Replacing my afternoon coffee with cardio

Coffee lovin’ white girl here. I have a morning coffee with breakfast ever day and on week days I used to have an afternoon coffee around 3:00 pm to get me through the rest of the day. This became a big habit of mine when I was working until 7 or 8:0 0pm. I needed to have energy at least until the end of my shift, then I could crash.

Recently I have replaced my weekday afternoon coffee with a run. Not every day, but most days. It slowly started when I was training for our 9K earlier this summer, but I have made it more and more of a habit once I saw all of the benefits it was providing…

For starters, I work in the heart of Boston. There are far too many shops and boutiques to avoid from at least window shopping and even the smaller purchases start to add up due to boredom on my hour lunch break.

Also, what the heck do people do for ONE WHOLE HOUR?! I have no idea what to do with my time. I tend to take a later lunch to break up my day so when I come back, I only have 2 hours left on the clock so I typically do not eat lunch ON my lunch break. Running has freed me of trying to find things to do outside, while not keeping myself inside when the weather is nice. 

My lunch time run has also provided me with the energy I need to get me through the rest of my day. So instead of picking up a skinny vanilla latte or toasted almond iced on my way back from lunch, I am burning calories instead of drinking them!

I have finally been back at the gym routinely and cardio is really a must for my body. Lifting definitely helps burn more calories and helps work on definition, but cardio helps me shed some extra calories and pounds. Remember – all of our bodies are different and lose/gain weight differently. I have personally found working out is most successful when I incorporate both. 

With that being said, my daily 30mins of cardio is now incorporated during an hour I usually roam mindlessly through the city, instead of adding it to the end of my day when I just want to get home.

Daisy wins here too…I’m home a half hour earlier to play with her now J

See where you can fit in a quick work out to save some time on the beginning or end of your day!

P.S. I know running is commonly hated. I used to be one of those people. I heard somewhere to set yourself a destination when running, preferably one of good taste or beautiful sights. Set your destination as your reward. Run there, enjoy your reward (take an excuse for a breather) then run home. That is another thing that has made running at work better than running at home. 

This is my reward...

A woman should never be without an accessory

I am both happy and proud to share that after almost a year away from lifting, due to injury and then surgery, I am back at it! My husband has started us both on a new 8 week program to switch things up for both of us. We are only on day three, but it has been great to be back at a gym with weights in my hands. It has also been helpful and rewarding to have a gym partner like him with the knowledge, passion, and skills he has obtained over the past few years.

Last night the gym was BUSY. There were roughly 25 people working out in the weight room and only one of them had two X chromosomes – Me. (Now where you may think this blog is going with the conversation of women and weights can be saved for another day.) Instead, I am going to share with you some “girly” gym accessories to keep you looking your best while working on looking your best so you can proudly rock your workout knowing you can keep up with the guys!

Whether you go to a nail salon, or do your own at-home manicure, let’s face it – we all cherish the length of our manicure. When I pay, I want my moolah to be worth it. And when I do it at home, I want my time of wiping off all the extra polish from my cuticles because it looks like a 3 year old painted my nails, worth it.

A pedicure typically consists of buffing and cleaning up the bottom of the feet while a manicure never buffs the palm of your hands. Lifting weights for long period of time with heavier weights and metal bars can cause some serious callus action on the hands. My husband thinks it is great – after all; keeps his hands looking manly – gross. I on the other hand would prefer my hands to stay soft and womanly.

SOLUTION: lifting gloves. They come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors but they are basically fingerless gloves that cover where your hands will meet the dumbbell or barbell to prevent callusing. They are also an affordable fix – I almost always see them at Marshalls ranging between $6-12.

Anyone else hate that awful kink you get in your hair after putting it up in a ponytail or wearing a thing hairband around your head? I DO! Especially for the fact that I do not wash my hair more than twice a week, screwing up a newly washed and blow dried head of hair that took me a half hour to tame is really a way to ruin my day. Meet my new best friend.

These hair ties and head bands started being trendy with the Yoga, Pilates and Barre world since their workouts tend to involve less jumping around and slower more precise movements. Well, a lot of lifting exercises don’t require you to move more than one body part at a time, so embrace away!

Too good to be true? Well maybe a little. I did 15mins cardio last night after some bicep/tricep work and the headband didn’t stay on as well as my usual ones, but I didn’t mind fixing it a few times to save me the trouble of fixing my hair too much afterwards.

The Little Leisha That Could

Over the weekend, my husband and I participated in the 5^th annual Run to Home Base at Fenway Park. The Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program work together to help Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans and their families who return home with the invisible wounds of war such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injuries (TBI) which are estimated to affect one in three returning Veterans.

The Run to Home Base is a 9K (5.6miles) run through Boston and Cambridge that finishes on home plate in Fenway Park. Most of the course is along the Charles River with a great view of the skyline of Boston almost the entire route and the crowd along the way was just great. Finishing in America’s most beloved ball park was a great feeling, especially because we got to high five and shake the hands of our nation’s finest as we crossed home plate. We thanked them, as they thanked us. It was beyond rewarding.

Prior to this race, I never really took the sport of running seriously. Sprints and laps during high school sports' practices were dreadful and I was almost always one of the last to finish the 2-3 laps around the field/court. It was almost as if I imprinted in my brain how I could never be good at running; and as we all know, it is very difficult to enjoy something if we do not feel we are good at it. 

When we signed up for this race, I was convinced I would be ready on the day of the race with at least two months of training behind me. FALSE. I was lazy and still thought I hated running so I ran maybe twice a month until roughly two weeks ago when I picked up a few more runs per week. I had several discouraging runs - where I could barely breathe for 0.25 mile or had sore calves at 0.50 mile; letting my disappointment conquer my motivation, I would proceed to WALK home...instead of push through. 

Saturday morning came and I set a realistic goal in my head of the timing I wanted to finish the race in..keeping in mind I did not properly train, wasn't necessarily in great shape and also have never run this long of a distance......EVER.

Not only did I finish in my last minute goal time, but I was back at running this afternoon. 48 hours later, I was ready to do it again and do it well. I never thought I could even finish Saturday's Run to Home Base without walking at least the last mile, but I surpassed the expectations I had of myself. 

With motivation, confidence and no negative thoughts or feelings about the sport, today I ran my fastest mile ever. I am still not an elite runner. I am still not a marathoner or half-marathoner, but I set a personal record Saturday and today, and for that I am proud of myself. Previous to today, my fastest mile was one minute slower than it was today. All I needed was the positive mindset to know that I. COULD. DO. IT.

Don't ever give up...on anything. Believe in yourself no matter what it is. And when you think you can't do something, go out and do it so then you know you can do even more!!

Mile 4 Selfie

        

Before & After our Run to Home Base!

If you are interested in next year's race or simply would like to learn more about The Home Base Program, please see their links below. They also have Facebook and Twitter links listed on their site.

A special thank you and shout out to those of you who helped my husband and me by contributing to this cause. We appreciate your support of this amazing organization!

http://www.homebaseprogram.org/general-information.aspx

http://www.runtohomebase.org/

Each and every one of our military personnel are heroes who put their lives at risk while leaving their families at home to keep us safe and our country free. I will forever feel indebted to them.

2 for 1 - Fashion & Fitness!

As previously blogged about, my FitBit Flex now has a new fun fashion addition! Tory Burch has now come out with jewelry that holds the FitBit inside! Since I bought the FitBit and saw it had different color band options, I often thought how I would love to be able to dress it up so that it went more with my office attire. I don't mind the solid black or slate color at all, but it is rubber and not very dressy. Tory Burch has beyond answered my prayers! I am really hoping more companies catch on to this trend, because it is a great one and I love when items serve more than one purpose.

There are three new options to hold your FitBit to track your daily fitness to remain looking stylish:

For those of you who sit at a computer all day, the Pendant necklace will be your best friend; gold and black and out of your technology navigation space!

$175

And for those of you don't mind the original feel of the rubber FitBit, but would like to dress it up: you have three new options:

Silicone Printed Bracelet Blue                &                    Silicone Printed Bracelet Pink

$38

Metal Hinged Bracelet - Identical to the Pendant necklace, but in the form of a bracelet.

$195

Now you can stay fit, fashionable, and fabulous. You're welcome!

My Newest Fitness Partner

The mornings are still cold, but the afternoons are finally warming up. Spring weather is finally making its way to Boston and I am trying to find every possible way to enjoy it.

Have you thought of ways to enjoy the nice weather (which is only going to get nicer)? Any extra holiday or winter pounds you need to shed before you put on a bathing suit? I can say yes to both of those! Here is a new tool to help you put a few extra steps in your day while being interactive and tech savvy.

One of the latest fitness trends which takes no effort at all is tracking your daily steps. I started with a pedometer a few months back. I wasn’t faithful to wearing it but it was interesting to see how far I walked (or didn’t) the days I chose to wear it.

For my birthday, my husband bought me a Fit Bit. I use it every day and I am loving it! They say your average day should consist of about 10,000 steps or roughly 5 miles. This will vary on your stride distance or how long your legs are…for example, it only took me about 4.5 miles to break 10,000 steps. Vertically challenged here.  If you are interested in a pedometer or Fit Bit, you have plenty of options. The fun thing about the Fit Bit is that you get to track all of your stats on your smart phone!

This was the simple pedometer I got at an athletic store a few months back. I think it was about $15? Pedometers like this can range between $5-$30…depending on how many options you would like. Regardless, they still do the job and only take 2 minutes to set up.

Here is my Fit Bit Flex. If you look at their website, you can see there are few options. The Flex is worn as a wristband and tracks your sleep and steps. With the Smart Phone App, you can also link other Apps to it like My Fitness Pal to track your calories and water intake. I also heard (but haven’t figured out yet) that you can hook it up to Netflix so if you fall asleep while watching, Netflix will immediately stop playing so you don’t miss out on a minute of your show. I’ll keep you posted if I ever figure that out.

After a run outside as the sun was going down last night, I hit my 10,000 steps! It was such a refreshing feeling coming in from nicer weather with the sun out longer and reaching my daily goal! A few other great things I love about this is that you can track your sleep, calories burned, active minutes and can interact with other Fit Bit friends. The Fit Bit even motivates you to reach your daily goals. Sending you reminders when “You’re Almost There!” and when you’ve completed your daily goal, as I did yesterday.

The Fit Bit has become my new fitness buddy and I know we will only get closer in the days to come. Want to know the best part? It doesn’t matter what color wristband you buy with your Fit Bit because they sell a variety pack of colors separately so you can always match your outfit of the day! Fitness & Fashion – my two favorite things in one. 

Raising the barre

The holidays got the best of me this year and I put on a few pounds with all of the extra social events and seasonal goodies lying around. I realized just the other day that at this exact time last year (a few days before my husband’s homecoming from Afghanistan) I was in the best shape of my life.  I was really focused on working out and eating right knowing I was about to see my man in uniform after nearly eight months spent apart! Between Christmas, New Years and a post-holiday vacation (our official and belated honeymoon) I was ready to get back at it and this weekend was exactly the recipe I needed.

One of the latest trends in fitness has been barre classes. I have been intrigued for months and have been truly interested in taking some classes. I scored a deal back in November through Living Social for a place that a friend highly recommended. I finally got there this weekend and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the entire hour I was there.

What is barre?
The name comes from the “bar”re used in ballet; where small girls in pink tutus hold on as they plié and releve focusing on their form and posture. I was pleased to have spent some time at the barre, bringing back my love for dancing, but not for the entire class. The method consisted of many repetitions of small movements, LOTS of pulsing and sometimes the use of light weights. I wouldn’t exactly say it was a high intensive class where you are instructed to do jumping jacks or some sort of fast cardio exercise in between sets, but I was definitely sweating and constantly felt the burn.

I will resort back to my favorite usage of description to summarize my barre experience: feminine, fun and full, as in full body. The class is divided into a few minutes dedicated to each part of the body - biceps, triceps, chest, legs, and glutes so at the end of the hour, I was left feeling fulfilled.

Before I spoil too much of a great experience, I will conclude with saying it was one of the best classes I have ever attended and it was definitely worth checking out for any woman interested in trying a new workout. Barre allows women to target "trouble" spots while still feeling like a woman and maybe bringing back some tutu memories. 

No time for excuses

How do you spend your time? Making excuses or going to the gym? I have to admit, I have spent plenty of time making excuses in the last week and yesterday’s gym session was a reminder of them!

I was really starting to feel stronger at the gym – not feeling tired as quickly into my workouts and such…until yesterday. I definitely took too much time off from the gym, and missed it!

Well, no more time for excuses!!! Our honeymoon is officially booked and the countdown is on! I haven’t counted exactly to the date, how many days we have until we get on the plane (probably because it will freak me out the little time I have to get in shape especially because it’s during holiday season), but let’s call it approximately 90 days…Before our honeymoon was even booked, I vowed to myself to be in the best shape EVER for it. I knew we would be going somewhere tropical, because that was what we had hoped, so that means I will probably be in a bathing suit and/or shorts and small dresses all week.

I slept in both yesterday and today. Feeling tired was my excuse…what was yours? Admitting to your wrongs I think is so important in life…so there you go, I just confessed to my wrongdoing. Even though I didn’t leave time for the gym in the morning, I packed clothes and used my lunch break both days for work outs! Some of my workouts with this program are tough to do at the gym here at work because of limited equipment, so today, I opted just to do some cardio.

This was my burn from yesterday, not bad for only 40 minutes – all weight training and some abs.

Not to mention, when I got back to my desk after my break, I had an email inviting everyone to the dining room because they were having an ice cream sundae party. I was thankful for missing it, even though I’m a sucker for sweets.

This was my burn today… again not bad for a quick cardio seshhhh…

For cardio, I did sprinting (kinda) or I guess sort of interval training bringing my heart rate up and then back down to rest and repeat. My routine was this…

4x 30seconds sprinting, 30 seconds walking (fast)
4x 45seconds sprinting, 30 seconds walking
4x 60seconds sprinting, 30 seconds walking
4x 75seconds sprinting, 30 seconds walking

I think I did about 2-3minutes on either end of slower walking for a warm up and cool down. My sprinting was probably about 70% especially towards the end when I was getting tired and walking about 50% so I didn’t really lower my intensity that much.

So there you have it, I need to take my own advice when I preach this – STOP MAKING EXCUSES!!

P.S. This is my view from the gym at work J Yes, I’m spoiled. (the reflection is awful, but the picture still does the job).

Weighing new options

I have been slacking on my posts lately and I am feeling the need to catch up!!!

As I am taking my health and fitness journey more and more seriously, I am finding that the only way to avoid boredom with workouts or food is to try new things. This past week, not only did I try two new recipes, but I also bought a new kitchen item to help us better measure our portions.

First let me start with this new item – our kitchen scale. We have been talking about purchasing one for a while, but we kept putting it off. At Bed, Bath & Beyond, you will find kitchen scales ranging in price from $5.00-$60.00…so where do you begin? How are you supposed to know which will work best and if it is worth spending the money on? Well, I did a little research online first. On my down time, I tend to research things first before following through, especially if it is potentially a decent size purchase. After spending only five minutes on a product review site, I knew which scale I would be purchasing. The Biggest Loser kitchen scale goes for $20.00 and I never enter BB&B without a coupon. After using it only once, we both knew it was worth buying.

The only thing I really measure (unless I’m cooking/baking) is meat. Typically I eat (or thought I was eating) 4 ounces of chicken for a meal, while Brendan eats about 6 ounces. We had no idea how off we were by eye-balling what 4-6ounces of meat looked like! Sure enough, we are both now eating the CORRECT amount. J The best part is, the scale needs zero directions to use – press on and then put the food on top.

As far as trying new recipes go, I have a few go-to websites of health and fitness advocates I constantly refer to. I am not good at creating my own concoctions so these are a lifesaver! I have wanted to try more recipes with pumpkin in them so I made pumpkin pancakes and protein pumpkin bread within this past week. (On a side note, why is it so hard to find “raw pumpkin” or “pumpkin puree” at the grocery stores lately?) Over the weekend I tried Jamie Eason’s pumpkin protein pancakes and they were surprisingly good! It wasn’t until the batter was on the frying pan that I realized I used baking SODA instead of POWDER – oops – one of my blonde moments. It didn’t seem to affect the taste, though.

One morning this week I made Little B’s (Brittany Davila) protein pumpkin bread. Her recipes I have tried in the past have caught me off guard…sometimes she uses a good amount of stevia, which makes cringe. I know now in the future to use less of what her recipes say (for my liking)…luckily, this recipe did not have stevia as an ingredient. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised with the turnout on this too. The bread was pretty moist (considering most ingredients were dry) and tasted pretty good too. It doesn’t have a strong taste of pumpkin, but rather a hint of it. So if you don’t LOVE a huge taste of pumpkin, this could be a good recipe for you to try.

Who says baking can’t be healthy? Why miss out on fall flavored goodies in order to not break your healthy diet when you can make them with less fat, less sugar and more protein! Happy fall baking!

Eat Right. Sleep Tight.

I really learned my lesson yesterday about fueling my body with the right foods! Wednesday night, Brendan and I went to bed with the intentions of both getting our gym sessions in early…unfortunately, that didn’t happen. We can only blame ourselves for going to bed at midnight Wednesday which then led to hitting snooze several times Thursday morning. Needless to say, neither one of us got to the gym when we wanted to. In fact, I wasn’t able to go at all. I had all intentions of at least doing a quick workout at home last night…

Food =  fuel. It can be social, it can be enjoyable, but mostly, it is used to fuel your body with nutrients, vitamins and ENERGY! I learned yesterday how coffee can only do so much when you are eating like crap. I ate really well for the first half of the week and I think my body was loving it especially with my harder workouts lately. Between less sleep and crappy food choices, I felt like my body completely shut down yesterday. Not only did my stomach and head hate me, but I was sluggishly moving from one desk to the other at work while trying to peel my eyelids open so I didn’t collapse on the keyboard.

For the past several months, my body has been used to being fueled approximately every 3-4 hours. Even if I am not spot on with healthy meals, I am still eating small snacks or meals often to keep my metabolism going and hopefully making it run faster. Once again, yesterday failed me. I ate at 12:30 and then didn’t have another snack until about 6:30 and my snack choice was far from healthy. On top of that, my water intake was WEAK. They say to stay properly hydrated, one needs about 8 – 8oz glasses of water a day aka 64ounces. I recently purchased 2 – 64oz (half gallon) water bottles for Brendan and I so we can fill it up in the morning and have it be our goal to finish one, if not two, whole bottles of it. I have been coming close to finishing one half gallon of water a day, but my ultimate goal would be a full gallon. Staying hydrated is SO important, at any time of the year; not to mention all of the other benefits water can bring you – aiding digestion, monitoring calorie intake and clearer skin! Water is a wonderful thing. I dare you to abuse your intake.

This is what she looks like. It is about 3pm and I'm only half way there. Ideally, I would like to already be on my second fill of this. If I can finish just one of these though, I am still a happy girl :) .

LESSON LEARNED.

I have already started to map out and plan my meals for next week so I can properly fuel my body and assist my body with what it needs to get leaner in conjunction with my workouts. I am looking forward to trying some new clean meals and progressing next week. I am already almost a month into this fitness challenge and I am really needing to push myself a little further.

What do you do to help yourself  get back on the wagon when you have off days or weeks when it comes to fitness or something else important in your life? Where do you find the most motivation to stay on track? Is it inevitable that we all have “off” days and must learn purely by trial and error?

“Be Prepared”

After a little bit of a bumpy week for him, I thought it would be appropriate to quote my grandfather. “Be prepared” is Papa’s family wide known motto. Every time we kiss goodbye or an important life discussion arises, he repeats those two words to me; he always has and he probably always will. As I get older, I realize more and more how right he is when he tells me this. If you think about it, this imperative can apply to almost anything in life. This weekend it applied to us in our choices to live a healthy lifestyle.

Saturday night I had planned on attending a girls night at a friend’s house while Brendan was working. It turned out to be a great time, but I wasn’t planning on having more than one drink or staying out late because I knew I had a race in the morning. Let’s just say, when you pour your own glass of wine, one glass turns into two very easily. It ended up being a great night – Brendan was let out of work early and met up with us for a drink or two. All night we kept commenting on the dreadful run we were having the next morning and how silly we were to be out drinking the night before.

Brendan had not run since he moved home from the Marine Corps which was over two months ago, and I had not run since my last 5K which was in June. So in terms of preparation, we were NOT following my grandfather's request.

Sunday's weather forecast was not promising, just another reason for us not to be excited about running for the first time in months. Lucky for us, Mother Nature gave us THEE perfect running weather, but of course we were way over dressed thinking it was going to be 55 and raining.
Running was never my thing. Even now, I have been training with weights, but tend to shy away from the cardio. If I’m going to do cardio, it needs to be fun. I usually feel awful WHILE running, but great afterwards. I timed myself on Map My Run app on my phone, but I checked official results online when I got home. It’s pretty cool how bib numbers for races now have trackers on them for when you run over the start and finish line. You would never even know – it just looks like a white sticker! Great news is that I finished nearly two minutes faster than my previous 5K in June. Yay for progress! Four years in the Marine Corps allowed Brendan to kick my butt; I didn’t let it affect my mini victory though.

Us after the race - we even got medals!

The rest of our day consisted of homework (for him) and food prepping for the week. Preparing lots of food for 5-6 days can be VERY time consuming, not to mention, when you are done, you have to wash a ton of dishes! I have to say, it is much easier when there are two of us doing it and it is well worth it. I have learned the only way I will eat healthy is if I am prepared. It’s much easier during the week to just grab a few pieces of Tupperware and walk out the door, not having to worry about making or packing food in the early mornings. We try to do this every week now – either on Saturday or Sunday. I write out all of my meals for the week, then make a grocery list based on it and then get cooking. We have definitely needed to add to our collection of Tupperware to do this. Here are some pictures to truly exemplify the intensity of food prepping! Haha!

 

As you can see, most of this consists of using 4burners at all times. We joke about buying a house someday with a stove that has 6+ burners and LOTS of counter space, to make food prepping easier.

Alot of these are staple items for us...veggies, chicken, etc. I try to make meals where things are mixed together, like chili, stir fry, and others...to keep it exciting.

The cucumbers & tomatoes are what I eat at night. It is my FAVORITE salad ever. I put a few onions in it too for flavor and half an avocado. I wait until right before I eat it to cut the avocado so it's still green!

Annddddddd here is what our fridge looks like when we are done!

What’s in a name?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose

By any other word would smell as sweet.”
             -William Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet

Unfortunately, the meaning of Shakespeare’s colorful metaphor does not directly correlate with my topic for today, but a little Shakespeare never hurt anyone! I can’t help but think of the always dreamy Leonardo DiCaprio when I think of Romeo & Juliet…but that’s beside the point.

If I were you, I would be ever so curious to the story behind the name of my blog. There are four components in the naming of my blog that not only represent what I hope to write about, but also reveal a few very important things in my life. Three words, four components. Did I confuse you yet? Good.

Leaving the fourth mystery component until the end is hopefully reeling you in like a fish. Otherwise, maybe you wouldn’t continue reading. Suspense is key.

Barbells are my best friend. They used to be the piece of equipment in the gym that scared the crap out of me. Well, pick one up. They’re not so bad. Since conquering my fears of using barbells, I have learned that I am preferring to use them instead of dumbbells.

Fitness has been the number one thing I am (trying) to center my life around. With the help of my daily motivator, I am really determined to stick to my current program. I learned about James Wilson’s 12 week body earned program through a friend. The best part about the program is that there is a private Facebook group once you join, for questions or just pure motivation from James and other users of the fitness program. It is affordable and 100% worth the money! If you are interested in learning more about his program, which I highly recommend, here is his public Facebook link where he sums up the program. Feel free to message him about it too. He is quick to respond.

https://www.facebook.com/JamesWilsonFaithFamFit

Blazers - Look around. THEY’RE HOT. They can dress up any outfit and they absolutely should be worn with jeans.

When I started my first "real world" post college job, I was lost for wardrobe ideas for the working world. When it comes to “business casual,” there can be a fine line between old and frumpy and too sexy for someone my age. Without using “old” in a derogatory way, a lot of business looks are more easily fitting for a woman much older than myself. With (a lot) of help from a friend, I was able to find my in between - still dressing young, trendy, fun, and most importantly, professional.

And the final word you read on my URL is battalion. Some of you may have never even heard of a battalion. For me, it has become a more common term than you would think. In fact, the past four years have been overwhelmed with acronyms and words I did not know or comprehend, especially when it came to listening to Brendan and his friends communicate. I have gotten really good at smiling and nodding. Sadly enough, I use the acronyms now, too…the few that I actually know. 

The military actually has its own language. I bet you didn’t think that aside from the physical separation and emotional hardships, as a military family you must learn the lingo too. After supporting Brendan across the country and across the world for four active years of duty, I hope to share some of the stories we not only had along the way, but also some about our post military life. 

“Once a Marine, always a Marine,” is how they pride themselves as the most elite branch of the military. I think I will always consider myself as a Marine wife, too. I also carry pride in my role, as I am so honored to have met (and marry) one of the elite.

For fun, here are some commonly used Marine Corps acronyms:

BAH – Basics Allowance for Housing. In short – housing allowance. Mostly, Marines only receive this if they are married and living off base. On base housing is offered to military families for free (if available.)
EAS – End of Active Service – exactly what you think it means, their last day of active duty in the military. Brendan’s was August 9^th. We counted down that date for awhile…
EGA – Eagle, Globe & Anchor – the emblem of the Marine Corps. If you look closely at their uniforms, they are visible on any and every uniform they wear; often as pins on their jackets or caps (they call them covers.)
MCX/PX – Marine Corps eXchange / Post eXchange – where you go shopping! Kind of like a department store, they literally have everything and it’s TAX FREE!

Last, but not least….alliteration. I will assume you noticed all three words in the title of my blog begin with the letter B. For those of you who did not study English for four years, as I did – Alliteration is the repetition of a sound or letter in a set of words or phrases. And there you have it, the not-so big mystery. Using a small touch from my English degree background was just the cinnamon I wanted to add on top of my blog to portray the interest and fun I have with personal writing. (I like cinnamon more than I like cherries on ice cream.)

 
                   In center, the EGA.

Life is too short to sleep in...

…So today I woke up with the moon. It is the perfect time of year to be waking up around 5:30am because the dark of night is disappearing, but the sun is not yet blinding you while you drive; not to mention the temperature was PERFECT.

The crowd is always different at the gym in correlation to the time of day. It is safe to assume the 6am gym-goers have a typical 9-5 job…not me. Working the “night” shift (12-8) for almost a year now, has really given me some new habits, for the good but also for the bad. One of my biggest habits has been sleeping in. I am such a morning person, but knowing I can sleep until 9:30and still make it to work on time was a fabulous feeling; until I realized how lazy I was becoming. Last night I got a little kick in the rear-end wake-up call from my best friend; he must’ve known I needed it. So thanks to him, I got a fabulous workout in this morning and still had time to pick up the apartment and blow dry my hair. Those of you that know me well, know that the days I wash and blow dry my hair involves EXTRA prep time –hence why I only wash it twice a week.

As far as the crowd goes, I would have expected a less varied group, considering the time – students, middle aged adults, even older adults who probably are no longer working, all present, still getting up at the crack of dawn to better themselves! LOVE that.

I used to be afraid of the gym – not to go, or to work out, but because I hated the thought of people watching me or the possibility of me dropping a weight on my foot or falling flat on my face – I am not exactly known to be graceful, just ask B. (And no, my alliteration was not intentional, but I do love it!)

It turns out that others don't care what you are doing at the gym, so they are not watching you. They are there to better themselves and no one else. And I have watched people make mistakes or trip, just as I have. The important part is that you get up (if you can) and finish the work out. I am learning the hard way - no one can make me go to the gym or make me eat clean and healthy – I have to make those decisions myself.  Brendan and I motivate each other as we are both working towards our fitness goals, but our choices are made only by ourselves and we are the only ones that our decisions are affecting!

Don’t waste your days on sleep, don’t waste them, period. Embrace every moment of every day that you can, to better yourself. Set goals and work towards them, and they don’t necessarily have to be fitness goals.  We all trip, we all fall and we all make fools of ourselves. What matters most is that you GET UP! At 5am or 8am, off of the floor, or just off of your butt!