I just wanted to somewhere to say this and you guys are the ones I think would care the most. I always wanted to join the military, but I'm too fat. I can't make tape or do the PT test. Two weeks ago I hit the gym and talk to a recruiter to set a plan for where I need to be in order to join the guard.
After two weeks of hitting the gym, and an average daily calorie deficit of almost 2,000 calories, I weighed myself yesterday and I gained .2 pounds. I'm a pretty confident person, but I was heartbroken. How could I have gained weight when I'm eating barely nothing and working my ass off? I didn't go the gym yesterday. I was crushed.
This morning I woke up with new resolve. I hit the gym immediately after work, got my best time yet on the 2mile run (31:16 ain't great, but we'll get there.) , switched to interval running, and today will be my most calories burned in one day and biggest caloric deficit so far. After the gym today I realized, if I'm motivated and emotionally strong enough to go to the gym today after working my ass off for two weeks and gaining weight, then there's nothing really standing in my way.
So, my target is Mid to Late October to make tape, and hopefully bootcamp just after the first of the year.
I've been just doing low caloric intake instead of Keto, how do you deal with like eating out? Do you just ask for food without cheese on it or something?
I second Keto. Reddit still has a great Keto subreddit. The process is easy: limit carbs. No breads, rice, pasta, sugar, or starches like corn/potatoes.
Get yourself a kitchen scale and an app like My Fitness Pal. Spend a couple days just logging things to see how you’re doing on a normal diet. Then, make a commitment to cooking for yourself. Chicken, steak, pork chops, ground meat, eggs, bacon, etc. But make sure you have plenty of green veggies on that plate too. A big salad with dinner is the way to go.
The first few days/week are rough. Sugar is like an addiction, and your body is accustomed to eating sweet. It will crave it—blame your gut bacteria. After a few days, the cravings will subside and you’ll feel like a million bucks.
However, you might also feel kinda sickly. This is known as the Keto Flu, and it’s basically an electrolyte deficiency. Easiest way to avoid it: grab some lite-salt from the store, potassium chloride. Add a little bit of it and some salt to your drinks. This is Keto-Ade, and there’s a ton of recipes for it online. Make it, and spare yourself some headaches. ;)
I’ve lost 30 pounds on Keto so far, and I’ve never felt better. My mood is improved, my skin looks fantastic, my stomach issues have resolved, and I have energy out the wazoo. Calorie counting alone is a great way to lose weight, but calorie counting + limiting carbs has been my secret weapon. I highly highly recommend it.
great post!
Your body will lose the most weight the fastest when in a state of ketosis. But to get to Ketosis, you have to not eat anything for a certain amount of time. Once in ketosis, your body will shed pounds faster than you ever thought possible. I used to only drink water for 48-72 hours at a time, then eat about 2 meals, and restart the program until I lost the weight I needed. Eat less, lose weight. It's a simple equation. Doing it this way is very unhealthy though and will probably result in kidney stones but I just thought I'd share what I did. Lost 40 lbs easy, no working out.
Read the title and was going to come in and post about Keto...I went from 240lbs to 155lbs in 6 months going on Keto and working out. Calories in and Calories out matter, but macros mean a lot more when doing body re-composition. No more sugar, no more bread, no more carbs. 20g or under day in day out for 5-6 months. You'll be a new man. Check out dietdoctors.com but don't buy any of their paid plan shit, just check their free guides to get started. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me, I've been on Keto for 5 years.
I lost 30 pounds in a few months of keto. I'm not going to lie to you, it is a huge commitment, but it sounds like you are ready and determined. It's also worth mentioning i didn't work out AT ALL during that time. You may want to read up on if it's even a good idea to push it hard while starting keto, it might be too much to handle all at once. Your body is learning to use an entirely new system for fuel.
Do your research and find out what you can eat, then take everything you cant eat out of the house and give it away. That's the only way i could deal with the carb cravings.
Figure out a few good meals you can eat regularly and stock up. You will be changing everything you eat. Everything i loved to eat that was cheap is loaded with carbs. Potatoes, rice, pasta.
Veggies, meats, some cheese, Greek yogurt were my favorites. Once you get it going, you can sneak in a bit of carbs, just not too much. I would go through an entire head of celery per day with a bit of peanut butter to dip it in.
For a turkey "sandwich" i used one piece of bread, mayo, a ton of meat, then essentially a salads worth of lettuce on top.
Oh, drinks, there are some special sodas you can get from Walmart that have no sugar or artificial sweeteners, they are a nice treat that makes you feel like you're getting a normal soda.
Once you get used to not having the sugar for a while, regular soda is so sweet and sugary it actually tastes gross.
Stay away from stevia sweetener, its supposed to be okay for keto, but it gave me the shits like you wouldn't believe.
Social eating situations just kinda suck, but usually you can find something you can eat. Salads, steak, veggies are all okay but watch out for dips and condiments that have alot of sugar in them. You'd be shocked how many catsups and BBQ sauces are basically flavored corn syrup. I hated being "that asshat" with special eating requirements, but once people see how much weight you are losing, they will get it.
The most important thing is just make up your mind to commit, and dont ever give up. My doctor also told me not to get discouraged if you have a craving and mess up. Get back on it, it's still better than you would have had otherwise.
If you have any questions hit me up.
another great post!
Beans are the bomb.
I approve this message, haha, i use Keto lost 20 pounds last year.
You dont want to cut your calorie intake too low, it usually backfires!
How is that different from the Adkins diet? It sounds pretty similar.
This is the best advice here. I would say it is 80% diet Vs 20% food what you put into your body.
Alcohol is liquid food. Having a pint of 5% beer is basically like having a double cheese burgers from MacDonald. Try and cut down booze for two weeks and see if that helps. Also I get motivated by watching my steps do I bought myself a mifit 4 band from Amazon for 25$ I like being able to count my steps
Best of luck
Don't use the scale for short term reinforcement. Get a program going, and stick to it for six months. Then look at the scale.
That's great. You're doing something selfless for your country, and your of more value to America then every rioter/protester combined.
Yeah, cutting calories is huge. My BMR is like 2300 calories assuming a sedentary lifestyle, I'm exercising like crazy and eating like 1500 calories. HUGE deficits that would the President himself proud.
you can do it! you have the right attitude. just don’t stop. day by day, little by little, inch by inch, pound by pound. it will all add up to big results. we are rooting for you. keep us updated on your progress
If your goal is to join the military, then dont make any excuses for yourself and lose that weight bro. Its really simple, just take in less calories and exercise, the hard part is staying loyal to that routine, you really just need to change your lifestyle. And it will take more than 2 weeks to get any real visible results. Just stick to it.
Just avoid any meme diets or workouts.
The key to success in anything is persistence. If you have a goal that is doable, and you are persistent, you cannot fail.
Careful of the scale. I have lost 8 pounds of water weight after jogging for an hour.
The best marker for progress is your clothes. If they fit a little better, you know your doing good.
Good for you. Did you think of a ME TO diet. Meat cheese vegetables. Eat as .such as you want. I started and lost down to my weight in high school. Hard the first two weeks. Easy after that. Good luck
Here's the thing.
You don't want to lose weight.
You want to lose FAT.
The way I lose fat is Fasted Cardio + High Intensity Interval Training.
The most convenient time to enter a "fasted state" (where your body begins to burn fat for energy) is after a full night's sleep, but before you eat breakfast.
High Intensity Interval Training helps you burn more fat than normal cardio. Basically: 1 minute of sprinting then 1 minute of running over and over, I personally like to do jumprope.
Watch this video:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oXJ5tAdcOyE
If you're interested in gaining strength too.
I'd suggest the big 3 Compound Lifts (Muscle Group Lifts).
-Deadlift
-Bench Press
-Squat
Compound Lifts are powerful lifts because multiple muscles are working together to lift a heavy weight. The heavier the weight you lift, the stronger you will become.
I'm also suggesting the big 3 Compound Lifts because you have a deadline.
If you decide to do these lifts, hire a coach/trainer to make sure you do it safely.
Oh and buy/use a weight lifting belt to protect your back.
Eat a lot of carbs and protein.
Carbs gives you energy for workouts but also for muscle building.
Protein helps with muscle growth.
Bonus:
Carbs and Protein force your body to work harder to digest/breakdown.
Compared to Fat and Junk Food, which the body easily absorbs, and then simply stores as reserve energy for later aka "Fat."
Make sure you get a lot of sleep/rest.
Eggs and water. No more sugar drinks. Eggs are super healthy, nutritious and keep you fuller longer.
Weight loss can be weird. What the scale says on any given day or week is not important. Just stick to the plan.
If you’re very unfit you can actually put on weight (muscle) whilst cutting. If you’re honestly taking on less calories needed then maintenance then you will lose weight. Don’t be disheartened. You will have a week where you will lose a shit ton, but that will be water weight so don’t expect big numbers every week unless you’re obese. Understand one thing, if you’re eating less then maintenance you’re losing fat.
Note: if you're not a beginner lifter you will not gain muscle whilst cutting.
It takes time and your diet should not include much sugar.
Small gains, built up over weeks and months, are how you change your body.
Stay moving - walking, riding a bike, jogging a little, carrying stuff. Stay sweating and hydrating whenever you can. You'll see - those standards are definitely reachable.
Consider a fasting clinic
Please DM mead you are interested I don’t want to Dox myself but I can help you with that! :) love to educate and have been fortunate to work with some big name athletes
YOU GOT THIS! so proud of you, keep at it!
Permanent changes in routine and discipline take a long time, much longer than 2 weeks. Right now it almost seems impossible to imagine yourself conquering the bad habits that you are now tackling, but I swear to you, after 6 months then a year your new habits will be so natural you can’t even imagine yourself the way you are now. This will happen. You will do it. Mental strength will get you there!
Former college football strength coach here;
Muscle weighs twice as much as fat.
2:1 ratio.
1 gram fat = 9 calories 1 gram protein = 4 calories
Jogging is a shit way to burn fat. It essentially doesnt burn fat.
Lift weights light and high reps + get your heart rate jacked up for 30-60 seconds on an assault bike or row machine (sprints).
Forget the scale and your "weight"
Intermittent fasting watch some of Dr. Jason Fung’s videos. Great info and no need to buy anything. Good luck to you!
The military needs people, bottom line. They need you, don't give up and you will be successful. Not like everybody in the military is an Olympic athlete or anyting. You will do great!
Use the 21/90 rule:
21 days to make it a habit, 90 days to make it a lifestyle.
Health and fitness is about being consistent. Stick with it! Remember: muscle weighs more than fat, and the results don’t show up right away. Portion control and eating smaller meals will help you to keep your metabolism firing. You got this pede! We believe in you!
Good luck
Look, Fat, stop drinking sugar if you haven't already. Joe knows that alone will be a huge step toward staunching the ambient caloric overload and metabolic mess. Go with powerade zero or other sugar free junk, or just water (don't drink "juice" from the store thinking you're getting healthy, you're probably getting a huge sugar hit without the fiver to balance it out, similar to soda). Some people crow about sugar alcohol effects, but meh, worked fine for me (palate will adapt to the point that sugary stuff tastes way too strong, and may even hurt your teeth). lunch meat, cheese, any protein, nut mix (lol), raisins. Don't get that trailmix that's got cranberries (typically soaked in sugar), or any fancy peanuts (they're typically covered in shit like sugar). Roasted nuts are great. Look at sugar content on everything (hint: it's in everything these days by default because they figured out how to get people addicted in the 80's) fats are okay (cheese, yogurt).
When you're sitting on your ass watching shit, PT. You can PT and watch; associate watching with PT; if you're idly watching something it will get to feel wrong for not moving or working. Working out is your job; if you haven't PT'd you don't deserve to eat a meal (a light protein snack to get you by is fine, but you owe the coach some work before you get that plate for dinner).
Intermittent fasting will help a lot too. Having kettlebells out at home isn't bad, since they're in your face (also low impact, so if running is hard on the joints, you can thrash yourself without wrecking the joints in the process while taking off weight and getting stronger). Bodyweight stuff is fine for now; if you can't do full range stuff, do isometric holds and hold for time. Fast walking and hill sprints should also substitute for joint protection while you get your body adjusted to the stress (especially if the weight is coming off). If you got a bike, use that for a pleasure cruise and active rest to work out the kinks. My personal kick to dropping around 25-30lbs was kettlebells (some really simple workouts from Pat Flynn), plus some older stuff from Ross Enamait (his old infinite intensity book, which is stellar). I worked in running (with hill sprints in the middle of a distance run) as my work capacity increased.
You are aiming for incremental adjustments over time and consistency, not spastic dysfunctional overkill that'll snap you physically (or psychologically). You are aiming to form enduring habits. Go for 2 weeks. Then another 2, then another month, etc. Don't measure progress in weight loss week to week (I mean that's fine if you're a data person), measure by PERFORMANCE. You should be getting stronger and more durable. More reps, more time for hold, more distance, more weight, less rest time between intervals, etc. The weight loss will come. Small victories = progress and a foundation to build on. Weighted carries (farmer's walk, waiter's carry, etc.), dragging shit, prowler (if you have access) are all good low-impact conditioning / weight loss / posture corrector tools.
Are you following an actual program?
As long as you don't kneecap yourself due to disappointment, stick to realistic goals, and push yourself (within reason; leave a rep in the tank if you're going to fail or grind it out shitty and risk injury), you can do it.
When you're feeling down, look to others for inspiration and be grateful for the opportunity you have to improve. If you pray, ask God to help if you think you can't make the last set.
https://rosstraining.com/blog/2013/07/inspiration-from-tevin-cherry/
https://rosstraining.com/blog/?s=inspiration
Muscle weighs more than fat.
you’re building muscle, just keep going, you got this
Some doctors say not to weigh, but to go with tape measure instead.
Lose 5 pounds of fat, gain 10 pounds of muscle, weighing doesn't work sometimes.
Join a group. Motivation helps when you have people actually there with you and struggling with you.
Ten min mile, 50 push ups, 20 pull ups? Set a goal for desired level of conditioning.
Wear good workout clothes. New balance shoes are affordable, light and sturdy. Support your ankles and arches with insoles if needed. Thin poly socks shorts and tank. Support your junk when running. Cotton can be useful, but is heavy and insulative especially when wet.
Weight loss isn't your goal, strength and endurance are. Weight loss is a side effect of becoming strong. That's your goal, to be strong.
You can do it!! Keep us posted!! God Bless!
Go to the local health store (like GNC) and get some creatine, preferably without caffiene. Go by the directions and drink it in grape juice. That will be your morning coffee before you work out, possibly after. Every day, don't miss it. There's no side effects from it. I took it for two years straight and muscled up pretty nice. Walmart also has it, though I'm suspicious of the quality.
For cardio work smarter not harder. Roller blade/skate instead of running. But do a mix since u are joing the NG. You'll burn 3x the calories and strengthen ur core and legs at the same time.
Agree with above, Keto.
Weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after you pee, before you eat or drink anything. That will normally give you the most consistent, and also the lowest daily weight. It's after your body has used up fluid (both via breathing and via the kidneys cleaning up your blood) and redistributed/used any excess fluid that had accumulated in the lower half of your body during the day due to the effects of gravity. When you've just started an intense exercise program, it's normal to have some excess fluid weight from swollen, mildly inflamed muscles.
My friend studies this and he said to do a lot of eggs and nuts, no junk food ever obviously. For workout, not so much boring cardio but do weight lifting, situps, and pushups. Also increase your social interactions and don't use electronics at night. It's the warrior spirit of not settling for just being "ok" but actually becoming ripped
This is going to be a long post, sorry.
This is how I got in better shape after I had already been in the military for 10 years. The hardest part was the beginning. I had to figure out what diet and exercises worked for me. I too was surprised that I started to gain weight pretty early, but I learned that it was normal. This is what worked for me. Others will post stuff that worked for them. Maybe most of the advice will work, maybe all of it will not work for you. You have to try different things and find what works for you.
First of all, you said you are overweight. STOP running. You need two things. An exercise bike and a notebook. Save your knees and hips. Run later, after you make weight. The exercise bike you should be using is the type that lets you sit down on what looks like a regular seat, not a bicycle seat, and extend your legs out directly in front of you, not below you. Sitting on a regular bicycle seat a lot can have a negative effect on your sex life. use an exercise bike like this that will tell you your heart rate or get a heart rate monitor.
The notebook will help you make progress a lot faster than you would without one.You will use this notebook every time you go to the gym. Find your target heart rate and write it down in the note book. Go to the gym the same time of day, every day that you do go to the gym. Go to the gym everyday, at the start. Later you will have on and off days on a schedule.
Your first day, record your weight then get on the bicycle. Select a setting or settings that are EASY for you. Adjust the difficulty (resistance), and pick an rpm range to pedal at. You want to do 15 EASY minutes. Record the RPMs you pedaled at and the resistance setting. Don't worry if the resistance setting was zero and the RPMs were low. This 15 mins is just to get you warmed up.
After the bicycle, start lifting. It does not matter what you lift, just pick up a weight or hop on a machine. Start with a light weight that is EASY and do maybe 5 reps, just one set. Write down the exercise you just did, the weight, reps, and if you did one or more set of reps. You can start with very light weight and only one set of 2 or 3 if you want, that doesn't matter. Take a sip of water between each set. Do not rest for more than 2 minutes between each set. Try to do many different muscle groups, or just a few, It doesn't matter on your first day. Just write down every rep with every weight you move. Again, it doesn't matter if you do 3 exercise or 20 that first day. You are just starting. What matters most is that you documented everything you just did.
After lifting, get back on the exercise bicycle. Do at least 5 minutes at your target heart rate. Write down the RPM/Resistance setting that kept you at your target heart rate for those 5 minutes. Later, you will increase to 10 minutes, then 15, then 20, etc.. at your target heart rate.
GO back to the gym the next day. Bring your notebook. Document your weight. Hop on the bicycle for 15 mins for an EASY warm up. Head over to the weights and look at what you did yesterday in your notebook. Do at least the same, or more, that you did yesterday when everything was EASY. You will be trying to add a combination of weight, reps, or muscle group exercises to make your EASY workout harder. Your goal is to, at your own pace, find a medium to difficult work out by adding these weights, sets, and reps until you have to split your everyday workout into a two day workout.
Split up your routine into two back to back days of working out followed by one day away from the gym. For Example, on Monday do legs and chest, on Tuesday do everything else, and recover on Wednesday. Thursday start over with legs and chest, Friday do everything else, rest on saturday, repeat. Again, after working out each day, hop back on that bike for cardio. Overtime, you will increase the time on the bike, and the resistance/RPM needed to keep your heart rate up. Always look in your notebook and try to do the same or more than last time.
Once you establish your routine of 2 days of workout, one day of rest, two days of workout, its all strength and stamina gain and rapid fat loss. At some point, when you have figured out your daily routine (have exercises for each muscle group and go 2 on, one off, repeatedly) add Torso exercises everyday that you go to the gym, before you start doing Heavier weights every set. Do situps/crunches/planks, etc. between your warm up on the cycle and lifting weights.
This is important. Don't forget your notebook. Drink plenty of water before, DURING, and after your workout. Review your last days workout every time and try to do the same or more. Do your cardio on the bicycle after every workout. I did this until I got up to one hour on the bike after every workout. This was a 22.5 mile bike ride. After you reach your target weight, you can start adding a run after the bike ride every day, or just once a week, until you are satisfied with your run. I got up to a 3 mile run everyday after my 22.5 mile bike ride, with the last mile being a 5 minute mile. It took me 6 months to get to this, starting as a couch potato smoker.
EDIT: Keto diet/intermittent fasting. Sure, that helps you lose fat. But, you are joining the military. You want to add strength and have stamina. This means nutrition. Find a balanced diet that works for you. This means you have the energy to go to the gym on a regular schedule and maintain/improve your fitness. Myself, I used a mostly liquid diet. I drank protein shakes, slimfasts (for vitamins), and ate salads and lean meat every day.
Always remember that fitness is inherently personalized to you. You will always have your body, whatever has come before it's what you're stuck with and it's the only thing you can improve. Fitness is relative, you need to work from where you are. Try to always keep that in mind and keep going. Consistency is the most important thing.