Sergeant Tony's Blog

Did the Pilgrims have a Thanksgiving Day feast in 1621 like the one’s portrayed in those Norman Rockwell paintings?

I like to imagine so.

But I’m pretty sure it didn’t happen like that at all.

The day wasn’t always about feasting, floats, and football.

Though our country had loosely celebrated a day of thanksgiving since the Revolutionary War and George Washington’s victory at Saratoga. We can actually thank Sarah Hale, the author of the nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” for our national holiday. It’s true! She wrote President Abraham Lincoln a letter and prevailed upon him to establish a day of national thanksgiving. Lincoln, seeing the misery and despair brought upon the country by a bloody and divisive civil war, established our national day of Thanksgiving beginning in November 1863. I think Lincoln hoped that a day of national remembrance of all that we shared collectively as a nation, both North and South, would touch the hearts of Southerners who still embraced a sense of American identity and that it would help to ameliorate the strife and bring a quicker end to the war.

I was asked recently why the Detroit Lions, currently the worst team in the NFL, gets to have a national audience on Thanksgiving Day? The answer is, it was the Lions who came up with the idea of playing on Thanksgiving Day in the first place! In 1934 the Chicago Bears, at the invitation of the Detroit Lions, traveled to Detroit and played the first Thanksgiving Day professional football game. It was the first time that a professional football game was broadcast with a national radio audience. And thus began the tradition of listening to, and then watching, the Detroit Lions play on Thanksgiving Day. I would really like for them to win on Thursday … but … they’re playing the Titans. Sorry Detroit.

However you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving I hope that you’ll be filled with a sense of gratitude and appreciation for what you have and what this year has brought you. Is there anything so winsome as heartfelt gratitude and humility? Good parents always insist that their children say “please” and “thank you.”

Each of us owes our station in life to the help and assistance of others. It’s the turtle sitting on the fencepost. The turtle didn’t get there by itself. Today I want to express my own gratitude to you who do more than just read these emails. To you who show up on the Quarterdeck, and particularly for you who have been showing up for years, you enrich my life with your friendship and continued participation in the program and I am so very grateful! Please allow me to say thank you for that. And equally important, I am thankful that the regular payment of your fees keep me from living under a bridge.

Today, and everyday, thank you very much for being a part of my life and a part of USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP.

——————————————————-

How to Avoid Gaining Weight on Thursday

1. Eat slowly. The slower you eat, the less you will eat.
2. Use the smallest plate available.
3. Do not go back for seconds.
4. Drink a lot of water 20 to 30 minutes BEFORE you sit down to eat your Thanksgiving meal.
5. Think small portions, especially small portions of desert. Most of the time you only want the “taste” of something, so eat only 1/3 of what is generally thought to be a regular piece of pie, for example. It’ll be plenty.

——————————————————————–

Thanksgiving Week Schedule

Wednesday
All morning classes meet as scheduled.
No evening class on Wednesday

Thursday
No classes. Instead run the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 4 Miler at Shelby Farms. Register NOW!

Friday
One class at 0530

———————————————————–

HOLIDAY CHALLENGE!

Our annual Holiday Challenge weigh-in began on Monday! The last weigh-in opportunity will be at the 0830 class tomorrow morning.

Here’s how it works.

Participants pay $50 to enter the challenge and then step on my scales. I will write down your weight. (All confidential)

On Monday, January 5th (the day we return from our Christmas Break) I will weigh you again.

If you have maintained your pre-Thanksgiving weight, you get a FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP!

If you’ve LOST 5 pounds or more over the holidays, you get an additional SECOND FREE MONTH!

The person who loses the most weight over the holidays will get an additional THIRD FREE MONTH OF BOOT CAMP!! (All awards are non-transferable and redeemable beginning in March 09.

This is an AWESOME Challenge! Every year the average American gains 8 to 10 pounds during the holidays. But Challengers don’t!! Last year I gave away over $1,800 of FREE BOOT CAMP!

———————————————-

ST. JUDE HALF MARATHON RUNNERS!

Your training is complete! Wooohooooo!!! Congratulations to all of you who trained with me this year! You’re ready!!

Check my blog on the website (http://usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/blog/) for tips, advice, and race day strategies for a successful half marathon! ALSO, at the end of that blog you’ll find an invitation to a party on Saturday evening to celebrate your accomplishment!

Good luck everyone!!

———————————————————-

BEFORE AND AFTER PICS

The before and after pictures from the first Combat the Fat Challenge are on the USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP website. You’ll find of the first, second, and third place winners before and after pictures on the Success Stories page. The pictures have been there for a number of weeks, I just forgot to tell you. My apologies Greg, Steve, and Sarah!

Take a look at those pictures for an extra dose of motivation! http://www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com/success.html

———————————————-

HELP WANTED

Do you know of someone who could be another Sergeant Tony?

I’m looking to expand the empire beyond Memphis. Les Bonnett successfully launched USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP — Collierville in July and is doing great!

I’d especially like to move into north Mississippi or northern Shelby County. Like Hernando or Millington!

Here’s a little of what I’m looking for in a prospective “Sergeant Tony.”
* Former military, preferably a Marine.
* College degree, or working toward it.
* Exercise certification, military or civilian, or working toward it.
* Personally interested and involved in a lifestyle of fitness and athletics.
* Good communication skills, written and oral. (I answer about 40 emails a day, write a newsletter, and answer more than a half dozen or so daily Boot Camp related phone calls)
* Outgoing personality with a GREAT sense of humor!
* Genuinely likes people, hiding behind a sadistic facade.
* Humble, modest, caring, and sensitive (ok, ok, whatever) You get the idea.

If you know of someone who would be a good fit, please forward this on to them and direct them to the website:www .usmcfitnessbootcamp.com

————————————————————

USMC FITNESS BOOT CAMP CLASSES

At Christ Methodist
0530 Monday through Friday
0645 M-W-F
0830 M-W-F
5:45 PM: M-Tu-W-Th, (5:30 PM on Friday). M-W-F are weight days, Tu/Thu are cardio days.
THE TUESDAY EVENING CLASS MEETS AT ST. MARY’S TRACK.

At Evergreen Presbyterian
0530 Monday through Friday

—————————————————–

FACEBOOK

Find me on Facebook and make me your friend! (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=629618416) I’ll make you mine! Then join the USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP Group!

————————————————

“Nothing is neither good nor bad, but thinking that makes it so.”
~ William Shakespeare

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
5358 Denwood
Memphis, TN 38120
901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com
www.shaklee.net/tonyludlow/main