Fitness Goals

It may sound weird to the people that know me to think that I have always wanted to become a civil servant and join the National Guard or the Army Reserves but have always been too afraid. Once upon a time it was afraid of getting hurt but recently it has been the fact that I wouldn't be able to get through any type of physical activity. I was further disheartened when I looked up the requirements for the Army Reserve and found that I was too heavy according to their physical fitness guidelines. Regardless of that fact I wrote down the fitness components and stored them away. Even more so that becoming a part of the armed forces I am very interested in becoming a police officer. That may not happen any time soon but it has definitiely become my motivation to push myself every time I workout. A look at the local police academy video for Orlando (it's 27 minutes long but if you can watch the first 2 minutes and see how intense the women are in this program-thay are training just as hard and as intensely as the men) will show you just how in shape you need to be before you get to the academy and how hard you have to work once accepted. I mean just look at the Police Women of Broward County or the new crop of women to hit the tv spotlight in the new series Police Women of Maricopa County (Both series air on TLC, Maricopa being the new county for the second season to air on the 25th of this month). These women mean business.

MINIMUM FITNESS STANDARDS

At a minimum, each law enforcement and corrections recruit must meet the fitness standards listed below. Recruits will be assessed on each exercise at the beginning and end of their academy, and must participate in the physical training and defensive tactics mandated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Criminal Justice Standards & Training Commission.

Push-ups: Complete at least 15 push-ups in one minute

Sit-ups: Complete at least 25 sit-ups in one minute

Vertical Leap: Leap vertically at least 12 inches above their reach

1.5 Mile Run: Complete a 1.5 mile run in 18 minutes or less

300 Meter Run: Run 300 meters in 75 seconds or less

Physical fitness at the academy is intense, be physically fit on the first day. Our instructors and your classmates need you to be in the great shape on the day you start.

 

So now I am working on building my endurance up to begin the recommended at home training

Preparation Instructions:

Build up to running 3 miles a day, 4 times a week.

(One method to achieve this goal is to jog for 2 minutes then brisk walk for 1 minute and repeat for 30 to 40 minutes. Work your way down to jogging for 3-5 minutes and walking for 45 seconds. Keep reducing the walk time until you aren’t walking anymore.)

When the run is over, immediately drop down and do as many sit-ups as you can (until it is impossible to complete another repetition). Take a 10 second break and then repeat twice more.

When you are finished with the sit-ups, immediately drop down and do as many pushups as you can (until it is impossible to complete another repetition). Take a 10 second break and then repeat twice more.

When you are finished with the push-ups, complete 5 squat jumps (jumping as high as you can every time). Take a 10 second break and then repeat twice more.

Back on Track With a Couple of Last Straw Moments PART 1

It's been a rough week. Motivation has been down and while I have been exercising I have not been in it to win it. Eating has been a mess and all over the place, and...I didn't exercise at all on Sunday! GASP! But I am back on the wagon.

I know this is a long post but I have to take the time and remember and acknowledge how I got to where I am now

I had to do a lot of reevaluating this week; I had to remember why I was working out in the first place which led me to remember what BitchCakes called MY LAST STRAW MOMENT (click the link to her page to read her last straw moment documented back in 2007). I have 2 last straw moments.

Last Straw Moment #1
I was starting college in 2004 which should have been an exciting time in my life but all I remember was going to freshman orientation over the summer and feeling like garbage the entire weekend. The first thing I noticed when walking into the ballrooms at Florida State were all of the tiny girls everywhere. I now see that I was in denial about my size. I had done ballet for 13 years so I was never really big but I thought I was compared to all of the waifs I danced with. When I stopped dancing I put on the pounds by eating whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. I mean I would pile chips on a plate and by the end of the night have eaten the entire family size bag! I ate them and other snacks like it (crackers, oreos and other cookies, etc.) on a large plate because as long as I wasn't eating from the bag or carton I wasn't really overeating. YEAH RIGHT! Needless to say by the time I graduated from high school I was 195 pounds and very puffy looking. I kept telling myself that I was in fact bigger but I wasn't as big as [insert name here]-I just wasn't that fat. I even bought THE FIRM system I kept seeing on tv so I could, you know, "tone up a bit". But I wasn;t just a little bit bigger...I was FAT. I didn't start getting real about my problem until I graduated.

Aside from the fact that I was one of maybe 3 other larger females in the ballrooms I could no longer deny the physical condition I was in. I am from Central Florida so the ground is flat. In Tallahassee there are hills everywhere! What should have been a leisurley tour around campus turned into the most exhausting excursion I had ever experienced. I was already very uncomfortable standing next to all of the petite girls. We had yet do move and I was already sweating! As we trekked up hill after hill from building to building twice I thought I would either pass out or just dip out on my group and catch up with them somewhere later down the line. I though it can't be! I'm in great shape! OH THE LIES WE TELL OURSELVES. By the end of the weekend I wanted to do nothing more than go home and never leave the house. I was hideous! But that event only made me depressed about the way I looked and my size and made me eat even more. I started school at FSU weighing 195 pounds. The first semester I spent avoiding my weight issues by focusing on classes and enjoying my freedom. But I wasn't enjoying it at all. I spent all of my time alone in my apartment watching tv. The thought of joining anything was simply out of the question. What would people think with me the big girl crashing their meeting. Going to the gym was laughable. I told myself fat people can't go to the gym (at least not at Florida State where everyone in the gym is there for maintenance). I even started scheduling classes around tv shows. That's when I knew there was a problem. By the second semester I was even more miserable. Spring break rolled around and I remember thinking "people are making plans for spring break and all you can do is go home beacuse you've secluded yourself from the real world beacuse you think you're too fat to be accepted". Home isn't somewhere I wanted to be (there are a whole host of family problems I can't easily talk about without becoming angry so I won't). Something had to be done. So I spent Sunday making a list of groceries, Monday greocery shopping, and started on Tuesday. Like Oprah said let today be your Monday...so I did. I started using Slim Fast as a way to monitor my portions. I did eat real food with the Slim Fast like the directions say to and I strated using my FIRM system. Except I thought that the workout schedule included wasn't enough. Week 1 on THE FIRM I used soup cans because I didn;t have weights. Week 2 I got weights and added NAC Body Parts to the Schedule so instead of taking days off like the schedule suggests I I alternated between the two. By week three and beyond I was doing THE FIRM Cardio Sculpt and NAC Body Parts EVERY DAY. If I missed a workout I would tack it on the next day so if I did only Body Parts one day the next day I would do Cardio Sculpt, and then Body Parts TWICE! Yeah. obsessive I know but I thought that I was ugly and fat and since ugly isn't easily changed I had to lose the weight. THANK GOD I no longer think like that but I was able to lose a substantial amount of weight and thought I looked pretty good.

Stronger than Yesterday

Working out has been a success. I have not been focusing on the scale but have been focusing on how I feel each time I work out. I am getting stronger and I like it! I am trying to make it through the month and see if I have reached my goal to lose 5 pounds. 5 pounds is a reasonable goal in my mind because if I try to go for more than that I end up trying to push myself way to hard and burn out, then give up. Also, if I am able  to take this one day at a time I am able to acheive so much more. My fitness goal is to be an athlete. While watching the biggest loser and watching Jillian run out of the weight room makes me want to acheive more physically. Right now I am not able to run...anywhere. It feels ackward and weird and I get winded and start breathing like I'm having an asthma attack and I don't have asthma. Everyday Counts!

Never Give Up!!

My ON DEMAND channels haven't worked for the past couple of days and today was no different so I was unable to access Exercise TV on demand. I could have used the computer to access the Kendal Hogan workout I had planned to do but didn't want to go through the hassel so I checked out FITtv. A workout called Cathe Fitness was coming up at 12pm and decided what the heck? Cathe is the one front and center in the pic. So I grabbed all the weights I had and my gardening pad I use for push ups and was feeling pretty good about finding an alternative.

When the workout started I almost freaked out because Cathe Freidrich and the ladies on the screen were using 45 pound barbells but I quickly grabbed my heaviest weights and proceeded with the activity making modifications to accomodate the free weights I was using in lu of the barbells they were using. Okay, panic averted...or so I thought. The next set of exercises used a balance ball. I quickly ran back to my room to dig out the fitness ball only to find it deflated and without a pump to blow it up. Trying to think quickly I grabbed my two layer step used for THE FIRM workout (the fanny lifter) and made do with that the best I could for the stability exercises using the ball. In times where I would have reclined on the ball I laid on the floor.

Usually hurdles like these would prevent me from following through with a workout and I would find myself easily discouraged and give up for the day. Today I triumphed by thinking fast (since the exercise was on tv I couldn't pause it) making modifications in a workout and getting the same workout with the equipment I had. Now I know that when I don't have everything I think I need, instead of running from the workout I can and will get through it! Yay me!

By the way-Cathe freidrich is no joke. She laughs through the whole workout but she really puts you through your paces!

Skinny V. Strong

Besides wanting to lose weight to become thinner I often wonder why other people want to lose weight. I remember the contestants on THE BIGGEST LOSER season 4 where the contestants had Goal T-Shirts. There are of course health reasons for losing weight which are very much an importaant part of becoming a leaner, healthier you but what about FITNESS GOALS. I can't say I have every really had a solid fitness goal because I was always so focused on becoming a skinny version of myself rather than a healthier, stronger version. I have found that as I continue to search weight loss blogs, websites, and other sources I want more and more to become as strong as the women pictured or shown. It would be nice to be able to run a mile. I can't run down the street without feeling like my life is coming to an end heading straight into the white light. Strength and conditioning: to eventually become an athlete.

When I get discouraged I have to remember that excess weight is a side effect of poor eating habits, lack of activity, illness, etc. and can be corrected.

Besides 200 pound weight loss hopefuls aren't the only ones who have transformed their bodies: Demi Moore didn't always have that body! ;-) So it goes without saying that you have to start somewhere and not be afraid to exercise FAT. There's no other way to do it.

For added encouragement when I am overwhelmed by all of the changes I am making and struggling to make exercise a part of my daily routine and get down on myself because the weight isn't magically disappearing I remember the words of Mike Huckabee who said:

Take care of health and fitness and the weight will take care of itself.