Courtesy of The Loadout Room – By Eric Davis

Happy New Year SOFREP – It’s been a while since I’ve posted here. I’ve been busy in Ethiopia and working on the Loadout Room. As we ramp for an amazing 2014, I thought to share some of our work that we thought you would value.

Now I’m not saying that any of you put on some pounds over the Holidays, but just in case you did, everyone at the Loadout Room wanted to help get you back into your cammies and clear up any “Dunlap” disease that may have occurred. You know… when your gut “Dunlapped” over your belt.

Why I like to get my chubby on

I intentionally gain a little weight during the holidays. Partially because I just want to let loose, but mostly because I want to practice and demonstrate my ability to recover and quickly drop the pounds.

It’s always perplexed me that people I know don’t ask me how to lose weight. They’re all quick to tell me about dieting and exercising, but slow to ask for input. Sometimes I think that they think I’m naturally fit. This isn’t true at all. I’m actually a “Chubby” kid on the inside with a proclivity to gain size.

After over a decade of being a SEAL and a lifetime of being a chubby kid, I’ve learned that there are three core ways to get and keep the weight off and none of them are what commercials talk about.

It takes a lot of time

There are too many programs, pills and diets out there that claim they can help you lose weight quickly and without effort. I know you already know this deep inside, but I have to make sure I tell you straight up. Those “Commercials” are full of shit and if you want to lose weight you’ll need to accept that you’re going to spend a couple of hours a day doing it.

Plan on running for at least an hour a day, lifting weights for 30 minutes and stretching for at least 30 minutes.  Assuming you don’t want to spend the rest of the day smelling like a “badger’s ass”, you’re going to need 15 minutes for showering and another 15 minutes for transit time. Do the math and you’re quickly at 2 hours a day.  The good news is that once you drop the candy cane blubber you can scale it back to an hour a day.

Organize Your Garage

Ask a room full of people how to lose weight and they will all reply with the same thing. “Diet and Exercise”. If everyone knows how to lose weight why isn’t everyone as thin as they could be?

Physical fitness and weight loss is more about how clean your garage is than it is about diet and exercise. Weight loss and fitness is about getting organized and producing the time and space we need to get our fat asses out there and run.

If you accept my earlier claim, that your weight loss goals are going to take you up to 2 hours a day, then this claim of organization makes a lot of sense.

People don’t realize that fitness is a byproduct of an organized life. The number one reason most people are out of shape is because they really just don’t have the time to workout regularly. If you’re not already spending 10 plus hours a week moving your body then the idea of putting in that kind of time probably seems impossible. This is why the “magical” diet pills and exercise programs are so appealing as they offer a quicker – albeit bull shit – option of results without putting in the time.

Stop dieting and start reading

I’ve found two things to be true when it comes to diets. First is that an active body will crave that which is good for you and second is that if you educate yourself about nutrition those “healthy cravings” will get steered to the right foods.

Eating a healthy diet isn’t “Rocket Surgery”. Just educate yourself a bit and you’ll see the results. Or just go “Paleo” and you won’t have to worry about it.

Bonus Tip

Ultimately I’ve been able to stay in shape because of my commitment to lifelong fitness. I’ve accepted that there are no shortcuts and there is no way around putting in the time everyday. Your body is a foundational element of your life and if you let it go it will let you go. Try and skip it so that you can make more money and watch more TV and it will bite you in your fat ass!

Take care of your gear and it will take care of you – Sincerely the Loadout Room 

See you at the SHOT Show!

Eric