Happy Monday Everyone! I hope y'all had a great weekend. In honor of the 5th anniversary of my 21st birthday today, here's 26 wishes for the upcoming year. These are in no particular order. I'm just jottin em down as they come to my head.
1. A full-time job and my own apartment (not that I don't mind living at home)
2. Army beating Navy for the first time in 9 years!
3. Continued career progression in my Army career
4. Joe Paterno announcing his retirement. Love the guy but it's time.
5. Penn State Dance Marathon (THON) raising lots and lots of more money For The Kids!
6. New Nike Shox. Mine are starting to show wear and tear.
7. Penn State Basketball to fire DeChellis and hire a legitimate college bball coach who can make them relevant and competitive.
8. Manny Pacquaio vs Floyd Mayweather!! Please!!! Everyone in the free world wants to see this fight!
9. The Buffalo Bills drafting the next Jim Kelly, Bruce Smith, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, Pete Metzelaars and returning them to prominence
10. The Atlanta Braves knocking the Phillies off their N.L. East pedestal and making a long playoff run
11. Continued progress in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
12. Republicans and Democrats being friends and working together harmoniously for their country, state, and constituency, not their party
13. The NFL and NBA signing labor agreements with the player unions before it disrupts their seasons and hurts their sport
14. Chipper Jones: Comeback Player of the Year!
15. A Great Big Ten Championship Game featuring Penn State!
16. Continued on and off the field success for Michael Vick! I've always been a fan!
17. A nice, healthy, fun relationship with a girl for this single guy!
18. Another year of safe, clean driving!
19. Lots of fun, career success, and happiness for all my friends.
20. A finalized divorce and current house occupant named Walt (mom calls him Chumley lol) moved out for my mom so she's finally happy and doesn't have to deal with his petty nonsense any more.
21. Many more trips to Happy Valley. I miss it sooo much!
22. A nice blizzard so I can build a snowman and go sleighriding!
23. A new boyfriend for my sister. I never really liked the guy and I probably never will.
24. A 24 Movie! I miss Jack Bauer!!
25. A new parakeet! We haven't had a bird in the house in a while!
26. More good times with all my friends! You guys are the best! Thanks soo much!
Monday, December 13, 2010
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
You should never have to take these extreme measures!
Come the end of February 2011, I will have been in the Army National Guard for nine years. In those nine years I am proud to say I have never failed a physical fitness test or failed a body fat taping. How did I do it? I was always an active individual. I always played sports inside and outside school and I never had a problem with going to the gym to get bigger, faster, and stronger for a sport or just to stay in shape. Now I understand this does not come easy for some people because of some genetic or hereditary ailment that you may have inherited or maybe something else physically that you've been dealing with all your life. But before any of you decide you want to make a career in a physically-demanding job where it requires you to maintain a certain fitness level, you should look in the mirror and ask yourself: Can you physically, mentally, and spiritually devote yourself to this job?
Almost every night before I go to bed, I like to read an article or two from the various news applications I have on my iPhone. One that caught my eye last night was an article about how Army soldiers are using extreme methods to meet the Army's weight standards. My initial thought was "are they really going this far?" Then I read the article and remembered that any soldier, whether part-time like me or full-time, who wants to move up the promotion ladder in his or her career, must meet these standards. So instead putting in the hard work, soldiers are looking for easier and faster ways such as liposuction, laxatives, diet pills, and starvation to cut the weight. My question to the soldiers doing this is why did you let yourselves get to the point where you're using these exreme and dangerous measures to show you're physically fit? I can agree to a certain extent that the army height and weight standards can be unfair to some soldiers who have different body shapes. Many male soldiers are bodybuilders who weigh much more than than the regulation at their height. They're usually in superior shape but must get taped every year. I'm not a bodybuilder but I get taped every year because I'm overweight but have a very muscular build. I pass it every time. The soldiers trying these unusual weight loss methods apparently don't have that benefit. Their problem and I see this in some of our soldiers in my unit, is lack of proper nutrition and physical fitness. When I came out basic training and A.I.T. (Advanced Individual Training), I was in the best shape of my life. We were fed reasonably healthy food. We didn't have much time to go find unhealthy food and beverages. We did some type of physical fitness every day and had the option of doing more in our free time. You had no excuse if you were not in shape to meet the Army standards. What changes? When soldiers finish all their initial training, they are either reporting home to their guard or reserve unit or going to their next active duty station. Instead of being fed army food and having that time set aside in their daily schedule to maintain their fitness, soldiers have the opportunity to eat the food they want to eat and aren't putting forth their best effort to stay in shape. In the Guard and Reserve, we train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. This places more of the responsibility on the soldier to stay in shape and eat healthy in-between those weekends. How much they actually do this shows up in the results of our annual unit physical fitness (PT) test. Every year I see soldiers return from their initial training and within a year or maybe even months, can't pass a PT test or make weight. This tells me they're not eating the right foods or beverages and they're not getting off the couch. Health and fitness experts recommend 30-60 minutes of physical activity every day. You can't tell me you can't find or put aside that short amount of time in your day to maintain your health and fitness. As for nutrition, I'm happy to see the Army is now starting to include "performance nutrition" in basic training. Soldiers will now learn healthy eating habits and more physical fitness training methods that will help them maintain a healthy fit body for the rest of their lives.
Bottom Line: I know stuff happens in life where you might have a problem staying shape and keeping the weight off but tryin any of these risky weight loss measures is not the solution. Commit yourself to that half hour or hour a day. Buy a gym membership instead of a video game. Try some healthy food rather than fast food. An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away! Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Lay off the junk food. If you're going to drink alcoholic beverages, drink moderately and avoid the late night eating. Drink water, not soda. Eat a multi-vitamin daily. Need more fitness and nutrition tips? Talk to your fellow soldiers and leaders. Take some physical education and nutrition classes if you're in school. Don't be lazy!! The benefits from maintaining your health and fitness are endless. Who said being a soldier was going to be easy? The Army may look at modifying its weight and fitness standards if this become a serious problem but in the mean time I'd take care of me instead of sitting around wining, complaining, and making excuses. Hard work, dedication, and motivation! It's your life, your health, your future. Invest in yourself.
Hope this inspires you!
Peace,
Staff Sergeant Brian Martin
Almost every night before I go to bed, I like to read an article or two from the various news applications I have on my iPhone. One that caught my eye last night was an article about how Army soldiers are using extreme methods to meet the Army's weight standards. My initial thought was "are they really going this far?" Then I read the article and remembered that any soldier, whether part-time like me or full-time, who wants to move up the promotion ladder in his or her career, must meet these standards. So instead putting in the hard work, soldiers are looking for easier and faster ways such as liposuction, laxatives, diet pills, and starvation to cut the weight. My question to the soldiers doing this is why did you let yourselves get to the point where you're using these exreme and dangerous measures to show you're physically fit? I can agree to a certain extent that the army height and weight standards can be unfair to some soldiers who have different body shapes. Many male soldiers are bodybuilders who weigh much more than than the regulation at their height. They're usually in superior shape but must get taped every year. I'm not a bodybuilder but I get taped every year because I'm overweight but have a very muscular build. I pass it every time. The soldiers trying these unusual weight loss methods apparently don't have that benefit. Their problem and I see this in some of our soldiers in my unit, is lack of proper nutrition and physical fitness. When I came out basic training and A.I.T. (Advanced Individual Training), I was in the best shape of my life. We were fed reasonably healthy food. We didn't have much time to go find unhealthy food and beverages. We did some type of physical fitness every day and had the option of doing more in our free time. You had no excuse if you were not in shape to meet the Army standards. What changes? When soldiers finish all their initial training, they are either reporting home to their guard or reserve unit or going to their next active duty station. Instead of being fed army food and having that time set aside in their daily schedule to maintain their fitness, soldiers have the opportunity to eat the food they want to eat and aren't putting forth their best effort to stay in shape. In the Guard and Reserve, we train one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer. This places more of the responsibility on the soldier to stay in shape and eat healthy in-between those weekends. How much they actually do this shows up in the results of our annual unit physical fitness (PT) test. Every year I see soldiers return from their initial training and within a year or maybe even months, can't pass a PT test or make weight. This tells me they're not eating the right foods or beverages and they're not getting off the couch. Health and fitness experts recommend 30-60 minutes of physical activity every day. You can't tell me you can't find or put aside that short amount of time in your day to maintain your health and fitness. As for nutrition, I'm happy to see the Army is now starting to include "performance nutrition" in basic training. Soldiers will now learn healthy eating habits and more physical fitness training methods that will help them maintain a healthy fit body for the rest of their lives.
Bottom Line: I know stuff happens in life where you might have a problem staying shape and keeping the weight off but tryin any of these risky weight loss measures is not the solution. Commit yourself to that half hour or hour a day. Buy a gym membership instead of a video game. Try some healthy food rather than fast food. An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away! Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. Lay off the junk food. If you're going to drink alcoholic beverages, drink moderately and avoid the late night eating. Drink water, not soda. Eat a multi-vitamin daily. Need more fitness and nutrition tips? Talk to your fellow soldiers and leaders. Take some physical education and nutrition classes if you're in school. Don't be lazy!! The benefits from maintaining your health and fitness are endless. Who said being a soldier was going to be easy? The Army may look at modifying its weight and fitness standards if this become a serious problem but in the mean time I'd take care of me instead of sitting around wining, complaining, and making excuses. Hard work, dedication, and motivation! It's your life, your health, your future. Invest in yourself.
Hope this inspires you!
Peace,
Staff Sergeant Brian Martin
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