30 Day Ab Challenge

The fact that NiQi is doing so well at the moment is all the more reason to exercise as much as she can in order to build up muscle mass and help gain weight.  Theses two things factor very high in preparation for a lung transplant.

When she was a little girl and right through to her early teenage years, she was very active...in fact as a toddler she was almost considered hyper active. From the minute she woke in the morning till she laid her head down on her pillow at night, she just didn't stop.  She was climbing trees and fences, she couldn't walk anywhere as she was always in such a hurry and would run all over the place.  I would wonder where the little girl was that I dreamed of, playing with her dolls...dressing them up, putting them to sleep, combing their hair.  I still have visions of her pushing her dolls pushchair around the outside of the house so fast that the 'baby' inside was bobbing up and down and when it did fall out she picked it up and threw it inside...there was definitely no mothering nurturing going on there by any manner of means.

Always keen to play with her brothers, especially when it was cricket time, she didn't care that she was always the fielder, running to fetch the ball and tossing it back.  She played so much cricket with them that she gave her peers a run for their money when she participated in the Bakers junior cricket matches...the only girl in the team.

Athletics was her forte...short distances she claimed first place over and over and over again.  Her long legs helped her to get over the pole when she did high jump as well as gaining distance in the long jump.  The only sport she really didn't excel at, was cross country....just too much for her I egged her on each week and every step she ran she hated, gasping for air and ready to give up she persevered ...but finish she did.

She participated  in netball and was an excellent goal shooter...again her height stood her in good stead and by practicing with Matthew's basketball net, she managed to aim that ball in the net over and over again

Hockey was another sport that gave her a bit of a challenge, playing back, she didn't have to run too much although if the game became too boring and play was too long in the other half of the field,her mind would wander and she would lose concentration....haha

Swimming, of all sports was her favourite and if we had a pool here she would now more than likely be in it every day of summer....swimming like a fish, diving to the bottom of the pool to pick things up off the bottom and dive bombing with Matthew kept her busy.  She would stay in the water till she was purple and wrinkled and then would still want to stay in much longer....

These days she doesn't do much more than groom her horses and ride every now and then, so to gain muscle mass is certainly a big thing for her now....hence the decision to start with the '30 Day Ab Challenge'.....to keep herself motivated she has opened the challenge to anyone who wishes to do it with her, and Johan and I, together with Matthew and Jess, Sara and Paige and Seanagh....all doing it long distance, are keeping her company.  Day three happened today and boy can I feel my muscles working....30 days!!!! Ai Ai Ai...I'm not too sure about that.....