Tag: Travel

Fitness

Fitness Goals 2023

INTRO: I have exercised since high school when I was a scrawny little youngin. I enjoyed the idea of pushing myself and had fun doing it. BUT, I didn’t feel like it got me anywhere. It is 2023 officially (as of 2 weeks ago) and I have worked at 3 gyms. That is potentially over 6 years of some form of weight training. I have hit seasons of plateaus, months of no working out, and years of wanting to get bigger but “not being able to eat enough”. This year I am coming in with specific goals and am going to achieve them no matter what!

I want to challenge myself. I want to be a well-rounded dude, healthy in each aspect of my life. I know aspects of wellness and general health can be intertwined and build off of each other. I want to be my best in each area. Mentally, Spiritually, Physically, Relationally, and Emotionally.

“Today I will do what others won’t, so tomorrow I can do what others can’t.”

Jerry Rice

I am about to begin my time as a student teacher and don’t know how I am going to continue but I know I will. Maybe it’s just me but when I picture a teacher, I tend to think of somebody who can be any age, but they look older than they are. They also tend to look unamused or sad in general. Do they have time outside of school, planning, and grading to work on themselves? I think life is too short to not. Right? Maybe this is me projecting my fears of overwhelming stress onto teachers?

The Why

  • General Health
  • Energy
  • Athletic Performance
  • Aesthetics (😏)

With four brothers that are all competitive and a constant desire to be healthy, I have been very blessed with good general health. I am 24 years old now and want to continue to build healthy habits and set myself up for continued healthy life. 

I don’t want to grow up and be lazy (although I do feel that way more often than I’d like to admit). I honestly want to be a highly energetic adult who is always down to clown. Whether that be disc golf or spikeball with friends, a random workout with Kendall, or wrestling my kids one day, I want to be energetic.

I love to mess around with my brothers and friends and want to stay on top of my “game”. I want to have the feeling of being capable of anything. I already WHOOP everybody in whatever I do and I want to keep it that way. On a more serious note, I have never really challenged myself in this way, and think it will be fun.

Lastly… the looks. I’ve always been skinny but eventually got toned. Now is the first time I will seriously try to put on some weight. I know what I want to look like and think it would be an enjoyable project to work on my physical body in this way.

God blessed me with this body and he dwells with me. My body is a temple and is not my own so I strive to take care of it. What better way than exercising, eating well, drinking lots of water, and getting good sleep?!

The How

I am NOT a personal trainer myself. I have not taken courses or anything like that. BUT, I have worked at several gyms. I have had seasons of deep research into the health and fitness world. Many of my friends are personal trainers and I often work out with them. Others around me ask for information or if I can build their workouts.

DIET: My diet will be mostly clean (whole or “healthy” foods, not things like pizza). I am aiming to gain weight so I would have a calorie surplus every day. I will be eating roughly 3,400 calories a day. I could eat a little less.. But I want to be sure to gain weight. This number is also set so if I miscalculate the amount I consume, I should still be in a surplus. I will also be drinking lots of water. That should always be the case. I will add a list of foods to eat at a later date.

EXERCISE: My workouts will change month to month and sometimes vary a little each week. I will be doing weight training 3-4 days a week and more endurance-based, fun exercises 2-3 times a week. This could be CrossFit WODs, swimming, sports, etc. This will help burn some fat from all the food as well as make the process more enjoyable. Gotta have time to play! I will add the workouts in this blog at a later date.

REST: I tend to be an early bird. I have no issues going to bed early and waking up early. Muscle growth is stimulated when you workout, fueled when you eat, and happens when you sleep! I typically get 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Mentally I believe I thrive off of 7.

Progress Pics

There are a lot of ways to track your progress. I personally enjoy looking at other people’s progress pics. Seeing the physical difference can make people sooo so proud. I will track my weight weekly but am also going to be doing progress pics. Please be respectful, I am trying! Some of these early pictures are crazy to me even now. I am already much further than I used to be and excited to see what is to come.

2018 /// All about 130-135lbs
2020 /// ~140 lbs
January 2023 /// 140 lbs
2023 GOAL /// 150lbs 8% body fat by June —> 160lbs 8%body fat by December

Work In Progress

I am excited to see what will happen this year. Excited. To challenge myself in this way. I do know some stuff about fitness but not everything so if you have any tips, words of wisdom, or encouragement, feel free to send them my way!

Sincerely,

Caleb 🙂

Personal

Giving Meaning to Simply Unland

A recurring habit of Kendall and mine is that we always try to do things perfectly correct. Save money the right way, spend it the right way, act the right way, love the right way. All to try and help others or keep the peace (she’s a 2 on the enneagram and I am a 9). In a broad sense, It can be scary to think “what if we did it the wrong way” or “what if we just jumped and took a chance on something for once, rather than taking carefully measured and calculated steps”. 

While there are times this mindset can hurt us some, there are also times when good things come out of it. Many times it causes us to slow down and think about the purpose behind things we want or do. While there is a fine line between wisely taking time to think and simply taking time because we are so afraid of making the wrong decision (so you don’t make one at all), we try to be intentional. You can read about how we started this relationship intentionally HERE, or how we strive to continually make it intentional HERE. It is a recurring theme in our lives. 

When it comes to our little side project, Simply Unland, we want to do the same thing… be intentional.

Check out our instagram HERE

Why start Simply Unland? 

What are our goals and dreams? Why spend extra time on this? What do we aim to do? Why do we aim to do it? What is our mission?

At first, Kendall and I created Simply Unland for a few reasons. 

  1. Allows our families to stay up to date with us and what’s going on
  2. It gives us a chance to be creative in our own lives, sharing what we learn to one day look back and see how God has been at work
  3. Allow other people to learn from us and our experiences, make them feel not alone in whatever they are going through. 

As this little journey we are calling “Simply Unland” continues, we are doing what we do. We are taking some time to make sure we have the right heart behind it. Taking time to define our why and what. Then digging deeper into that. We want to search our hearts to make sure this is something we want to do. We want to do it for the same reasons above, but especially to reflect our values. We want to have a heart to share so even when/if nobody ever looks at our stuff, we still have a reason of our own to keep going. This seems all too easy for Kendall (probably because she’s a total boss at everything she does), but for me is taking time. Time, prayer, and an open heart, asking God what His will is. We know He has a plan for us and we want to be so open and ready for whatever that plan is. 

While it would be nice if someday, we made some sort of revenue stream from the little side projects we do, we don’t need that. We have our hearts set on seeking what God has for us and simply sharing our thoughts and selves.

We originally planned on sharing our step by step process and conclusions this week but really wanted to intentionally take our time (gotta stick to our theme here ;)). In an upcoming post, we will discuss our priorities, values, beliefs, purpose, and mission of Simply Unland (and Kendall and I). Make sure you check back soon!