Here is a tip from a former marine who gained too much weight after leaving the Marine Corps.
You don't have to dedicate yourself to any diet plan or low-carb regimen to lose weight. Just substitute what you might eat in carbs with fat instead, bacon vs donuts, cheese vs cereal, or a sandwich with mayo without the bread. Doing this will have much less impact on insulin levels, where upswings cause weight gain.
When I was a kid I used to watch in awe as my Dad chowed down on a sandwich he made with liverwurst or other deli items (usually a Dagwood size, if you recall what that was and if you are too young to know about a Dagwood sandwich, well, just think huge). He would rub his hands together in anticipation, open his mouth as wide as he could, and take these monster bites, rolling his eyes and moaning with pleasure. He didn't restrict his great white shark bites to just sandwiches either, just about anything he consumed was done in a manner that suggested it might be his last meal.
Of course, later on when my mouth could handle it I too started eating like my Dad, hogging it down in a way that I convinced myself had me enjoying food more. I didn't just pick up this eating style during my stint in the Marine Corps, although back then I ate fast because I either had to or was in a hurry to get somewhere. The marines have a saying about chow time; "take all you want, but eat all you take".
Unfortunately, as a result of his bad eating habits, Dad became extremely overweight, developed diabetes and died at the tender age of 62 from complications of a gastric bypass operation.
After I joined the marines I had to learn how to eat all over again. In USMC boot camp I was always hungry, not because they starved me (just the opposite) but because I was expending so many calories in training I needed the nourishment. And the food was darn good too! Since leaving the marines I have had to watch what I eat and was not always successful, I gained weight and before I knew it had gained more weight than I thought possible. Before I discovered the low-carb lifestyle I was headed toward repeating my Dad's mistakes and fortunately I woke up in time to reverse that trend. (more…)
It is my sad duty report that another Marine has fallen, killed in action in Afghanistan. 23-year-old Lance Cpl. Alejandro Yazzie was killed last month while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan, site of a major offensive by U.S. and Afghan forces against the Taliban.
Small consolation to the family of Cpl. Yazzie who was from the small Navajo community of Rock Point, just a short drive from where I live in NE Arizona. He is the 11th Navajo warrior to have been killed in action in Iraq and Afghanistan since this nonsense started way back in 2001. Cpl. Yazzie was a combat engineer brother who had been attached to the 1st Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Pendleton, CA.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family, friends and the Navajo Nation.
Semper Fi "Pancho"
Image via Wikipedia
When I was in the Marines a visit from the Commandant of the Marine Corps, such as the one featured here by General James T. Conway, would have struck fear into this marine's camo- clad body. Not because of the man himself (although impressive) but the preparations! These Marines seem to think it's just another day in the Marine Corps.
I guess public relations is a much bigger deal than it used to be or maybe it's just that Farjah is a lot safer to visit than Khe Sanh ever was! 
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This movie scored big at the Oscars but I am hearing some bad things about the producers stealing the story from the real EOD expert that the movie was based on. Those might just be vicious rumors from the James Cameron Avatar team but if anyone out there knows the real poop, please let us know.
There were plenty of detractors out there saying that Hollywood has done it again, glamorized a dangerous job, Explosive Ordinance Disposal, while real members of EOD teams in southern Iraq said in interviews arranged by the Army that 'The Hurt Locker' is a good action movie if you know nothing about defusing roadside bombs or the military.
One might even suspect Uncle Sam's involvement somewhere along the line, I would imagine that enlistments were up the day after the Oscars.
Sgt. Eric Gordon of San Pedro, an Air Force EOD technician on his second tour in Iraq, has watched the movie a few times with his friends. 'I would watch it with other EOD people, and we would laugh,' Gordon said." And they add, "an EOD team leader in Maysan province, Staff Sgt. Jeremy D. Phillips, said although he was glad the film highlighted their trade, he disliked the celluloid treatment of EOD units. 'There is too much John Wayne and cowboy stuff. It is very loosely based on actual events,' he said. 'I'm honestly glad they are trying to convey to the public what we've been doing, and I wish maybe they had just done it with a little bit of a different spin on it,' he said."
As an EOD Marine in Vietnam I can't remember much of what I did would qualify as glamorous, certainly I didn't have the luxury of wearing a bomb suit, the heat and humidity was so bad anyway that it would have killed me before any bomb would have. Besides, most of what we did with booby traps and mines was to blow them up, not diffuse them.
I like a good story as much as anyone but let's keep it real where war is concerned, it ain't no Hollywood set!
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