Tag: energy

May 14th – Progress Update

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2024, Health and Fitness

I have written a number of health and fitness update blogs.   This time, I had to go for a “Progress Update”  because it has pretty much been all progress so far  this year.

My strength is improving daily.   I have been working out with five and  eight pound dumbbells three times a week and that is paying off in spades.  Two years ago,  I was facing spring  wondering where I would get the strength to clear up our yard and plant our garden.   This year, I am working up planters, hauling seedlings up and down stairs to the kid’s playhouse (that I am using as a greenhouse), and lifting heavy bags and pails of dirt and sand.  I don’t know if I have ever been stronger.  I am sure that doing yardwork has never been easier.

Here’s hoping our garden will be as good as usual.

My stamina and energy are amazing. . I have been doing aerobic workouts  consistently six mornings a week.  I can go a solid sixteen hours a day.  One day last week, I went so hard and steady that I forgot to have lunch or do any snacking.  I have NEVER forgotten to eat – EVER.  Plus, that was a day when I was scheduled to do weights before supper!  I nailed them.  😊

And I crushed a tray of nachos for supper.  I did share with Dan, but I put away more than my share.

Other than that, I have been able to get out and about in the fresh air.  I have even been back to the dogpark with Dan and Molly.    I have EVEN been walking Molly with a regular collar – no harness or training collar.  I can’t wait to get out and do some hiking with her this year.

Molly is ready to hit the trails!

Both Dan and I have been doing pretty well at fixing and eating healthy wholesome meals.   Since I had to quit eating anything containing yeast,  takeout meals are few and far between.   I make desserts  when the kids are over for a meal, but the leftovers leave with them. 👍

Packing up the cookies to leave with the kids! 👋

My health has been holding up great so far.  I still do a fair amount of coughing, but certainly nothing like the relentless coughing fits I had all of last year.   It will take a while with my bronchiectasis.   I started taking a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar every morning with my beet juice and that seems to be thinning the mucus and helping a lot to clear it away.   If the wind can keep blowing the smoke from northern forest fires away from us this year, I could experience some true healing!   I doubt that I will ever be off of my inhalers for asthma and COPD, but hopefully I will NEVER AGAIN  need the antibiotics and oral steroids that I was on too many times last year.

“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” – Sean Patrick Flanery

That has been my motto for the past couple of years.   Speaking from experience, it is worth it.

Take care and have a great rest of your day! 🌞💕

Year Two – Week Eleven

by annemariedemyen, posted in 2023

It is May and it’s all good!  Our t-shirt and shorts weather has returned, as well as our furry and feathered friends.  Our back door is wide open, and Molly is loving the freedom of coming and going. 

Nuts for nuts.  I’m having a hard time keeping the peanut feeder full.
Molly enjoying a little alfresco snack.

Moving on to my health and fitness report for the week – it is all good. Better than good! I have been doing my Zumba six days a week. Yesterday, I did one that had an exercise routine where both of my arms were behind my neck. I crushed it without even thinking about it. I was so excited. A week ago I did not have the ROM to do that with my left arm (the one I broke mid-January). Yet here I am – doing it!

I have also been doing my weights six nights a week. This week I am alternating nights for upper and lower body, so each has a day to recover between workouts. I am using five pound weights to do seven sets of seven reps of seven exercises. I thought I would struggle advancing to the five pound weights, but here I am – doing it. 💪

In the afternoons, Dan and I have been out working in the yard. Yesterday, we cleaned the patios, the sidewalk, the patio furniture, and Molly’s pool. Dan did all the heavy lifting and scraped all the edges of the patios of winter debris. I power washed EVERYTHING! I had spaghetti arms when I got done but I still did my evening weights – AND it was an upper body workout. 😁

The only other health/fitness thing we have been doing this week is having a full breakfast every morning and a very light supper every evening. That has actually been going really well. We have also been having fresh fruit every day – raspberries, pineapple, and kiwi and Dan bought some blueberries this morning to add to the mix. I’m not a fruit eater but so far so good.

That is about all for my health and fitness update for this week. I am beyond excited by how far I have come in the past fifteen months (despite the setbacks). I can’t wait to see how far I can go. It just amazes me what our bodies can do if we get on the right track and put a little effort into caring for them.

Take care and have a good day! 💞🌞