Government Broccoli

I may have mentioned (4 or 5 times) that Jay is on the Training Table at the Academy. (AKA the Fat Boy Table) He is not alone, however... over 100 of the 176 cadets in his class are on it with him. In order to escape this opportunity, you have to be below 16% body fat (20% for the women, I think). If you are 16.1% or even 16%, sorry Charlie, you're on the table.

So what does that mean?

Well, it means a restricted diet. You have to adhere to certain guidelines and there is absolutely no snacking. 3 squares, baby. In addition to that, you have to write a memo every night detailing the food that you ate. Since Jay has been on a diet for pretty much the last year and 1/2, the food restrictions don't bother him; it's the memo writing that he could do without.

The good news is that when you're on liberty you don't have to follow the guidelines. Whoo hooo!!! I know you think I'm "whoo hoo'ing" for Jay, but I'm really saying it for me. I was not interested in spending my weekends eating chicken breasts and salads (even if it would do me some good, too).

Most people, including Jay, say that the Training Table food is actually better than the standard fare, because the standard fare is almost always drowning in gravy. Mmmmmm. Sometimes they can't even tell what they're eating, which is probably just as well since the Staff Sergeants are standing over them yelling at them to eat faster and get moving ... "you don't need to taste it, just eat it!!"

Some of the Training Table food Jay complains about:

• Egg whites - just stay away. If you need to know why, just ask Jay's roommates.
• Mashed potatoes - Jay swears they mash up 6 potatoes for all 100 of them and just add gallons of water
• Fish - we're not talking grilled salmon with a teryaki glaze, people. Apparently fish was their only choice tonight and, in Jay's words, it was nasty.
• Broccoli - he was served broccoli at two meals today "because no one ate it at lunch." He swears the stalks are 6 inches tall. It's government broccoli... civilians can't buy this stuff.
  

In general, he's keeping a good attitude about it. Not like he has a choice anyway - breaking the Training Table rules is grounds for dismissal. Yikes! Being the kind-hearted wife that I am I asked him, "So, are you hungry?" He responded, "No, not really." Pause. "Except when I'm on break and I see Christensen inhaling a bag of cornnuts." Poor guy... not able to have snacks. I really feel for him. So, in his honor, I am going to polish off this bag of Swedish Fish..... ok, ok, and I'll buy him some cornnuts for the weekend.