Everyone's different but here's what I've discovered about sweets and my faves, like Doritos Nacho Cheese (the greatest chip ever in the world): If you continually deprive yourself AND don't have some snacks throughout the day, you'll give in and demolish 2-3 honey buns or a big bag of Doritos or order two large fries at Chic-Fil-A along with a peach milkshake.

We buy the little lunch-size bags of baked chips, mixed nuts, bananas, oranges and other fruit, cheese, celery-carrots, and so forth. We still buy white bread for mater sammiches and PBJ but usually have whole grain bread. Our son has lost 40+ pounds since last October by working out and eating well, and he's been a great positive influence, too.

Throughout the day I'll eat a little something every couple of hours. Cheese, handful of nuts, slice of whole grain bread, banana. Jerky is expensive but you can make a bunch of it during deer season and vacuum seal it. We've switched honey for sugar, but still have sugar for baking. Definitely staying hydrated. The more I go without eating something the hangrier I get and then want to gorge. This isn't anything new, of course; grazing during the day has been recommended for years. The "eat 3 meals a day, don't snack!" mantra is idiotic bullshit IMO. Be active, graze, eat smartly and make changes.

These kind of things are good during hunting season, too. I love a Freshley's honey bun but damnation, that's 570 calories and 28 grams of fat in one of them. Not to mention the spike of sugar. Eating that first thing in the morning, your body's going to divert blood to digest it (and any other breakfast food). So you get a little sleepy in the stand, which isn't safe and you also may miss a deer. It may not be as tasty but a granola bar or handful of granola, some nuts and cheese, or good ol' ham-eggs-toast, would be better.

I try to not go off the rails on the weekend but it's tougher. So I don't fret about it. A few weeks ago we went to the farmer's market here and stopped by Krispy Kreme. The HOT sign was on!

I exercise all year. I try to stay ready for deer season.

My daughter just called and invited me to meet her for lunch at a Mexican restaurant. I just have to give in. I am weak.

Easier to stay in shape than to get in shape.

I typically run about half the steps I take in a day. I have a tower on my back veranda where I do a lot of pullups/dips/pushups/knee and leg lifts with and without weights and I have a few weights laying around.

Old injuries prevent from doing some exercises but I do what I can. Typically every other day will see about three to five sets of 8-10 reps with free weights (each set to exhaustion), 5 sets of 7-10 pullups and a few less reversed, a couple hundred pushups and a couple hundred unweighted squats. I usually walk/run/walk the dog a little over a mile in the evenings. He's really fat and needs all the running he can get.

I'm inadvertently getting ready for hunting season by training for the upcoming rugby season. I play for a men's team here in Charlotte and I put a good bit of focus on cardio, with weights mixed in. I find the better cardio I have the easier it is to walk to the stand and not sweat like a whore in church (except during the September bow season, ain't no way not to sweat). I also hunt public ground which means long walks and long drags. If the deer is small I'll carry it out on my back. If it's larger than 100-110lbs field dressed, I'll hike back and snag my deer cart. Haven't been lucky enough to be forced to use the cart yet.

The biggest thing I do is interval training and running hills. Distance running is great but you will drop weight and up your stamina by running intervals. Got to start small and build up, and be realistic in your training. It takes months to get into decent shape if you aren't in shape and haven't been running. Got to be patient.

Ditto on the backpack. Dragging is crazy hard work.

I've been doing that for about 10yrs now. I take a backpack with a collapsible gambrel and a skinning knife. I can get 90% of what the processor can get and I don't have to drag except to the closest strong limb.

I'm on week 7 of the Couch to 5k thing. I've dropped about 15 lbs since March. Also switched to water only in March. No cokes, tea, juice, etc. I let myself have 1 beer per week. Other than that, water only to drink. Definitely feel way better. I just struggle balancing everything out. If I focus on cardio then my lifting takes a hit. When I lift a bunch then I don't do enough cardio. Just need to be more disciplined.

Anyone who has never gotten the opportunity to drag the hide off of a deer is missing out on one of the finer aspects of hunting. It'll dang sure make you appreciate the easy ones.

That was my perspective too ... I wanted to experience it for myself and I was glad that I did. I felt an incredible sense of accomplishment when I got her to my truck.

Last season my knee was in such bad shape that I couldn't do it but with the new knee I'm ready to hit it again this season. Like I wrote earlier I guess I'm just madder at them then most ...

ive been toting bags of corn around, to get ready.

I should be covered this yr if I kill a deer. Jeremy still owes me for helping drag his big ol buck deer last yr

I hope to put his ass to work this yr

Too old for that. Although I know the older I get, the more I need to exercise. Just can't get motivated to do any extra.

Last year on April 15th I weighed 263 lbs. By Nov. 1st I was down to 211... lost 52 lbs. By going to the gym 5-6 days/week and eating healthy. Once gun season got going I quit the gym and ate what I wanted. Realistically, I probably went to the gym 3 times over the entire gun season. Added 20 lbs back too. I've now lost 13 of that 20, and am headed back towards 211. This coming season I plan to hit the gym more during gun season so I don't put 20 lbs. back on again. Losing that 52 lbs. last year sure made a world of difference.

Wow, good for you. I know that kind of weight difference had a huge impact on your overall enjoyment of hunting

I've made the wrong movement. Went from 180 to 191.

I run 5-8 miles at least twice a week and throw in an occasional 10 miler.

It only gets worse. You will be forty one day.

I hit the stair stepper and jacobs ladder one day a week. The other days I do normal weights.

Round blob is a shape.