Coming back home from deployment: how to maintain fitness

I just got home a few weeks ago, which would explain the lack of posts lately. So sorry! But for the people that read this blog (the very few of you, you all should tell your friends about this site and help spread the word), I have not abandoned you! I was distracted by all the shiny things on this side of the looking glass for a moment, like making the journey home, kissing my boyfriend, and taking a ballin’ trip to Paris :) However, as it turns out, I wasn’t only slackin’ on blogs. I was also slackin’ on my fitness. With all of these distractions my fitness level AND motivation went straight to the floor like a pound of bricks. So this post is about my personal experience redefining my motivation, my drive, my fitness routine, my diet and my challenges. This may come in handy for those about to go home, or when you do get to make the trip back; you can look back on this… Please feel free to comment with your own add-ins.

My motivation. I no longer had tons of empty time to try and fill up by spending hours at the gym or sleeping, or whatever else I could come up to pass the loooonnngggg hours. Since I went right into R&R, I no longer had a schedule to follow with work. I didn’t have work to show up anywhere at a certain time so why not just sleep in? Like … every day… :|   Also, being in Germany is both a blessing and a curse. Paris is only a four hour drive, so we went for a few days. I brought workout clothes, but who was I kidding, THAT didn’t happen. The streets of Paris and French wine were calling my name!!

My Drive. I had to redefine what my drive was. What drove me to the gym, or the DVD player to hit play on Insanity or P90X. I had just finished my Insanity Challenge so I didn’t have someone telling me what workout to do every day. Which is okay, just something I needed to get used to again.

My Fitness Routine. I decided to take a break from DVD routines and start prepping for my PT test in a month. So I kept it classic! Timed run, push-ups and sit-ups for one minute, and then weights for a bit. I want to do better on this PT test than the last, always improving :) I got 94 last time, we’ll see….

My Diet. So many temptations! Vacation food! Wine! Deserts! Everywhere! Luckily my boyfriend is a great cook, and does so with in the healthiest way. Otherwise I would be totally screwed. However, all the readily available alcohol was a big temptation as well so I made deal with myself. I can only drink my wine on days I get a good workout in. I’m not sure if this is a good idea or a bad one, but it’s working so far, lol

Some advice? Make a plan ahead of time for what and how you will keep up the fitness when you get home. I didn’t and I wish I would have. This way you have a DAILY plan. Even if you plan on giving yourself a three day break for example. If you plan it out, it won’t suddenly be a week later and you haven’t worked out at all. Write it down! Tell someone. You’ll be more likely to stick with it. Same with your diet. A great site to use for diet tracking is myfitnesspal.com. You can track everything you eat when you get back to make sure aren’t going too far overboard.

It’s okay to live life and take breaks, but don’t overdo it! Make sure you are still taking care of yourself. Remind yourself why you are motivated to be fit in the first place. 

Eating healthy at the chow hall?

Eating healthy at the chow hall? Isn’t that an oxymoron?? Depending on how much self control you can muster. There are healthier options. Like Tony says, always choose the best option available. The Air Force is offering a simple stoplight system to simplify our nutritional thinking process. Whether or not this is the best way to go about it, at least something is being done about our healthy eating choices at dining facilities.

When you see the red, yellow and green light signs above the foods at the chow hall serving line, they are part of the Go for Green Program. This Air Force wide nutrition program helps Airmen make healthy meal choices. The menu items are labeled green (eat often), yellow (eat occasionally), and red (eat rarely) based on the impact the food can have on an Airman's performance.

First Lady Michelle Obama herself has called notice to the lack of nutritional and healthy choices that we are given when she visited the chow hall at Little Rock AFB. She explained that it’s not just a matter of our svelte profiles. This is an issue of national budget and national security. DoD spends over $1.1 billion on medical bills related to excess weight and obesity a year. About a quarter of first-termers are too overweight to make through their first enlistment, according to the Pentagon. After this visit, she called for an upgrade to our menus.

This upgrade to our menus will be first program to improve nutritional standards in chow halls in over 20 years. 20 years?! WTF took so long?

Still don’t wanna commit yourself to eating healthy? If you don’t want to do it for yourself, do it for your kids (or future ones). This is the first generation that will have a shorter life expectancy than their parents because of the 'American diet'. A good diet can reverse diseases and conditions, and so as follows, a poor one will fuel them. Making healthy habits for yourself will transfer to your kids. There is such a thing as 'second-hand obesity.' Google it.

- http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/05/09/ST2008050900425.html

- http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/02/ap-first-lady-military-bases-need-healthier-foods-020912/

- http://www.jble.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123294544