Summer Shredding

It is so incredibly important to make the most of the life we are given. Since being diagnosed with Pulmonary Hypertension I had the belief that if I weighed less, my heart would not have to work as hard, and I would go longer before going into heart failure. Less strain on my heart meant a better opportunity to live the best life possible.

After being diagnosed I hid in my room for a weekend. Once emerging I was on a mission to loose weight. I had no freaking idea what I was doing, and thus really didn’t loose anything at all.  Before my husband and I were an item, I asked him to be my personal trainer. He has always been interested in fitness, and took on the challenge.

I remember the very first time he took me to work out. We went on a run to assess my cardio ability. I was so gung ho, and I took off as fast as I could go. By the time we went about 200 feet it felt like my heart was going to burst. I slowed wayyyyyyyy down. After about 400 feet, I decided I needed to catch my breath and slowed to a walk. He let us stop to stretch, and then we started out again. We were running down a hill, and at the end of the block I had to stop yet again. Essentially I could not go more than 300 feet without stopping to walk, feeling like my heart was going to explode. He taught me to go slow, so that I was not training my body to stop. At first, I would go so slow, that old people could walk faster than I could. Now I am still slow, but I know that I am going to make it to the desired end goal.

For our wedding a few years later than our first run, I was down to 140 lbs. I felt good about where I was, but was still super self conscious of my body. Later, I learned that this was because I had no muscle. My mindset was that of a skinny-fat girl. My only form of exercise was cardio, and although I would go to the gym and lift weights, it was so inconsistent, that progress was nonexistent.

Eventually hubby and I enrolled at a local LA Fittness, and we started getting more consistent about lifting weights. We watch a Youtuber, Christian Guzman, who does a segment called summer shredding. Last year, we entered into the summer shredding contest. I lost 17lbs! After loosing 17lbs, I was back down to my wedding weight of 140lbs. In fact, I even felt confidant enough to wear a bikini! I haven’t felt that confidant since the summer after graduating high school.

After the competition was over, we stopped dieting, but continued working out. Essentially the idea was to gain muscle. Well last week I hit a personal best of bench pressing 95lbs 3 times. My husband, and spotter, said it was all me. I am ecstatic! No I am not trying to get “beefy,” but I do enjoy being stronger. Since the last contest I have gained a lot of the weight back that I lost, but I still feel pretty good, and I attribute that to having gained at least a little bit of muscle this winter.

Now the competition is starting again, and I am so excited to take part! In order to compete, I will have to upload a before and after video – which I will also upload here on the blog. I want to share my transformation!

It is possible to workout with Pulmonary Hypertension. In fact, the more I work out, and do cardio the better I feel in daily life. Quality of life is the most important thing, and PHitness has helped to increase my quality of life. I learn most of what I know through my husband, who does A LOT of research on the subject. I am going to make an effort to post regularly and show what we are doing to reach our fitness goals, and the progress we are making. If you have any questions always feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to answer promptly!