How did you do it, ex-fat guys?

[MyGlockRocks19]

Ok, I've made the decision to enlist. Its between the Army and the Navy right now....neither one will talk to me until I drop about 35-40 pounds.

I know some of you have done it...certainly there's been some fat guys who dropped the weight to make enlistment standards....I need your technique. What did you do?

I'm at ~250...I need to get to 217 or lower. I'm cutting out the beer and the smokes , but beer makes you fat and I can't smoke in basic anyway. What else should I do? I'm terribly outta shape, so getting up at 0400 and running a mile would likely kill me if I tried it tomorrow. What did you do?

 

[Fletch]

P90X. You'll feel like you're dying, but it'll work if you stick to it. And it'll put you in a good position for basic.

 

[Dryden]

Depending on your timeframe, try and lose the weight gradually. If you drop 35 - 40 pounds and show up at basic training, you're going to be in a weakened condition.... something you do NOT want to do.

Good luck and congratulations on your decision. Remember, don't let the Drill Instructors get into your head. Go with the flow, pay attention to detail, and become a team player.

 

[MyGlockRocks19]

I watched the entire infomercial for that the other night. It marks the first time I've actually watched one of those things, and I considered ordering it...until I remembered that I don't have a credit card.

 

[MyGlockRocks19]

I should have done this when I was 18....but my head was still involved in visually inspecting my lower intestine.

Now I'm 27 and out of shape. I'd like to make this happen in 3 months or less, if at all possible.

 

[Trevorreplys]

Awesome your going into service. I had a weight problem before I talked to my USMC Recruiter. I just started riding my bike alot. Eating right.. meaning no soft drinks.. No cake.. No weekend drinkin.. Eventually itll start to come off pretty quick ;P
I wouldn't bother ordering anything from a infomercial though. Only thing that gets you "FAST EASY ABS" and all that crap. is hard work and eating right.

 

[Boilers]

Two sure fire ways

1. Eat less
2. Cancer

 

[Dryden]

Ok, I've made the decision to enlist. Its between the Army and the Navy right now


P.S. What???!!! You got something against the Air Force?
Our training is done at the finest resorts with Oceanside rooms, valet service, gourmet dining, and free laundry pickup.

 

[LEaSH]

Start off riding bicycle everwhere you can. It's not the best time of the year to start, but bundle layers of clothes and you can do it.

You're doing it right by abandoning beers. ALL booze. Not even the light stuff. Not even while watching football on TV. Zero intake - no exceptions. It sucks.

While biking will graduate your body into a better condition slowly. The key to healthy weightloss is cardio cardio cardio. Again, it sucks.

 

[Fletch]

P90X is not infomercial crap. There are plenty of us on this board who are doing it and can verify that it works. In fact, I believe in it enough that if he's serious and wants to PM me his address, I'll order it for him.

 

[Trevorreplys]

P90X is not infomercial crap. There are plenty of us on this board who are doing it and can verify that it works. In fact, I believe in it enough that if he's serious and wants to PM me his address, I'll order it for him.

Yeah I had just looked it up to see what it was. I assumed it was one of those odd machines that they claim make it 100x easier to make you fit. I jumped the gun on saying not to buy it

 

[MyGlockRocks19]

Two sure fire ways

1. Eat less
2. Cancer

I'll take option 1, thanks.

I don't really eat much as it is, I just eat crap when I do. No more Burger King for lunch, and dinner...I'm hoping that soon, I'll be able to stock the fridge with some real food,and start packing a lunch to work.

Air Force? I've heard boot camp for the Air Force is like taking a vacation! They have turn down service for your bunk, and a heated swimming pool in the barracks!

I've got a lot of friends in the Army, and I gotta admit, carrying a rifle and getting dirty doesn't sound like something I wouldn't be proud to do. But Navy is in my blood...my dad was a Nuclear Engineer, and when I talked to a recruiter years back, I was eligible for that program....and I'm kind of hoping I still am.

 

[Dryden]

Another tip:

To satisfy your cravings, try deep fried Lipitor.



The swimming pool is aaaall the way out on the front veranda. And ya gotta bring you own towel and sunscreen.

 

[Skoty]

I just ate smaller but more frequent meals. Stay away from fruit juice (LOADED with sugar and carbs). Hit a good veggie juice V8, light meals such as salads, but dont be afraid to treat yourself here and there, if you don't you will snap and binge. TONS AND TONS AND TONS AND TONS of water, you will be suprised how less hungry you will be and feel better too. Jumping rope will suprise you on how much fat you can burn doing it, you use all your core muscles and major muscles at once to keep balance. start slow with no matter what you do and you will do just fine. Don't weigh yourself every day since your weight fluctuates. If you need any other info let me know.

Experience: 110 pounds lost in 11 months.

Me in white t-shirt and orange shorts

Me 2 months ago

 

[HICKMAN]

I'm also working on making weight, to do ten in the Guard.

I'm down 50 pounds over the last year and a half, still have another 30-35 to go.

You've received lots of good advice here, but we all know how it's done... diet and exercise.

First, know this, there is no magic pill or grand solution. It's all work and dedication.

Second, exercise. Start by walking and riding a bike, alternate each day. You will be surprised how fast you make gains in adding miles and distance. Join the YMCA or a health club, throw in some work on the elliptical and start swimming.

Third, diet. Set a specific goal, how many pounds do you want to try and lose per week? Any more than 2-3 per week isn't really healthy. Track every single thing you eat, I like using Calorie Counter, Diet Tracking, Food Journal, Nutrition Facts at The Daily Plate for this. It will help you set a goal and tell you how many calories you need to eat to lose weight.

Eat four-five smaller meals during the day, this will keep you from feeling like you are starving and will starting speeding up your metabolism.

I wouldn't start right off with P90X, you need to rebuild some basic muscle first. I've been through a couple of rounds last year and it is good, but you need to get a basic level of fitness first.

Stew Smith, a former Navy Seal, has good training programs on military.com, check out:

Army Basic Training PFT - Military Fitness - Military.com

There are some good plans there for building up for pushups, situps and the two-mile run.

 

[tv1217]

Two sure fire ways

1. Eat less
2. Cancer

I shouldn't laugh at this, a couple years back my dad started eating right and going walking every day and lost weight, turns out it was the cancer.








He's fine now, btw.

 

[PhantomJ]

Navy is in my blood...my dad was a Nuclear Engineer, and when I talked to a recruiter years back, I was eligible for that program....and I'm kind of hoping I still am.

The nuke program is like the Mafia once you are in it its for life. Not trying to discourage you, it has gotten me where I am, but know for sure that you want to do it and learn exactly what you are signing up for. just from someone who has been there.

 

[kedie]

 

[Indecision]

Eat a small 200ish calorie meal every 2.5-3 hrs. ie, wake up, a yogurt, slimfast, some chicken, slim fast, salad for dinner or something like 500 cal, granola bar. You wont feel hungry at all and you'll lose weight. 1 it starts your matabilism early and 2 it keeps it going. I lost like 15lbs in a month and a half JUST doing this. You need to hav ea 3500 calories deficiency to lost a lb of fat. If your basal metabolic rate is roughly 2500 (which it probably is) and you eat 1500 a day or less. That's a 1000cal deficiency right there. Excercise that up to another 500 cal or more (i recomend swimming or stationary bike to start) and you're up to 1500. And you'll lose a lb roughly every 3 days. Which is a healthy rate and you won't beat yourself up.

That being said, join the air force. They live much better than any other branch and get paid extra for having to live in army conditions (even in the states). Plus you will deply for like 4-6 months. Our companys last deployment was 15 months, this one will be at least 12.

 

[Indy317]

I'm cutting out the beer and the smokes , but beer makes you fat and I can't smoke in basic anyway. What else should I do? I'm terribly outta shape, so getting up at 0400 and running a mile would likely kill me if I tried it tomorrow. What did you do?

I was never large, but I was getting up to 180ish and was 5'9". I knew things would only get worse and since I didn't work out back then, I needed to change my diet. The main key is cutting out sugar. Here is my current diet:

Breakfest: Usually just a bowl of cereal on work days. Aim for the non-sugar stuff, or mix a little sugar cereal with non-sugar. I also drink OJ, but am cutting back on that because of the sugar. On my days off, I cook and egg with toast. Toast is two pieces with peanut butter on one slice (very small amounts) and jelly on the other (again, not applied with a paint sprayer). For you, I would eat the eggs scrambled if possible. I usually eat an egg sandwich, but that is an additional two slices of toast.

Lunch: I eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich (again, thin layers of both), a zip lock bag of blue corn chips, and two small cups of applesauce. I eat this every day I work.

Dinner: It pretty much revolves between:
A small Boboli crust personal pizza, light on the cheese, no topping besides the cheese, and a piece of garlic bread. After eating that, I usually have some small sugar snack since the pizza dinner is a lot of salt and my body likes balance between salt and sugar. This would be equal to about two slices of take out pizza and a bread stick.

A chicken breast cooked in a cast iron skillet. No coating or anything like that. Grill it up, cut it up, and add Cajun or Italian seasonings to change things up. I usually cook two pieces of garlic bread if eating just one chicken breast.

On work days, I sometimes cook my egg sandwich or scrambled eggs for dinner.

One large pancake with just enough syrup to not be eating a totally dry meal.

For drinkings I have the following:
Breakfast time: Orange juice everyday, but am going to change this soon.
Lunch: Water at work, OJ or fruit/veg juice (V8 Splash).
Dinner: Fruit/veg juice

The key is smaller amounts of food, _no_ snacking, watch the sugar. My current sugar treats for when I have no sugar for the main meal is a pop tart I split with my wife, or a cup of applesauce. The fruit/veg juice I drink is kinda sweet anyway, so I don't always need this. Drop all sugar water, this means cokes and such. When I started to watch my weight, I mostly just dropped cokes. I had a caffeine withdraw headache for three straight days, it was horrible, but I got through it. Now I do go out to eat every so often (pizza, chicken is what I usually get, I have cut back on red meat), and if that is the case I will get something with sugar to balance my meal. However it is always Sprit, Sierra Mist, Fruit Juice, etc., nothing with caffeine though. By just cutting soft drinks, I think I dropped 10 pounds if not more. Soft drinks, ding dongs, Twinkies, cake, cookies, candy, etc. are the killer. Drop that stuff immediately and most importantly, don't replace it with other food. Any starvation you will feel will eventually go away.

Now with the drinking and smoking, are you kidding me? You were just on here complaining about your lack of tips, which translates into income. If you were turning around and blowing it on beer and smokes, why even complain about it. If you want to make a change, change your entire life. Start saving that money you will save on beer, soft drinks (most places will give you water for free, places like Speedway only charge a quarter for a cup of ice and their dispensers usually have filtered water), and smokes. Not only will you get more healthy, you will see significant savings unless you blow the money on other things.

The last thing you need to do is get into some physical shape. For someone like you, I would aim for the ILEA exit standards (police academy):

ILEA: Physical Fitness Standards

You can aim for the entrance standards first, as that will at least get you moving. You need to be doing push-ups and sit-ups _everyday_. Get up, let your body wake up for a while, then get on the floor and do as many push-ups and sit-ups that you can. Remember to breath. Rest for about five or so mins., then eat and get ready for work. Before you go to bed, and after dinner has digested, do another set. Start jogging now. Aim to jog 1/4 mile, then walk another full mile. After a week, increase your running distance and shorten your walking distance. If you just hate to run (and with it getting cold, I can understand not wanting to run outside), focus on some sort of workout you can do at home. Just doing push-ups and sit-ups won't be enough. Go out and get a video of aerobics so that you are made to sweat.

If you do this you won't just lose weight, you will be physically ready for basic training.