Do What A Man's Gotta Do

Erebos

Ok, Lusternia, here goes-

Hopefully soon I'll be enlisting in the US Navy. 

Here are my current issues:  I am like, according to their standards (assuming they are the same as the US Army) about 30 pounds over-weight.  I am not -out of shape-, I still jog and do pushups here and there without too much of a problem.

But, still.  I am 30 pounds over.  So, I am reaching out to you as a community with ideas on how I could diet (healthily- no crack/meth jokes, @Neos.) and lose the weight, and increase my endurance and such.  I don't need to be a walking tank, I just need to slim up a little and make a few changes that will assist me in bettering my future.

Admittedly, I know this choice is not for everyone, and not all of you care or agree with it- in this case, just tell me how to lose some damn weight!

In the event that things go the best possible course, I'll post another discussion including my leave date for Basic Training, and adjusted AIT date, as well as any other information necessary.  During this time, I will be gone.  But, I'll be back, and when I come back it will be great, and we can all hang out and revel in my overflow of credits!

Just kidding.

But really, credits man.

-Ryan

Neos

Now I have to...

Erebos

Neos said:

Now I have to...

You are now permitted. Proceed.

Daraius

I lost about that amount of weight by eliminating idle snacking (eating out of boredom, or eating something just because it's there and looks appealing) and just being more sensible about my meals. I limit how often I eat at restaurants, never get fast food, stay away from sodas. I don't drink, so that wasn't a consideration for me, but if you're a consumer of alcohol there's a few compelling reasons to give that up. Whenever I had the opportunity to eat something, I just asked myself "Do I need this? Am I going to enjoy this enough to justify eating it?" and if the answer was no, I didn't eat it. Took a lot of willpower at first, but after a while -- especially once I started seeing results -- snacks and unhealthy foods just started losing their appeal. Just taking a moment to think about what I was about to eat allowed reason to overtake impulse.

I also started running a few times a week. Enough to make an investment in running shoes worthwhile, but not enough to call myself a runner by any stretch of the imagination. I was the kind of person who couldn't finish the mile in gym class without walking half of it, but with some diligence, a ten-minute mile became a breeze.  If you jog already, it probably won't be too hard for you to step up your running game. 

In short: be discerning about your food, and run a few times a week. Be disciplined on both fronts. That'll come in handy in the navy too, I bet.

Kaalak

Erebos. Questions: approximate age (18-25,26-30 or up), OCS or enlisted, do you have a primary physician, how long have you been established with your primary, what did your recruiter say, do you know your BMI (do not post), have you had a physical with blood work in the past year (if not make appointment immediately you need that data), do you know the rating you want?

Contact your primary physician for a referral to see a nutritionist as well.  You don't want a nutritional adviser or whatever they call it.  Your insurance should cover it. 

And you should know if you are not fit going in, the drill instructors will give you special attention.  

edit: rating not MOS

Haezon

Halve all your portions. Eat brown bread instead of white. Eat brown rice, have hard boiled eggs for breakfast (Only. Have yourself 3-4, you won't need to eat anything else, because protein and they taste good and can be cooked in under 5 minutes. if you're doing intensive training, add a slice of toast and butter to add a kick).

Just eat less, work out more. And weigh yourself every day.

Daganev

My friend recently lost 100 pounds over a course of about 6 months.  by A. Going vegan.  B. walking about 10Km every morning.  and C. Only drinking water.
Going Vegan mostly helped because the amount of food options available quickly diminished :P

Darvellan

Airman reporting in. Don't really know much about Navy basic training, but we were running 3-5 days a week after the first week, so it will be less a shock if you get started towards that instead of just jogging. (I say "just jogging", I went in without really jogging/running prior and sucked at running; the first time we ran, I think I just barely did a lap, if that, before I was dying and stopped a few times. You do not want to stop running that first day or ever while in basic, let me tell you.)

As for food/drink, most of these posts have it. If you're serious about this, I'd say limit your beverages to water as much as you can, with a *bit* of Gatorade or equivalent if you're doing a lot of running. As for diet, I'm not a dietitian, but my basic training had three meals a day, no treats, if you're interested in 'practicing how you play'.

When you're in, if Navy basic training has something equivalent to "road guards" or "water monitors", you might want to get these details if you have a choice. I was both, and lost a good bit of weight during basic since being a road guard had me essentially sprinting while the flight was marching, and water monitor is what we called the guys who filled up the glasses with water and Gatorade during meals, meaning we were last to eat and had to rush. Might be something to ask your recruiter.

As a final note, if you can pass the Navy's PT test with a decent score but still have the additional weight, you might want to ask your recruiter if you can get a waiver? I'm not sure if that's something still done between the decrease of demand of enlisted and PT failures in general, but a possible option.

Either way, best of luck to you!

Xarcon

My recommendation... get a workout program centered around pull-ups such as Al Kavadlo's pull-up program.
You'll be amazed at how much stronger you get when you got to go up against your current weight and gravity.

For legs/endurance, that's kind of tough due to so many opinions floating around. Swimming is the best overall because it doesn't place stress on your joints.

And for diet, use smaller bowls/plates that way you condition yourself to eat less.

Vivet

Everything said here is good, but if you also tend to just eat whenever, stop doing that now and have your meals at regimented times.

This trains your body to be prepared for food at those times and generally reduces the desire/sensation for snacking, and if you're not doing it already, chances are you'll have to anyways once you are accepted.

Xarcon

Vivet said:

Everything said here is good, but if you also tend to just eat whenever, stop doing that now and have your meals at regimented times.

This trains your body to be prepared for food at those times and generally reduces the desire/sensation for snacking, and if you're not doing it already, chances are you'll have to anyways once you are accepted.

I agree with this as well. People tend to make the mistake of starting a fitness plan without learning how to control their diets. Even if you falter with your exercise, conditioning your meals will help to keep the weight off.

Personally, in the mornings, I space my breakfast out to eat small, one-portions every hour until lunch. So, wake up glass of water, at 8:00 am I eat a bowl of cereal, at 9:00 am a banana, at 10:00 am a bowl of yogurt, and 11:00 am I eat lunch... My golden rule is to never eat anything past 8:00 pm except maybe some herbal tea or a glass of warm milk depending on my mood.

Losing weight is such a personal thing that is so hard to pinpoint one form of system that will work best. It's taken me 5 years to finally dip under 150 pounds... one step forward and 2 steps back...

Alaksanteri

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Delphas

When I was enlisted there was something called the ``Fat Boy'' program (don't shoot the messenger! Do you really think I alone had the authority to decide for almost 3 million people the vernacular for their ``extended fitness and monitoring'' program would be called?).  It was also my experience most people in your self described situation received waivers since they were quite obviously in good shape.  Two of my buddies were in the squadron's weight lifting team, and just a height/weight check always flagged them... until someone actually took a look at how much muscle they were packing.  Bah, don't worry about it.  They have waivers for everything (except for people trying to pull a scam...).

Kagato

One thing I've heard going around lately, though I don't know how reliable it actually IS, is rather than having 3 large meals, instead halving the size of the meals and spacing them out so you basically have 6 snack-size 'meals' through the day, the purpose of this is to keep your metabolism steadily pumping from the time you wake until the time you go to sleep, rather than it having to build back up to steam after anywhere up to 7 or 8 hours of not eating.

The other thing would be to make sure you keep a routine, you want to make sure you have your meals at the same time, not have dinner at 6 pm one day, then 9pm the next, then 7.30pm the next.  Say to yourself "Ok, I'm going to have Breakfast at 7am, a snack at 10am, lunch at 1pm, a snack at 4pm and dinner at 7pm" for example.  Also don't forget to make sure that you allow at least one full hour before you go to bed after your last meal.

Also as mentioned above, yes, your body needs proteins, chances are you probably know this, but when working out, your muscles stretch and develop microscopic 'tears', which your body uses the protein you eat to help repair them, building up the total muscle mass.  (one of the biggest reasons weight trainers say that you should only do weights every second day)

(Disclaimer: I am not a dietitian and do not have any kind of sports or nutritional science training, all above info is anecdotal, though admittedly some information came from one of the 'Gladiators' from American Gladiators when I reached out to them some years back asking for tips on how to get into shape)

Rialorm

Diet >>>>>>>>>>> exercise. Exercise will help create a caloric deficiency but you need a meal plan and stick to that else you will likely overeat to compensate and there goes all your hard work then. Also, when you exercise, favour strength building over cardio. The latter doesn't build much muscle. Run because you enjoy it or want to build endurance. But go for strength because to feed all that new muscle your body is going to tap into its reserves.

Eat high protein and low carb to help you with strength training. Bonus fact: Protein is the hardest to digest, so your body works extra hard for which it needs more energy. If you are going to work out you need some carbs though, but protein will help build muscle and the more muscle you have the higher your basal metabolic rate. Get your carbs natural and healthy sources like fruit, and just stop eating anything processed. A single processed meal can be over half your daily calories. You don't want that.

Calculate your basal metabolic rate. Set up a meal plan that makes less calories enter your body than you burn. I recommend for the sake of avoiding hunger, which can trip your willpower and lead to binging, is to have small meals. Also train yourself to notice when you are full. Eat slower. Meal not finished? Stick it in the fridge and reheat it later. At worst, toss it. Yes, I know, kids are starving around the world but honestly the idea you must finish your plate is actually a very bad eating habit. Also, eat food on smaller plates, if you have them. It's an optical illusion that works. A small overfilled plate will seem like a lot more than the same on a big plate.

Also, if you are an emotional or comfort eater, even if that means you like to wind down in the evening with some snacks, consider addressing it. I'm a boredom and mood eater, I don't binge but when I feel a little sad I'll eat something. I'm still figuring out how to unlearn that.

As for meal plans, I recommend a tool like MyFitnessPal, This will help you track and plan ahead. Don't just plan your big meals, plan your snacks too. Log drinks that are not water or tea / coffee. A glass of milk actually is about 50 calories I believe. You can fit that into a meal though, or as a post-workout drink to get some protein in you. I somehow stopped being able to stomach protein shakes so a buddy recommended home-made cocoa. You need to log that and ideally plan it in advance, though.

Also, every body works different. Some stuff will work great for you and other will not. This is also why keeping a food diary is handy, it can help you find patterns.

Darvellan

+1 @Rialorm for MyFitnessPal, only recently discovered it Myself.