Joining the Miltary

I did 12 years in the military (AF Reserves) and gained a bunch of weight. They changed their fitness standards, and I was not able to keep up, so I got out before they could force me out. I'm kind of in the same boat as you. I want to lose another 40 pounds and go back in to complete my 20 years!
Good luck! I hope you're able to get in. Keep an eye out on the age limits though. I think they vary by branch as well.

I am the mom to an army soldier and to a Marine.
While I worry about them all the time, I am proud of them beyond belief.
Do what your heart is telling you, the rest will follow. If you can pass the PT and you are dedicated to what you want to do, you should have no problem getting through bootcamp.

thank you for considering service to our country and working so hard to achieve your goal. I was active army for 11 years and was at the high end of the weight scale for almost the entire time. they will look at your weight to get in but once you get to basic/ait you will be tape tested for body fat, make sure you are within the current standards for body fat because weight won't mean anything if your numbers are over on the tape. whatever branch you decide, check their physical fitness standards and implement them into your workout, as you get closer to your time for joining then focus on the core exercises for that branch. the army is 2 minutes of pushups, 2 minutes of situps and a 2 mile run. good luck on getting in hooah!!

Good luck and great job on the loss!

While I personally have never been a member of the military, I've dated military for a combined total of about 17 years and have a lot of friends in the military (pretty much every branch, including Coast Guard!). One thing I hear from all of them is that they are much harder on women who don't meet standards than men, especially once you're in. So just keep that in mind.

And to put that in perspective, it's the men saying that, not the women.

Good for you! Keep going! I was in the Army Reserve and did my time in OIF as a Staff Sergeant 63H and 63B (track and wheeled vehical mechanic). I wouldn't trade that experience for anything. Once you get to BCT and AIT you'll probably keep losing weight. One of my battle buddies lost 50 lbs in the 9 weeks of basic training. I stayed the same weight but pushed my gut up into my shoulders. You'll do fine, and you're really close to hitting that goal to get in! Hooah!

I lost weight (150 lbs or so) towards the end of high school and then joined the Air Force after college. So I didn't lose weight *to* join, but I did join as someone who had lost a lot of weight and was used to taking responsibility for his own health and fitness. It makes it kind of rough to go into an environment where other people have control over what you eat (basic, various parts of training, etc.) and how you work out.

I didn't lose weight in Basic. I had been looking forward to that, but ultimately it wasn't THAT much PT. Then I got to tech school and it seemed like most people were getting pretty out of shape, and it's understandable to an extent, but since I didn't someone to tell me to work out, I did okay. The biggest thing I've noticed, in terms of fitness, is that the less the AF meddles in my fitness, the better shape I'm in. If I have to waste a bunch of time standing in PT formations and waiting for people, that's when I start getting out of shape. During tech school PT was like a two-hour experience usually, but we only spent a quarter of that actually working out.

So... yeah, if you're looking for a branch that's going to MAKE you stay in shape, you probably want the the Army or the Marine Corps. But I really don't think that sounds very appealling, since I'd much rather have the freedom to workout when/where/how I want to do it, and that's usually attainable in the AF unless you prove to your unit that you need to be supervised in your PT regimen.

I never really considered joining the Army, so I'm not saying that I chose the AF at the Army's expense, but, having had the opportunity to learn a fair amount about how each branch works, I'm really glad that I chose the AF. Recruitment is very selective, though. I had a pretty easy time because I got a 99 on my ASVAB and then made them even happier with certain other aptitude tests.

My husband is currently a recruiter for the Army here in NJ, and I can tell you he comes home all the time with stories about how he told someone months ago they needed to lose X amount of pounds, and they just came in having lost it. He's always very impressed with them, because it shows a dedication to the job. As a PP mentioned, ask about their weekly PT sessions - see if they'd let you join them. If you're serious about it they're usually more than pleased to include you, and trust me - those workouts are serious business! Even when I was in the best shape of my life, I couldn't keep up with my husband on a run, or with the billions of pushups he could do. Good luck!