Thanks for the posts you guys. And thanks Hanna for the "R".

I was in Vietnam from March 14th 1970 to Feb. 14th 1971. I was 21 when I went, turned 22 in November. Most of the other guys were younger than I.

For sure youth had something to do with it but I was really surprised how good of shape I was in.

In the jungle of course you're fully covered otherwise the jungle rips the hell out of your arms, legs, chest and everything else. So I hadn't seen my body is quite a while. We weren't allowed mirrors on the firebase exept for a small mirror we kept in a cubbyhole by the aid station for shaving. We bathed in the jungle streams when available.

Well, I had come out of the bush late one day and when I got up the next morning I saw that the guys had rigged up a shower behind the Aid Station. They put a 55 gallon drum up on stilts and painted it black for the tropical sun to warm up. (Do you know how hard it is to find a shower head in the middle of the jungle?)

Along about noon I jumped in the shower. Ahhhhh, a hot shower. Hadn't had one of those in almost a year. I savored it. Got out of the shower and as I was toweling off I walked around the side of the aid station to shave. I was far enough away from the mirror to catch a glimps of my entire body. I did a doubletake. I had always been lean (skinny) but that guy in the mirror was very well muscled from head to toe. I couldn't believe it was me. I was indeed in perfect physical shape. On Army chow no less. It amazed me.

But, that was in the tropics, in the jungle humping my ass off 12-14 hours a day. 30 pound ruck sack, 5 canteens of water, an M-16, two bandaleros of ammo for the M-60, one bandalero for my M-16, and two aid bags (One small one big). War - sure was fun.....

Back to the world. Eat some junk every now and then. I think it's healthy for you. Watch it pretty close 6 days a week or most of the time anyway. But every now and then blow it. I put on 9 pounds over the Summer because I LOVE potatoe chips. I'm on vacation lets go get an ice cream cone. Plus, when the carnival comes to town you just GOT to have one of those great elephant ears everynight. I put on 9 pounds.

Been back from vacation almost a month now and have lost 4 pounds. The rest will be gone by October. Yeah, I know it was bad for me, I know I put on some weight I don't need and don't feel good carrying around but man it sure was good, it sure was fun. And I think having fun is the best adjustment you can give yourself every now and then. Got to do it.

So, as long as you got your discipline in, blow it every now and then, you'll lose it and be back to fighting weight in no time.

Doc Sutter

absolutely agree, but again, if you are contantly "enduring" for "necessity sake" it takes life out long-term and i would tend to believe longevity suffers. enjoyed the read though.

I think the clue here is exercise and necessity level.
Being a soldier at that time necessitated strength, endurance, survival, etc.

Exercise is another key.
We can't just perfect eating without exercise.

Then there are also the goals we wish to accomplish. Survive a war, explosive strength, endurance, longevity.

Just look at the athletes in the olympics, each sport would require different types of recommended nutrition.

I just got into airsoft. Playing soldiers with plastic BBs. No real war for me. I hope to avoid war in every possible way. But of course it pays to be ready, just in case. My observation here is after years of being obese on a ridiculous blind Standard Urban Diet (I'm not american), going mostly vegan, observe proper food combinations, follow barefoot book I, I have to eat some fish for socialization purposes say 2 meals per month, I'm healthy enough, strong enough and enduring enough to play toy soldiers with toy guns.

I like play rather than a boring gym.

Oh I like longevity too. My ancestors on my fathers' side mostly live 100+ and I'd love to teach great grandchildren. Ah necessity.