Well as many as you may know, aside from being a career
police officer and international adviser, I am also a certified personal
trainer. So many of the articles I write are fitness related. I see my time
spent in other countries as a chance to reach my peak fitness level. As many of
us know, that is sometimes a huge challenge. Some missions/duties provide us
with great gyms and good healthy foods, while many leave us alone with barely
enough food to survive. If this sounds
familiar to you, how did you cope? Did you just ignore health and throw caution
to the wind or did you focus on your goal and gut it out no matter what?
While I was in Sudan, I was faced with the frustration of
having to struggle to stay in shape. I loved my job and really enjoyed the
people I was working with but food and fitness situation had a lot to be
desired. I had only a bench with about 250lbs. worth of weight, 1 – 1 inch
diameter bar and a couple of small ones for dumbbells. I was confined to space
not much larger than that room needed to hold the bench. My food choices weren’t
much better. Everyone else in my camp ate whatever and whenever but with me
being strict and dedicated it was a little different. We had to beg for meat to
be brought to us once a month or so and had to make regular trips out to the
market area for things like eggs, onions etc. Fruits and vegetables were NOT
available about 90% of the time in our region. I basically ate the same things
over and over for 6 months. It wasn’t easy but it was my choice and I stuck by
it.
So how does everyone else do it? One thing I do is go
prepared. I take my P90X and bands with me to each mission, just in case I don’t
have anything else to work with. I load my suitcase with vitamins, supplements,
protein powder and whatever else I need.
I remember in Sudan, dragging my duffel bag, which I loaded with 3 cases
of water, around after my workout for a nice added burn.
So I am interested in hearing what everyone else does. Am
I just the freak that does this or am I the norm?
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