How no more PT military tests are hurting my business

When I left the army I gained 15 pounds pretty quickly.

My recent visit to the doctor for the first time outside of the military was highlighted by the doctor’s charming comment, “You know, you’re technically obese.”

I thought for a second about the old big boned answer but then my 2 kids in the room with me started laughing. It’s 6 and 4, and it didn’t take much to push them over the edge at this point.

That was the first time they heard the word obese. The first time I was called that, technically…

You’d be surprised how many new songs and rhymes kids can come up with in a 15-minute drive home.

I guess going from being semi-active to just sitting at a desk all day pushed me in this direction. So did the late night eating habit I developed while working late nights after the kids went to bed. I justified it by saying to myself at midnight: “I ate more than 5 hours ago!”

So here I am now in the worst shape of my life and it has started to affect my business.

On the surface, you might not think it could. But it does, every part of your business.

From the obvious things like self-image, confidence, etc. and how that correlates to how well you promote your business (which is you). To the not-so-obvious, like not having the energy to get up a little earlier for a little while before the day starts or staying up a little later to finish some things that took longer than I expected.

All of this adds up to hurt the bottom line of business, revenue.

And damaged income means lower income.

And the lower income puts me one step closer to my wife forcing me to get a job!

So I wanted to invite you all to take your first baby steps with me to lead a healthy and fit lifestyle. Let’s do it for ourselves, our families, our business.

As members of the military community, we are no strangers to the things we need to do to get in shape. Before, when I was thinner, it was 3 things. Exercise, nutrition and good quality sleep. And I like to keep things simple or I won’t.

For the exercise part, I want to mention something that might not be so obvious. When I was younger, it was all about how strong she was and how I looked. Now that I’m older this has changed. Athletic is more important to me for lack of a better word. Being able to have functionality and mobility. That’s why I’m going back to my old bodyweight and calisthenics routines. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve lost most of my flexibility, so stretching will be important as well.

For nutrition, let me tell you one thing. In the months after 9/11, I was working long hours without much free time, like most of us. I turned to fruit and vegetable juices as a supplement to help me get through this. After about 2-3 weeks I have never felt better in my entire life. I had more energy, slept better, and all aches and pains were gone. People who haven’t seen me in a long time said my skin and hair looked better than ever and asked what I was doing. So I’m going to take out that old juicer one more time. You could even plug it in.

So good luck on this journey and let’s do it together!

Excuse me while I go sit down and eat a kale leaf…