RE: How I lost 5 kilos in a few weeks. My Actifit Report Card: July 5 2025

My maternal grandfather was a soldier and WW2 veteran. In his youth he was a body builder before the war, and also after, when he was in college to become an engineer.

He continued his Army service as a reservist, and when we were young he taught us how to exercise like a soldier. Later on, in my early college years I thought of going to the gym to improve my physique.

He said no, and that he would teach me instead how to gain muscle through his military exercise regimen which consisted mostly of body weight training exercises (push-ups and pull-ups) plus free weights (dumb bells and barbells, with or without a bench), and cardio.

So, I became an athletic guy in my late teens and early 20s thanks to his training. It wasn't just for health reasons, but I was also preparing to enlist in the US Navy at the time.

Fast forward to around 2015 I started lifting again after about a decade of little to no exercise. That picture below is from 2018, two years before the pandemic. And the dumb bell I am holding over my head weights 50 pounds, or 22.6 kilograms.

I was already 48 in that pic, and now that I'm 55 and about to prepare for war. In case it happens I will get called up to serve, so I need to resume my fitness regime.

US defense think tanks say that the war between China and Taiwan could happen anytime in 2027 and beyond. And when that happens, my country (the Philippines) would get involved in it, as China has evil plans on us too. So, I have two years to get in shape again.