Over a year ago I sat down with my husband at our nutritionists for the first time. We were just returning from our wedding and honeymoon and I was not the picturesque image a bride should be. I was fat. Ohhhhhh so fat. LOL I weighed the highest that I had ever weighed in my life coming in right under 240lbs. That was after I had gained an additional 10 lbs on our honeymoon..All-inclusive resort = non-stop alcohol and food. Sweet! Until I stepped on the scale again.
Our visit to the nutritionist couldn't have come a moment too soon. I have been ready to get out of this fat suit for my entire life. Now hear me out....I'm saying very harsh things here and using the word "fat" a lot. That doesn't A) mean that I might look at others and say "Moo!" or that B) I'm suicidally depressed about myself. I just needed to change. Unlike many other people who have weight issues, I have always had one. I have been overweight since I can remember. Boy was that fun as a kid!
So let me speed up here to where this was all heading. My husband and I had decided to make a lifestyle change. This meant, no more flimsy diets, and starting (and sticking with) an exercise routine. You see...he was a runner for many years and what you will often here me refer to as "manorexic". He is the only man I know that worries as much as he does about his weight. He can also lift a notebook and lose 5 lbs. I eat a french fry and gain that. My point is..he didn't need it in the same sense that I did. Though I wanted to look better I decided to make this change as much for the benefit of my health and future as anything so vain as my appearance.
We went to the nutritionist and got set up with eating right for the first time. I also started an exercise routine. My husband and I had been biking here and there (him much more frequently) and he began to run again. At some point in the Fall I began to follow the Couch to 5k program. That worked for a short time.
Then I got sick. Oh brother did I get sick! I ended up getting two different (nasty and prolonged!) strains of the Flu and that went into pneumonia. When that was all said and done I was on drugs I'd never heard of that had me trippin' off the walls and had to go through 2 breathing treatments to ease the wheezing. NUTS! This and the resulting breakdown of my immune system meant that I was sick for probably 90% of the Fall. Every time I’d start to feel better I’d get back on the wagon, so to speak, only to fall off again when my health would decline. It was a mess.
It was during this time that I confided to my husband that, had I made different choices, I might have liked to go into the Navy. It was an aspiration I harbored as a kid. My Dad was a Marine and my Grandfather was a Sailor. I always loved hearing his war stories. My husband surprised me by saying that it wasn’t too late and that I should go for it. At first I blew it off as ridiculous, but then I thought about it and thought, yes why shouldn’t I go for it??
So this is where my journey began. I decided to challenge myself. For once, get up off of my butt and really do something. I have a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education that is completely going to waste right now because the schools simply do not need me. More than that..I need this. I need to prove to myself that I can do this. I want to belong to something this big and this important. I want to travel and explore. I want to be pushed to my limits, wipe the tears and say, “Thank you, Sir, may I have another?” LOL. I have a fear deep down that if I don’t do this..if I don’t at least try..then I’ll never know what I might have been able to do. And I’m not okay with that.
So here I begin.. This blog will chronicle my journey to join the NAVY. It will catalog all of my obstacles and confront all of my fears. I will share my ambitions, hopes, and dream sheets with you all. (That was an insider and I’ll get to it. Settle yourself!) So follow me if you will and I’ll move through the process of getting fit enough to talk to a recruiter, and if that plays out then I’ll move as far with this as I can. Even if that ends up being rejected , or in another realm of possibilities, settling into a Navy career. Along the way if anyone has questions, thoughts, or comments; I encourage you, please, to share them. Afterall, I know I'm not alone on this journey.
Until the Next Time,
Future Sailor GM Ringle
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