Help losing weight for military

Holly_Roman_Empire

Im trying to sign for the Air Force, but before I was trying for the Army so I know the requirements for that. Unfortunately the requirements are more favored towards men and womens requirements tend to not be as fair,especially with taping. Men tend to have a wider neck and waist, but small hips, when I personally have a very small neck and waist, and wider hips. At first i was told by my army recruiter that i was 6% over the requirement and if my neck was an inch bigger it'd drop to 2%. The max requirement for my height in the AF is 155, but I was told a recuiter wouldnt sign me until i was atleast 5lbs under the maximum

Tell your recruiter to sign you or you will find a new one. Don't jump through their hoops, make them work for you. You ARE there mission, push them a little and you will be fine. It's how I got my desired MOS.

When you go to tape there are things you can do, suck it in a bit, but not enough to where its obvious. Raise your shoulders slightly, tuck in your chin. Those will decrease waist, and increase neck measurements. Getting to 155 should not be too hard. You should be able to lose at least 5 "Real" pounds in a month, and then the other 5 can be lost in temporary water weight. You shouldn't be doing 2 hours of weight lifting, that's crazyness (for me at least). I work out for about 45 minutes 4 days a week, then run for 30 minutes 3 days a week.

P.S.
Army > AF

its usually 2hrs total. i do several circuits designated to a certain area with a minute in between sets so it takes up some time. I also always do core and cardio

And circuit training is fine for the real world, but if you're just trying to get in shape for basic training, you should really be focused on doing bodyweight exercises and running. Lots of it. You can be good at pushups, but are you good at doing 50 pushups, with pauses on the way down? Are you good at pyramid pushups? There are far better ways of preparing for basic training.

And just as an aside (sort of unrelated), practice holding your arms straight out from your sides for minutes at a time. You'll thank me later.

alexisnvisser

To offer a bit more advice than people completely avoiding your question;

You can lose the 10lbs in a month. I did it for the same reason. I have been in for about two years now and know what you are going through. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions.

When you say you need to lose 10, is that for height/weight or are you estimating inches for tape? The Army (military) uses body fat as its legal standard. Height/Weight is technically just a screening tool. When I enlisted I just made tape, which means I was over weight (5'9" and 185lbs, so about 6 over) but I still was able to ship to BCT because I was within the body fat allowance. MEPS WILL sign you if you meet tape. There are calculators online, and an awesome app by 550Cord (Army Fitness Calculator) that will help you on this.

The easiest way to lose the 10 lbs prior to weigh-in is going to be (I hesitate to say) dehydrate yourself. As others have said, watch the sodium 2 days before your weigh-in, and then no water the night before/morning of your weigh in. You may want to bring a water bottle and a snack to meps so once you weigh in you can eat/drink. You will have a 12 hour day the day you swear in.

As for the more appropriate answer; Log your food, weigh it, ect ect. Make sure you work on your PT. If you do it now, it will hurt a lot less in bct. I learned that the hard way.

And again, you can always message me with more questions.

Thanks,
Andrew

Im trying to sign for the Air Force, but before I was trying for the Army so I know the requirements for that. Unfortunately the requirements are more favored towards men and womens requirements tend to not be as fair,especially with taping. Men tend to have a wider neck and waist, but small hips, when I personally have a very small neck and waist, and wider hips. At first i was told by my army recruiter that i was 6% over the requirement and if my neck was an inch bigger it'd drop to 2%. The max requirement for my height in the AF is 155, but I was told a recuiter wouldnt sign me until i was atleast 5lbs under the maximum

I just joined the Air Force in January, and when I signed my recruiter told me that I had to be at least 10 pounds under the max limit when I go to MEPS. That's just their way of making sure you are safely within the allowable weight. You can definitely lose 5 real pounds in a month. Careful not to cut your calories too low and cause a binge though. I'm 5'4", very active, and I find that 1400-1800 calories per day works best for me. (Lower end on rest days or low activity, high end on intense workout days). Good luck and fantastic decision to join the AF!

NavyGal1993

This is almost EXACTLY my situation. Im currently at 157-160 (weight goes up and down faster than an elevator) was at 153 and gained it back but long story short, I have to be down to about 149- 150 for themilitary too. So frustrating because Im in crazy good shape. I can run 3-6miles a daily., low carbs(or no carbs) and eat healthy. Blah blah...But Im considering changing branches. (Going from Navy to Air Force).
Anyway, hit me up if you found a way to lose the weight because with me it seems impossible!

Good luck!