Chapter 8

Make the Most of Your Meals

“Train hard, fight easy . . . and win. Train easy, fight hard . . . and die.”

—Unknown

During basic training, if you get more than three minutes to eat your meal, consider yourself lucky. Many recruits go to bed hungry at night. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your food consumption can increase dramatically by following these tips:

Eat Smart

If given an option, always choose rice to eat. Always. Eat it first, along with the main course. Rice grains expand in your stomach and give you a full feeling. Rice (especially brown rice) is packed with the healthy carbohydrates your body needs to fuel your physical training.

Rice grains expand in your stomach and give you a full feeling.

Think S-A-N-D-W-I-C-H

Whenever possible, make a sandwich out of your meals. For example, let’s suppose you are served chili macaroni with mashed potatoes and peas. Instead of trying to cram those little macaroni’s on your fork with a pea or two, spread the macaroni on a piece of bread. Then, pile on the mash potatoes and mix in the peas. Military-style mash potatoes can glue just about any two foods together. Top it off with another piece of bread and voila!—you have a Dagwood-style sandwich and will be done eating in no time.

Some recruits will laugh at you (except those who bought this book). Just smile in return—because you will be doing so with a full stomach. After you have eaten fully and time runs out, they will be half through and half hungry. You, in turn, will be the one going to bed with a full stomach.

You will be surprised how much quicker it is to eat with your hands than it is to use utensils.

Water . . . Water . . . WATER!

Drink plenty of water.

Many recruits choke trying to eat too much food, too fast. During basic training, you will see (probably several times) a Drill Sergeant performing the Heimlich maneuver on a choking recruit. This is less likely to happen if you drink water. It lubricates your throat and allows the food to slide down easier. We are, after all, almost entirely made of water, right? So replenish as often as you can to help your body function as well as it can.

Remember: You are not in basic training to taste your food; you are there to EAT IT and get back to training.

Look For These Foods

Choose meals that are high in protein, such as beef, fish, and chicken. Protein is a building block for muscles and makes you feel full.

Avoid eating sugar. Sugar is filled with empty calories and will leave you feeling hungry.

A Few More Miscellaneous Meal Tips

• The closer your mouth is to your plate, the faster you will eat. Doing this will also keep you out of trouble. You won’t feel the urge to talk to anyone, and others won’t try and talk to you if your face is six inches away from your plate. You may look like a pig, but you will be a pig with a full stomach.
• Avoid adding salt, pepper, or other sauces to your food. Sauces have little, if any, nutritional value. Squeezing on ketchup or steak sauce only wastes time. You’re not there to taste your food; you are there to eat your food and get back to training. You will hear this sentence more than once from your Drill Sergeants.

Chapter Summary:

• Always choose rice to eat

• Make a sandwhich out of your food

• Drink lots of water

• Keep your mouth close to your plate

• Avoid adding salt, pepper, and sauces to your food.

• Don’t touch, or even look at, any type of dessert. This can be really difficult, but you must not eat junk food during basic training. Despite the fact that it’s not healthy for you, it’s not worth the exercises your Drill Sergeants will make you do later.

Bon appetit!