The Deployment Challenge

The Navy - and I assume the military in general - is full of acronyms, abbreviations, designations, etc. CS, AT, AE, MA, AD... and a ton more that all mean something to someone. Some are pretty easy to figure out, others a bit more of a challenge. I think sometimes that's how people feel about the process of losing weight and/or living a healthy lifestyle. Some things are easy to figure out... like calories in vs. calories out. Other things are more challenging... like weighing the nutritional benefits of one food vs. another or the benefits of one form of exercise vs. another.

For my Deployment Challenge, I'm borrowing FE, or flight engineer. FEs have the important job of operating engines and and aircraft systems - including troubleshooting and fixes - all while the aircraft is in flight. People that choose this job go through extensive training - 9 months of school, plus other requirements. This isn't my husband's job (we looked at the program, but being an FE generally wreaks havoc on family life because they live by the flight schedule).

The way I see it we are all the "flight engineers" of our own journeys - whether its to lose weight, get healthy or continue maintaining a healthy lifestyle. We "operate" the engine and systems that are our body - by the food we feed ourselves, the exercise we choose to do, and whatever we choose to do to nourish our souls or maintain good mental health. As we go about our lives, we troubleshoot to see what's working and what isn't... and we come up with "fixes" to tweak aspects that aren't giving us the results we are seeking... much like the flight engineer must do to keep the plane flying safely in the skies.

By the way, my "starting" weight for the Deployment Challenge is 198.6 lbs. UGH!!!


Now for the Challenge Details...

Some of these may change a little bit month to month... as I "troubleshoot" and tweak.

** Challenge is for six months (June-November) - but broken into one month segments. **

FOOD

1. Eat 1,300-1,500 calories per day/six days per week


2. Plan meals and/or keep food journal (I'll be adding a separate page to my blog with my planned meals/food journals)


3. Enjoy restaurant food two times per week (maximum)

EXERCISE

1. Burn 6,000-9,000 calories per week through cardio activities


2. Do a strength training workout 3x/week


3. Do a core workout 4x/week

Because I like to push myself at the gym, I will be incorporating the following things into my workout schedule:

• A monthly marathon on the bike - to take place the last day of each month June-November with the goal of decreasing my time each month


• Increasing my duration on the StairMaster - basically hop and and go for as long as I can - to take place at the middle of each month June-November (500 floors in a single session is my ultimate goal for this)


• Start the C25K program - I'd like to build up to doing a 10K before the end of deployment

Because every good FE deserves a little dose of R&R, I will be scheduling myself 30-60 minutes of "me" time every day that has nothing to do with the topic of a healthy lifestyle.

There ya have the nuts & bolts of the challenge. If you're interested in joining me for one month - or six - please leave a comment to let me know. I'll be doing a quick daily progress post for this in addition to my regular posts... so that can be our check-in spot.

And my positive - keep me going - motto is...

Believe in yourself, as if the possibility of failure does not exist.

Next post... my planned rewards. Now who is gonna join me???