Helping Veterans: Warrior Weekend Program

I have a thing for Veterans. I am a veteran, I know Veterans, I work with Veterans and the whole mission behind the HR work I  do each day is to honor America's Veterans. I even had the honor to mold, shape and build future Veterans when I taught ROTC at the University of Pennsylvania more than a few years ago.

Photo credit: iStockPhoto

It was during my ROTC assignment that I met Stephen Udovich. Steve was an infantry officer with more #badass in his buzz cut than the rest of our department combined. Steve is now retired and has used his #bad for #good.

Steve founded the Warrior Weekend Program. The Warrior Weekend Program provides weekends of rest and relaxation for America's Heroes who have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan and who are undergoing recovery at our Military Medical Centers.  They focus on small groups of between 8 to 12 personnel and offer events to participate in at various destination cities. The idea behind the program is to take these heroes and their family members out of the hospital environment for a weekend.

The program depends entirely on contributions.

Warrior Weekends is sponsoring a Super Bowl Raffle with proceeds to benefit the program. Super Bowl Package includes: 2 Tickets to the Super Bowl, 3 Nights at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City, $1,500 in transportation of spending money.

For More Information or to Purchase Tickets, CLICK HERE.

Tickets by Mail: Send check made to Warrior Weekend Fund ($20.00 each) with self addressed stamped envelope to address on the flyer.

Click through and take a look at the program. It's a good one.

Cupcakes and Health: A Day in the Life Sunday

There are many reasons to exercise regularly and eat healthy. I get that. What I don't get is why we continue to chase the next new "perfect" diet or fitness plan only to be  surprised and disenchanted when the too-good-to-be-true results are not realized.

Stop chasing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to health and fitness. What works for one, won't work for another and what works for you today, may not work for you tomorrow.

The only perfect plan is the one you will follow.

Today, the plan I am following includes a paleo-ish way of eating (I completed an 8 week Paleo challenge last month) and CrossFit. I've had amazing results in strength and flexibility and am feeling better overall with less cravings, more energy, and stable  blood sugar levels. But the rigidity of the LuRong plan is too much of a long term commitment for me.

I stayed 100% true to the plan until I attended a wedding. I made good choices throughout the night: red wine and not white, shrimp and not eggrolls, sweet potatoes and not mashed. Then the desert came. Not eating the desert was less choice and more deprivation (see cupcake above).

I ate the cupcake.

And nothing bad happened.

I jumped back on the bandwagon and finished the challenge - strong. So, while I wait for my finisher's t-shirt, I'll continue to push my self and my strength, pay attention to the foods I eat and settle into the right balance of Paleo/clean/fun foods and exercise for me.

It's taken me a while to get to where I am, now. Will I be in the same place, doing the same next year at this time? I don't know. The one thing I do know is that whatever my perfect plan is, it will always include a cupcake.