My personal PHitness Journey

When I was first diagnosed with Pulmonary hypertension I spent 2 days in my room. You see, I knew the disease already. I knew that it meant my days were now numbered. Once I emerged I also knew that I was going to have to make some changes, if I wanted to have the best quality of life possible during my remaining years.

I thought to myself that if my heart was already haveing to work harder in the first place [because of my lungs] - that I wanted to save it some trouble when it came to moving my body. Right away I put myself on a diet, a diet that didn't last long. At the time I was in college, in my early 20's and I was party girl. Alcohol typically told me that it was ok to eat that extra slice of pizza and I listened to it. 

During that whole experience, and let's face it, even before, I wanted to be more in shape. I wanted to be able to not get so out of breath when I was out with friends, when I was walking around campus, or dancing the night away. Once diagnosed I realized that PH was the main reason was out of breath and struggling to keep pace with my friends, but it only renewed my quest for a healthier lifestyle.

When I reconnected with an old high school aquantiance I was hoping he could help me get into shape. He was a marine and he had always wanted to help people get healthy, so he agreed to train me. On my first day we went for a run. I started out as fast as I could go, I was going to make and see great improvements. Our course was flat and then down hill. I made it maybe slightly more than a block before I had to stop to walk.

In those first few months I learned a lot about running with pulmonary hypertension.  The most important lesson I learned was to pace myself, and slow down without giving up. My now husband taught me that the more I stopped to walk, the more I would condition my body to give up. It didn't matter how slow I went, as long as I was still running. Let me tell you I ran SLOW! Anyone, even old people out for a stroll, could walk faster than I could run. 

I remember the first time I did one mile in 14 minutes. I had been working and striving to hit that number, and I was so proud of myself. As a reward I purchased an iPod to use during my future runs.

We had an on again off again relationship when it came to weightlifting. Going, but never making much lasting progress. It seemed there simply wasn't enough time. 

There pictures of when I was heavier that I could post to
show a larger difference in the changes I have made.
However I feel like in these two pictures, the difference is
 still noticeable, and I wanted to point out that anyone can be
beautiful no matter what their weight is. Weight is about health,
not beauty.

We and I have kept this on again off again relationship with the gym and even running over the years. Last year I gained over 15lbs. I tried to start making better eating choices, but the weight wasn't coming off. Hubby and I made a decision to start a more healthy lifestyle this year in January. I couldn't have done it without him. I lost 20 lbs, from going to the gym, running, and making better diet choices. My husband lost over 30 lbs. 

I have found that I progress much more slowly than an average healthy person. If I do not make a deliberate dedication to making consistent small goals, I do not achieve. I reward myself at least slightly for every goal accomplished. I have to force myself to go running, and to go to the gym, because if I do not, I know that I will quickly slip backwards on the PHitness goals I have set and have to start over yet again. I have good days and bad, but in the last 6 years I have made slow an deliberate progress. 

Now my one mile time is 11:28. Anything more than a mile is typically between 13:50-15:30 depending on the day. Hubby thinks my fastest time will be a 10 minute mile, and I agree. That is what I strive for. During the last 8 months I have felt myself getting stronger. I struggle much less in daily tasks such as picking up dog food. Each day I notice that I actually have muscle showing I get excited. It is a great feeling! I have had a max bench press of 95 lbs, and a max deadlift of 185lbs. 

Over the next year the plan is to continue to progress on this PHitness journey. One of the reasons I wanted to start working out again was to be a better hiker. This means working on endurance and leg strength. Next year I plan to get down to a much more lean 130lbs, do a 12k, and at least a long hike. It takes slow and deliberate steps to win this race but I will I continue  to see progress on this PHitness journey.