Diets.

I'm so bad at them. I'll go a few days where plain lean protein and vegetables and a protein bar or shake every so often will cut it. But it never does.

And the end of a diet is a slow, very justifiable death. It usually begins with these sorts of thoughts:

"Well, a few hershey's kisses isn't going to ruin 5 cardio sessions." (Gobble gobble.)

"I look fucking hot. Why am I dieting again?" (Munch munch, followed by "i feel faaaaaaaaat...")

"I can always get back on track tomorrow." (or next week.)

"Well, today can just be my cheat day."

-- This, in my opinion, is the worst way we dieters mislead ourselves when we fall of the wagon. If we could just forgive the damned chocolate after we eat it and settle for moving on with a healthy rest of the day, we could save the guilt of all the other junk we've allowed into our bellys.

Easier said than done. I know I can be so black and white that if I eat any carbs sometimes I just decide I already screwed it up and go crazy.

I know what you're thinking, you idealistic, perfect person who knows exactly what I should do. You're wanting to tell me,

"Everything in moderation. If you just eat a balanced diet like me, you'll never feel deprived."

Yeah, I know. WE know. The cult of low-carb yo-yo dieters who like to get skinny fast and usually end up paying for it later. We know all about your balanced diet approach. I mean, I read Shape Magazine, too.

Oh well. I just ate Lucky Charms. And then I thought, "Well, I already ate carbs and sugar. I may as well get fries at lunch." But I won't! I'm staying strong.

Deployment Lessons 1: Taking care of myself

What's really crazy: It was about a year and a half ago that I heard about and voluneered for this deployment. I've done a lot so far to make myself into the kind of person who is ready to go to war, and I've realized that a lot of my lessons so far can be applied to living life in general, including:

*Learning how to pack light. Trust me, you don't need all the crap that you think you do, and it is do-able to have everything that makes you comfortable without having to throw away or waste things. I've learned to keep only what I need and sacrifice the rest. This is something that comes with moving around a lot -- from city to city, apartment to apartment, duffel bag to rucksack, barracks to barracks, now country to country.

*Getting a head start. Yeah, all that administrative stuff? making sure my bills were online and accessible by both myself and my power of attorney was imperative to leaving with a clean conscience. Plus you don't worry about all that paper mail being shipped to Lord knows where or winding up in a landfill. I like knowing that my personal affairs can be handled easily by me, myself and I, or, if I end up without an internet connection, my mother.

*Getting in shape. You can't shortcut everything with diet. You have to move your butt! "I'm too tired, long day at work," "I don't like exercising with people," "I don't like exercising in front of people," "Carrying around all this gear/training is enough exercise." Mmmm Hmmm... Remember, a little effort is better than none! 20 push ups here, a few sit ups or lunges there, a one mile run is better than just feeling guilty about doing nothing and plotting to run five miles tomorrow. I still have a lot to do, but I have to constantly forgive myself for not being perfect and start over. It's okay tho, we're all a work in progress.


*Connecting with loved ones. That ignored phonecall, neglected text message, unanswered email, deleted voicemail. Yeah, those add up. It's easy to cut people out when they aren't prominent roles in the movie of your life right now, but at least let them know you're alive. Sgt. Joe Roos loves to say that "The best gift you can give somebody is your time." Sure, it's gonna take a while to really catch up with Nana, but a quick 5 or 10 minute phone takes little effort and at least you know that you did it should something happen. If you really are strapped for time just simply say at the beginning of the phonecall, email, whatnot, "I've been pretty busy and don't have much time to talk right now, but I just wanted you to know I'm thinking about you and thought we should touch base."

Most of the best things in life are a result of the things that we don't want to do at first. We always feel better about ourselves after we pay our bills, go for a little run, do our laundry, do our homework. Sure, it's hard to get shakin', but once you do, it's hard not to follow through.

Get Ripped!

Okay, This video is kinda lame but it's my first attempt at using my footage and Adobe Premier Elements... I think my favorite part is when you hear Lt. Col. Olson in the background when Spc. Angelo is eating tuna say, "I've only eaten tuna for lunch." BTW- last time I checked, the man lost 11 pounds!