Even under the best of circumstances, striking a balance between “real life” and focusing on health and fitness is no easy task. Fold in military spouse life, and it kicks that challenge up a notch!
This category will give you insight from a milspouse perspective, including workouts, celebrating victories (large and small), and how to put your health as a priority, no matter what milspouse life throws your way.
Trust us. These great resources will make you “sit-up” and take notice. Don’t “weight” too long or “waist” any time. “Run” through these blogs. We are serious. “Jump” to it.
PS: Don’t skip leg day.
General Dennis J. Reimer participated in the 35th Army Ten-Miler on Oct. 13, 2019 for his 16th time. The net running time was 2 hours, 7 minutes, and 7 seconds. General Reimer takes the time to look back over his shoulder to the time when he was the Chief of Staff of the United States Army from June 1, 1995 to June 21, 1999.
It is evident that the competitive nature remains.
On Oct. 11, 1998 at the 14th Army Ten-Miler, he was the 1,207 out of 7,933 males in a time of 1:10:45.
Looking forward to a New Year often includes making New Year’s resolutions. Mid-December, I get all optimistic and create lists of things I want to accomplish in the New Year. It’s so easy to dream big in the middle of all the holiday magic. Then, the New Year rolls around and without all the cheerful holiday décor, the gloomy winter days start to drain all that built up holiday magic. I don’t know about you, but it never seems to fail that by mid-January, I’ve already hit a slump for a good chunk of those goals and am spiraling toward defeat.
What if there was a way to help make those New Year’s resolutions more manageable?
Military life is beautiful, exciting, heartbreaking, and exhausting all at once. From OCONUS to CONUS moves, trainings that seem so frequent it all just becomes a blur, to deployments that go by at a snail’s pace. On what feels like a rare occasion, when you and your spouse get downtime to sit and chat, have you ever reflected on all that you’ve been through as a military family?
Hope For The Warriors is here to tell you that you are resilient. Need proof? Just look at the number of curtains you have accumulated from all the moves. Life in the military, whether you are an active-duty service member, veteran, or family member, necessitates resilience.
A tradition started in 1997 at the 13th Army Ten-Miler—the Commander’s Cup for the top U.S. active-duty female team. In the first year, the ladies from Fort Bragg set a standard for others to follow. The teams are comprised of eight members with the top four to score. The concept is the combination of individual and team effort. Each member is out to give their best performance, and in the mix is the Coach who provides the technical guidance. We all like winning, but it comes down to all giving 100% and leaving it out on the road.
The Fort Bragg women’s team for 2019 was under the leadership of Erica Chabalko (Womack Army Medical Center). The pressure coming into 2019 was 14 wins for the team plus holding the team record of 4 hours, 13 minutes, and 49 seconds (set in 2016). There were 11 teams going for the top honor.
It is one thing to take care of your own exercise program, but to play a part in seven others takes more dedication. I asked Erica to share some thoughts.
You know those people who always seem to find something to complain about?
You know those people who always seem to find something positive in every situation?
Maybe you’re one of them—quick to catastrophize or let a moment turn into a bad day or always encouraging others to find good. Perhaps you have the patience of Job.
Did you know that our thoughts literally wire our brains? They create connections as synapses form—perhaps they start off like deer trails in the underbrush, difficult to see and follow, but before you know it, if you don’t guard your thoughts, that path has become a newly opened toll road and you have an express pass, quickly getting you from Point A to Point B.
But is it worth the cost?
Most hospitals have a certain smell to them. I think it’s a combination of bleach, sweat, blood, and tears.
Did you know that the sense of smell is the strongest of the five senses connected to memory? So, maybe as I walk through the hospital I’m reminded of my own personal and frequent time spent in the hospital as a child, then later in life due to procedures related to my endometriosis and as a mother giving birth.
Today, was not about me though. It was about a family member who had cancer removed from his body. A family member who was given that ugly diagnosis of cancer several months earlier.
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