Army Dietitian Reveals Why Soldiers Struggle With Nutrition | Gerald Ernat

Army Dietitian Reveals Why Soldiers Struggle With Nutrition | Gerald Ernat

From RP Strength Podcast by Nick Shaw

April 6, 2026 · 58 min

About this episode

Gerald Ernat discusses the challenges soldiers face with nutrition and common myths surrounding it.

Want to get even more jacked? Grab the RP Hypertrophy App for your training, and maximize your gym efforts with the RP Diet Coach App to nail your nutrition. Gerald Ernat's Links: Instagram: @geraldernat RP Strength coaching page: Work with Gerald RP article: Inside H2F: How the Army Is Redefining Soldier Fitness Timestamps: 00:00 Intro and April Fool's Day 02:25 Gerald's day job: Sports Dietitian for the US Army 05:54 Common soldier nutrition myths: protein timing, extreme diets, and supplement nonsense 10:50 Why soldiers should NOT show up shredded to basic or Ranger School 25:22 Army Body Composition Program: how soldiers get screened and flagged 32:15 Gerald's backstory: losing 70 pounds after high school and getting into lifting 45:15 How coaching soldiers and online RP clients is similar 48:00 On-the-go nutrition go-tos and the protein-plus-fiber framework 53:45 Client success story and wrap-up

People in this episode

Host: Nick Shaw

Guest: Gerald Ernat

Topics covered

  • soldier nutrition
  • dietitian advice
  • fitness myths
  • body composition
  • on-the-go nutrition

Keywords

  • soldier nutrition
  • dietitian
  • fitness myths
  • body composition
  • on-the-go nutrition
  • protein timing
  • extreme diets

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: US Army

Products: RP Hypertrophy App, RP Diet Coach App

Books & works: Inside H2F: How the Army Is Redefining Soldier Fitness

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