joining army - weightgain or weightloss

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the_new_and_improved
the_new_and_improved Posts: 20
in Health and Weight Loss
I am being recruited into the Australian army soon and would love to hear the personal experiences of weightloss/gain of others after their initial training. and if so was it in the form of fat or muscle?
I am a 5'4 female and weight 50 kg. I would love to gain muscle mass however not fat mass. do you think this is likely?
thankyou for any responses :)

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  • jbruced
    jbruced Posts: 210 Member
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    Most people come out of basic training fairly close to what they should weigh. Many lose weight but some gain. Most lose fat and gain muscle. At least that was my experience with the USA military. To make completing basic training easier make sure you are in good physical condition by doing lots of body weight exercises and running both sprints and 5k to 10 k distances. Good physical makes dealing with the mental games much easier.
  • the_new_and_improved
    the_new_and_improved Posts: 20
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    thankyou! this was very helpful :) I very much appreciate the advice.
  • pennysteed
    pennysteed Posts: 80 Member
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    My experience with basic training was that I lost too much weight. I even had to have my dress uniforms altered again after graduation due to weight loss. I immediately gained back 10 pounds once I went on to my technical training school, and I no longer looked sickly. My advice to you would be to start a running program now with pushups and sit ups. Watch what you eat and drink plenty of water. Once you start your basic training, your life will be extremely structured. We had such a short time to eat, that I found myself living off of the chili mac that they always seemed to share. 20 years later, I still cannot eat that stuff. Good luck with your training.
  • jbruced
    jbruced Posts: 210 Member
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    One bit of advice I remember being given by a drill sergeant was to eat all that was served to us at meals. He told us that doing so would get us to the correct weight as the calorie count was matched to the activity level. Both of my youngest daughters are in the Air Force and lost too much weight, but I know they didn't eat like they should have; partially due to the very limited time allowed as noted above.

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