What type of cardio to do after strength training

Hey hey hey! How’s your day going?? It’s been a wild week over here but all is well.

For today’s post, I wanted to talk about cardio dilemmas, and what type of cardio to do after weight training sessions. I feel like there’s a lot of confusion about this, and one of the things that hinders people from doing solo cardio is the fact that they don’t know what to do. It’s SO MUCH EASIER to get it done if you have a plan in place.

What Types Of Cardio Strength Training To Do After Strength Training

Why do we need cardio? How much cardio should we get in each week??

Cardio (also known as cardiovascular exercise) is not only an effective method to burn fat, build endurance, and increase speed, but it’s also obviously important for heart health and helps build muscle mass. Cardio consists of anything that keeps our heart rate elevated for a sustained amount of time. From this website: “Building cardiorespiratory endurance through regular physical activity allows your heart and lungs to work more efficiently, thereby improving your physical capacity to deal with stress and lowering your risk factors for several chronic diseases. Regular physical activity helps control obesity, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol — with a net result of cutting your heart disease risk almost in half, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. By providing weight control, regular exercise also cuts your risk factors for developing Type 2 diabetes and certain cancers. Additionally, building cardiorespiratory endurance benefits mental health by providing a buffer against anxiety and depression.”

There are so many cardio methods in the fitness ocean, but I like to break them down into 5 main categories:

-Steady-state

-Tempo work

-Hill/resistance work

-HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training)

-Active recovery or NEAT (Non-exercise Activity Thermogenesis, or what I refer to as “unintentional exercise,” like gardening, vacuuming, walking the dogs, cleaning, etc.)

According to NASM, we need at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardiorespiratory exercise, 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity, or a combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity exercise per week. The weekly recommendation for resistance training is 2 or more times a week with exercises for all the major muscle groups (minimum of 1 set of 8-12 repetitions for each muscle group). Flexibility and neuromotor exercises (balance, agility, coordination) are also recommended at least twice per week.

Why we should alternate cardio intensities:

It is SO important to not only vary the mode of exercise you do but the intensity of the workload.

The body is a smart machine and gets used to the same demands over time. For example, if you hike a strenuous trail for the first time, chances are that your heart rate will be elevated, your legs will be sore, and you’ll burn a ton of calories. If you begin to hike that same trail, every day, for weeks on end, you may find that it starts to feel easy. Your heart rate isn’t as elevated, it doesn’t feel challenging to you, and you burn fewer calories. Also, maybe you begin to feel a nagging pain in the outer part of your knees from the slight tilt of the trail to one side.

When we alternate cardio intensities and modes, it does a few awesome things:

-It gives the heart a chance to recover and rest. If you’re doing the same crazy HIIT drills every day, it doesn’t give the heart (which is a muscle! An important one…) a chance to rest. This is so important for preventing adrenal fatigue, overtraining symptoms, and burnout. High-intensity workouts are FUN and awesome here and there, but too much exercise at 60% (and up) of your max can cause turbulent blood flow, a precursor for arterial plaque accumulation. This is serious stuff friends. Too much time and intensity can cause more harm than good. (Friends who love Orangetheory as much as I do, this is why I don’t recommend going more than twice a week.)

-You aren’t consistently working the same muscle groups, which can help to prevent overuse injuries. I think if you like dance cardio exercise, this can be a great cardio workout to challenge your brain and also encourage lateral movement since we don’t usually move from side to side.

-You are constantly changing demands, encouraging the body to work harder and avoid kicking it into cruise control. In other words, you’ll get more bang for your buck.

How cardio works in regards to weight lifting/strength training exercises.

Cardio can shrink the body which makes it a great tool for fat loss, but strength training will change the shape of the body. Doing BOTH of these things is a great way to get strength, performance, speed, endurance, and visible muscular gains. Both strength training and cardio burn calories, which can lead to fat loss, but how you combine them can dramatically impact your results.

I haven’t trained clients in about a year, but I’ve always been pretty strategic about how I design individual fitness plans. While I tweak it depending on unique needs, there’s a general mental formula that I like to follow. I’m about to spill all of the beans with you so you can use it in your own routine.

What type of cardio to do after each type of workout:

*Please remember that while I’m a certified Weight Loss Specialist and Personal Trainer, I’m not your personal trainer – even though let’s be real, it would be so fun. Please take this for informational purposes and consult with a doctor before making any fitness changes. These are some ways to do it, but not the ONLY ways to do it. You do what’s best for you, mmm k?

For cardio, base it off what you did yesterday and what you plan to do tomorrow. Had an easy day yesterday? Push it up today! Did you do HIIT yesterday? Take an easier hill climb or steady state. Are you planning on an intense cardio class tomorrow? Maybe skip cardio entirely and do active recovery or NEAT instead. Here’s the thing, too: you don’t need to do cardio every single day. Focus on overall movement instead.

Cardio-only workout routine:

-Steady-state

-Tempo work

-Resistance bands

-HIIT and steady

-Hill training followed by HIIT or easy steady state

Strength workout: Upper Body

Cardio options:

-Easy steady state

-Tempo work

-Rowing or battle rope intervals with your strength workout (to fully fatigue the upper body and get in bonus core work)

-HIIT intervals after strength

-Stairclimbing or Spin bike after strength

Strength workout: Lower Body

Cardio options:

-Lower body HIIT drills (to fully fatigue the lower body)

-Easy hill climb (to work the legs muscles differently)

-Spin bike or Stairclimb

Strength workout: Total Body Circuit

Cardio options:

-Easy steady-state <— this would be my number one choice if you already did HIIT intervals in your strength workout. Steady-state after HIIT can burn more fat, and it feels like a nice break after the intervals

-Tempo work

-Total body HIIT drills

-Spin bike or Stairclimb

-Alternate upper body and lower body HIIT drills

Strength workout: Core

-Anything goes.

If you do cardio after strength training will it destroy your gains?

Not if you fuel properly. In a nutshell, your body will usually burn carbs first, then fat, and finally protein (from your muscles: catabolic state). Have some protein before your workout + some quick-burning carbs if you need the energy, and carbs and protein afterward. (<— I also like to mix some fat into my post-workout for nutrient absorption.) Here is a great post on pre- and post-workout snacks.

Whew. That was a lot!!

So, tell me, friends: how much cardio do you do each week? Do you stick to the same thing or do you constantly change it up?

Oh, and how could I forget! Nothing gets me going like a good workout playlist. Find yours here.

xoxo

Gina

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Short on Time? Use the LET Method for Effective 15-Minute Workouts

When a busy sales executive told me he could only fit in 15-minute workouts at 5:15 AM with minimal equipment, I told him something that surprised him.

He’d still make progress toward his fat loss goals, even with just a 15-minute workout.

Meet Chris. His world just got flipped: new job, territory sales, home office base. His reliable lunch break workouts? Gone. His equipment? Limited to what fits in his spare bedroom. His available time? Just 15 minutes before his day begins.

Sound familiar? Whether it’s a career change, growing family responsibilities, or life simply speeding up, finding time for proper workouts keeps getting harder.

That’s exactly what led me to develop the LET Method. It’s a simple framework that helps you build strength and muscle efficiently, whether you have 15-minutes or 45, whether you’re working with dumbbells or a full gym.

This isn’t another “quick fix” gimmick. This is a systematic approach to building real strength and muscle when you only have 15 minutes to train.

With the LET Method, you’ll get:

• Confidence that your 15-minute workouts are actually effective
• Clear guidelines for maximizing limited training time
• A system that works with minimal equipment
• The ability to maintain (or even build) strength with short, focused sessions

What you’re about to learn is going to transform how you think about 15-minute workouts.

What is the Minimum Effective Dose (MED) in Fitness?

That answer is going to look different for almost everyone. We’ve all got unique demands on our time, equipment, injuries, and goals. However, there are general principles you can follow to make sure your MED workouts are getting the job done.

To figure out the right number of reps to do for your MED workouts, you need to consider 3 factors. Because everyone loves a good acronym, we’re going to call it the LET METHOD.

As in, let us show you how to make your short workouts more effective.

Introducing the LET Method: Load, Exercises, and Time

LET stands for: Load, Exercises, and Time. Each variable impacts your MED workout rep range, but makes it easier to determine how to make it all work.

Load: This is the weight you use, relative to your own strength. The heavier the load (think max reps, around 1-3 reps), the fewer exercises you should perform.

Exercises: The more exercises you perform, either the more time you need for your workout OR the lighter the load needs to be.

Time: The more time you set aside, gives you two options: either do fewer exercises with a heavier load OR do more exercises with a lighter load.

View each as a dial that you turn up or down. Turning one up, means you have to turn 2 other dials down. Let’s walk you through how it all works.

3 Short, Effective Workout Strategies Using LET

Strategy 1: Building Pure Strength (Heavy Load Focus) 

If you only have 15 minutes and want to focus on strength, you’ll need to focus on just 1 exercise with a heavy load.

That’s because you’re going to need to perform many (many) sets to effectively build up your strength, and take about 2-3 minutes of rest between sets. You’ll get stronger, but you won’t leave much room for volume that will optimize muscle growth.

An example: You’ll increase the weight on each warm-up.

Warm-up set 1 (rest 2 min): 3-5 reps

Warm-up set 2 (rest 2 min): 3-5 reps

Warm-up set 3 (rest 2 min): 2-4 reps

Warm-up set 4 (rest 2 min): 2-3 reps

Working set 1 (rest 2 min): 1-3 reps

Working set 2 (rest 2 min): 1 -3 reps

It won’t seem like much, but it’ll help you build strength when limited on time.

Strategy 2: Muscle Growth and Fat Loss (Moderate Load, More Volume) 

If you have those same 15 minutes, you can avoid workouts calling for sets of 1-3 reps, and instead add volume by doing more exercises and moderate weights, bundled in a circuit.

Exercise 1 (no rest): 8-12 reps

Exercise 2 (no rest): 8-12 reps

Exercise 3: 8-12 reps (rest 2 minutes)

You’ll be able to repeat this circuit 3-4 times, and then call it a day. Same time, more reps and exercises, but the intensity is lower.

Strategy 3: Strength With Efficiency (The Hybrid Approach) 

If you really want to focus on strength and lower reps but have limited time, try EMOM (every minute on the minute) workouts.

Your time will be the same, but you’ll limit your exercises and lower rest periods. Here’s an example from The Fit Father Guide: EMOM RDL’s (Romanian deadlifts).

Set a timer for 15 minutes. Hit start on the timer, perform 3 reps of RDL’s, and put the weight down. Watch the clock, and when a full minute is completed, do another 3 reps. 

Put the weight down, rest for the remainder of the 60 seconds and repeat. Do that until time is up.

Choosing Your Strategy 

Everything will come down to your goals. When time is limited, it’s important to play the long-game and be hyper focused on what you want to accomplish.

If you’re looking to build muscle or burn fat, your most time-efficient workouts will require something in the 10-20 rep range. Because they’re the best mix of load and volume, you’ll only need a few sets to challenge your muscles fully.

No matter what equipment you have or how much time you can commit, figuring out those 3 variables will LET you (get it?) see the results you want with a minimum effective dose plan. 

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Buddha Bowl Dressing Recipe

Sharing a super easy and delicious buddha bowl dressing recipe.

Hi friends! How’s the week going?? It’s been a good one over here. I have a few appointments today and looking forward to a low-key night at home. I’ve been finishing up a round of the EquiLife detox and have been enjoying all of the fresh and colorful foods I’ve been eating.

Today, I wanted to chat a little bit about Buddha bowls and one of my go-to recipes for salad dressings. I make this almost weekly and love having it on hand.

(Sakara is what made me fall in love with Buddha bowls for lunch! Their salads always include a mix of  gluten-free grains, tons of veggies, crunchy toppings, and amazing sauces)

Buddha bowl dressing recipe

Buddha bowls are one of the most versatile and delicious meals you can make. They typically feature a balanced mix of grains, protein, vegetables, and a flavorful sauce to tie everything together. What makes them unique is their vibrant combination of colors, textures, and nutrients. These macro bowls are packed with fiber, healthy fats, and protein, making them a great plant-based option for any meal.

The key to taking your Buddha bowl recipe to the next level is the dressing. A great Buddha bowl dressing enhances the natural flavors of the ingredients, bringing them together into a perfectly balanced bite. Here’s my favorite dressing that will complement pretty much any Buhha bowl combo!

How To Make Buddha Bowls Interesting

Buddha bowls are already packed with variety, but there are a few ways to make them even more exciting! One of the best ways to elevate your grain bowls is by using a delicious Buddha bowl dressing. The right sauce can transform simple ingredients like brown rice, sweet potatoes, and black beans into a next-level meal.

Other ways to make your Buddha bowl interesting include:

Adding a crunchy topping like toasted seeds or nuts.

Using a mix of cooked and raw veggies for varied textures.

Experimenting with different grain bases, such as quinoa, farro, or brown rice.

Including a flavorful protein source like marinated tofu cooked in the air fryer, tempeh, leftover steak, shrimp, or grilled chicken.

What are your favorite ways to spice up a Buddha bowl? Leave a comment below—I’d love to hear your ideas!

Buddha Bowl Dressing Recipe

This Buddha bowl dressing is the perfect balance of tangy, savory, and slightly sweet flavors. It’s simple to make, gluten-free, and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Whether you’re meal prepping or making a bowl fresh, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free option)

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp black pepper

Splash of sriracha

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Buddha Bowl Dressing Recipe

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This savory and zesty dressing is perfect for salads or a Buddha bowl: a combo of roasted and raw veggies, crunchy toppings, grains, and protein

• Author: Gina Harney // Fitnessista

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free option)

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tbsp tahini

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp black pepper

Splash of sriracha

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

Make sure you have all your ingredients measured and ready to go. This will make the process quicker and ensure the flavors are well balanced.

Step 2: Blend or Whisk Together

You can either whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl or blend them in a small blender for a smoother consistency.

Step 3: Taste and Adjust

Give your dressing a taste and adjust as needed. If you want it tangier, add more apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. For a touch of sweetness, add a bit more maple syrup or honey.

Step 4: Store in the Refrigerator

Pour the dressing into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for up to a week. Before using, give it a good shake or stir!

Did you make this recipe?

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Instructions

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients

Make sure you have all your ingredients measured and ready to go. This will make the process quicker and ensure the flavors are well balanced.

Step 2: Blend or Whisk Together

You can either whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl or blend them in a small blender for a smoother consistency.

Step 3: Taste and Adjust

Give your dressing a taste and adjust as needed. If you want it tangier, add more apple cider vinegar or lemon juice. For a touch of sweetness, add a bit more maple syrup or honey.

Step 4: Store in the Refrigerator

Pour the dressing into an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. It should stay fresh for up to a week. Before using, give it a good shake or stir!

You also might want to check out my superfood smoothie recipes.

What’s your favorite Buddha bowl sauce? Let me know in the comments below! What’s your favorite restaurant or homemade salad dressing?

I love the bottled Primal Kitchen dressings from Thrive Market and this is my go-to Caesar dressing recipe.

xoxo

Gina

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Amazon Spring Fashion Faves

Sharing some of my favorite Amazon spring fashion finds!

Hi friends! How are you? I hope that your week is off to a great start. This week, I’m getting everything ready for the launch of my new program. Newsletter subscribers will get access at the end of the week, and I’ll post the details here on the blog next Monday. I can’t wait to share with you!

In the meantime, spring is in the aiiiirirrrrr. I keep holding my breath for a cold front, but Tucson thinks it’s spring, and I’m ok with that. It’s getting me so excited for warmer days, spring break, and breaking out sandals and dresses.

Amazon has been killing it lately with cute options for spring, so I thought I’d share a roundup of my latest picks today on the blog. If you have anything you have your eye on for spring, please shout it out in the comments section.

*Affiliate links are included below. Thank you so much for supporting the blog by shopping through my links!

Amazon Spring Fashion Faves

Wedding guest

I have this in black and it’s so flattering and perfect for many occasions

This 3D floral embroidery dress

This satin flutter sleeve dress

This one-sleeve dress

Casual dresses

This crew neck dress

This flowy midi dress

This open back maxi dress

This striped ribbed dress

A Somerset lookalike in so many colors

This gorgeous printed dress

This dress looks way more expensive than it is

Gives me Zimmermann vibes

This puff-sleeve dress is so classic and cute

Amazing Free People dupe

Sets

This cute lounge set

This travel set (just ordered it)

I have this set from last year and loooove it

Handbags

This cute everyday bag.

A straw crossbody

Dressy clutch

Important question: what sandals do you have your eye on for spring? I wore these a milion times last year.

Have an amazing day and I’ll see you soon!

xo

Gina

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2.21 Friday Faves

Hi friends! Happy Friday! What do you have going on this weekend? It’s Rodeo Break (it’s an AZ thing and I love it), so the kids are off school. We’re just enjoying some Tucson adventures, fun with friends, and enjoying this spring-like weather. Sending some sunshine to my freezing friends right now!

I’m doing a round of the EquiLife detox right now and feeling amazing. I was planning on starting with our community in January, but everyone else in the house got sick with a cold/virus, so I stopped after one day. I needed to shift my focus to immunity, and was able to stay healthy while I took care of everyone else.

Now that the retirement is over and things are a little more calm, it was a good opportunity to hop into it for 14 days. You can read more about my previous detox experiences here. This one focuses on high nutrients and lots of fresh, whole foods, so it’s pretty easy to stick with it. (Worth mentioning here that I skip the fasting days.)

It’s time for the weekly Friday Faves party! This is where I share some of my favorite finds from the week and around the web. I always love to hear about your faves, too, so please shout out something you’re loving in the commens section below.

2.21 Friday Faves

Fashion + beauty + random:

Beefsteak! This is one of our favorite local events, and the funds support veterans and military families. They have a live auction (they auctioned a Tesla this year, which was pretty cool!) and silent auction, a delicious dinner (the seafood area this year was amaaaaazing), drinks. and dancing. I always love a lil opportunity to get dressed up and party it up with the Pilot and friends.

Dress was a last-minute Dillards find:

Some pics!

Amazon has SO MANY great spring dresses and sets right now. I’m going to do a post next week, but here are some that I have my eye on:

This crew neck dress

This flowy midi dress

This 3D floral embroidery dress

This open back maxi dress

This striped ribbed dress

A Somerset lookalike in so many colors

This cute lounge set

This gorgeous printed dress

This dress looks way more expensive than it is

I have this in black and it’s so flattering and perfect for many occasions

Gives me Zimmermann vibes

Read, watch, listen:

If you like historical fiction, this was a 10/10 recent read.

They have adult ballet classes at Liv’s studio and I was thinking about going for it…

The value of doing nothing in a hyperproductive world.

Fitness, health, and good eats:

Just ordered more of my favorite decaf coffee.

How to build a perfect salad bowl.

Such an easy make-ahead breakfast and the kids love it, too.

Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today! Have an amazing weekend and I’ll see ya soon!

xoxo

Gina

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Review of Superlife + What I Learned

Sharing my thoughts and review on Darin Olien’s book Superlife and what I learned. 

Hi friends! How’s the morning going? I hope you’re having a great day so far. It’s been *slightly* cooler around here lately. Just to the point where the air feels nice and fresh without being too cold. The mornings have been really lovely.

For today’s post, I wanted to share my review and thoughts on Darin Olien’s book, Superlife. Written in Olien’s engaging conversational style, Superlife is a one-of-a-kind comprehensive look at dieting and nutrition, a timeless and essential guide to maintaining the human body and maximizing its potential.

Superlife Book Review

You may know Darin from a couple of places:

1) he was Zac Efron’s knowledgeable sidekick in Down to Earth (which I pretty much spent mentally debating who was more attractive. In the end, I think it’s a tie.)

photo source

2) he’s one of the creators of Shakeology! This is Beachbody’s protein shake, which is packed with superfoods and nutrients. I drank it religiously and loved it for years, but stopped drinking it when I was pregnant with P and never really got back into it. It tastes amazing.

When I saw that Darin had a book, I instantly downloaded it to my Kindle app. I finally had the chance to dive in and finish it, and wow. While a lot of it was info that I already knew from being in the health and wellness space for a while, I still learned a ton. It also was a gentle nudge to get back to some healthy habits that have fallen off the radar over time. I feel like along with so many of you, I’ve really been trying to just keep my head above water lately. I finally feel like I’m almost to a point where I’m squeaking past the “simply survive” benchmark and can start to focus back on a couple of work goals and routine tweaks.

For a healthy lifestyle, I’m all about ADDING things to your routine where it makes sense, instead of focusing on removing them. For example: more vegetables, more movement, more fresh air, better sleep, meditation, etc. instead of less cake, less sugar, less meat, blah blah. This book gives many ideas on strategies that you can add to your routine for a super life; one that is vibrant, energized, pain-free, and free of illness.

From The Website

In this groundbreaking health and lifestyle guide, Darin Olien—superfoods expert, nutritionist, creator of Shakeology, and co-host of the Netflix docuseries Down to Earth with Zac Efron—provides the key to understanding and utilizing five life forces, the sole factors that determine whether or not we will be healthy, fit, and free of illness.

In Superlife, Darin Olien provides us with an entirely new way of thinking about health and well-being by identifying what he calls the life forces: Quality Nutrition, Hydration, Detoxification, Oxygenation, and Alkalization. Olien demonstrates in great detail how to maintain these processes, thereby allowing our bodies to do the rest. He tells us how we can maintain a healthy weight, prevent even the most serious of diseases, and feel great. He explains that all of this is possible without any of the restrictive or gimmicky diet plans that never work in the long term.

Olien has traveled the world, exploring the health properties of foods that have sustained indigenous cultures for centuries. Putting his research into practice, he has created a unique and proven formula for maximizing our bodies’ potential. He also includes a “How-to-eat” user’s guide with a shopping list, advice on “what to throw away,” a guide to creating a healthy, balanced diet plan, and advice on how to use supplements effectively.

What I Liked About This Book

He breaks the book down into 5 life forces to emphasize in your daily routine: nutrition, hydration, oxygenation, alkalization, and detoxification. In each segment, he provides details on steps that you can implement to make the most out of each component. He also adds tips for exercise, feeding kids, supplements, kitchen staples, and a sample 10-day eating plan and to-do list. I LOVE how thorough he is in each section with lots of attainable tips. It’s one of my pet peeves when you read a health or wellness book and the author spends the entire time telling you about why their plan or philosophy works so well without actually giving you the steps you need. They spend far too much on the “why” instead of the “how” and this book is the perfect mix of both. It’s also very conversationally written, so while it includes multiple science-backed facts and peer-reviewed studies, it’s an easy read.

Notes I took on my phone while reading:

– Make sprouts. (You can see more about this here)

– Big salads with lots of raw veggies – focus on kale and broccoli

– Smoothies with varied ingredients

– Water with a pinch of Himalayan sea salt, cayenne, and lemon in the am

– Foods with high chlorophyll content: chard, kale, spirulina, chlorella

– Make exercise sporadic and fun; truly challenge yourself

– Find a better water source. We have reverse osmosis here at the house, but it hasn’t been serviced since the first time we lived here. So we haven’t been using it. I’ve been filling the large water jugs from Whole Foods. Though I’m trying to find a better option (glass bottles, a great filter like Berkey, or even a delivery service). If you have any ideas, please let me know!

As a non-vegan who loves vegan food, I’m excited about trying some of the new recipes in Superlife. They’re all vibrantly colored and packed with veggies.

So, tell me, friends: what’s the best health or wellness book you’ve read recently?

Any awesome healthy recipes you’ve tried?

xo

Gina

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that’s a wrap

On the military life.. not the blog. You’re not getting rid of me that easily 😉 

After 22 years, the Pilot is officially retired from the military! You can check out the full recap of the fini flight and celebration here.

It’s been almost three weeks, and I have a lot of emotions. I still kind of feel like he’s just on leave right now, and can’t really believe that it’s actually over. It was such a dynamic lifestyle, filled with the highest highs (there’s nothing like that honeymoon feeling when they come back!) and some low lows.

It’s wild (and I’m so thankful to all of you) that so many of you have been here almost our entire military life! When we first moved to Valdosta and I started the blog, we were newly married and I was brand new to this entire lifestyle.

Babies!!

Our military life was puntuacted with pure joy, like the deployment returns and fun squadron events, but also sadness, fear, and worry.

– The incredible feeling when he hugged me for the first time after each deployment.

– When he had been gone for a long time and then felt a bit like a stranger.

– The fun squadron events and late nights drinking wine and chatting with the ladies.

– Talking to him on the phone while he was deployed, but hearing the rocket attack alerts in the background. (It was the voice of a woman with a British accent saying, “Rocket attack. Rocket attack.”)

– Carefully packing and shipping deployment care packages, so excited to check the mail, and cherishing handwritten letters and cards.

– Learning that his plane had been showered with bullets during a particular flight overseas.

When I first met the Pilot, I asked him how often he had to be gone and if he’s ever have to deploy. He told me he probably wouldn’t be gone much at all, and likely wouldn’t have to deploy. (All of my military wife friends can chuckle here.) He was stationed in North Carolina six months later, and was deployed for the first time within a year. He ended up deploying four times.

Military life is constantly being flexible for the unknowns and inherently rigid lifestyle. One of the hardest lessons for me was that the military was always first, no matter what was going on.

There are a lot of things that I can’t help but hold onto, but something that will be seared into my mind was when I had hand surgery (so one hand was in a splint), a preschooler, and a newborn baby with severe reflux, and he was TDY for over a week.

So many times, I felt like the end would never be here, and I joked that he would drag me to the finish line, a weathered bag. The weathered bag made it!

Sometimes we hear, “You know what you were getting into” when a military wife talks about her struggles. For this reason, we often feel ashamed to talk about the difficult parts. You’re expected to keep a smile on your face, focus on all of the benefits of military life, and go along with it. While I’m a huge believer in being positive as much as possible, it’s also ok to look around and be like, “This is insanely hard.”

I put on a smile (for the most part lol), supported the love of my life, hosted and attended the parties, went to the important events, held down the fort during deployments, long hours, and TDYs, and put my heart and soul into making the most of it for the sake of the kids. I was honest when I had a rough day here and there, but I didn’t want them to know the magnitude of how drained I felt. He was a commander for three years and did an AMAZING job, but it was difficult on our marriage and family.

You can love your husband fierecly, you can be proud of him, you can love and support our military… and not *love* everything about being a military wife. You can make the absolute best of things, while not necessarily *enjoying* every aspect of it. If you feel like you’re just struggling to make it through and sometimes just playing the part, it’s ok to feel like that. I just wanted to send my love to fellow military wives holding it down. If you feel like you’ll never make it to the finish line, you will. You’re amazingly strong — hang in there.

Many things can be true at once: you can look back with sadness, fondness, weariness, joy, and gratitude, at all the same time.

A little note to the A-10 aka the Pilot’s girlfriend:

– Thank you for the ability to help support our country

– Thank you for the fun memories

– Thank you for the opportunity to make so many baby meals — one of my very favorite things about this whole experience

– Thank you for the amazing health insurance. Some people have mixed experiences but I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Tricare

– Thank you for the military friends who became like family

– Thank you thank you thank you for bringing him home safely to us

She did great job taking care of him and always brought him home to us. Over 3,400 hours in the cockpit of this beaut, and while I won’t necessarily miss the lifestyle, I’ll miss the joy that the Pilot got from flying the A-10, his camaraderie with the bros, and being there to cheer for his accomplishments. I’m so proud of everything he’s done over the past 19 years that I’ve known him (just under 22 total in the Air Force).

I’m definitely looking forward to the Pilot enjoying a long, much-needed vacation, and then heading back to the commercial airline world.

Thank you for being there for us during the twists and turns of this crazy military life. While we’re turning the page, I’m looking forward to chapter 2. 🙂

xoxo

Gina

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The Pilot’s retirement ceremony and festivities

Sharing a recap of the Pilot’s retirement festivities. After just under 22 years in the Air Force, he’s done! 

I’ve started this post a few times and have so much to say, so I ended up splitting it into two posts: a recap of the Pilot’s amazing military career and everything we did to celebrate + my thoughts and experience with the military wife life.

This is a day we’ve been excited about for a while, and we are so grateful that so many friends and family were able to celebrate with us.

A pic of so many people we love who came to celebrate with us:

The Pilot retired a couple of weeks ago, and we had a whole weekend to celebrate this significant milestone. Family started flying in on Wednesday afternoon and evening, so we just caught up with drinks and Zinburger here at the house. Thursday, we had a family pickleball party at Corbett’s with tons of apps and some friendly pickleball competition. We came back here for dinner, and Friday was the big day.

He had the standard “fini flight,” which is your final flight in the squadron. He led a four-ship of some of his closest friends around Tucson, got to fire the gun a few more times, and we were able to head to the flightline to watch him land. Everyone cheered as they flew overhead, it was pretty emotional.

He taxied over to park the jet for the last time, and waved at everyone, Top Gun style.

One of his closest crew chief friends came in from Vegas for the day to be his crew chief one final time.

We sprayed him down with water and champagne,

took a million pics

 

(love these ladies so much)

(the Pilot’s best friends since he was 7 years old)

and then headed inside for the official ceremony.

I wasn’t quite sure how they’d consolidate his incredible career into a short ceremony, but they did an incredible job. The short version: he had 3,400 hours in the A-10, four deployments, 7 1/2 years teaching at the A-10 schoolhouse, a Bronze Star and multiple meritorious service medals. He was an Instructor Pilot, Evaluator (can give check rides to other pilots), Combat Search and Rescue, and Forward Air Controller.

Even with all of his accomplishments on paper, I got to truly see the behind-the-scenes of everything he did as a squadron commander for the past three years. He was constantly on the phone checking in and sorting out problems, on his computer all hours of the night, and genuinely cared about everyone in the squadron. He helped other through severe illness and huge life changes, helped those transitioning find new opportunities and employment, wrote awards, helped with retirements and transitions, and provided constant support for the squadron. He did all of this while working hard to try and balance everything with family life.

It was an honor to be by his side, and I’m proud of his accomplishments and his leadership.

After the ceremony, it was party time! We headed to the squadron bar where we had catering by Hawaiin Bros (an ode to the roots of the 47th squadron), the most epic cake and cupcakes by Village Bakehouse

(it had all of the patches for every squadron he’s been a part of)

and they did some more awards inside.

Everyone went home to chill and regroup, and then we did an open house at Three Canyon, a local beer garden with live music. I thought friends and family would pop in and say hi and leave when they’d like (especially since we’d been on base for most of the day), but our friends all showed up and closed down the restuarant with us. It was epic.

The next day, I planned a few optional events for friends and family who were in town: a hike at Sabino Canyon,

P’s basketball game (she couldn’t miss her club games since they’re in a tournament),

and dinner at El Charro.

For our group of 25, El Charro truly went above and beyond. I booked the reservation a couple of months in advance, and they had us in the back room with a set menu.

Kids’ table:

Everyone got salads, guacamole, salsa, chips, and green chile cheese crisps, and then had the option of enchiladas, tacos, or tamales. We did pitchers of margaritas for the tables and everything was super easy, so fresh, and so good. It was the perfect way to cap off the weekend!

I’ve had a few questions about what the Pilot is going to do now that he’s retired from the Air Force. He’s taking the next couple of months off, and then he’s heading back to the commerical airline world. For now, he’s enjoying some well-deserved X-box time with his friends, extra naps, and just taking it easy. After so many years of such a high stress lifestyle, I’m so happy he’s getting the chance to chill a little.

xoxo

Gina

*All of the fini flight and ceremony photos are by the amazing Kristi Harris

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