Wednesday, September 16, 2015

How To Adapt A Workout

Ok, lets be honest here, sometimes because of our size, us beautiful butterflies can't always do excercises how they were meant to be done. This only means that we have to modify them a little bit. I'm one of the lucky girls who has a trainer for a boyfreind so he helps me modify stuff he notices is a little difficult.

One of the things my boyfreind has suggested to me,( becuase he has noticed that my short arms and legs make excercises such as the bear crawl and crab walk difficult) is to simply hold the pose instead of actually trying to move around. For instance, instead of actually doing a crab walk, (which is when you have yourslef up off the ground wtih your back to the floor) simply do what is called a table maker. One other brilliant piece of advice he has given me is to make sure to do a lot of work on my legs. They can be a very valuable asset.

Another piece of working out that is extremely important is remembering to breathe. Sometimes you'll see these huge guys try to lift an enormous amount of weight in the gym....except they almost look constipated! That's because they haven't completely worked out a good breathing pattern for when they lift heavy weight. Having a good breathing pattern can also help prevent various injuries in the gym. There are various books out there on how to properly stretch before and breathe during a workout....please be safe.

Another aspect to us butterflies having to sometimes adapt, is switching up our arm positioning. Remember, if it doesn't feel quite comfortable, change where your arms are so that you are more comfortable doing the excercise. If the position of your arms is not comfortable you could hurt yourself.

One amazing piece of equipment to workout with that I have found is a called Lifeline Cables. They are very versatile and easy to adapt to your needs. You can do every single excercise that you go to the gym for and use machines with these cables. The best part is, you don't have to worry about those pieces of gym equipment such as the overhead press machine that the handle is too hard to reach for. I've only been using these cables for a short time, but they are amazing!!!

Well ladies, I hope these tips and tricks help you get or stay healthy. Sometimes instead of asking the world to adapt to us, we need to adapt to it.

May us butterflies soar!!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

What Can Tell You About Adopting

One of the things I have talked about in previous posts is that us butterflies have plenty of other opportunities to become mothers. One of these very key opportunities is through adoption. Now don't get me wrong, adoption is not the first choice for everyone....but it is my first choice and I will explain why. I will also give you a little information on how to go about it yourself should you choose to.

Adoption is my first choice for more than a few reasons. The first reason is because there are way too many children in this country already who need someone to show them love, kindness, and that the world can be an amazing place. The second, is that when you compare the cost of adoption and I.V.F they are roughly the same. If you ask me though, you have a better shot at becoming a parent through adoption than you do through I.V.F. Now, don't get me wrong, I completely understand why someone would want to choose I.V.F for themselves. I would be lying if I didn't admit that at some point I had considered it myself. In the end though, adoption won out for me. One last reason I have chosen adoption is because the government(U.S) pays you back a certain amount of the adoption fees when you file taxes the following year. I know that sounds like a selfish reason,but what I would do with that tax break is put it in a college fund for the child.

Be prepared, because adoption is a very lenghthy and difficult process. The first step I would reccomend taking is doing a simple google search for a local adoption agency. Do your research though, find reviews and maybe even try to speak face to face with someone who has used that agency. The agency itself will help guide you through the process, it is part of their job. The next step I would reccomend is finding a lawyer who specializes in adoption. Very few people know this, but lawyers are required by law to log a certain amount of "pro-bono" work each year......there are a good amount of lawyers who make doing adoptions a good part of that log because it's their way of giving back to the community. After you've found your agency and lawyer, set an appointment for an in home study. Your lawyer and agency will help you know who to call. This is the most difficult part of the process. When you go through an in home study they literally look at EVERYTHING. They observe how you and your partner interact, the cleanliness of your home, if you have enough space, they look at your finances, they do a federal and state background check, they dig into your medical records...especially if you have a psychological history. After the home study it's mostly waiting on a bunch of paperwork to go through the court and is a giant waiting game.

One way to make the adoption process go quicker is to be a foster parent first. You still have to go through a bunch of stuff to get certified and all that, but because the steps for fostering and straight adopting are pretty much the same, it makes everything go faster with the courts once an adoption is attempted.

There you have it folks, what I know and can help you with when it comes to adoption. It's not a whole lot, but I hope it was helpful. This is not the only option we have, but it's a pretty darn good one.Until next time folks.....May us butterflies always soar!