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Justin24

Justin24

Rock n' Roll Doggie ALL ACCESS
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
6,716
Location
San Mateo
Well I am really considering joining the Army. I am 5'7 260lbs. I was told that I need to loose about 100 pounds or get my BMI down to 20%. I am going to the gym, and I am going to talk to a friend who is a weight trainer. Any other Idead on how to loose the weight quickly and safely?? I want to leave after I visit my friends next year in Australia.
 
Weight training is good, but to lose weight, cardio is going to be your friend. Weight training without cardio will probably bulk you up even more, adding muscle but not burning as much fat. If you do cardio before and after your weight training sessions, you'll burn more fat and the weight training will burn more fat than it would w/o the cardio. Besides doing intense workouts at the gym, take your dog on long walks! Someone told me that you burn the most fat doing cardio exercises as intense as possible while still being able to carry out a conversation. I don't know if that's true, but I guess that would mean doing a long speed walk is a better start than killing yourself full speed on a treadmill. Even if you don't change your diet, just cutting back each portion, skipping snacks, and not eating after 8pm will help.

Now I need to go practice what I preach...
 
^ :yes: I lost 20 lbs when I first got my dog. You have a good sized doggie that probably loves to exercise. I'd recommend running with her. Walk for a few minutes, then sprint for a few minutes. The intervals are very helpful!

Also, I'd recommend changing your lifestyle as if you were already in bootcamp. I dropped 2 sizes when I was in the military. They kicked my ass though. So do pushups, sit-ups, flutter kicks, and donkey kicks every day. But don't exhaust yourself. I don't think we ever had to do more than 30 at a time.

This also means watching what you eat, and drinking plenty of water. One thing I'd recommend is to take portions no larger than the size of your fist. If it is bigger, cut it off and put it in the fridge to eat at another meal. Also I think we had 3 or 4 fistfulls per meal.

That's all I can remember for now. Hope this helps!

ETA: don't do situps. I forgot that most branches don't do that anymore b/c it fux up your body. Except I think the Army still does. That's the Army for ya :wink: Anyway, do crunches instead.
 
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Thank You everyone for your input so far. I need to do this. I have been wanting to join since I was 17, but schooling came first. I also want to follow in my granpa's footsteps. He fought in WW2 and The Korean War. No once since has followed in his footsteps.
 
It would be a good idea to talk to a personal trainer. They should be able to give you some good diet and exercise recommendations to help you meet your goals.
 
There are few things I am ever qualified to give advice at or for. This is one of them. I was 300 lbs at an even 6 feet, not exactly the picture of health. I am now 185 pounds. The first thing I started with was no more pop. If you are addicted and have to I suggest one of the clear, sugarless, sodiumless, caffeineless ones. Also, Water before every meal, at least 15 minutes. Most of the time you are hungry you are actually thirsty and your body doesn't have a good way of telling your brain your thirsty. Limit your sugar.carb intakes at the sensitive times of the day (i.e. no fruit until at least two hours before bed and one hour until after getting up.)

And as others have suggested, Cardio, cardio cardio! Now if you run you will burn fat even after you are done.

Lastly, this is a jog not a sprint. You are not going to drop 80-100 pounds in a week or a month or even two. This could take a half a year to a year.
 
All this talk has me feeling guity for not taking advantage of my gym membership. I need to lose weight, too, but it's hard if there's no girl to impress. Ugh!
 
Justin24 said:
Thank You everyone for your input so far. I need to do this. I have been wanting to join since I was 17, but schooling came first. I also want to follow in my granpa's footsteps. He fought in WW2 and The Korean War. No once since has followed in his footsteps.
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No offense, but those were understandable wars. Do you really want to risk throwing your life away, or worse, becoming severely injured, losing your limbs or needing reconstructive surgery. I don't think this is the best way to serve your country. This war is not going to be won, and the Bush administration is just buying time, so they don't look weak. The next president is going to pull out. It's a mess and it won't get better through American forces. American aid and funding are essential in the years to come, but right now American forces are attracting Al Qaeda type forces and other elements toward violence. No offense, but it's a dangerous and perhaps futile decision to join right now.
 
Go to college and then try to join the Secret Service or FBI or something instead.
 
Muldfeld said:

No offense, but those were understandable wars. Do you really want to risk throwing your life away, or worse, becoming severely injured, losing your limbs or needing reconstructive surgery. I don't think this is the best way to serve your country. This war is not going to be won, and the Bush administration is just buying time, so they don't look weak. The next president is going to pull out. It's a mess and it won't get better through American forces. American aid and funding are essential in the years to come, but right now American forces are attracting Al Qaeda type forces and other elements toward violence. No offense, but it's a dangerous and perhaps futile decision to join right now.
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For some people it has nothing to do with politics. I was thisclose to enlisting because I had no way to otherwise afford college or any form of health care, etc. It's a great way to get into a career, ones that have very little to do with hands-on combat. For example, I was interested in atmospheric sciences and considered studying meteorology with the Air Force. Luckily, I raked in enough scholarships from a good local school so I didn't enlist. My understanding is that Justin was/is already taking college courses and he's mentioned joining in other threads before, so it's not like he hasn't thought about it or has other options.
 
Liesje said:


For some people it has nothing to do with politics. I was thisclose to enlisting because I had no way to otherwise afford college or any form of health care, etc. It's a great way to get into a career, ones that have very little to do with hands-on combat. For example, I was interested in atmospheric sciences and considered studying meteorology with the Air Force. Luckily, I raked in enough scholarships from a good local school so I didn't enlist. My understanding is that Justin was/is already taking college courses and he's mentioned joining in other threads before, so it's not like he hasn't thought about it or has other options.
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But isn't Justin 57? Isn't it worth waiting a few years if you're just going to get shipped off a year after joining? Or do they train you longer. Lots of reserves people have been exploited in this thing. It must be tough not being able to afford a college degree, but I'm just saying to be aware that this is not the best way to serve the nation if that is the intent.
 
Muldfeld said:


But isn't Justin 57? Isn't it worth waiting a few years if you're just going to get shipped off a year after joining? Or do they train you longer. Lots of reserves people have been exploited in this thing. It must be tough not being able to afford a college degree, but I'm just saying to be aware that this is not the best way to serve the nation if that is the intent.
Click to expand...

57? As in age? I think Justin is in his 20s.

I think your concept of what "serves" the nation is rather limited in scope. Only a small amount of military persons are "shipped off". There are plenty of people serving here doing all sorts of things. The stuff I was interested in was related to science and technology. It would not have been exploitative since I'm currently working in this field, it's what I do. I could be fixing technology equipment here at a private college, or on a military base. It would have made little difference to me. They provide the education because you can't do these types of jobs just through physical training. They also realize that college education is far more valuable than just book smarts. I know a guy who was in the Reserves and decided he'd like to become a chaplain in the Marines. They paid him to attend a Christian college/seminary in order to be able to best "serve" the nation. It had nothing to do with who was President at the time or whether we were at war, that's just how the military operates.
 
Muldfeld said:


But isn't Justin 57? Isn't it worth waiting a few years if you're just going to get shipped off a year after joining? Or do they train you longer. Lots of reserves people have been exploited in this thing. It must be tough not being able to afford a college degree, but I'm just saying to be aware that this is not the best way to serve the nation if that is the intent.
Click to expand...

Why does someone who wants to join the military automatically in your mind want to go to war? It seems to me that Justin is interested in following in his grandfather's footsteps by joining, and he wanted info on getting in shape so he could do so. Your politics don't belong in this thread in any way shape or form. Or in this part of the forum, for that matter.
 
Well I am not looking at going into Infantry I want to look more into photography. They do offer that.
 
Justin do your workout in the morning, too. That's the weight loss time of day, plus it will give you energy which will see you through the rest of the day... In theory. It doesn't work for me :lol:

And ditto on the water thing. You also need water to flush out everything, think of it as peeing out the rubbish. You need the fluid to get rid of it.
 
Why not join the Air Force or Navy instead? You can get great technical jobs in the AF working at air bases, and I don't even need to explain the awesomeness of a 100,000-ton aircraft carrier.
 
Liesje said:


57? As in age? I think Justin is in his 20s.

I think your concept of what "serves" the nation is rather limited in scope. Only a small amount of military persons are "shipped off". There are plenty of people serving here doing all sorts of things. The stuff I was interested in was related to science and technology. It would not have been exploitative since I'm currently working in this field, it's what I do. I could be fixing technology equipment here at a private college, or on a military base. It would have made little difference to me. They provide the education because you can't do these types of jobs just through physical training. They also realize that college education is far more valuable than just book smarts. I know a guy who was in the Reserves and decided he'd like to become a chaplain in the Marines. They paid him to attend a Christian college/seminary in order to be able to best "serve" the nation. It had nothing to do with who was President at the time or whether we were at war, that's just how the military operates.
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Oh, okay. Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know you could choose. I thought that once you were in, you had no more choices in wartime just like those reservists or National Guard people who never intended to serve as long as they did or leave America.
 
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ylimeU2 said:


Why does someone who wants to join the military automatically in your mind want to go to war? It seems to me that Justin is interested in following in his grandfather's footsteps by joining, and he wanted info on getting in shape so he could do so. Your politics don't belong in this thread in any way shape or form. Or in this part of the forum, for that matter.
Click to expand...

I didn't think he wanted to go to war -- just that he was putting himself in a potentially dangerous position by enlisting. Sorry for the politics talk (really strategy talk) in this section; I'm new here.
 
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Justin24 said:
Well I am not looking at going into Infantry I want to look more into photography. They do offer that.
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Okay. Good luck. And don't trick youself into the "if I starve myself all day I can pig out on Burger King Whoppers, pizza, and KFC" diet. I fell for that..... 100 lbs later....
 
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Muldfeld said:


Oh, okay. Thanks for the clarification. I didn't know you could choose. I thought that once you were in, you had no more choices in wartime just like those reservists or National Guard people who never intended to serve as long as they did or leave America.
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You can't choose whether or not to go to war, but if you aren't trained for combat, they won't put you into combat. If I'd enlisted and become a meteorologist, they wouldn't hand me a gun and transfer me to the Marine units at the front lines. Part of enlisting is accepting that you will probably have to travel and they can place you wherever you are most needed. I also considered joining the Reserves and did not specifically because we went to war in Iraq. However, I know Reserves who voluntarily went to Iraq into combat. I didn't want combat, so I realized I had no business joining.
 
Liesje said:


You can't choose whether or not to go to war, but if you aren't trained for combat, they won't put you into combat. If I'd enlisted and become a meteorologist, they wouldn't hand me a gun and transfer me to the Marine units at the front lines. Part of enlisting is accepting that you will probably have to travel and they can place you wherever you are most needed. I also considered joining the Reserves and did not specifically because we went to war in Iraq. However, I know Reserves who voluntarily went to Iraq into combat. I didn't want combat, so I realized I had no business joining.
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But I thought that, once you join, you are automatically trained. I thought you trade your civilian life for an obligation to join when they call you up, and that could include training sufficiently for combat or going to prison or something. I guess not, huh?
 
Muldfeld said:

But I thought that, once you join, you are automatically trained. I thought you trade your civilian life for an obligation to join when they call you up, and that could include training sufficiently for combat or going to prison or something. I guess not, huh?
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nope. once you join, you get the shit beat out of you so you can catch up with and maintain their robot-esque physical standards. but then the rest of your training depends on what you decide to go in to. my friend is in the army band, so her training is practicing and marching (on top of the physical, of course). she'd have no idea how to combat.
 
Muldfeld said:

But I thought that, once you join, you are automatically trained. I thought you trade your civilian life for an obligation to join when they call you up, and that could include training sufficiently for combat or going to prison or something. I guess not, huh?
Click to expand...

I have no idea where this idea is coming from. It's not like some countries that require mandatory service and they assign you. You can't pick anything, for example an acquaintance of mine wanted to do tank repair but he's dumb as nails and doesn't know the first thing about proper auto repair, so they said no to that. The military does not exist just to reinforce combat zones. They take care of national security in general, so most people never leave the country. Out of everyone my age I know that's joined, I only know on person who served in Iraq and that's because he volunteered. He drives supply trucks and is also a chaplain, so he's not really even a combat soldier. All the others I know are Honor Guard (stay here and represent at political funtions), Special Forces (that kid is doing something involving planes), Coast Guard (my uncle is a ship captain and has never left domestic waters), and some boys I went to school with that I don't know exactly where they ended up, but they were specially trained to be higher ranking officers and do very technical jobs.
 
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