The other day I was at the gym here on base (imagine that) and I noticed an overweight older man struggling with the cable rowing machine. Now normally I don’t bother anyone at the gym, but this poor guy’s form was so bad I thought that he might seriously hurt himself. So I went over to give him some help (disguised as small talk). After he caught his breath we struck up a nice conversation. He was new to the gym, having recently had a health scare and his doctor told to him he’d better “take charge” of his health before it got worse, so here he was. loafers, black socks, Bermuda shorts and all. Hey I give him a lot of credit, he was trying. So I asked him what his plan was. “Lose weight and get in shape” was his simple answer. “Well, I replied, How much weight do you want to lose, by when and what do you mean by, get in shape? Better yet what diet and workout routine are you going to follow?” To those questions he had no real answer. His somewhat confused response is very common, and one of the biggest reasons people fail to lose 
the weight they want and improve their health and fitness. No plan = No success. These things don’t just happen, you have to have a solid plan to follow and with that, long and short term goals to monitor your progress. In my book Corps Strength, I devote an entire chapter to planning. Trust me on this, Its important, and will take some thought to make it work. The famous Alabama football coach Bear Bryant once said: “I beat people with better teams than me all the time. Mostly because I plan better than they do.” So take some advice from the “Bear”, and before you lace up your running shoes, take the time to outline an effective plan to reach your fitness goals. A little planning will go a long way. Be safe and good luck!
Semper Fi
MGunz
