Made it into the navy! Need help slimming down before sailing out!!

Rodbow15

My Ship Date's actually pretty far away, 12/01/2015 but I want to be ready as early as mid-June or beginning of July at the latest. My diet consist of following the calorie meter to a T, very little sodium, drinking just enough water to make it through the day, while trying not to binge on it and exercising. I will occasionally eat 2 McChickens w./ small fries for Dinner but that's usually when I work all day and throughout the day I eat two or 3 under 100 snacks and drink a fair amount of water which still puts me under the calorie goal.

With exercising I typically burn nearly 1,000 calories ( MFP suggests 538 calories a day, at 4 times a week) and I walk or ride my bike to the gym which is 2.5 - 3 miles away. Now when I workout I put the treadmill on an incline of 12 and walk at 4mph for 30min, twice. My shirt is usually drenched when i'm done. If I continued to do this through out the months will this allow me to meet my weight requirement by July or will I end up gaining muscle, causing me to increase in weight(which is currently worrying me)?

My soft goal is 175 (what I want to be at by July), with 155-160 being the stretch goal of what I want to be period.
I'm 5'5/5'6, I weigh 195 and my BF% is 24 (15in Neck, 37in waist)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I know I have a long way away and I should take my time but I want to drop the weight first, giving me and my EM2 peace of mind, and just maintain from then on.

PAV8888

Dumb question, I am sure, but in the unlikely event that in a caloric deficit you gain muscle and lose fat.. how would that be bad?

I gather there must be a weight requirement as opposed to a body fat % one?

FitGamerSmoak

First off congrats, and thank you for what you are doing. Secondly, run.....Just run. You're going to do a whole lot of that anyway so might as well start now :-)

SueInAz

If you aren't weight lifting and eating at least your maintenance calories you aren't going to gain weight from adding muscle. It just doesn't work that way. Frankly, I think you'd be better off lifting heavy and eating at a slight deficit. Yes, you'll lose weight a little more slowly but you'd be replacing fat with muscle. What you're planning to do will result in your losing both fat and muscle. By the time you get to basic training, you're going to wish you had that muscle, believe me!

This is straight from the Navy's website:

Your physical training will be both rigorous and challenging. The physical training program includes one hour daily workouts, six days a week. Training alternates between strength and conditioning exercises that focus on building your body's major muscle groups and cardiovascular endurance. B.A.S.E.S (or Balance Agility Strength Explosion and Stamina) is a weekly exercise routine which incorporates shipboard required skills with aerobic and strength training

It seems to me that right along with "making weight" you want to be preparing yourself for what you'll be expected to do in December. The time to start preparing yourself is now.

PAV8888

Rationing your water is insane. Skipping the mayo or trading the mcchicken for a double hamburger might be more effective. Moving more throughout the day. Eating a little less of things you don't mind giving up. Stopping before you're stuffed. 500Cal a day is a lb a week. The loss adds up over time...

agartin

"...drinking just enough water to make it through the day, while trying not to binge on it..."

I'm really curious.. Is it possible to "binge" on water? Why only drink enough to make it through the day?

joejccva71

Start running and swimming. Then swim some more. You'll get rid of the fat. Also start practicing folding a t-shirt into a 6 inch square and putting hospital corners on your bed to the point of where you can bounce a quarter off of it.

I spent 6 years in the Air Force as an EOD tech team leader. Good luck man.

Rodbow15

PAV8888 wrote: »

Dumb question, I am sure, but in the unlikely event that in a caloric deficit you gain muscle and lose fat.. how would that be bad?

I gather there must be a weight requirement as opposed to a body fat % one?

It's either or with them. Either meet the min/max weight weight requirement or under 22% body fat, though I want to be more around 17-18%

craziedani wrote: »

First off congrats, and thank you for what you are doing. Secondly, run.....Just run. You're going to do a whole lot of that anyway so might as well start now :-)

Yeah I know lol I can run for 30mins straight at 6mph

SueInAz wrote: »

If you aren't weight lifting and eating at least your maintenance calories you aren't going to gain weight from adding muscle. It just doesn't work that way. Frankly, I think you'd be better off lifting heavy and eating at a slight deficit. Yes, you'll lose weight a little more slowly but you'd be replacing fat with muscle. What you're planning to do will result in your losing both fat and muscle. By the time you get to basic training, you're going to wish you had that muscle, believe me!

This is straight from the Navy's website:

Your physical training will be both rigorous and challenging. The physical training program includes one hour daily workouts, six days a week. Training alternates between strength and conditioning exercises that focus on building your body's major muscle groups and cardiovascular endurance. B.A.S.E.S (or Balance Agility Strength Explosion and Stamina) is a weekly exercise routine which incorporates shipboard required skills with aerobic and strength training

It seems to me that right along with "making weight" you want to be preparing yourself for what you'll be expected to do in December. The time to start preparing yourself is now.

I don't know but I read somewhere that instead of removing fat[when doing weight training] it pushesthe the fat further and muscle builds behind, int the case of my wais, I definitely doint want that happening. However, i'm a novice at all of this and i'll take your word for it lol When doing heavy lifting, rep wise, what would you consider?

PAV8888

Somewhere around 0.7% a week is where your "safest" (as in I am mostly losing fat) weight loss rate is. Stretch to 1% with a bit more risk.

Liftng4Lis

But are you eating at a deficit?

topazora

congrats, I'll be shipping out May 13th. But what I can tell you is right now, if you were to start weight training, you will see some weight gain, but only during the first part and then you'll see weight loss, because muscle takes more energy to maintain than fat. So long as you're sticking to your diet, and have a good balance of cardio and weight training, you'll slim down- if nothing else, get your body fat down, because they do check that. Right now, I've been working on my running, I'm up to about 4.5 miles, so if you're not doing that, start adding it to your treadmill regimen. And also really focus on your core workout, it'll help with the pushups and sit-ups, and work on those as well.
You seriously have time to get in the shape you need to be in. Also, I don't know if you have the PRT for the Navy, but here's the PDF: http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/21st_Century_Sailor/physical/Documents/Guide 5-Physical Readiness Test.pdf
Hope this helps.

moesis

My advice, run, and run, and run, and run. Do 1 or 2 other exercises daily in addition to your run.

The military is rocket science everything is online. The Navy Nutrition & Fitness guide is available here:

http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/Graphic-Elements/PDFs/NRC-Fit-Nut-Rec-Gui-rev-1-17-13.pdf

SueInAz

Rodbow15 wrote: »

I don't know but I read somewhere that instead of removing fat [when doing weight training] it pushes the the fat further and muscle builds behind, int the case of my waist, I definitely doint want that happening. However, i'm a novice at all of this and i'll take your word for it lol When doing heavy lifting, rep wise, what would you consider?

If you're eating at more calories than your body burns this might happen but if you're strength training while eating at a calorie deficit you'll be losing fat and retaining more muscle than if you weren't. That will push your body fat percentage down automatically; you'll just lose weight a little more slowly. Also, keep in mind that retaining the muscle you already have is much easier than trying to gain muscle later.

I started lifting heavy last year while continuing to eat at a deficit. While I haven't lost many pounds I've lost lots of inches all over as well as decreasing my body fat percentage.

There are a few good programs out there. You want one that has you progressively adding heavier weights at lower reps. You might check around these boards for specifics but Strong Lifts 5x5 is highly recommended.

Rodbow15

agartin wrote: »

"...drinking just enough water to make it through the day, while trying not to binge on it..."

I'm really curious.. Is it possible to "binge" on water? Why only drink enough to make it through the day?

PAV8888 wrote: »

Rationing your water is insane. Skipping the mayo or trading the mcchicken for a double hamburger might be more effective. Moving more throughout the day. Eating a little less of things you don't mind giving up. Stopping before you're stuffed. 500Cal a day is a lb a week. The loss adds up over time...

I don't know, my NC1 says something about the water weight build-up or something, however I always figured if I sweat while working out then that'd go away regardless. Might disregard that, tbh, water helps keep the cravings away for me.

joejccva71 wrote: »

Start running and swimming. Then swim some more. You'll get rid of the fat. Also start practicing folding a t-shirt into a 6 inch square and putting hospital corners on your bed to the point of where you can bounce a quarter off of it.

I spent 6 years in the Air Force as an EOD tech team leader. Good luck man.

Thanks man, when I getthe money for the gym there's actually a private pool in there. I plan on spending a fair amount of time perfecting my form. About the shirt and corners, my grandma's been getting on me about that like crazy so i'm getting better with that.

PAV8888 wrote: »

Somewhere around 0.7% a week is where your "safest" (as in I am mostly losing fat) weight loss rate is. Stretch to 1% with a bit more risk.

Now when you say .7% is that of my total weight? Really confused.

joejccva71

moesis wrote: »

My advice, run, and run, and run, and run. Do 1 or 2 other exercises daily in addition to your run.

The military is rocket science everything is online. The Navy Nutrition & Fitness guide is available here:

http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/Graphic-Elements/PDFs/NRC-Fit-Nut-Rec-Gui-rev-1-17-13.pdf

Yea but nothing prepares you for when you step off that bus. Trust me.

PAV8888

Rodbow15 wrote: »

Now when you say .7% is that of my total weight? Really confused.

Yes. Per week.
When you lose weight you lose both fat and fat free mass.
At a loss rate of around 0.7% of your total body weight a week (based on what I've read and open to refutation by someone else who has read more), you are more likely to preserve your hard gained muscle, especially if you're eating enough protein and lifting weights.

Rodbow15

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

But are you eating at a deficit?

Yeah, my maintenance is around 2400, I eat at max 1600, and work out 1000 calories at the gym. On my off days i'm a little more strict going down closer to 1200.

PAV8888

Rodbow15 wrote: »

I don't know, my NC1 says something about the water weight build-up or something, however I always figured if I sweat while working out then that'd go away regardless. Might disregard that, tbh, water helps keep the cravings away for me.

Water weight confused the crap out of me for years.

We are mostly made out of water. Even our fat cells are bound to water. And so are the "ready reserves" of glycogen that our muscles use to function.

The generally accepted ratio of glycogen to water ratio is 1 to 2.7.

So, if your muscles use 1g of glycogen during exercise, this reduces your body weight by 3.7g since it releases an extra 2.7g of water that you pee out.

But as soon as you eat up an extra 1g of carbs that can be stored as glycogen, you will now "gain" 3.7g, because that 1g of carb will be stored together with 2.7g of water.

In other words this "water weight" is borrowed weight loss than just makes it harder to figure out reality.

And of course people try to use that to their advantage (and sometimes detriment). Boxers or wrestlers "making weight" by exercising to deplete glycogen and avoiding drinking water (but it also affects their performance).

Rodbow15

PAV8888 wrote: »

Rodbow15 wrote: »

Now when you say .7% is that of my total weight? Really confused.

Yes. Per week.
When you lose weight you lose both fat and fat free mass.
At a loss rate of around 0.7% of your total body weight a week (based on what I've read and open to refutation by someone else who has read more), you are more likely to preserve your hard gained muscle, especially if you're eating enough protein and lifting weights.

Ah, I see. so that's about 1.4 pounds.

Thanks guys for the help, I really appreciate it. I did the math and if I workout the 538 calories like MFP told me to, which I can do in 30mins, I can use my remaining 30 minutes on weight training and core exercises and still come out at over 2lbs a week. Just gotta stay on top of my calorie deficit and drink more water, regardless of what my NC1 says. That way I get everything in one trip instead of only running.

PAV8888

From a strict sustainable weight loss perspective you are under-eating, over-exercising, and trying to lose weight way too fast.

However, it might be better to listen to the suggestions of people with US military experience!

By the way: thank you for serving your country (and I would like to also thank our Canadian Armed Forces Members!)

Liftng4Lis

Rodbow15 wrote: »

Liftng4Lis wrote: »

But are you eating at a deficit?

Yeah, my maintenance is around 2400, I eat at max 1600, and work out 1000 calories at the gym. On my off days i'm a little more strict going down closer to 1200.

Using a food scale and can you open your diary? How are you coming up with those burns?
If you're doing this, you're going to lose.

girlviernes

Rodbow15 wrote: »

agartin wrote: »

"...drinking just enough water to make it through the day, while trying not to binge on it..."

I'm really curious.. Is it possible to "binge" on water? Why only drink enough to make it through the day?

PAV8888 wrote: »

Rationing your water is insane. Skipping the mayo or trading the mcchicken for a double hamburger might be more effective. Moving more throughout the day. Eating a little less of things you don't mind giving up. Stopping before you're stuffed. 500Cal a day is a lb a week. The loss adds up over time...

I don't know, my NC1 says something about the water weight build-up or something, however I always figured if I sweat while working out then that'd go away regardless. Might disregard that, tbh, water helps keep the cravings away for me.

Okay, this is a big red flag that your NC1 doesn't know how to do healthy weight loss. Tons of terrible advice gets thrown around in the military. Water is extremely important especially with how much exercise you are engaging in.

You are making this very complicated. Pick a calorie goal, it should be at least 1800 kcals per day. Stick to it. Progressively build up your cardiovascular fitness and strength so you'll be prepared for the military fitness demands.

Rodbow15

girlviernes wrote: »

Okay, this is a big red flag that your NC1 doesn't know how to do healthy weight loss. Tons of terrible advice gets thrown around in the military. Water is extremely important especially with how much exercise you are engaging in.

You are making this very complicated. Pick a calorie goal, it should be at least 1800 kcals per day. Stick to it. Progressively build up your cardiovascular fitness and strength so you'll be prepared for the military fitness demands.

The thing with me is that it takes a while to stick but once it does it's permanent. Problem was I was doing google searches to figure everything out but was getting confused from the bits and pieces of info I was reading on.

PAV8888 wrote: »

By the way: thank you for serving your country (and I would like to also thank our Canadian Armed Forces Members!)

Lol No problem man, I come from a partial military family since my older sister and brother both went in and they recommended me to also join like crazy.

FaylinaMeir

Congratulations! My husband just got in himself and ships out on Oct 7th!

My best advice to you is attempt a paleo (low carb) diet. This will help you slim down rather quickly if for no reason more than water retention. Although honestly it's great long term and I don't think you'd have an issue getting close to your goal. Try an exercise program like p90x, I've done this and it kicks your butt really good! Don't forget to jog 1.5 miles, and do sit ups and push ups. You'll want to practice now before you get to basic since they score you on point system. (you want more points).

Have a great day!

greenlizard72

Congrats! Navy vet here. To add to the good advice above, I would include endurance in push ups, sit ups, burpees, jumping jacks, etc... Your CCs will be asking you politely to do these all the time. You'll do awesome! Never give up.

softblondechick

I agree, mix up routine between cardio days and core days. Working on improving upper body strength will serve you well. Kettle bells are great for this.

Stop drinking alcohol and smoking. This will also help you focus on the priorities. Staying sober in the Navy is also a good idea.

Lois_1989

topazora wrote: »

You seriously have time to get in the shape you need to be in. Also, I don't know if you have the PRT for the Navy, but here's the PDF: http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/21st_Century_Sailor/physical/Documents/Guide 5-Physical Readiness Test.pdf
Hope this helps.

moesis wrote: »

My advice, run, and run, and run, and run. Do 1 or 2 other exercises daily in addition to your run.

The military is rocket science everything is online. The Navy Nutrition & Fitness guide is available here:

http://www.cnrc.navy.mil/Graphic-Elements/PDFs/NRC-Fit-Nut-Rec-Gui-rev-1-17-13.pdf

Congratulations! I'm sure you will all serve your country well.

Just read through these out of curiosity, and the information in these are great. I may have downloaded these for myself. I'm afraid I can't join the American Navy as I'm English, but I really appreciate the info!
The Physical Readiness Test is a great bench mark for me to aim for.