Happy, Healthy and Back on Track!

The last couple of weeks have been pretty stressful so naturally I have been working out more.  I do that when things get stressful, it's my favorite way to let go and forget about things for a little while.  I shut everything else out and focus on me. This week has been a great eating week too considering it was Halloween and the candy was flowing!  I have been very careful to make sure I have been eating healthy so that I don't ruin all the work I do while exercising.  All in all it's just been a good week despite the stress.

I try really hard not to let things beyond my control freak me out but sometimes they just get to me.  Things like feeling questioned or not trusted, not being chosen for something I really wanted to do or people freaking out around me.  That gets to me the most especially at work.  I work in a very small office with 4 other lovely ladies.  Most times it's great, sometimes it's hard.  When someone else gets negative I have to work very hard not to become negative too.  This week I haven't done the best job of it but my workouts have been better because of it so that is the silver lining I guess.

I'm excited for the next few weeks.  I signed up for a 30 day smoothie challenge that a friend did a while back.  She posted pictures of her smoothies everyday on instagram and they all sounded so good that I thought I would try it.  I recieved all the recipes and bought all the ingredients for the first week.  I have a smoothie most mornings but it is always the same so this will be a nice change.  I'll be sure to take lots of pictures and share them:)

I think I will get back to sharing my weekly weigh ins too.  The nice thing is that while I haven't been working out or running as much as I once was I have pretty well maintained all the weight I lost.  I'll have to look back to see what the last weight I posted was but I think it is about the same as what I will post.  I will start tomorrow:)

Snack time:)

Old habits die hard but when the do they need to stay dead!  I have always been a snacker.  I grew up in a home where we had good meals and lots of snacks.  Now as an adult I find myself every evening looking for that "bedtime snack" like I had as a kid.  This is my undoing.  I can eat fantastic all day but as soon as the kids are in bed the rails fall off and the eating starts.  

For some reason this last few days something has clicked though.  I still grab the snack but it has been healthy. I have been working out more again and finding that I want nutrient dense good for my body foods.  Stuff like homemade granola and yogurt or apples and natural peanut butter.  The peanut butter itself is a huge thing!  I love it but have always bought the sugar and junk filled kind.  In the summer I discovered a natural one that had honey in it that I love.  Then I ran out and bought just regular natural peanut butter.  It is so much better!!  I love it!  

The more healthy food I eat the better I feel and the better I feel the more I want to do what is right.  I need to bottle this new inspiration and keep it going!  Unhealthy snacking needs to stay dead!

Treadmill Affair?

Today I didn't get to run with the two ladies that I have been sort of coaching because I cannot do mornings right now and they could not do evening.  Near the end of the day I was quite hyped up (maybe too much pre-Halloween candy?) and was so excited for my run.  The problem was that I was really cold and dreading the layers.  Then it came to me!!!

I own a treadmill!!  

It is very old and makes a lot of noise but it works great.  So when I got home I changed into my summer running gear, grabbed the laptop and headed downstairs.  I rigged up the laptop so that it was high enough to see, threw on some Netflix and fired up the treadmill.  I have never loved running on the treadmill because I find it boring.  Today I got so involved watching the laptop that the time flew by and before I knew it the time was up and my kids were asking to have a turn.  While I still prefer to run outside with fresh air I think I could enjoy this treadmill when the snow is flying this winter!

Constant Changes!!

It's been a busy week around here!!  My brother and his family came from Florida for the week and we did a lot!!  Well they did a lot, I did some and worked a little.  We took the kids to the Hockey Hall of Fame and Legoland in Toronto one day for our big outing.  They had a blast!!  We did lots of visiting and eating too.  I'm happy to report that I did not miss one run during their visit which is a huge thug for me.  Usually as soon as there is a change running is the first thing to suffer.  Not this time though!  I ran three times and even got up at 5:30am twice to do it.  

Yesterday Drew came to live with us.  He needed a change and some new people around.  He was having a rough go of things and we hope that this will be the place to get the support he needs to succeed.  

Today is Anna's birthday so we spent part of the weekend celebrating that.  She was sick on Friday when we were supposed to have her party but luck was with us and all of her friends were able to come on Saturday.  My favorite gift that she got was a giant moose.  She loves stuffed animals and this one is awesome!

Her sickness on Friday is a little concerning.  It is the second time since her surgery that she has woken up feeling badly, gotten sick and then been fine by noon.  She has complained about headaches a lot lately too.  We have another follow up appointment in December and had mentioned the headaches at her last appointment but they suspected dehydration to be the issue.  I think if they don't stop they will have to be investigated more.  

Things are forever changing in our lives but I wouldn't give it up for anything.  I'm finally in a place where I can cope with them and still keep my exercise routine somewhat intact, I'm eating reasonably well and everyone is happy.  Winter is coming and that is going to be the true test of my new found dedication!!  I hate to be cold!! I can do this though, I have too! 

New Shoes!!

There is nothing better than a run in brand new shoes.  That has been my running for the past couple of weeks.  I love the first runs after getting a new pair.  It's like running on a cloud:)  I got my new shoes on a Friday and while the next day wasn't a planned run I had to get out and test them anyway.  I joked after that they had rocket boosters in them.  My old shoes were past their prime and I was going slower because of it so when I got my new shoes they were so comfy that I was running faster than ever.  I have settled that down thankfully.  That first run with the new shoes had me going so fast that I was out of breath too soon and couldn't go as far!

I posted I posted about my new shoes on Facebook after I got them and got some interesting comments.  Seems some of my running friends aren't sharing that love.  A few have been forced to change brands or styles of shoes for various reasons and are having a rough time adjusting to their new ones.  I felt sad for them.  This sparked some thoughts for me, as well as some others, about how funny runners (or athletes in general) are about their gear. This week I have even come to realize that I am even funny about weather.  Fall is my favorite.  I can get away with capri's and tshirts for most runs and if I need to add a bit of warmth I can throw a long sleeve on. I hate it when it gets so cold that I have to add layers and can't move as freely just as much as I hate when it gets so hot you sweat standing still.   Right now the temperature is perfect for running.  I'm going to take full advantage of this and get as many runs in as I can before it gets ugly out!

Do you have a favorite piece of gear or time of year??

Renewing Passion:)

It has been more than three years since I started running!  My gosh the time has flown by!  The last year has been a little lack luster in the running department but I'm making up for it now.  A friend has been talking about starting running for a while but does not want to run with a group.  She does not want anyone to see her at this point.  I think she is nuts and should show off but she thinks different.  She has asked me more than once if I can "teach" her how to run and I keep telling her there is nothing really to teach but that I would be more than happy to.  Finally she has decided that it's time and in the wee hours of the morning before the sun and birds are up we are out there.  I have started her the way I started with just 10 minutes and adding two minutes at at time.  She will now be up to 14 minutes and is doing wonderfully.  

The bonus to doing this with her is that it has given me a renewed passion for running.  I have a purpose that isn't totally about me and it's great.  I have signed up for one race and plan to sign up for another if there is still space.  I am getting up half an hour earlier than I need to so that I can run before she gets here.  I am enjoying running fully again and it feels great!  I am excited about it again and can't wait to be back to where I was a year ago.  Next summer I am going to run another half marathon, maybe two!!!  I feel great:)

I haven't posted much over the last year because I felt like I fell off the wagon and didn't have anything much to post about.  I have found that more and more posts have been about the kids and anything but my journey.  All that is about to change:)  I think this blog is about to become more active again!

Adryanna's Heart Repair

On Tuesday August 6th Adryanna had her heart defect repaired:) I wanted to share her story but it took me until today to get it all written out:) On Monday we headed to Toronto to stay at Ronald McDonald House.  The one in Toronto is the largest one in Canada (perhaps the world).  It has 81 rooms and is the most welcoming and wonderful place I could imagine for people who are dealing with very stressful situations to stay.  We arrived and were greeted by a volunteer and shown around.  We completed some paperwork and were left to explore. We checked out our room and could see the CN Tower out our window!

On the way to Toronto!

Each room has a chalkboard beside the door that you can draw on!

 The first order of business was to get some dinner.  We were very close to Queen's Park so we walked past there and found a little restaurant across the street from the Royal Ontario Museum.  We then took the subway back.  Adryanna loves taking the subway so it was a must.  Once we were back she played Playstation with Adrian and found a Harry Potter game to play.  Then it was bedtime because we had a very early morning.

The CN Tower

Riding the Subway

Being silly at dinner

Playing video games

On Tuesday at 6:30am we arrived at the Hospital for Sick Children.  It is a wonderful hospital that people from around the world come to for treatment.  She was being cared for by the best of the best.  We had nothing but amazing care from the minute we arrived.  At 8am we went to the Cardiac Catheter lab for her procedure and were told that she was the doctors only case of the day and that it could be 2-6hrs before they were done depending on what they saw when they got in there.  Turns out they saw more than they expected but were done in less than 3hrs.  Her heart defect was much more involved than they expected and was quite large.  They were able to close off one end of it.  What they believe is that her defect (Aortico-Left Ventricle Tunnel) actually started out as her right coronary artery because she does not have one now.  They also found that her left coronary artery had grown all the way around to almost connect to her tunnel.  The end of it is completely blocked.  They have no concerns with that as many people have only one coronary artery and they are perfectly fine.  The concern they still have is that one end of the tunnel is still open and there is a little bit of flow still going into it when the heart pumps.  This is something they will still have to watch closely and may require repair later.  They thought about closing it off at the same time as the other end but this end is quite wide and the device they used may not be big enough.  They may have to do open heart to fix it when the time comes.  That's down the road though and not something to worry about now.

After the procedure Adryanna was quite sick.  She did not tolerate the anaesthetic well and spent most of the rest of the day throwing up and sleeping.  She doesn't remember much about Tuesday.  She took extra long to come out of the anaesthetic because they had to give her a little extra right at the end.  She was having some trouble breathing and they needed to help her out a little bit.  In the end she was okay though and after a few doses of anti nausea medications she started to turn around and by Wednesday morning she was ready to go home.  

Not feeling so well:(

Wednesday morning being silly:)

Before we could leave she had to have a chest xray and an echo done.  The echo was a bit of a surprise but that was because the doctor could hear a murmur again and wanted to make sure everything was the way it should be once that was done he was happy and sent us on our way.

We're free!!!

So now we are home and she is doing wonderful.  It was an up and down week but today is day 5 post repair and she is right back to herself.  She is eating and drinking and playing.  Tomorrow she can go back to soccer practise and get back to all her usual activities.  She is looking forward playing soccer this week and I'm happy to see her feeling better.  She will have three check ups in the next 6 months including echoes and chest xrays.  Two with her regular cardiologist at McMaster and then at the 6 month mark the third will be with the cardiologist that did her repair.  They work in collaboration so they will share everything they find.  It's going to be a busy time for her but one that is such an important part of who she is and who she will become.  She is a lucky little girl with a very special heart:)