Jump Start

Source

When I was in the Air Force, I made it a point to start my week off right. Every Monday, almost without fail, I would begin the day by rising early to work out. I found that if I made it a point to get myself moving early on Monday, then I'd be more likely to stick with my workouts during the rest of the week. I might not wake up before dawn on any other days, but I'd certainly get all of my exercise goals accomplished.

If I failed to wake up on Monday, I'd usually find myself sluggish the entire week. I'd miss subsequent workouts, and I'd probably forget about healthy eating. Why? It seems that I'm programmed to function better throughout the week if I've managed to jump start Day 1 with a positive accomplishment.

Since I've left the military, I've lost this routine. I know I'm feeling the effects. I can think of half a dozen excuses, but none of them are good. I don't have to take an official fitness test anymore, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't test myself. Unfortunately, I've let fitness fall to the bottom of my priority list.

Over the past few weeks, I've been slowly playing with my routine, trying to incorporate more exercise. I've been fairly successful, but something was still missing in the motivation department. Over the weekend, I had an epiphany. Why not do what worked before? 

Here's the plan: Start with Monday. Starting with today, I've made a few basic measurements to determine where I am, fitness-wise. Check them out (after the jump).

On getting back into...everything.

The first time I heard the term "dependapotamus" was about a month prior to leaving the military. You would think I'd have heard it a lot sooner, but I didn't. I remember being simultaneously amused and disgusted by the term. I knew the kind of people that the term describes: the overweight woman waddling through the BX, who has barely come out of hibernation from on-base housing to make a quick trip out for essentials. I swore right then I'd never become that.

Source

In fact, the first time I heard the term, the context was, "Don't become a dependapotamus."

I'm doing my absolute best to avoid it. Sure, I took a bit of a break from working out upon my separation. That's normal, and it's hard to stay motivated when suddenly, you don't have a fitness test looming over you. But I'm happy to say that I'm getting back into it.