A lot has happened in the past year. I became a Warrant Officer in the Army National Guard, and then I attended the Warrant Officer Basic Course at Fort Sill, OK and graduated as a certified Field Artillery Targeting Technician. It took a lot of hard work, both physically and mentally, but I got through it, and I’m now ready to move on with the training I’ve received and keep pushing forward.

I was fortunate that I lived in a small apartment on-post, and I was able to cook my own meals and to meal prep. I typically ate my usual breakfast: two slices of uncured/no-sugar added bacon with two locally-sourced farm fresh eggs. On the days I was short on time, I’d have a bowl of Keto cereal with Califia Farms “Better Half” which is a half-coconut milk/half-almond milk creamer for coffee that happens to be amazing with cereal.

My lunches were usually my meal-prepped boxes with something like Paleo Carnitas, roast beef, or pork roast with some sweet potato, vegetables, or in the case of the carnitas, Paleo tortillas (from Siete).

Dinners were usually something I made fresh in the apartment like steak with sweet potato or some other grilled meat with vegetable, but I would also often eat dinner with fellow warrant officers and when out, I’d eat a 6 oz filet with sweet potato or a cauliflower crust pizza with lactose-free or dairy-free cheese. Every now and then, I’d treat myself to a burger at S&B Burger in Lawton, OK with the gluten-free bun. It was likely not Paleo, but after all the hard work and studying, I needed it!

I stayed physically active. Aside from the morning work-outs (either running, weightlifting, or riding my bike), I did a lot of mountain biking. The trails around Mount Scott near Medicine Park were my most visited trails, but I really loved the trails in Wichita Falls, TX, as well as the trails at Lake Thunderbird State Park in OK. There were a few others we visited as well, but those three were my favorites.

Staying fit and healthy wasn’t difficult. Actually, it was easier than I thought, and I had a great time with it. I was fortunate that the Commissary on post had a lot of healthy food options, and I was pleasantly surprised with the Paleo options as well as the amount of organic and free-range selections. There was also a healthy food outlet off-post called Green Acres Market that kept me stocked with harder to find Paleo items. For anything I couldn’t get locally, Amazon was a solid backup.

So, that sums up eight long months of military schooling. I’m glad to be done with it, but I also miss my classmates and the active duty environment. I feel fortunate to have been able to complete this course at my age, and I never take it for granted.