Monthly Gym Reports - August (THE START)

Exercise is really important post transplant. Not just for your lungs and general health but to build up all the muscle that has been reconditioned over the years spent unable to do very much.
You're also on steroids as part of your anti-rejection meds, steroids are muscle wasting. So it is vital that you try to keep your exercise up to help prevent this from happening.
I've been having a few gym session with Ruth my transplant physio but i have recently joined a gym. I'm wanting to keep an update on my blog of my process so i can see how far i have come!
I'm an absolute weakling and have been unable to exercise properly for years so prepare yourself to be very underwhelmed for the first few months! Ha.. :|
Here goes!!!

Start Weight: 54.6kg

Biceps: 9 inches
Thighs: 17.5 inches
Calves: 11 inches
Waist: 33 inches
Chest: 36 inches


TREADMILL:
The treadmill is probably were I get my biggest workout. Cardio is important for me but building up my stamina especially when walking is priority for me at the moment. I tend to walk on a flat level for 5 minutes at a pace of 4.5 I then incline the hill to 4% and continue walking at that 4.5 pace for 10 minutes.. I then pop the incline down to 2.5% and increase the speed to 5.5 for 5 minutes. I go up on the hill to 4% for 5 minutes at the lower speed of 4.5 and then slowly decrease the speed rate and the incline till I am walking at 4.5 on the flat level to finish off my 30 mins on treadmill.

BIKE:

i like to start off on the bike and come back to it at the end. I do just 8 minutes to warm up and then I head off to the treadmill. Once I have completed my little gym session, I jump back on the bike for 8 minutes for a little warm down. I'm not the biggest fan of the bike because I find it very uncomfortable but I do like the feeling I get in my legs!

WEIGHTS:

I go from the treadmill and head onto the arm weights to give my legs a little cool down. As I said before, I am a weakling and therefore, I manage just a 5kg weight on my arms for now. But I do 10 reps of each different kind of arm weights machines. 

STRETCHES:

Once I have completed the bike, treadmill and weights, I just walk over to the mats to stretch my muscles to prevent them tightening up. I get quite a lot of pain in my shoulders so I like to make sure I get a good stretch with them. 

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Future Plans

At 22 years old, I have never had a job. Well... i worked as a waitress to help out at a pub on a couple of weddings, when i was 16 and i did a little bit of transcribing for a business called CodeBlue, owned by my uncle and family friend, Tony Kenny
I cannot wait to get my first real job. I haven't decided what it is i want to do with my life yet. So for now, i would be quite happy working in a shop. I'd love to work in a book shop somewhere.
Everyone who knows me knows my dream is to have my own sweet shop so i am currently hoping on winning the national at bingo!
I've gone through so many phases of what i thought i would want to do over the years. When i was younger i LOVED magic. My uncle Lee Lee would buy me magic sets for each birthday and christmas and we would play with them together. That was it for me, i wanted to be a magician when i got older and for years this was my ambition. I'm not quite sure what happened with it really but somewhere along the way, that dream got lost.
Next was a paramedic but that lasted all of one week as i saw the aftermath of a little old lady get hit by a car and i knew i would be absolutely useless in that situation.
Finally from the age of 14-18 i wanted to be a journalist or columnist. I obtained my love of writing after reading books, blogs and magazines. Once i started up my own blog, i realised it was something i was passionate about. I love to write, i love words and having my own blog gave me the freedom to write about what i wanted and when i wanted. It was this that made me realise i wouldn't make a very good journalist. I enjoyed writing what i wanted to write about and when i wanted to write about it but being told what to write about and having a deadline is something i would probably have to work on if it was what i chose to pursue.
Suddenly health took over and thoughts of jobs and careers were long gone from my mind.

Now it's something i am thinking about more and more and i simply have no idea. I do love writing and maybe that is something i could look into eventually but for the time being; a job in retail part-time while i get used to the lifestyle of a normal person with a job will be just lovely.

Moving out is high on my agenda too. I'm engaged and so would love to finally move out with shaun and start making a home of our own. Currently in the process of really tightening up my spending to save up but also to see just how much i can afford on a house or apartment.
My favourite room in a house is the bathroom. I just find that room to be so comforting and peaceful. I always have. I used to love nothing more that a hot bubble bath. I'm much more of a shower person now though. I'd just love a nice bathroom.
I have come to the conclusion that it's due to the fact that a bathroom/loo is a private place.
Interior design has interested me for so long, for a little while i considered looking into doing it as a career this was between the times of wanting to be a paramedic or journalist! I don't think i would be good enough but i get so excited thinking about buying homeware for the new house/apartment. I LOVE buying homeware. My favourite things to shop for apart from food obviously!

I am engaged and so of course after a job and a house. Our next venture will be WEDDING! We have lots of saving up to do! I'm not certain on what it is we want but i do have a few little ideas that are clogging my pinterest. I know we definitely don't want a church wedding as neither of us are religious. I'm excited to get planning but i know that isn't going to be anytime soon!

So to prevent the daydreams of weddings, venues and dresses; i am going to fill my free time by being the perfect godmother to my two boys!
One of which is still cooking in his mummy's belly. So until, he is ready to squish with cuddles when he's born... his mummy can fill his shoes for now. I guess technically he will be coming along too!
Maternity leave will be coming up real soon for Emily and i am gonna be such a good maternity buddy. A non pregnant one!
Alfie starts school next year, it dawned on me today after chatting with his mum Claire.
He is so very cute, can't wait to see him in a little school uniform!!
I'm gonna make plans to steal him from his mum and dad or granma and grandad and have adventures with him! Think MEMO will certainly be expecting a visit.. or two! Then i hope to pick him up from school some days and have him round for tea in (hopefully) our new house.

I'd love to have a few holidays in the future!
My number one place to visit, no matter what, is Iceland. I HAVE to see the Northern Lights. I think i have said it in a previous blog at some point that although there is a scientific reason for the Northern Lights, i just see it as magic. Real life magic. They have glass igloo's that you can stay in and get a real good view of the Aurora Borealis! Imagine how amazing that would be. I'm not one for bucket lists or anything but this has got to be one thing i have to go and see before i pop my clogs.
Anyone who knows me will tell you i am certainly NOT a sun goddess. I get prickly heat everywhere and it used to affect my breathing pretty badly. Nana Flo used to say i was an English Rose, i thought this was a lovely way to say i am sickly pale! haha. Anyway although i don't like the sun and being too hot, i  would however like to go to a Greek Islands such as Zante, as they just look so lovely and old worldy! My cousin Samantha told me she saw so many turtles whilst on holiday in Zante and i LOVE turtles so i have to go and see them! I'm sure it would be perfect as a nice chilled week away.
Salou was always a good old family destination when i was growing up, so would like to head back there with the family.
Florida is quite possibly my favourite place on earth. It's just a different world over there. Disney is magical no matter what age you are, the villa's make you feel like a millionaire and the rides and attractions at Universal Studios are out of this world. I'm a ride fanatic, i love them all!!

So these are my future plans hopefully to be achieved over the next few years, I'm looking forward to documenting each one of them on my blog as a little jigsaw of memories.
Save. Save. Save!!

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i can almost see it ... just never reach it.

I live my life by quotations, i love how powerful words can be sometimes. I love how one sentence can make you think about your whole life and how you perceive it.
How that one inspiring quotation can change your attitude to life too.
It truly astounds me ... the human mind that is. What i love about motto’s is they kind of tell a story but for each and every person ... that story is always different. The human mind you see ;)

I love many quotations but there is one that really motivates me;
“Spit on your hands and take a fresh hold”
Well it is a true northern motto; in my opinion, it means when you feel like giving up and you feel like you can’t fight anymore ... it tells you to look at life from another direction and try again. Basically never give up because if it is meant to be ... it will be.
(There is another motto) ... I told you my head is overflowing with mottos.
One that isn’t mine personally but i love all the same is;
“It's not the years in our life that count ... it's the life in our years”
(credit goes to Rob for reminding me of this one)
For me, this is a great motto for Cystic Fibrosis or for any other life threatening disease. This motto makes me smile and reminds me to experience everything in life and to appreciate everything, to remember every single precious second of life. This is because one day, i will look back and i will want to think, ‘I’ve had one hell of a ride. Swings and roundabouts.'

The CF forum, which I go on alot, has opened my eyes alot too.
I remember beforehand thinking i knew everything about CF and i was foolish to think that because CF is so unpredictable you never know or fully understand the whirlwind. One minute your feeling great and on an all time high the next you can be taking your last breath. I now know that CF sufferers are extremely admirable people and i am learning from each and every single person i speak to. : )

A woman named Gemma Harrison (hope she doesn’t mind me mentioning her), she taught me alot just by reading her blog.
One line i remember clearly from a post that made me a shed a tear was from the ‘sad news’ blog.
In this blog, Gemma talks about a friend who has passed from the disease CF.
“I feel like people with CF are tested constantly, but we can only be strong for so long. We are not just put on this planet to just be an inspiration to others”
The whole blog was an eye opener but these lines made me think ALOT.
I realised that deep down CF sufferers are having a fight throughout their lives, a battle that eventually we all lose until a cure is found. I’m gonna leave the rest of my thoughts to myself as they i feel are for my benefit.
However, i believe many people will have had their eyes opened from that statement.
Again, it’s a reminder that life is too short so we should all appreciate what we have got and not waste time wanting things we can’t have.
Also Gemma taught me to stop avoiding this type of conversation, it wasn’t because i was scared to die that i refused to think about it; it was the ‘what happens next’ thing that blocked my mind. And thanks to her; I’ve figured that when us CF patients take our last breath ... we are free from the test, free to breathe easy and look after those we love.
I now believe that there is life after death and i no longer blank the subject.

I know i have gone on and on with myself but there are so many other people i want to mention off the CF forum, that have helped me and made me think about things.
I am going to save it till tomorrow or at least another day.
Goodness me, this is my third blog today; aren’t i on a role. Haha!
I told you, i would be back. I like these blogs, they let me express how i feel more.

Well goodnight and thankyou for reading.
Take care xoxo

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