10/23/2019 0 Comments Diet and Exercise (Growth/Interests)So you have transitioned out of the military, ready to start a new chapter in your life. You may be starting a new career, maybe starting school at night, potentially settling down with someone, buying a house, starting a family. Maybe some of the above, maybe all of the above, but the bottom line is change is coming. Eventually, I will get into pay, taxes, retirement, etc. but first, I want to focus on diet and fitness.
Along with some or all of the above mentioned, you are probably close to or at the next age step in your life. You are no longer a kid who can eat trash all day, watch football, drink beer and get up and run it off Monday morning with the unit. Not only are you older, but there is no unit. So you get used to sleeping in a bit longer with no PT and it feels good, but the diet does not change. The job you get probably isn't that intensely physical, or not like it was in the military, so you begin to lose some of the additional caloric burn you had before just doing your job. Bonus, every Thursday you team visits the local mom and pop lunch spot to talk business and they make a mean lasagna. Finally, of course, there are the project, or sales, or team celebrations or just a bunch of people getting together for after work drinks at the local watering hole on Friday's. Next thing you know it, you have made that successful transition. A year as has gone by, you are in the groove at work, the military is just a thought in your mind, heck you have even grow out your beard for the first time, Nice! Unfortunately, you get that bathing suit back out for the summer and you have transitioned in another way...you no longer fit! Now to some, this may be perfectly fine with you, but my point is, a lot of what you took for granted gets away from you, and fast. Couple that with father time, and well, you need to have a plan. I say all this because it happened to me. I got out and still did some running, but the gym membership I had didn't last very long with the hours I was working. And at first, I worked at Truck Stop and got free sodas and discounts at McDonald's and Subway. Now I was running around a lot at work, so the impact was not immediately felt. However, I then moved to a job that was not as physically active nor demanding when I was active. On top of that, my wife get pregnant and I am not the one who likes food going to waste. So as she ate some of this and some of that, I scooped up the leftovers. In the matter of two years, I jumped from 174 to 200. I had no plan, I thought I was wrong, I was not used to a more inactive lifestyle, and I kept eating like it without doing much exercise outside of 2 mile run four times a week. HERE IS MY PLUG----I BECAME KETO! Now, though I will share my journey, my point is not to sell keto, it is to make you aware, which ever direction you decide to go, I just used keto and therefore, it is my example My wife and I decided to get serious about 9 months after the birth of our daughter. Within the first month, I had lost 12 pounds through diet and 30 minutes of weights, five days a week. We started dirty keto, just limiting carbs, which helped at first, but then we stagnated a bit. We reduced the dairy (eating a lot of cheese seemed so awesome at first). That helped shed off a bit more. Then, to become more healthy, we began cutting out the processed foods (no more jimmy dean sausages with my eggs). A few more pounds came off. As the weight started coming off and the carbs cleared my body, the energy increased. First, no more lulls after lunch, then the constantly sustained energy. A boy this was needed, I now had a toddler running around and couldn't afford to sit down from the hours of 5am to 9pm. My back started hurting a bit less and less and with the energy, I got a standing desk at work. Now my back feels great and I burn more calories. Next thing I knew it, I was lifting weights more aggressively (still in the same 30 minutes) without taking breaks in between rotating sets and muscle groups. I started shattering personal records. But as it all related to work, I was running circles around my peers, high energy and not tired and not glued to my desk. In earlier, out later and still not coming home crashing, but playing with my daughter. My hole life in improved, especially when the alcohol began to get cut out. I did not want unnecessary carbs from beer and without the carbs, two drinks felt like 12, which again, I couldn't afford the next day with a child running around screaming. So the drinks got all but cut, which also helped on the pocket (and that was a benefit as i adapted to paying taxes and taking home less money). Now I am fully in. Last business trip, as the team ordered, they look at me and said, "You are highly disciplined, I don't know how you do it." In which I replied, "I have been doing it for 8 months, I don't have to think about it, it's just my way of life now, it is that easy." The moral here is simple, understand a lot will change and have a plan before you a few years down the road looking in the mirror wondering what happened. And if for nothing else, I guarantee you will see it in your work performance and you if you see, so will your boss. Finally some good news, this is not the military, if it is seen, you will be rewarded (monetarily or promotion) almost immediately, not just on track or one year above your peers!
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