I am both a veteran and a current National Guard soldier. I am a member of many different Facebook groups and lists, and I see daily the ravages of excess weight on former members of the military. It truly is an epidemic that is being left untreated. The VA makes attempts to “Help” these veterans by prescribing medicines to them to treat the symptoms, but they never do anything meaningful to try to get to the cause of the problems: unhealthy diets.

I’ve heard that the VA sometimes does try to give advice to veterans in regards to diet: low-fat. They are still pushing low-fat diets, CICO, and moderation. The only one of these that has any real chance of working is CICO, but it is a lot of work, and unless the person has an exceedingly high level of discipline, CICO is very hard to maintain long-term.

I have reached out to many veterans groups to try to help their members lose weight, but it seems my biggest enemies are the VA, the education system that taught us the “Four Food Groups,” and the media that persists in telling people that low-carb/high-fat diets are bad for us. All the while, veterans are dying, living overweight, and continuing to damage their health.

I will continue, in the face of criticism and bad information, to try to bring some sanity to a group that deserves better. A group that has given so much for so little, and is being left behind when it comes to health. These men and women, who were once the picture of health and fitness, are now battling our horrible diet without ammo. I hope to give them the strength they need to overcome this last enemy so they can live out their days in good health and better fitness.