Losing weight

Throwingawayacct

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so I’ve decided I needed to lose weight in order to be within the max for USAFA (136 for 63 inches). Has anyone had or known of someone whose had to shed pounds to qualify to an academy? Some success stories would be motivating and also, this is my first time seriously dieting. Can someone recommend a good diet to lose a good amount of weight in a short time(say, 2-3 months)? Thank you.
 
yes, I received an update on my portal in late August informing me that I was overweight (199 pounds at 71 inches). I believe the acceptable weight for 71 inches was 179. My application deadline was early november, so I had around two months to lose 20 pounds. To make sure that I met weight standards, I hit an intense diet with a daily calorie intake of around 700-800 calories. It's unhealthy but it's the easiest way to lose weight rapidly. To make sure that I wasn't losing too much muscle, I did a lot of weightlifting (at moderate weights to make sure I didn't overwork myself).
dieting is hard, but it's not too hard when you keep your eyes set on the goal. If you want an appointment really badly, just keep yourself committed and you'll be there before you know it.
 
yes, I received an update on my portal in late August informing me that I was overweight (199 pounds at 71 inches). I believe the acceptable weight for 71 inches was 179. My application deadline was early november, so I had around two months to lose 20 pounds. To make sure that I met weight standards, I hit an intense diet with a daily calorie intake of around 700-800 calories. It's unhealthy but it's the easiest way to lose weight rapidly. To make sure that I wasn't losing too much muscle, I did a lot of weightlifting (at moderate weights to make sure I didn't overwork myself).
dieting is hard, but it's not too hard when you keep your eyes set on the goal. If you want an appointment really badly, just keep yourself committed and you'll be there before you know it.
Thank you so much!! Were you able to keep it off? Any tips on doing so?
 
I lost 80 pounds in order to ensure that I would be physically fit enough to join the military. My advice is to stick to a workout routine involving some cardio and strength training, and to be in a moderate caloric deficit with plenty of protein.
 
I lost 80 pounds in order to ensure that I would be physically fit enough to join the military. My advice is to stick to a workout routine involving some cardio and strength training, and to be in a moderate caloric deficit with plenty of protein.
Would you suggest I cut my calories gradually or all at once or does it not matter? Thank you, I sincerely appreciate all the advice!
 
I lost 80 pounds in order to ensure that I would be physically fit enough to join the military. My advice is to stick to a workout routine involving some cardio and strength training, and to be in a moderate caloric deficit with plenty of protein.
Would you suggest I cut my calories gradually or all at once or does it not matter? Thank you, I sincerely appreciate all the advice!

I would recommend that you eat about 80% of your maintenance calories for now. Personally, I like to keep them the same and just go straight for it.
 
USNA2020 recently had a Mid leave - his choice - because of weight issues. He was a very good high school athlete but he was made large sized. From almost Day 1 he struggled to be in the appropriate range. Ultimately he decided it was too much stress and too much risk (of getting booted after 247)

Not to discourage you, but if you have a weight issue now - it’s not going to get any easier at an SA or on active duty.
 
Gaining, Maintaining, or Losing weight is simple math. There are a lot of calculators out there on the internet that will give you the the number of calories you should have every day to maintain or lose weight. The simple math is 10 calories per pound, per day, to maintain whatever weight you are.
If you want to lose weight, you have to take in less calories.

Try an App called MyFitnessPal on your phone. Don't change what you do or eat, but make sure you enter it all. Finding out how many calories you are eating every day is an eye-opener to a lot of people. If you are eating 2,600 calories every day, changing to 1,500 will make a dramatic difference. It could mean a loss of as much as 2 pounds per week. If you're eating 1,500 calories per day though, you'll need to start getting used to being hungry all of the time. I mean all of the time!

What helps IMMENSELY (no pun intended) is exercise. You have to exercise. Running is good, because one thing you'll do a lot of in any military branch, is running. You have to be able to run a 6-minute mile. If you can do that and it's not difficult, service academy life will be much less of an ordeal for you. Most of the PT runs will be more like 8 minute pace.
 
My DS received a remedial on weight after the DODMERB exam at the Dr office was completed. He had come straight from work wearing heavy duty steel-toed work boots pants and a sweatshirt. The Dr had him step on the scale with everything on.. he was over by 2 lbs. He had two weeks to get his weight recertified. While we were certain that he would have made the weight without all those clothes on and likely been under the max allowable weight by 3 lbs. Insert eye roll. They gave him 2 weeks to get his weight re-certified. He ran and dropped Carbs and did cardio, all just in case their scale was different and got his weight in the Nurses office in his underwear (insert eye roll again) He lost 10 lbs in 7 days way more than he needed to.
DS has a friend who just graduated USAFA he said to him oh you will have no worries at USAFA we are some running crazy fools. I would not say he is overweight, just lots of muscle mass that makes him close to their max allowable.
 
I'd also make sure that you know your body fat. While the Academy has weight standards, I was around 15 pounds over, but I'm a football player. USAFA just asked if I could get my body fat measured, and I got a portal change saying my body fat was within standards even though I was approximately 15 pounds over their BMI chart.
 
USNA2020 recently had a Mid leave - his choice - because of weight issues. He was a very good high school athlete but he was made large sized. From almost Day 1 he struggled to be in the appropriate range. Ultimately he decided it was too much stress and too much risk (of getting booted after 247)

Not to discourage you, but if you have a weight issue now - it’s not going to get any easier at an SA or on active duty.
What distance should I practice running then, like 1.5 miles?
 
What distance should I practice running then, like 1.5 miles?

Both the USAFA AFT and the active duty PFT have you running a mile and a half, so that is definitely the distance you want to be good at, however basic is A LOT more running than that, not to mention the altitude. I could run for 3 miles easily at under the AFT pace (13:30ish for women - I think I was around 1230/1.5 miles) when I headed to basic from sea level and found the running in basic challenging, but not miserable.
 
What distance should I practice running then, like 1.5 miles?

Both the USAFA AFT and the active duty PFT have you running a mile and a half, so that is definitely the distance you want to be good at, however basic is A LOT more running than that, not to mention the altitude. I could run for 3 miles easily at under the AFT pace (13:30ish for women - I think I was around 1230/1.5 miles) when I headed to basic from sea level and found the running in basic challenging, but not miserable.
I was worried about that--the altitude. It's already hard for me as it is to run (I'm improving tho) but I can't imagine how hard it is going to be for me up there. I'm worried I'm going to be one of those people who throw up. Do you have any tips so I can prepare myself for that altitude?
 
I'd also make sure that you know your body fat. While the Academy has weight standards, I was around 15 pounds over, but I'm a football player. USAFA just asked if I could get my body fat measured, and I got a portal change saying my body fat was within standards even though I was approximately 15 pounds over their BMI chart.

My DS has done climbing, lacrosse, X-Country and has a lot of muscle. He was over the maximum for DODMERB, but the SAs had him have his school nurse do a body fat % which was 12%. Significantly lower than the maximum so he was cleared. So yes, check body fat.
 
I was worried about that--the altitude. It's already hard for me as it is to run (I'm improving tho) but I can't imagine how hard it is going to be for me up there. I'm worried I'm going to be one of those people who throw up. Do you have any tips so I can prepare myself for that altitude?
I ran pretty frequently leading up to I-day (both at home and in CO prior to I-day) and found that on distance runs, I typically lost about 1 min/mile at CO altitude (compared to my home, ~100' MSL). It was tougher from a cardio perspective, but not impossible by any means. I am not a running expert, but I have heard others more knowledgeable than myself suggest that an effective strategy is improving your running as much as possible at sea level instead of worrying about altitude training masks/etc. This worked pretty well in my case--hill sprints/distance runs are never fun, but I didn't feel like it was unmanageable overall. Another thing that really helped me was arriving in CO Springs 2 weeks before I-day to train at altitude--I had already started to acclimate by the time I actually inprocessed.
 
I was worried about that--the altitude. It's already hard for me as it is to run (I'm improving tho) but I can't imagine how hard it is going to be for me up there. I'm worried I'm going to be one of those people who throw up. Do you have any tips so I can prepare myself for that altitude?

I agree with @wildblueyonder. The best thing you can do is focus on running consistently and improving. If you push yourself to run further/longer than is comfortable, you will improve. Find a 5k training plan and follow it if you need a set routine to slowly ramp up. Most of them start with very little running, so you can just start wherever you're at, even if that is just walking fast with a little bit of jogging.

Also, there is nothing wrong with throwing up. There is a reason there are trash cans strategically placed around the track when running inside (and if I remember right, around the T'zo when running in the mornings during basic. I'm pretty sure I threw up after every PFT I took, and a large portion of the AFTs and runs in basic, it happens when you push yourself to your limits.
 
I was worried about that--the altitude. It's already hard for me as it is to run (I'm improving tho) but I can't imagine how hard it is going to be for me up there. I'm worried I'm going to be one of those people who throw up. Do you have any tips so I can prepare myself for that altitude?

I agree with @wildblueyonder. The best thing you can do is focus on running consistently and improving. If you push yourself to run further/longer than is comfortable, you will improve. Find a 5k training plan and follow it if you need a set routine to slowly ramp up. Most of them start with very little running, so you can just start wherever you're at, even if that is just walking fast with a little bit of jogging.

Also, there is nothing wrong with throwing up. There is a reason there are trash cans strategically placed around the track when running inside (and if I remember right, around the T'zo when running in the mornings during basic. I'm pretty sure I threw up after every PFT I took, and a large portion of the AFTs and runs in basic, it happens when you push yourself to your limits.
Thank you so so so much for this.
 
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