Photo By Staff Sgt. Paul Monroe | Staff Sgt. Christopher Hess, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, comes to a stop after...... read more read more
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By Sgt. James Hunter
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division
CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – When Staff Sgt. Christopher Hess, a native of Lancaster, Ohio, left Fort Campbell, Ky., with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for Baghdad, he weighed in at 229 pounds.
"I was in the office during [physical training] hours about as often or more as I was outside doing PT during those hours," said Hess, the brigade's paralegal non-commissioned officer-in-charge. "More than that though, my diet was terrible."
However, soon after arriving in Baghdad, Hess would take it upon himself to increase his physical fitness level and lose the unnecessary weight holding him back.
"There were several factors like overall health and wanting to look and feel better," he said, but the biggest factor to him was he was flagged for being overweight and was being looked at for promotion to sergeant first class.
"I wanted the flag gone before the board convened, and I wanted to be underweight by a solid margin and not just making it," Hess added.
One day, Hess was looking online to see how many calories were in certain foods, so he Googled "how many calories are in common foods," thus leading him to a particular website. The website would allow him to log everything he ate daily to check his calorie count.
Initially he wanted to lower his weight to 185 pounds.
"I started with a diet that was high protein, low fat, low carb and eating six to eight time a day," Hess said.
He primarily lifted weights four to six times a week and ran two to three times a week in the evening, but no more than three or four miles at a time. When he went to weigh in, he had actually gained three pounds, mostly muscle, and decided to step up his routine.
Now his current PT program focuses more on running.
"I run four days per week and do a combination of abs and muscular strength training three days per week on the days I don't run," Hess said.
His running consists of two speed/endurance runs, one easy run and one long run.
Weekly, he increases the amount of miles per week, he said. As of this week, he ran 33.53 miles.
By mid-September, he plans to be doing 42 miles per week.
Hess includes half-marathons into his schedule as well, with his best run being 1 hour, 54 minutes, 15 seconds. He wants to run the half-marathon in less than an hour and 45 minutes.
He said he is also hoping that once the unit redeploys back to Kentucky, he will run 18 to 24 miles on his long day runs and keep the other runs under 10 miles.
This will help him prepare for his goal of completing a marathon.
"In the next month or so, I will register for the Country Music Marathon in Nashville," Hess said. "As it turns out, this race will be on my birthday in April 2009. That will almost certainly be my first official marathon. At this point, I can't possibly imagine it will be my last."
Hess has many goals though, but where does this motivation to continue to improve come from?
"My wife and I are both trying to alter our lifestyles to be much more aware of our health," he said. "It isn't quite time for my over-40 physical, but I'm not getting any younger either."
When he went on environmental leave a few months ago, his Family definitely noticed the changed.
"My teenage girls kept saying 'Dad got hot,' and 'I can't believe you are wearing teenager clothes,'" Hess said. "Of course, my wife said 'We need to go shopping!"
Daily, Hess feels much better about himself, striving off the energy he has gained from dropping 50 pounds and exercising daily, which is definitely beneficial to his mission here in Iraq where it may seem hard too perform at the top of one's game daily.
"It shows his true dedication to improving his overall physical fitness level and his desire to lead by example," said 1st Sgt. William Plummer, a native of McGregor, Minn., Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd BCT, 101st Abn. Div., Multi-National Division – Baghdad.
Hess serves as the chief paralegal for the Strike brigade and oversees all legal actions produces through the battalion paralegals as well as functioning as the pay agent for claims.
His day-to-day battle rhythm fluctuates often, he said.
"My [job] is such that much of what I do is reactive to whatever is going on. A Soldier comes in the office and needs a Power-of-Attorney, we do that," Hess said. "A first sergeant or commander comes in with a packet for an Article 15, we do that. Unless I'm going out on a claims mission, it's really difficult for me to say what I will be doing from one day to the next."
At the Iraqi assistance center in Baghdad, Hess pays out claims for compensation to Iraqi local nationals who were injured or whose homes or property were damaged by Coalition Forces operating in their area of operation.
"[Staff Sgt.] Hess has always been a dedicated NCO, putting 100 percent into his work and taking care of both his technical and tactical responsibilities," Plummer said.
Hess' determination is evident in his daily activities as he continues to strive to become a healthier, strong-bodied individual.
As Hess put it, "If you want to test a man's body, make him run two miles; if you want to test his mind, make him run 20."
Hess will be promoted to sergeant first class,Sept. 1, 2008.
| Date Taken: | 08.25.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 08.25.2008 09:35 |
| Story ID: | 22851 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 65 |
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