100 Pushup Challenge: Week 2, Day 3

Just because I have skipped posting about the hundred pushups challenge doesn’t mean I have missed out on it. Today’s the end of my 2nd week challenge and I was able to do 5 sets of 5, 5, 4, 4, 10 pushups, in that order with 60 seconds break between the sets. Day 3 says 120 seconds break but I wanted it done and over with.

After a while, I did my exhaustion test, a requirement before proceeding to Week 3. I managed 16 pushups in good form! That is 4 times than what I did during the first initial test at the beginning of the program!

So on Tuesday I will start with Week 3, Day 1 and what awaits me is 5 sets of 15, 12, 12, 10, 15+ of pushups. I’m bracing myself! 

a great lesson in stroller safety

I learned a very important responsible parenting lesson today. This is concerning the stroller that we just bought for Pristine. She’s already 4.5 years old and yet this is the first stroller that we had. I figured that we needed one for our travel together (without daddy) next month.

We took the new stroller, an umbrella type, simple stroller out when we went grocery shopping. It came in handy because when she got cranky towards lunch hour, we had her sit on the stroller instead carrying all 17 kilos of her. Oh I wished we had bought it years before!

Back to the lesson learned: seat belt is a must. The simple stroller had a simple seat belt attached to it and just like any moving vehicle, the child is supposed to be buckled up when seated. I, however, did NOT buckle her up in the stroller. We were just inside the grocery store, what could go wrong?

Then while pushing it around, the front right tire hit an edge of a rack. Pristine tumbled over!!

Luckily, she is older and was quick enough not to injure herself but she was so surprised to be thrown out. I felt so bad. How dare I subjected my daughter to this danger! She could have hit her head or something. I didn’t realize strollers are potential injury makers if not handled well.

From now on, I’ll strap her whenever she sits on it. In fact, I’ve asked her how to strap it on by herself in case mom forgets!

Fat Ticker Friday Week #3

This week was really crap, fitness wise, I mean. I went to the gym last Saturday and all went well. I went home with a clearer and stronger motivation to be on track but hey, motherly duties called.

On Sunday, my darling daughter got really sick and has to be rushed to emergency at 4 am due to an asthma attack. We were then advised by the doctor to take her to the clinic for nebulizer every six hours - that would be morning, before I go to work, noon (my husband had to take off from work) and night after our work. Meaning? No gym time for me for 5 long days. Wow, do I feel these fat cells growing again!

Last Thursday when the babe had settled, I went to the gym again and did all the weight training I missed for the entire week: shoulders, chest, abs, back and legs and got a very sore butt and thighs the next day. Man, when will I be accustomed to lunges and squats!?

I weighed myself on Thursday afternoon with eyes half-open, ready to admit defeat but hey, I lost 2 pounds. I guess the sleepless nights and throttling to the hospital carrying a heavy kid did it.

Anyhow, I hope to be back to my fitness routine, starting tomorrow. I just don’t feel as good as when I’m exercising. This  is not about losing weight anymore, it’s about feeling better and more alive!

No kid at the dinner table today!

Tonight, my husband is taking me out to dinner. Just the two of us, no kid - get this, a first in 21 months! We will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary on the 14th but since it’s work day, we opted to celebrate it a little early, today because tomorrow is weekend for us here in the UAE.

Today is a busy day but I look forward to spending time with him alone, even if it’s just dining out for a couple of hours because sometimes, it would be nice to have a proper conversation without someone smearing sauce on my shirt/her own shirt or asking to be taken to the toilet in the middle of our meal (she does this like, all the time)!

WW - Goin’ Bananas

Please click to see why:

What’s wrong with sleeping dads?

Pristine had an asthma attack at 3 am this morning. The moment she coughed and wheezed, I woke up from my sleep in a split second.

We sleep in the same room and her bed is attached to ours. She sleeps on my side so I can wake up at night to check her blanket, shirt, position - she could go up and hit her head on the bed head board or go down and hang her feet down at the lower edge of her bed - the nightly acrobatic possibilities are endless.

I sat her up and gave her water then the inhaler so she can sleep back. I had been making some rustling noises enough to wake a normal sleeping person. But my husband? He did not even move a muscle. He slept like a log.

The next morning, I asked him if he knew what happened that dawn. Of course, he had no idea!

How can men sleep through these kind of kid-related commotions? Not that I hate him for that, believe me, I have come to accept the fact that moms and dad’s night body mechanisms are just different; that moms are more alert and sensitive to every smell, sound and movement around them, even with their eyes closed! However, I am just amazed at how at the shutting of their eyes, their ears and all of the senses completely shuts down, too.

Ashtma update: a little bit better

The doctor told us to take Pristine to the nearest health center, a small clinic near our place for nebulizer every six hours to alleviate her congested chest and asthma. Every six hours! That meant having to take her there early in the morning, at noon time and then at night. M has volunteered to go out from work to take our girl to the clinic at noon. Otherwise, we all go together in the morning before going to our respective work and at night after work.

A little bit of good news: we slept all through the night last night. She was not awakened by asthma unlike the previous night but when she woke up at 6:30, I could hear the dreadful wheezing sound again. The asthma orchestra has started. We hurried to the clinic (it opens at 7:00 am) before the condition worsens. I even went out without drying my hair or combing it after towelling it dry. The nurses must have noticed how I just tied it all wet and messy. Recalling, I think I didn’t even check the mirror before rushing to the door.

Motherhood is really all about shortcuts and fast forward life!

Take the asthma away and I’ll be good for the rest of my life!

Today I woke up seeing my worst nightmare come to life: my daughter struggling to breathe.

Since summer started (temperature and humidity rising to crazy levels), Pristine had been coughing on and off. Other than the occasional coughing, she is fine, going to school everyday and playing.

One day last month, she woke up with a wheezing sound in her chest, shortness of breath and coughing profusely to loosen her air pipes. My little girl is having an asthma attack!

She had no history of ashtma since birth. What could have triggered it? We have no carpets inside our apartment, we have no dogs or cats as pets, our house is clean. I am so troubled. Of all kid-related diseases, I dread and fear asthma most of all. I can’t bear to see her fighting to breathe, not sure of what to do so cries, or tosses and turns in her bed because of breathing difficulty.

This morning we woke up at 4 am to her cry for help. She was coughing, not breathing properly and crying. I jumped out of bed and got her Salbutamol liquid but we all know that asthma meds in liquid form do not take effect fast. After 10 more minutes she was still huffing and puffing. I told my husband we need to take her to the hospital. NOW!

We arrived in the hospital at 4:20 and though she was still wheezing, breathing was a little bit more relaxed. The doctor asked me so many questions from family history to possible allergens. She was given nebulizers and just like magic, she was back to her normal self and talking cheerfully early in the morning.

We went home at 6:30, carrying a medication I never dreamt of having: a metered dose inhaler in my hand.

getting ready for our first stroller

Pristine will be turning 5 at the end of this year. She’s no longer a baby and can perfectly walk by herself but I think we might need a stroller for our travel soon. Why I’m making a big fuss about this? 

We have never bought a stroller before. The day she learned to walk, there was no way we could strap her in a stroller/buggy or even in the shopping cart. She loves to walk and we’re happy we were able to save on a stroller.

In short, Mr. Stroller and I are not acquainted. I didn’t even know these thing is so expensive until I went yesterday to check it out!

We’ll be travelling next month, me and my daughter only and I am worried I won’t be able to survive carrying her around the huge airport when she sleeps. She loves to walk, alright, but when she sleeps, I have no other choice but to carry all 16 kilos of her - along with our baggages (I plan to travel really light, even if it means I’ll buy additional clothes in our destination!). I entertained the idea of a simple buggy so she can sit and we can breeze around without me breaking my back.

I went to see strollers in the store yesterday and amazed at my ignorance! I don’t even know how to fold it, which levers to move, to lock, etc. The smiling sales person asked me politely, “first baby, madame?”. If she only know that the “baby” is already almost 5!!

Fat Ticker Friday Week #2

Just when I thought I’d take a revenge this week, the dreaded monthlies came. But I have read that it’s ok to exercise even during that time of the month so I tried.

Saturday, June 28, 2008 - Personal errands; no gym.

Sunday, June 30, 2008 - I went to the gym after 4 days of not going. I thought I’ll not survive HIIT but I did and in fact, I feel lighter while running compared to the past days. I guess that’s because I’ve allowed my body to rest and now I have all the energy to start anew.

Cardio - High Intensity Interval Training on the treadmill with incline for 30 minutes.

Strength Training - 3 muscle groups Chest, Abs and Arms

Monday, June 30, 2008 - abdominal pains, can’t exercise. But I did my initial test to the hundred pushup challenge and started Week 1, Day 1 program.

Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - Back to the gym with cardio for 30 minutes and strength training for shoulders and forearms and abs. Also included walking lunges and squats with weight.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - Cardio for 30 minutes and strength training for chest despite the muscle pain because of yesterday’s leg work.  I was surprised I was still able to run/brisk walk on a steep incline. Performed Week 1, Day 2 of the hundred pushup challenge.

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - Cardio for 30 minutes and strength training. I am still sore all over.

Friday, July 4, 2008 - Rest (no gym). Performed Week 1, Day 3 of the hundred pushup challenge.

TOTAL DAYS OF WORKOUT: 5 days

Weigh-in: 1 lb. lost