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!!!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
The BIG Exciting News
Wondering what it is???
Back in January I posted a facebook status that said something like "received some awesome news, couldn't be more excited." I got a ton of likes and comments wanting to know what the BIG news was. Some thought Monica and I were pregnant again (not true). I think it was driving some folks crazy, judging by the comments I was getting, haha. I didn't know if was at liberty to say what the news was or not. However, I just got the OK yesterday to go ahead and spill the beans.
I got accepted into the CFit program. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a 3 month fitness and nutritional program for people with Cystic Fibrosis. It was advertised and launched through the website CysticLife. CysticLife is a social media website where people with CF can connect. Ronnie Sharpe (fellow CFer, author of Run Sickboy Run and Co-founder of CysticLife) along with Julie Desch (fellow CFer, MD, and author of Sick and Happy) started the CFit program last year. I was completely unaware of it, until this year when I applied and got in. I have no idea how I didn't know, but it's amazing!
As I said, it's a 3 month program. I have weekly meetings with my coach, Ronnie (yes I get to talk to the Ronnie Sharpe on a weekly basis, be jealous fellow CFers)! Lol! Ronnie gives me a goal sheet for the week, outlining what I'm supposed to do. Currently I'm drinking less soda (it's rough, I have Dr. Pepper flowing through my veins... well I used to), drinking more water (also rough, it's so bland, lol), and eating veggies, along with lifting 3 days a week and running 3 days a week. Ronnie gives me a complete workout routine. They tailor everything to fit each individual specifically. Basically he does all the thinking for me. All I have to do is work hard and meet my goals! It's awesome having a coach! I have somebody holding me accountable and helping me along the way.
The best part of the program is that it's not just a fitness program. It's a program that is designed to help you become healthier overall. In Ronnie's words, "Be the best version of yourself." They help with nutrition and living a healthier lifestyle in addition to fitness. They saw some pretty awesome results from last year's CFit program and hopefully this year our group will have even better results! I'm extremely excited, grateful, humbled, etc. that I was accepted!
So far it's been awesome! We're only on week 3 and I feel great! I can't wait to see what kind of shape I'll be in at the end of 3 months!!! Hopefully I'll be so huge I'll have to buy new clothes! ;)
I'll keep you posted on my progress!
Back in January I posted a facebook status that said something like "received some awesome news, couldn't be more excited." I got a ton of likes and comments wanting to know what the BIG news was. Some thought Monica and I were pregnant again (not true). I think it was driving some folks crazy, judging by the comments I was getting, haha. I didn't know if was at liberty to say what the news was or not. However, I just got the OK yesterday to go ahead and spill the beans.
I got accepted into the CFit program. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a 3 month fitness and nutritional program for people with Cystic Fibrosis. It was advertised and launched through the website CysticLife. CysticLife is a social media website where people with CF can connect. Ronnie Sharpe (fellow CFer, author of Run Sickboy Run and Co-founder of CysticLife) along with Julie Desch (fellow CFer, MD, and author of Sick and Happy) started the CFit program last year. I was completely unaware of it, until this year when I applied and got in. I have no idea how I didn't know, but it's amazing!
As I said, it's a 3 month program. I have weekly meetings with my coach, Ronnie (yes I get to talk to the Ronnie Sharpe on a weekly basis, be jealous fellow CFers)! Lol! Ronnie gives me a goal sheet for the week, outlining what I'm supposed to do. Currently I'm drinking less soda (it's rough, I have Dr. Pepper flowing through my veins... well I used to), drinking more water (also rough, it's so bland, lol), and eating veggies, along with lifting 3 days a week and running 3 days a week. Ronnie gives me a complete workout routine. They tailor everything to fit each individual specifically. Basically he does all the thinking for me. All I have to do is work hard and meet my goals! It's awesome having a coach! I have somebody holding me accountable and helping me along the way.
The best part of the program is that it's not just a fitness program. It's a program that is designed to help you become healthier overall. In Ronnie's words, "Be the best version of yourself." They help with nutrition and living a healthier lifestyle in addition to fitness. They saw some pretty awesome results from last year's CFit program and hopefully this year our group will have even better results! I'm extremely excited, grateful, humbled, etc. that I was accepted!
So far it's been awesome! We're only on week 3 and I feel great! I can't wait to see what kind of shape I'll be in at the end of 3 months!!! Hopefully I'll be so huge I'll have to buy new clothes! ;)
I'll keep you posted on my progress!
Monday, February 24, 2014
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!
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!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
10 Months Old
The boys turned 10 months old yesterday! They're growing up way too fast! It's hard to believe how much they've grown and are able to do now.
They both are crawling and have been for awhile. They pull up and stand next to anything they can grab approximately 157 times a day. It's all they do, lol. Crawl to this thing, stand up. Sit down and crawl to that thing, stand up. They shuffle along the couches, and walk from one thing to the next. We still have their jumpers in the living room. (We occasionally still use them while I'm doing treatments or we need to get stuff done without worrying about them getting into something. They're trapped, lol). They'll crawl to the first jumper, pull up on it. Then walk around it, side-stepping while holding on. They transfer to the next jumper, then to the coffee table, to the couch, the other couch, and now they've made it around the entire room! They're pretty close to walking too. They let go with one hand a lot or will not hold on at all and lean on things. They both will stand on their own when we make them. Only for a short time. They usually sit down pretty quick and take off crawling.
Jeriah has figured out how to climb up my legs and onto the couch, lol. I often sit at the couch with my legs crossed at my ankles. He has figured out how to put his knee between my ankles, pull up enough to get his other foot in there, then pulls and climbs up my legs and into my lap. It's hilarious! He works so hard when he's doing it.
They both give kisses now. It's absolutely adorable! They are the typical open mouthed baby kisses. Jace has been doing it for a little over a month. Jeriah just started a week or so ago. The other night, we were all sitting in the living room playing. Jeriah climbed into my lap while I was sitting on the floor and proceeded to give me kiss after kiss. I only asked for one but he just kept going. A couple times he caught me off guard and I had my mouth open, haha! Every time he gave me a kiss I said thank you and he smiled and laughed. I bet he kissed me 10 times. I was laughing so hard by the end of it! He's also been giving his brother kisses too. If Jace is laying on the floor, whether getting his diaper changed, playing or whatever, Jeriah has been known to come over and kiss him on the head. It's so cute!
Jace looks like he's gonna be our little ball player. For a month or so now, he's been throwing stuff, mostly balls. We went to Toys R Us the other night and bought 5 balls. They both like playing with them, but Jace will throw them and chase them. He's getting quite the arm on him! It's funny to watch him. It started with him slapping or pushing the ball along the ground and chasing it. Now he picks it up, throws it (sometimes with this cute side-arm motion, other times overhand) and chases it. He always has to have something in his hand too. He'll find something, a book, block, stuffed animal, ball, etc. and crawl all through the house while holding onto it. He always has something in his hand.
He also loves to push buttons. He loves to crawl to the Xbox and turn it off and on over and over and over. He will stop after it dings a few times and look at the TV to see if it's on. They both have learned the noise the Xbox makes when it starts. Whether they are in the room or not, if they hear it, they crawl to the TV and stand right in front of it when the Xbox comes on, lol. I don't know why, but they do and it's funny. They have several toys with buttons. They have a tractor with a button on top that makes it make noises. It's so funny how particular Jace is about pushing any buttons. He sticks his little pointer finger out and puts it right on the middle of the button and pushes it. He won't slap it with his hand or use any finger. It has to be his pointer finger with the rest of his fingers in a fist, lol!
They get into everything! We have to keep all doors closed! If we forget, they will notice and dart in the room and into everything they can. They're too smart! Jeriah has figured out how to open cabinets and the bottom drawer on our stove.
They like it when I build a tower of blocks so they can knock it over. I usually can barely get it built. As soon as they see me start building one, they race over to knock it down!
They're pretty much done with baby food now (except oatmeal cereal, they love the stuff). They want what mommy and daddy are eating, which isn't always the healthiest stuff! That is soon to change I think. Monica eats pretty healthy. I do not! I'm getting/starting a nutrition plan soon and it may drastically change the way I eat. I have yet to see, lol.
I guess that's enough rambling for now! Here's some pictures of our boys, who we are thankful for (since it is Thursday) :)
They both are crawling and have been for awhile. They pull up and stand next to anything they can grab approximately 157 times a day. It's all they do, lol. Crawl to this thing, stand up. Sit down and crawl to that thing, stand up. They shuffle along the couches, and walk from one thing to the next. We still have their jumpers in the living room. (We occasionally still use them while I'm doing treatments or we need to get stuff done without worrying about them getting into something. They're trapped, lol). They'll crawl to the first jumper, pull up on it. Then walk around it, side-stepping while holding on. They transfer to the next jumper, then to the coffee table, to the couch, the other couch, and now they've made it around the entire room! They're pretty close to walking too. They let go with one hand a lot or will not hold on at all and lean on things. They both will stand on their own when we make them. Only for a short time. They usually sit down pretty quick and take off crawling.
Jeriah has figured out how to climb up my legs and onto the couch, lol. I often sit at the couch with my legs crossed at my ankles. He has figured out how to put his knee between my ankles, pull up enough to get his other foot in there, then pulls and climbs up my legs and into my lap. It's hilarious! He works so hard when he's doing it.
They both give kisses now. It's absolutely adorable! They are the typical open mouthed baby kisses. Jace has been doing it for a little over a month. Jeriah just started a week or so ago. The other night, we were all sitting in the living room playing. Jeriah climbed into my lap while I was sitting on the floor and proceeded to give me kiss after kiss. I only asked for one but he just kept going. A couple times he caught me off guard and I had my mouth open, haha! Every time he gave me a kiss I said thank you and he smiled and laughed. I bet he kissed me 10 times. I was laughing so hard by the end of it! He's also been giving his brother kisses too. If Jace is laying on the floor, whether getting his diaper changed, playing or whatever, Jeriah has been known to come over and kiss him on the head. It's so cute!
Jace looks like he's gonna be our little ball player. For a month or so now, he's been throwing stuff, mostly balls. We went to Toys R Us the other night and bought 5 balls. They both like playing with them, but Jace will throw them and chase them. He's getting quite the arm on him! It's funny to watch him. It started with him slapping or pushing the ball along the ground and chasing it. Now he picks it up, throws it (sometimes with this cute side-arm motion, other times overhand) and chases it. He always has to have something in his hand too. He'll find something, a book, block, stuffed animal, ball, etc. and crawl all through the house while holding onto it. He always has something in his hand.
He also loves to push buttons. He loves to crawl to the Xbox and turn it off and on over and over and over. He will stop after it dings a few times and look at the TV to see if it's on. They both have learned the noise the Xbox makes when it starts. Whether they are in the room or not, if they hear it, they crawl to the TV and stand right in front of it when the Xbox comes on, lol. I don't know why, but they do and it's funny. They have several toys with buttons. They have a tractor with a button on top that makes it make noises. It's so funny how particular Jace is about pushing any buttons. He sticks his little pointer finger out and puts it right on the middle of the button and pushes it. He won't slap it with his hand or use any finger. It has to be his pointer finger with the rest of his fingers in a fist, lol!
They get into everything! We have to keep all doors closed! If we forget, they will notice and dart in the room and into everything they can. They're too smart! Jeriah has figured out how to open cabinets and the bottom drawer on our stove.
They like it when I build a tower of blocks so they can knock it over. I usually can barely get it built. As soon as they see me start building one, they race over to knock it down!
They're pretty much done with baby food now (except oatmeal cereal, they love the stuff). They want what mommy and daddy are eating, which isn't always the healthiest stuff! That is soon to change I think. Monica eats pretty healthy. I do not! I'm getting/starting a nutrition plan soon and it may drastically change the way I eat. I have yet to see, lol.
I guess that's enough rambling for now! Here's some pictures of our boys, who we are thankful for (since it is Thursday) :)
Monday, February 3, 2014
Video editing
I know this post has absolutely nothing to do with CF, and is pretty random. I've gotten the itch to make some more videos and thought I'd blog about it.
For the past few years I've gotten more and more into video editing. I've come to love it. I started doing it as the youth leader for our church youth group. We had a guy involved with our youth group who did videography for a living. The videos he could make were amazing! I'm mean awesome! He left and we had nobody to make the videos. So I started trying to, using Windows Movie Maker. I had to transfer video from my camera to the computer at our church (you had to watch the entire video as it put it on the computer) and then transfer it to a disc, put it on my computer at home and edit it. It would take hours upon hours to do. If you are familiar with video editing software, Windows Movie Maker is extremely outdated and very, very basic.
I graduated to Adobe Premiere Pro, which I opened several times and closed right away because of the intimidation of it. There were so many different options just to start a project. It took me months before ever deciding to try and start a project. I finally got the hang of it. It's really pretty easy to use once you get going and understand more about video formats, sizes, etc.
Recently my Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 quit working on me. It got to where the program wouldn't open. It was my church's and they let me install it on my computer. I'm guessing Adobe recognized it had been installed twice and shut mine down. That's all I can come up with. I spent a couple months on a sweet video from a trip to the lake with Monica's family and lost it all... so sad.
Lately I've been shooting a lot of video with my GoPro. If you've never heard of them, check them out. They're pretty sweet! I've been using their free editing software. It works really well if you have GoPro video, but won't let you edit any other video.
If there's anybody out there who recommends a good video editing software, I'd love to know what it is. I love Adobe Premiere Pro, but it runs about $700. Can't afford that!!
Here's a video I posted last week. It's one I shot with my GoPro and edited with their software. Enjoy! It's best to watch it on YouTube and make sure and change it to 1080p by clicking the "star" looking icon in the bottom right corner.
For the past few years I've gotten more and more into video editing. I've come to love it. I started doing it as the youth leader for our church youth group. We had a guy involved with our youth group who did videography for a living. The videos he could make were amazing! I'm mean awesome! He left and we had nobody to make the videos. So I started trying to, using Windows Movie Maker. I had to transfer video from my camera to the computer at our church (you had to watch the entire video as it put it on the computer) and then transfer it to a disc, put it on my computer at home and edit it. It would take hours upon hours to do. If you are familiar with video editing software, Windows Movie Maker is extremely outdated and very, very basic.
I graduated to Adobe Premiere Pro, which I opened several times and closed right away because of the intimidation of it. There were so many different options just to start a project. It took me months before ever deciding to try and start a project. I finally got the hang of it. It's really pretty easy to use once you get going and understand more about video formats, sizes, etc.
Recently my Adobe Premiere Pro CS4 quit working on me. It got to where the program wouldn't open. It was my church's and they let me install it on my computer. I'm guessing Adobe recognized it had been installed twice and shut mine down. That's all I can come up with. I spent a couple months on a sweet video from a trip to the lake with Monica's family and lost it all... so sad.
Lately I've been shooting a lot of video with my GoPro. If you've never heard of them, check them out. They're pretty sweet! I've been using their free editing software. It works really well if you have GoPro video, but won't let you edit any other video.
If there's anybody out there who recommends a good video editing software, I'd love to know what it is. I love Adobe Premiere Pro, but it runs about $700. Can't afford that!!
Here's a video I posted last week. It's one I shot with my GoPro and edited with their software. Enjoy! It's best to watch it on YouTube and make sure and change it to 1080p by clicking the "star" looking icon in the bottom right corner.
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