It's no secret the Marine Corps cares about physical fitness and appearance. It's one of the things that sets us apart the most from the other branches. Lots of civilians are not in great shape and can be heavier than the healthy height and weight standards. We want to help provide a basic template for how to shake a few pounds off to get in shape.

First, find out your max and minimum allowable weights.

Second, find out the basic number of calories you need to eat in a day to keep your current bodyweight using an online calculator. If you want to gain weight, multiply those calories by 1.2 (adding 20%). If you want to lose weight, multiply those calories by .8 (subtracting 20%).

Third, use an app like MyFitnessPal or FatSecret to log all the food you eat during the day. You'll see quickly how many calories you're consuming, and whether you need to eat more or less.

Losing Weight

Basic Rules of losing weight:

1) No Sugary drinks. Coffee, Tea, and water only. If you can't help yourself, have some zero cal drinks.

2) Low impact cardio. The more cardio you do, the more calories you burn. We don't want to cause any lower body injuries, so you want to avoid running too much. Try cycling and elliptical machines.

3) Drink lots of water and get good sleep. Shoot for 8 hours of sleep and a gallon of water daily.

Cardio Example Routine for healthy and fast weight loss:

Two a Days:

Monday - Friday: One hour in the AM of steady cardio. That's a nice easy pace on an elliptical or bike to break a good sweat but not have your muscles on fire.

Monday, Wednesday, Friday PM - thirty minute interval workouts. Three minutes on an easy setting, three minutes on a hard setting (you should be able to keep the easy pace, but your legs should be burning and it's hard to keep for all three minutes). Alternate easy and hard until you have hit the thirty minute mark. Spend five minutes cooling down.

Tuesday and Thursday PM - run one mile. Once you realize you can run a mile without cramps or pains, you are ready for a legit run plan to get faster!

Gaining Weight

Basic Rules of gaining weight:

1) Eat a ton. Don't do a dirty bulk and just shove whatever you want in your face, but make sure you're getting all the calories you need or you'll never gain weight.

2) Strength Train. Lift weights to pack on some muscle. We have basic plans available in our shop.

3) Drink lots of water and get good sleep. Shoot for 8 hours of sleep and a gallon of water daily.

4) Protein. If you want to build muscle, make sure you are getting protein in your diet.