Not surprised when I look at our general population in the US.

Our lifestyle is not healthy, and I think it's getting worse.

In the 80's we had the "Fat-Boy" program, and they were forcing people out that didn't meet weight standards.  Now all of the services are forced to keep people just to meet manning requirements.  Nukes are being bribed with a $100,000 reenlistment bonus to keep them in.

I would like to see a nutritional study of military mess halls.  Having had to eat at them for 23 years,  I could tell that many of them served empty calories as it was cost effective.  The times I had off post housing, I was able to eat healthier.

Real good point.... at sea the ships serve four meals a day.  I'm guessing some are partaking in all four meals.

To your point about empty calories, on the carriers we had a specific "fast line" amidships where burgers, dogs and fries were exclusively served.  They catered to those that needed to get something quick in between recovery & launch cycles.

I guess it is all about activity levels.  I maintained my same weight since college till I turned 48, then the metabolism change hit.  I can't eat like I use to that's for sure.    

I think they're getting better than they were a few years ago. They're actually serving more vegetables then they used to.

And turkey meatloaf (blech!)

I would like to see a nutritional study of military mess halls.

The obesity epidemic involves all of US society because of the chemicals in our food supply chain.  

There's a video at the link below that explains how the changes in our food supply and environment is a factor in the obesity problem.

theatlantic

It Was Easier to Be Skinny in the ’80s

Aug 23, 2019   | 3 videos

Video by   The Atlantic

Good information.  I think everyone's thumbs are getting a good workout from their phones and PlayStations though

Good information.

Thank you.

Our bodies (including brains) are not designed to function properly on some (or many) of the chemicals in our food chain and even in our clothing, bedding, etc.

Obesity is one of the most visible signs that are discussed.  However, many, if not most, of our health problems in today's world are due to the legalization of chemicals that should have never found their way into our bodies and homes.

Our food supply in the United States is literally killing us instead of nourishing us.

Other countries ban many of the chemicals that we use throughout our food system.  Hence, those countries ban our food products because of the chemical contamination.

And turkey meatloaf (blech!)

And chemicals - (blech!) (blech!)

ecowatch

It is no secret that in the war against meat pathogens in commercial U.S. meat production, the pathogens are winning. The logical result of the  tons of antibiotics  Big Meat gives livestock (not because they are sick, but to fatten them up) is clear: antibiotics that  no longer work  against antibiotic-resistant diseases like staph (MRSA), enterococci (VRE) and C.difficile. Antibiotic-resistant infections, once limited to hospitals and nursing homes, can now be acquired in the community, Florida public beaches and on the highway behind a  poultry truck .

1. Chlorine Baths

If you want to know the most problematic ingredients in our food supply, just look at the items the European Union boycotts, starting with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), hormone beef and chicken dipped in chlorine baths. U.S. Big Food lobbyists are   pushing hard  to circumvent the European bans, says   MintPress News , especially "bleached chicken." They claim the “many unwarranted non-tariff trade barriers … severely limit or prohibit the export of certain U.S. agricultural products to the EU.”

That's the idea. In fact, the EU has not accepted U.S. poultry since 1997.

Why do U.S. poultry processors use chlorine? It   "kills bacteria,  controls slime and algae, increases product shelf life [and] eliminates costly hand-cleaning labor and materials" in addition to disinfecting "wash down" and "chilling" water.  

2. Ammonia

It has only been two years since the nation's stomach churned when it saw photos of   "pink slime"   oozing out of processing tubes and bound for U.S. dinner tables and the National School Lunch Program. Looking like human intestines, "lean, finely textured beef" (LFTB) was made from unwanted beef "trim" and treated with puffs of ammonia gas to retard the growth of E. coli. While the company making most of the nation's LFTB, Beef Products Inc. (BPI) shuttered   three plants  and laid off hundreds of employees two years ago, it is since fighting back and has brought a lawsuit against ABC news.

In November, Ag giant Cargill  announced  it is bringing back pink slime, with two changes—instead of ammonia, E.coli will be killed with citric acid and the meat will be identified as "Finely Textured Beef" on its label.

3. Carbon Monoxide

Eight years ago there was an uproar about Big Meat using gases like carbon monoxide to color meat an unnatural red even as it was aging on the shelf.  

Why is Cargill's name actually written into government directives? Maybe because it's one of the world's biggest Ag players according to  Rain Forest Action . With annual revenues bigger than the GDP of 70 percent of the world’s countries, Cargill is the world's largest privately held corporation, says Rain Forest Action. It operates in more than 66 countries and is one of a "very small handful of agribusiness giants that collectively are shaping the increasingly globalized food system to their advantage."

4. Other "Safe and Suitable" Ingredients You Don't Know You're Eating

Unless you're a chemist, you may not recognize some of the other ingredients in the 2014 FSIS directive, but that doesn't mean you want to ingest them. Take "cetylpyridinium with propylene glycol for bacterial control." While cetylpyridinium is a germ-killing compound found in mouthwashes, toothpastes and nasal sprays, in meat production it is combined with propylene glycol to "treat the surface of raw poultry carcasses or parts (skin-on or skinless)." Yum.

How about, "aque

5. Bacteriophages

An under-reported way in which Big Food is seeking to kill meat pathogens, especially antibiotic-resistant pathogens, is with bacteriophages. Phages are viruses that infect and kill bacteria, essentially turning the bacteria cell into a phage production factory until the bacteria cell bursts, releasing hundreds of copies of new phages, which go on to infect and kill more bacteria. Phages, discovered in 1919, were used to treat bacterial infections but fell out of favor when antibiotics became widely available in the 1940s. Antibiotics had the advantage of attacking more than one bacterium at the same time and were not usually recognized by a patient’s immune system, so they could be used over and over in the same person to fight bacterial infection without producing any immune response.

Very good information.  Thank you to all that followed up on my comment.

on the carriers we had a specific "fast line" amidships where burgers, dogs and fries were exclusively served. 

Doggone Fly, you guys on the carriers lived well.  First ship I was on (LSD); we spent four months on Yankee Station without replenishment.  Paper thin beef and runny mashed potatoes.  We hit the Marine's C-Rats until they had to put an armed guard on the last pallet.

It may well be that the services are reflecting civilian society in the increasing level of obesity.  The Navy is definitely about activity levels though.  Unless you are in a job like a fighter pilot who has to keep in shape to take heavy G's, there just isn't enough heavy work during a long voyage to provide exercise.  Even in combat, it doesn't take much strength to trigger off the weaponry and the engines no longer require that you shovel coal.

who has to keep in shape to take heavy G's,

and fit in the seat

Dear Friend Mocowgirl: Good points.

Regular sleep.

Increased exercise.

Whole foods, mostly plant based.

All these can help.

P&AB.

Enoch.

The Navy is all about attention to detail.  Watch your scopes, check your gages, tighten and safety-wire these bolts just so.  Not overly strenuous.  Those on the flight deck chalking & chaining walked quite a bit as did the weapons guys.  Those of us that that had to fit in an ejection seat, did workout on a regular basis.

Bodies in motion tend to stay in motion..... bodies at rest tend to stay at rest.

Nukes are being bribed with a $100,000 reenlistment bonus to keep them in.

Another reason I should have gone GMT.  When I was at the Gunnery School in Great Lakes, one of the guys there told me that GMT training was at Sandia.  He said that I should sign up for it because they had a lot of people there wearing Army and Air Force uniforms, so that when someone in a Navy uniform showed up, each of the sailors would be walking down the streets of Albuquerque with four or five girls hanging all over him.  I figured that he was just blowing smoke and wanting to get the credit for getting me to sign on for an extra three years.  2 1/2 years later, just before my last deployment, my wife and I were heading East on  US 66 and passed right down the main drag in Albuquerque and right past Sandia.  What did we see but several sailors walking down the street and each of them had three or four beautiful women clustered around him.  That SOB was telling the truth all along.

In Boot, our Company Commander (BMC Stevens) told us that the Navy bought better food for us than our parents could afford to buy, and then gave it to a bunch of idiots to screw up (not an exact quote but this is a family site).  He was right as far as Boot Camp went but, on each of the ships on which I served, the food wasn't that bad as long as the cooks had something to work with.  The secret to good food on Navy ships is having a Chief Cook's Mate that knew what he was doing and who watched and corrected the junior cooks.

Too many sliders and rollers ......

I entered the Navy weighing 127 with a 25 inch waist. They put me on a program to bulk up and 4 months later weighed 137 with a 27 inch waist.

left the Navy at 138 with 28 inch waist.  Never went hungry

Bring back C-rats and make em eat those.   Every chow-hall i was ever in was like the Ritz compared to our field rations.   Pretty tough to get fat on that crap.

You know you're living high when the food you're eating is older that you are  ..... Oorah!

That was the photo I almost seeded with the article......

Easy to understand why, you're cooped up on a ship eating 3 - 4 good meals a day, always a tray of desserts and snacks out, cheap beer 24/7, very limited area to exercise in and very limited equipment and even the work is very sedentary.  Luckily for the entirety of my 4 yrs aboard I was highly susceptible to seasickness, so I only rarely felt like eating and there was no guarantee I would be able to keep what I ate down.

Put those puggy sailors in Viking warships and do some rowing. That will get them in shape in a NY minute. If not make them walk the plank.

Problem solved. 

Get thin or your shark bait porky.

Either that, or send them to do some real-time training at an Army or Marine boot camp to really man up.

Americans have gotten HUGE! I've always identified a being big. By 6th grade graduation I was 6ft, 190 lb and wore a size 11 shoe. Today I can almost feel small compared with the masses of those around me. When did 16 year olds get to be so big? Look at movies or TV from before say 1980 and just see. It is going to be a problem for lots of folks getting older...

Americans have gotten HUGE! I

Very true. Even young girls are developing rather large breasts at 10 and 11 y/o and maturing much faster. And young boys are growing much taller at far earlier ages, while taking a bit longer to to grow into their muscle mass and body weight.

Some have said it is due to the growth hormones in the chicken, pork and beef, as well as the hormones in the milk. Not too sure how much of that is true, but, it does make some sense as more dairies, farmers and ranchers have been adding various hormones to their feed over the years. 

Don't know about the effect of the hormones but I do know that, compared with a couple of hundred years ago, we eat a lot more.  That's why, during the American Revolution, the average height of a British soldier was 5'4" and he was usually lucky if he got above 110 pounds.

So, they really were "little shytes", eh?

Yep.  The British Army (and most of the European armies of the time) also had a rule that no one could be recruited unless he had at least one tooth on top and one on the bottom.  They didn't care much about dental hygiene but did insist that the soldier be able to bite open the paper cartridges to load his musket.

Historically being, "Assigned to the gallies" was considered a death sentence. The reason sailors have traditionally been fed more than other branches of service is that it takes lots of calories to replace those burned by sailors. There is practically no way to replace the calories required to pull oars day after day after day. It is hard to imagine a worse existance than a Roman galley slave would have had. They were just fuel to be burned up unto nothing...

They were just fuel to be burned up unto nothing...

But it is great cardio

No a doubt...within limits. 

The reason sailors have traditionally been fed more than other branches of service is that it takes lots of calories to replace those burned by sailors.

Yeah, but that was back in the days of oars and sails (climbing a mast to handle sails 20-30 times a day can really burn up the calories.  Today, we have this new thing called internal combustion.  Even with handling heavy loads, you don't get nearly as much exercise.

Oh oh, it didn't make these guys any slimmer at all.  They're still pigs.

Really Fat Sailors

I remember seeing news footage of the Army from Iraq (sometime around '04 or '05) and was wondering if they hadn't been forced to lower standards to keep numbers up during an unpopular war. I was a little shocked, to be honest. Some of those guys looked downright fat! Old, too, by military standards, anyway. I remember being a bit embarrassed by it at the time.

I always thought they needed to do PT differently and focus more on whole-body movement with resistance, really working the large, calorie-burning muscles in the legs and arms. Load those bodies down with packs, put rifles in their hands and quick march their asses over some soft terrain for a good long while, doing curls and over-head arm extensions with the rifles every now and them. The Navy could march laps around deck with weighted harnesses and dumbbells or something (anything with some heft to carry, really) instead of packs and rifles.

I never thought regular old PT (stretching, calisthenics and a run) was a very satisfactory work out back in the day. The best workouts I remember doing were the long, full gear road marches we had to do from time to time. Awesome whole body, high calorie-burning exercise, with much less violent pounding on the knees (compared to running, anyway).

Why is it that no one has mentioned the almost perfect index finger form on both hands for holding the coffee mug during hurricanes/typhoons while the ship bumps and lurches - without spilling a drop?????

I've heard it called "The Chief's Grip", and it was a requirement to make E7 1st....

Proper cups for lifer juice don't have handles!

1. U.S. AIR FORCE OATH OF ENLISTMENT

I, Zoomie, swear to sign away four years of my useless life to the United States Air Force because I know I couldn’t hack it in the Army and because the Marines frighten me.

I swear to sit behind a desk and take credit for the work done by others more dedicated than me who take their job seriously.

I also swear not to do any form of real exercise, but promise to defend our bike-riding test as a valid form of exercise.

I swear to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States, even though I believe myself to be above that.

I promise to walk around calling everyone by their first name because I know I’m not really in the military and I find it amusing to annoy the other services.

I will have a better quality of life than all those around me and will at all times be sure to make them aware of that fact.

After completion of my – snicker – “basic training,” I will be a not-so-lean, semi-mean, doughnut-eating, lazy-boy sitting, chair borne Ranger.

I will believe that I am superior to all others, and will make an effort to clean the knife before stabbing the next person in the back with it.

I will do no work unless someone is watching me (and it makes me look good), will annoy those around me, and will go home early every day.

I consent to never getting promoted – EVER – and understand that all those whom I made fun of yesterday probably will outrank me tomorrow.

So help me God.

Signature:___________________   Date:_________________

2. U.S. ARMY OATH OF ENLISTMENT

 I, Rambo, swear to sign away four years of my mediocre life to the United States Army because I couldn’t score high enough on the ASVAB to get into the Air Force, I’m not tough enough for the Marines, and the Navy won’t take me because I can’t swim.

 I will wear camouflage every day and tuck my trousers into my boots because I can’t figure out how to use blousing straps.

 I promise to wear my uniform 24 hours a day even when I have a date.

 I will continue telling myself that I am a fierce killing machine because my drill sergeant told me I am, despite the fact that the only action I ever will see is a court martial for sexual harassment.

 I acknowledge the fact that I will make E-8 in my first year of service, and vow to maintain that it is because I scored perfect on my PT test.

 After completion of my sexual – er – I mean, BASIC training, I will attend a different Army school once every other month and return knowing less than I did when I left.

 On my first trip home after boot camp, I will walk around like I am cool and propose to my ninth-grade sweetheart.

 I will make my wife stay home, because if I let her out she might leave me for a smarter, better-looking Air Force guy.  Should she leave me twelve times, I will continue to take her back.

 While at work, I will maintain a look of knowledge while getting absolutely nothing accomplished.

 I will arrive at work everyday at 1000 hours because of morning PT and leave every day at 1300 hours to report back to the “COMPANY”.

 I understand that I will undergo no training whatsoever that will help me get a job upon separation, and end up working construction with my friends from high school.

 I will brag to everyone about the Army giving me $30,000 for college, but will be unable to use it because I can’t pass a placement exam.

 So help me God.

Signature:_________________________    Date:  __________________________

3. U.S. NAVY OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

I, Top Gun, in lieu of going to prison, swear to sign away four years of my life to the United States Navy because I want to hang out with Marines without actually having to BE one of them, because I thought the Air Force was too “corporate,” and because I thought,  “Hey, I like to swim…Why not?”

I promise to wear clothing that went out of style in 1976 and to have my name stenciled on the butt of every pair of pants I own.

I understand that I will be mistaken for the Good Humor man during the summer, and for the Waffen SS during the winter.

I will strive to use a different language than the rest of the English-speaking world, using words like “deck, bulkhead, cover, and head,” when I really mean “floor, wall, hat, and toilet.”

I will take great pride in the fact that all Navy acronyms, ranks and insignia, and everything else for that matter, are completely different from the other services and make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I will muster (whatever that is) at 0700 hours every morning unless I am buddy-buddy with the Chief, in which case I will show up around 0930 hours.

I vow to hone my coffee cup handling skills to the point that I can stand up in a kayak being tossed around in a typhoon and still not spill a drop.

I consent to being promoted and subsequently busted at least twice each fiscal year.

I realize that, once selected for Chief, I am required to submit myself to the sick, and quite possibly illegal, whims of my new-found “colleagues.”

So help me Neptune.

Signature:  _________________________  Date:  _________________________

4. U.S. MARINE CORPS OATH OF ENLISTMENT

I, ____________________ (state name here), swear . . . .uhhhh . . . . high-and-tight. . . . . <grunt> . . . . . cammies . . . . ugh . . . . Air Force women . . . . .OORAH!!!!!

So help me Corps.

Thumb Print:  ______________________________

Simply priceless 1st!!!!

One of the best I've seen in years!

Happy Friday my friend.

LOL, this from a Puddle Pirate...

CURRAHEE

'Scuse me - you'll note that there is no "Coastie" oath and that's 'cause we don't let the water get above our waists.

Do i hear frogs croaking?

Knee-deep, knee-deep!

So Kav, how many times is it that you have deliberately jumped out of a perfectly functioning airplane??????

47 times. No one said that they were perfectly functioning airplanes though.

'Scuse me - you'll note that there is no "Coastie" oath and that's 'cause we don't let the water get above our waists.

Hell, where'd you get that pic of me in the Kuwaiti port in '90????  (Notice - they misspelled "Guard" - had to be an Army clerk.)

Funny story - involves a "SEAL" team in 'Nam in '66.

The Seals needed a boat to use for their River Ops outside of DaNang.  Well, the CG was nice enough to "gift" them one of their 24's and the Seals gladly accepted.

Upon receiving the boat, the Seals said - "Hey, this thing ain't got no guns on it" and one of their own popped up and said - "no sweat - I'll fix it."

So, Salty goes over to the Army SpecOps team and asked (I'm sure he did - everybody knows Seals are extremely courteous) if they might have a .50 laying around that his team could use in River Ops.  SpecOps sez - "Sure, no sweat - just make sure to bring it back in semi-one-piece when you're done."  Salty takes the .50 and heads down to the waterfront to do some "maintenance" with their newest treasures.

First, he manufactures a four foot tall "A" brace that will fit between the gunnels - places shelving mid-point for ammo and tools - and welds the brace into the aluminum gunnels for stability.  He then develops a base for the .50 of 1" plate steel, drills mounting holes for the tripod in the middle of the base, inserts the .50 and lugs the damn thing way beyond torque tolerances (just to make sure it don't jump out of its housing).

Convinced that all is well, he places ammo on the shelf, some tools, cranks the motor and off he goes.  Getting to the middle of the Han River, he anchors his new float, pulls ammo from the can, pops the lid of the .50 and inserts the lead riser into the receiver.  Grabs the retracting slide handle and yanks it back.  Then, John Wayne sights in his new weapon component and gently squeezes the trigger - once voluntarily and the other six out of reacting to the sudden backward recoil - at which time, the new 24 footer, .50 Cal and John Wayne do two complete rolls in the river with half the military folks watching.

The team recovered the .50 and towed the 24 with cracked gunnels back to the wharf and the SUPER, SUPER SENIOR CHIEF Seal very politely informed Salty that he was to never try to weld Aluminum and Steel again - in fact, he was to NEVER pick up a welding MIG/TIG EVER again under his command.

It was a good show.

However, later the Seals and Seabees developed a mounting strategy for the .50's.

LMAO

We've already established that you're nuts Kavika.

Any normal person would have screamed their livers out like I did on the two jumps I had to make....

We've already established that you're nuts Kavika.

Well, Red has said on occasion, ''WTF is wrong with you''.....

Never doubt that woman  

From the Marine:

I don't get it ......

I don't get it ......

What he was saying was that, when a Marine was waist deep in the water, he was trying to get out of it and reach dry land (well, as dry as a swamp can get).  The Coast Guard, on the other hand, considered that to be "Sea Duty".

Always keep in mind, however, the CG unofficial motto (used when a ship is in trouble); "We have to go out, nothing is said about having to come back".

I love to kid 1st about the Coasties but the fact of the matter is that they are some bad ass people and have saved thousands of lives...They are the first into the Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian. 

No doubt ... they are one squared away service.  

We have an air station near where i live.   Great group of people.

Tough job to be sure.

IMHO, the Marines are probably the closest knit I've ever known, military wise.  But, I was stationed at a few small boat stations - 14 - 21 full time personnel and, believe me, those small boat stations are every bit as close knit as the Marines.

Here is a article about two Coasties that saved a battalion of Marines. One was awarded the Navy Cross and the other the Medal of Honor. 

A Coast Guardsman who earned a Navy Cross for actions during combat operations in Guadalcanal was buried June 5 in Lakewood, Wash.

Retired Cmdr. Ray Evans, whose actions during World War II earned him the Navy’s second-highest award for valor, was part of the a mission to rescue Marines along with   Douglas Munro , the Coast Guard’s only Medal of Honor recipient. Evans and Munro were known as   “The Gold Dust Twins.”   They were both from Washington State and joined the Coast Guard together in 1939.

They subsequently served together in New York before entering the history books in the South Pacific.

In September 1942, Evans and Munro had helped transport a battalion of Marines to a beach during the Guadalcanal campaign, but the Marines encountered heavy Japanese resistance. Evans and Munro returned to evacuate 500 men from the beach at Point Cruz under heavy enemy fire. The Coast Guardsmen provided cover fire from their boat while the rest of the boats loaded the Marines.

After providing cover for a boat that had gotten stuck on the beach, Evans saw his friend Munro killed by Japanese machine gun fire as they were heading off. It was still tough for him to talk about his friend’s death decades later, as this   transcript from a 1999 video interview   shows.

“I’ve never have had as good a friend. Not that close,” Evans said of Munro in the interview.

Evans was buried with full military honors,   the Coast Guard reported , and his funeral was attended by Marines, who fired a three-volley salute in his honor.

SHARE.

Semper Paratus Doug and Ray - Semper Paratus.

And, I double-damn dare anyone to get in that 42' roller used on the East Coast.  Damn thing will roll completely over 'bout 4 times before it finds the ceiling again and you better get your hands on something to stay in place when the rolling kick in.

I love to kid 1st about the Coasties but the fact of the matter is that they are some bad ass people and have saved thousands of lives...

So do I.  The thousands of lives are why I mentioned the not coming back part.  I've seen them go out into weather that would scare me off; and all they had was a 40 foot cutter, while I was in a 500 foot LST.

Besides which, the guys over in Eastern Michigan were really good about sharing their ration of practice ammo with the local cops.