New here, Trying to make weight for the military

Hi there everyone,

My name is Patrick, and I'm 22 years old. I'm 6'3", and I have struggled with my weight on and off for 10 years. It seems like everytime I start doing well, I slip up and go back to my old ways. I have a disgusting habit of eating when I'm bored. As it is, it's almost 1 in the morning here and I'm fighting the urge to go eat even though I'm not hungry.

My story is long, but I'm going to keep it short. I started to gain weight when I was around 12 years old. I had recently moved away from my hometown, and I was alone and to lazy to control myself. I always enjoyed eating (heck who doesn't?), and I just stopped controlling my eating. It grew out of control and at my heaviest weight, I was 300 lbs at around 13 years old. I started to take control of my weight shortly after and dropped to about 245 lbs. My weight continued to drop and leveled off at around 230 lbs. When I turned 19 I was still around 230 lbs, and decided to go to China. I returned over a year later at 168 lbs after battling sickness, and an extreme diet + exercise change. Instead of driving, I walked everywhere, and instead of snacking on potato chips and soda, I ate a mostly vegetable/lean meat diet. After returning home, I fell back into old habits of eating while bored, and snacking way to often.

Here I am now at 228 lbs, looking into the military. A goal that was previously out of my reach due to my weight. I've maintained my weight between 215-235. With the Air Force, my maximum weight allowed at 6'3" is 215. If I am 1 lbs over this, I will be ineligable to enlist. I'm trying to get down to around 190-205 lbs, which would put me well enough below the weight limit that enlisting will no longer be an issue. Due to my rapid weight loss, there was a little bit of excess skin remaining. I had this removed by a cosmetic surgeon about 6 weeks ago. I am now waiting out a 6 month wait period before I am eligible to enlist (all surgeries require a 6 month wait before enlistment). As of now, I am scheduled to enlist in August if all goes well.

I'm here to help stay motivated with my weight loss. I'll be in China from May 3rd - Aug 8th. Enlistment should be on Aug 17th. If anyone is looking for a friend to add on here or just someone who knows how difficult it is to lose + maintain weight, feel free to add me or message me. I'll be doing my best to check in daily. I have the app on my iphone, and I'll be checking in via the website while I am in China.

Take care everyone,
Patrick/OregonNativ3

Replies

  • You can do it! Your key problem is boredom, so...........get busy ;)

    Good luck!
  • You can do it! Your key problem is boredom, so...........get busy ;)

    Good luck!

    Thanks! I'm doing my best. ;) I'll find more things to do in order to fill my spare time.
  • jennifer_417
    jennifer_417 Posts: 12,344 Member
    You can do it! Find a hobby that you enjoy, or do some new things you've been wanting to try.