Hi! I'm Jeff, and I am originally from Lake Tahoe, CA, but I joined the Air Force in 2003, and have lived in Florida, Seattle, and most recently Germany. It's not what I envisioned myself doing when I was younger, but its actually not a bad gig. Anyhow, I just turned 30 this year, and I decided that its probably about time that I started getting myself back into shape because it isn't going to get any easier!
It's funny because before I joined the Air Force, I was a garbage man, and I was arguably in the best shape of my life. I figured by joining the Air Force, that I would only get in better shape. I mean it's the military. They're all about fitness, right? WRONG! I ended up with a job that has me literally sitting on my ass for 12 hours a day. Between fast food, the snack bar, and being to tired to go work out after 12 hours, the weight got packed on. In 2007 I had gone from 205 lbs when I joined to nearly 260 lbs. I deployed to Kuwait in 2007 and I put myself on a strict diet and did cardio nearly every day. I ended up getting down to 195 lbs. I was really proud of that, but upon my return to the states I started again with the poor diet and beer. I got back up to 235 lbs and that's where I'm at now.
The Air Force Fitness program has changed 2 times since I've joined. Initially all we had to do was a minimum number of sit ups, pushups, and run 2 miles in less than 18 minutes. I passed because it wasnt that hard. The first change came and they went to a scored system, where you are scored by your waist measurement, number of push ups in a minute, number od situps in a minute, and a timed 1.5 mile run. This was much harder because in order to get full points on the waist, you had to have a 32 inch waist. I havent had that since 8th grade. The sit ups and pushups only counted for 10% of the score. The only way I could make up lost points and get the minimum passing score of 75 was to run the 1.5 miles in less than 12:11. This was very hard for a 230-260 lb guy. I struggled. I failed once. I never scored above 76 until this year, when the system changed again. This time they made it so you still had to have a 75, but you test every six months and also have to meet minimum requirements on everything. They did make the waist measurement count for less, which was a huge improvement in my opinion. I just tested in the beginning of Oct and I got my highest score ever, an 81. I had a 38" waist, did 35 pushup, 46 situps, and ran the 1.5 miles in 11:57.
This brings me to the purpose of this blog, and explains the title. I am currently deployed again for 6 months. This is the perfect time for e to get my ass in gear and get in shape. My goal is to go from 81 to be able to score 100 on my PT test when I get back from this deployment. I have some other goals that will help me get there, but this is my main focus. This will mean that I have to drop weight, and get stronger. To get 100, I need to have a 35" waist, do 57 pushups in a minute, 54 sit ups, and run the 1.5 miles in 9:34 or less. It will be tough, but I think I can do it. I got set up with a personal trainer here, and she is getting me on a plan to get in shape. My current body fat percentage is 20%. We are looking to lower that to 14% and get down to at least 195 lbs.
While the focus of the blog is my fitness plan, I will probably talk about other things too. I hope this will be enjoyable, and maybe een helpful to you. So that's it: 81 to 100.
