If some things are physically hard for you (prone pos, running a short distance, carrying a load) then you have to start at the beginning-
Only eat what you can kill, pick or grow most of the time.
You have canine teeth for slicing meat, use them.
Buy organic or grow your own.
At least once in your life, kill an animal and eat it instead of just buying. This simple lost skill will change some people’s habit of eating manufactured food.
Things to really stay away from;
Food with hormones, sugar, salt, hi fructose corn syrup, sat fats, sugar, and sugar. If you don’t believe then go people watch one day and notice the absurd obesity in everyone, especially kids who drink sodas constantly.
Every once and awhile (once a month) eat like shit (McDonalds, etc) to keep your system used to all kinds of foods- so that you’re not one of those weak fucks that can’t function if you don’t have your muscle milk and energy bar.
Fast. Once a month, don’t eat for a day, just drink water (for the already in shape- this is best accomplished during a long cardio event of a few hours)
Stop eating at scheduled times! Eat when your hungry, stop when you get the first “full” feeling. If wifey is making a big dinner, it’s probably a good day to just snack on fruit and nuts til you get home.
Alcohol is fine in moderation and might even be good for you.
Now you’ve just got to PT………..
V/R,
Kyle Defoor
“Trainer of Feeders”
Kyle Defoor is one of the world’s most committed and passionate shooting instructors. Literally growing up with a gun in hand he took his talents into the military where he was combat decorated as a SEAL assaulter and sniper. Kyle helped to create and define modern training while along the way personally teaching thousands of military personal and civilians from around the globe. His shooting prowess led to appearances on multiple TV shows including Shooting Gallery, Tactical Arms, and Tactical Impact, and guest appearances on History Channel. Kyle’s outdoor athletic lifestyle includes shooting, ultra running, stand-up paddle surfing and climbing. He now serves as the brand ambassador for Mission Ready Equipment and runs his own company which offers tactical training, wilderness navigation, TV and film consulting, and motivational speaking.
Gunfighter Moment is a weekly feature brought to you by Alias Training & Security Services. Each week Alias brings us a different Trainer and in turn they offer some words of wisdom.
Fuck. Yes.
I have to agree with everything but this – eat only when you are hungry. Well, if you are hungry, you tend to eat much more.
And, also, I think a good advice is eating smaller portions (do not over-eat) and more times a day.
1. Avoid “synthetic” hormones.
2. Bette advice may be: “stay away from refined salt.” Optimal salt/sodium intake is highly individualized (which is why the research is persistently ambiguous). For instance, someone with adrenal exhaustion (when chronic stress causes his endocrine glands to continually secrete cortisol – an operator returning from deployment or retiring, for example) likely may need a higher intake, due to excessive levels of sodium exertion. This wold be especially true if he has a high protein intake and/or follows a fairly rigorous strength training program.
3. As a USDA label, “Organic” is fuzzy, sometimes even ingenuine* (almonds, for instance, can be “organic” even though coated with a known carcinogen), a certification for which one must pay to use. Nor is food grown without pesticides and fertilizers necessarily healthier than all “conventionally-grown” foods (i.e., fresher, from better soil, and/or without pathogens like organic mold and organic mouse poop).
Now, I’m something of an agnostic on whether “eating organic” produce actually makes an actual difference in most people’s health (though I do pretty consistently, mostly out of a gluttonous Pasal’s Wager). For most people, a cost-effective route is to eat organic produce selectively (i.e., avoid thin-skinned foods, like celery and strawberries, grown with pesticides), choose fruits and veggies with a short farm-to-fork time (as nutrient quality degrades quickly after picking), preferably from quality sources/at the right time, and buy/kill the best meats available (the internet often being the best rout for he latte two). In fact, given a choice between paying for organic and having a food allergy/sensitivity test, I’d argue the latter offers far greater comparative advantage.
“I have to agree with everything but this – eat only when you are hungry. Well, if you are hungry, you tend to eat much more.”
Well, only if you’re eating crap (or quasi-crap, depending on your feeling about things like mashed potatoes or any source of liquid calories). It’s near impossible to overeat on a clean diet of lean meats, nuts, veggies, etc. (In fact, the problem becomes the way worse other side of the coin: having to eat when you’re not hungry.)
* Fun Fact: Profts from fraudulently labeled organic and like-produce in the U.S. are higher than total heroin sales.
JohnC
Can you talk a more about adrenal exhaustion; what are the symptoms you have seen, what are ways to prevent or treat it?
Great info in your post.
ReconRunner – Google ‘Adrenal Fatigue’ and you will get a wealth of information, much more than can be posted here.
I read some of the articles from google prior to posting but there’s a wide desperity in symptoms and treatments and if its even a “real” medical issue.
I was more interested in JohnC’s personal experience or professional experience since he spoke pretty authoritatively about it.
I wasn’t referring to (the debatable condition) “adrenal fatigue.” I used ‘exhaustion’ (maybe too casually) thinking of a couple of specific times where a measurable disruption of hormonal regulation and adrenal function can be attributable to overwhelming physical and environmental stressors rather than adrenal or pituitary failure, etc. (the most serious causes of ‘adrenal insufficiency’). Unlike with AF, there’s pretty good diagnostic criteria, here.
It’s clear that measurable changes are fairly common, though the effects temporary (i.e., following consecutive days of intense, long-term endurance training, especially when glucocorticosteroids are involved). Sometimes, however, the decrease in basal activity of the adrenals (and consequent reduction in blood cortisol, etc.) may persist. Overtrained athletes are an example. (Actual overtraining is very rare. It takes months (perhaps years) of monotonous high-volume and high-intensity training, plus a poor diet (often involving allergenic foods and/or high-levels of caffeine and other ergogenics), plus other compounding stresses, like infections and illness, chronic inflammation, trauma (especially to the brain), environmental factors (i.e., poor air and water quality; mold; temperature), high levels of psychological stress (i.e., training for the Olympics), the (mis-)use of glucocorticosteroids, etc.)
Kyle, Thank you for the reminder – good stuff. Wheeler makes a good point too. I tend to subscribe to grazing in small portions throughout the day. Works best for me anyway.
Kyle, would you care to clarify what’s going on with you and Smith Optics? I didn’t follow your tumblr post a while back.
Thanks.
Usually I cringe when firearm instructors talk fitness/nutrition…but the dude’s right on