This site is essentially all about kicking the crap out of cystic fibrosis in any way possible. First, it was my weight, which has given way to providing for my household during our increased medical expense period involving Beautiful’s allergies. With those expenses mostly out of the way, aside from two expensive and completely uncovered prescriptions, I am free to start gaining the weight back that I lost in the last two months. I’m not fretting about that weight loss, though, because I had the weight to lose this time. Any other time, this stress would have sent me spiraling down under 100lbs and back onto IVs. The weight is allowing me to fight back and stay healthy at 120-123lbs with relatively little effort in the eating department.
My next goal, aside from amassing a $50k savings account for a CF rainy day, is to get in shape by exercising. I don’t mean the namby-pamby exercising that we did earlier when I rode my bike around or we walked a mile. I’m talking about cardio. I haven’t done any cardio since I was 19, so that makes it… 12.5 years since that last stressed my heart and lungs. I grew up playing baseball, football, basketball during recess, track, and even played adult indoor soccer and softball after graduation and inter-mural flag football at USF during my sophomore year. Yeah, I was a sports stud… well, maybe not a stud, but I was in serious shape back then.
This week, starting on Monday, I loaded up the Free Step program on our Wii Fit Plus. It’s pretty boring since there is no music for that one, so I put my iPhone in my pocket tonight with my earbuds in listening to high-energy music. Monday and Tuesday I stepped for 10 minutes each and did over 1000 steps each time (you do the math for my blazing pace). Today was a “push it” day. I did 10 minutes right before lunch while listening to a podcast and 20 minutes tonight with my music to the tune of over 3000 steps today. Tonight’s workout didn’t even phase me, unlike the one Monday night, which I would consider as “rough.” Now it’s not even giving me a bother and barely raising my respiration rate as I can feel my lungs getting more efficient.
Seriously. That’s not an exaggeration. They are getting more efficient in just three days!
This is motivating me to do more with our Wii, which we got for 3 reasons: exercise in the A/C instead of the hot FL weather, be competitive with each other, and to entertain when we have guests (what are those?). I looked on Amazon today and found 3 things I want to get with our next round of Zenpep rewards money:
I have been considering the step platform since Christmas when we saw it at Best Buy shopping for others. Beautiful just told me about the dumb bells today, and I researched the best cardio games and came up with the Sports Active game after reading and watching enough to be sure. Until then, I’m going to be asking my in-laws if we can borrow their Dance Dance Revolution Ultimate Party 2 (DDR) game again. We played it for a few days this summer, but it was too much work for my frail lungs to stick with it.
My short-term goal is to be able to run a bit by the end of next week. I’ll be using that bit by bit to train for a 5k race in February. You can join me on Daily Mile to track my exercise and get your butt in gear, too.
I can’t wait to run that far, even though I hate running with a passion. After that, you’ll see my next goal, but probably not before then, unless I get carried away with it in everyday life.
That is awesome! Wishing you lots of luck! I always say I’d love to run… but u know how it goes… life takes over cause running sucks ๐
I’ll be looking forward to your updates. I live the wii… I have sports active… have some great programmed workouts.. but have not done it in a while. I switched back to my elliptical for a while. Really need to get back to wii. Your progress will motivate me ๐
Thanks. Join me on dailymile.com and we can make sure each other is working at it consistently. I had a love/hate relationship with track. We had to do 4+ events, but I only wanted to long jump and the 100/200m, so I ended up doing the 400m and the 4×100 relay, too. I was going through growing pains in my knees at the time and it would take me a mile to get over the pain each and every day. I got in a lot of running that way, but I really hated that being a requirement to run pain-free.
The good news is that I’m actually good at it. Maybe things will be different now that we can listen to music and podcasts while running. I should be able to run a 5k in way under the time it takes to listen to a 43 minute Dave Ramsey podcast.
Exercise is so important, glad to see you getting a plan together. And having a goal like a 5k race is awesome!
Thanks for commenting. Yeah, I finally decided to do it to see how high I can get my PFTs and without exercise, I can’t say I did everything I could.
Jesse,
I happen to have bo-flex machine so I do a full body workout twice a week. But I have also been doing Plyometrix (sp.) after my work out. I do six different exercises. example: place a cone on the ground and with feet together and knees bent jump over and back for 30 seconds and then rest 90 seconds, then do the next one and so on until all six are complete. You get an amazing lung burn from it. On non-workout days I mix in 30min speed walk, yoga, or a 3-5 mile bike ride. One thing I have researched mentions the oxidative stress as a result of distance running. So you might want to train to only 25-50% of your event goal of 5k and mix in short burst activities like the plyo’s or sprints to build your capacity. Also, dont forget to DRINK lots of Water as dehydration can result in a setback especially for us CFers
Yeah, you never train for the full distance for something like a marathon
unless it’s an Olympic event. You just get so good at the 1/2 distance that
doing twice as much is a cakewalk. A 5k isn’t distance running, though. A
mile is a near-sprint in condition and 3.3 miles is an easy jog, but you
always work up to it.
Water – now I am freaking out. How about G2, gatorade, or one of the other electrolyte rich drinks? Sodium loss is no fun.
I don’t drink water, so don’t worry about me, Sue. I drink Gatorade when I go out in the heat and tea and juice at home.
Sue, didn’t mean to freak you out…anyways water is the first ingredient in gatorade…compromise?
Definite compromise.
Shared this and like it. You’ll be amazed at what happens when you start doing cardio consistently. Just a fair warning that you already know: You’re going to hit a wall and it’s going to suck. Push through it my man.
Thanks, man. I’m dreading the wall, because I know it’s ahead, but I’ll kick
it, too. I’ll race you to a 5k… and then compare times. Hey, we’re the
same age (except I’m a year older so I get a handicap if you beat me) and
have the same mutation, so it’s Even Steven to compare our first 5k times.
When do you plan on racing? Before or after February?
I don’t know how much it cost to ship, but I will send your our DDR2 mat and game. I don’t like it. We prefer Just Dance. If it fits in one of those pre-sized boxes at the post office, isn’t that a flat rate?
Oh geez, you don’t have to do that, but I/we sure appreciate the offer. What can we do for you? I can send you PayPal to at least cover the shipping. I’m not sure it will fit in the flat rate box, but I’m pretty sure UPS ground will be cheapest at ~$5-$7. We’ll put great use to it, for sure.
I can’t get enough of “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Tootsie Roll.”
J got it for me 2 years ago because I LOVE to dance. The game though drives me nuts! I’d rather see you get use out of it. Right now it is folded up behind the couch. ๐ Payment is accepted in the form of putting it to good use and keep checking in on your progress. I will go to the Post Office Saturday morning when I will be able to be sans child.
Thank you!!! He will so love that!
I’m a 23-year-old CFer that cheered for 13 years, 9 years on a traveling competition team. After graduating high school, I stopped cheering because it was becoming increasingly more difficult to keep up with cost, travel, and just plain being exhausted. Unfortunately since then I have had very little to zero exercise and my health has taken a huge hit. But I got my gym membership yesterday and I’m going at 5 tonight when my boyfriend gets off of work. Reading this gives me inspiration that I will be able to do this!
Go get ’em, Ashley! Keep us posted on your progress.
Day 1 was slow but I didn’t want to push myself to the point that I wouldn’t go back! I only did 10 minutes about 2 miles on the bike…and did free weights…going back tomorrow for some more bike, weights and a little swimming with my baby sister!
Good job – just don’t wear yourself out and get sick from it. Gotta know
your limit.