080p. The camera has various mounts that I got for Christmas and comes in a waterproof housing. It will be awesome to have for vacations and filming our boys! Plus, it can be controlled from my phone! I plan on using it as a way to keep tabs on the boys when they are older and roaming around. I can strap one to their chest or head and see where they are and what they're getting into at all times! Bwahaha!

I'm thankful for P90X! I know I've mentioned it before, but whoo buddy! It is a workout and a half. I started back up this week after taking a hiatus for a while. I forgot just how tough it is. I'm so sore! I can barely take my shirts off and on without whimpering, lol. It feels like my sternum has been split down the middle! I know that's a huge exaggeration but you have to have some dramatic effect every now and then to emphasize your point. I love it and can't wait to keep going and see some results!

What are you thankful for this week?

P.S. Ronnie if you are reading this, my pastor used the word pontificate in one of his sermons and defined it. I now understand the tag you have at the bottom of your posts :)

First GoPro Picture (It's a bad pic. Does not reflect the quality of the camera, lol)