Seriously confused, frustrated, and demotivated....

[IHaveEGA843]

So I busted ass in working out this week and I decided to stop by the RS to weigh myself. Nobody was there so I went next door to the Coast Guard RS and weighed in.

Is the Marine scale calibration different then the other branchs scales? I see work in physical shape and when I weigh myself on a scaled at the Marine RS but anywhere else is shows no change and 10+ lbs of gained weight.

So yeah right now I'm mad and demotivated especially since I worked the hell out of my ass this week.

Marine scale: 20 to 15 pounds dropped last I checked on their scale

Any other scale: No pounds dropped

People see it, I see it and feel it but the scale says nope.

[ImpatientPoolee]

Well bro if I were in your situation I wouldn't worry about what the scale says. Push and strive for those personal goals in your work-out routing. Start eating right too man, eat 6 meals a day and mix it up between Protein (Chicken, Fish, Egg Whites) and Carbs (Rice, pasta, etc) and then eat Protein again followed by Vegetables (Lettuce, Eggplant, Tomato) and eat some fruit (not canned fruit) with every other meal.

Listen man, I know it can be demotivating and it gets hard to keep pushing on but just remember it will all be worth it. Pray for health and a clean heart to keep your mind clear, and keep pushing yourself every single day! I promise you when you step on that scale before bootcamp it won't be lieing to you anymore!

Peace and God Bless.

[IHaveEGA843]

Bro-ham, its just weird how the scale at the Marine RS conflicts with each and every other scale I stand on.

My diet has changed drastically from what I use to eat. All the good stuff like hamburgers *occasionally*, sweets, chips, all the stuff youll love to eat to straight brown rice, baked chicken, and steamed veggies. My girl helps me by cooking it but damn how do I miss some of her food along with my gma's soul food cooking. I do cheat from time to time with no hurt in my diet just regret in eating it. Heres what I eat mostly during the week. Morning breakfast is Total Bran flakes with skim milk and a banana/snack is some trailmix/lunch is either brown rice with baked fish or chicken and veggies or a whole wheat chicken or ground turkey taco/dinner is the stuff that is cooked that makes up my lunch which is leftovers. Throughout the whole day I drink water or Crystal light. I try to drink a gal of water and usually I do. It gets to the point that I'm running to the bathroom at work every 30 min.

My workout routine is simple but strenuous. Straight cardio monday, wednesday, and friday. 30 minutes of treadmill running at increasing speeds sometimes or a steady pace. I do take 5 of the first 15 min to warm up with speed walking and after my 1 1/5 I slow down to jog or fast walk for 5 more min. 30-35 min on the eliptical that changes level and resistance every 4 minutes. It starts out on 20 and 20 which is the highest height and highest resistance you can have on it but once 4 min has passed it drops to 10 and 10. This workout keeps my heartrate over 160 usually hitting 170 and even 180. Thats how hard I push myself. The last 30 min is 10 min increments on the cycle starting at resistance 10 with keeping 80 RPMs *rotations per min*. Every 10 min I increase a level and the last 20 min kills my legs because I speed up with more resistance because I try keeping my RPMs above 80. Usually after these workouts my legs are dead. On tuesdays and thursdays I do 30 min of cardio and low weight high rep lifting. 15 min on the treadmill and 15 min on the eliptical. I usually do the pull down/ab/back/butterfly/bicep curl weight machines. 90 lbs turns into feeling like 300 because of me burning out my muscles. Usually when I leave the gym my back and arms are spassing to the point of me walking akward so the cramping will go away.

Mind you, I do this while still working a 8-12 hour job so usually after work I'm tired and I do alot of lifting,standing, and walking on my job. Sometimes I even run from the parking lot to my work area which is a 3rd to half a mile.

I'm a fat body to Marine Corps regs but I'm really solid with a slight percentage of my weight being fat but a good bit of it coming from muscle. Thats one of the reasons why my recruiter doesnt want me to lift but I want to tone myself and help build my back up for those chin/pull ups.

I didnt work out today so I have to make it up tomorrow. After I kill my legs for 2 hours I'll go weigh myself but I just want to know how does the Marines scale differ from any other place. Just wondering how things are calibrated.

Anyways man Im going to stay determined and motivated but I just had to ask that question and vent a little.

I push myself in my workout sessions like this so when I go to recruit training it wont be as had as it would be with me just doing the little poolee functions here. Plus I know alot of the Marines who are fresh out of recruit training say PT is usually done 3 times a week or depending on your DIs but I still want to be on my ****. Anyways thanks bro for the words!

[mcspam]

Either the Marine's scale is broken or miscalibrated or all the others are. If all the others scales say the same weight, and the Marine's scale is different then I would go with theirs. Regardless if you stick with your diet and workout like you said you do, then you will continue to lose. If you stop losing weight drop a few hundred calories a day and try for another week until you find the level of calories that allows for a 1-2 lb loss a week. Anything more than 2-4 lbs of weight loss a week is usually burning muscle. You want to lose the weight quick enough but maintain as much muscle mass as possible.

[IHaveEGA843]

I get it in when I work out and really never give my body the time it needs to heal *rest*. I think my cal in is lower then my cal out which is 900-1000 when I work out and thats not even adding in what I burn during work hours. Time to start calculating what goes in I guess.

I didnt go to the poolee function today due to calf and back tightness/pains plus this was the most rest my body has seen all week. I usually only get 6-4 hours of sleep during my work week so you figure out how much my body has been wanting this. Anyways, I'm going to go by the RS in a few to hit the demotivator.

[ImpatientPoolee]

Well man I'm glad to hear that you want this, we all to be Marines but some definitely more than others. You seem to have the motivation and the dedication which is inspiring, and working a job while trying to stay dedicated is tough, really tough...trust me I know how that goes.

Keep your head, and keep your wits man and keep in touch on this forum so we can cheer you on and give you some encouragement!! I know you need it, I need it too. It's hard for us older guys (how old are you btw?) out of high school, working, dropped out of college, or still living with the parents. It gets tough and you feel like the day isn't going to come but it will, sooner than we think.

Oh btw, the diet is good, and it's going to pay off big time- just be patient. I wouldn't stress lifting right now, but if you wanna build your upper body while you're losing the extra lbs- get a pull-up bar and do that CONSTANTLY! That's probably the BEST way of getting your upper body good to GO!

God Bless,
ImpatientPoolee

[IHaveEGA843]

Good to see another older but young fellow poolee on here. I'm 24 and its crazy how for some reason I do get a little more respect from the recruiters then the younger guys. Guess because I'm on age with some of the recruiters or they just respect the drive I have again I don't know but I respect everybody in there be it a Marine, poolee, or a parent.

I do believe if I was unemployed I'd been long gone because id work out majority of the day.

How old are you? Do you currently work if so what do you do?

[IHaveEGA843]

Good to see another older but young fellow poolee on here. I'm 24 and its crazy how for some reason I do get a little more respect from the recruiters then the younger guys. Guess because I'm on age with some of the recruiters or they just respect the drive I have again I don't know but I respect everybody in there be it a Marine, poolee, or a parent.

I do believe if I was unemployed I'd been long gone because id work out majority of the day.

How old are you? Do you currently work if so what do you do?

[ImpatientPoolee]

I'm 20 yrs old, I put in my 2 weeks notice..2 weeks ago so currently unemployed. I was digging cable lines for At&t though. Went to college for a year to play tennis, but dropped out because I just wasn't feeling college atm. Finally got off the marijuana, and boom, wanted to be a Marine. Just like that.

Haha, yah well we got a couple older guys so I'm basically looked at as the 18 yr old if you get my drift. :)

[IHaveEGA843]

Oh ok, I'd probably quit that job also if it wasn't paying anything with no type of incentives. Currently I work for SAIC *Science Applications International Corp* and where the prime contractor for the mrap project. We intergrate all the communication systems *manpack 117, 104, satcom, etc* in all the new mrap vehicles each military branch buys. Currently we're pushing out the Armys Socom trucks along with the Armys MaxxPro Dash trucks. We had a couple Marine trucks but now they're sending bac their old vehicles to have new systems intergrated in them. I get to seee some cool stuff and do take pride in helping the warfighter while giving him the protection they need.

I'm not quitting but going reserve. My company caters to the military and sucks up to theMarine Corps so I'm going to milk the hell out of this company while furthering my knowledge and experience in the Corps. Wish I would've had this drive out of high school but I've done pretty good for myself. Dropped out of college because I was pushed in by my father but never did any drugs. I hope the Corps offer me the experience I'll love because ill offer them a quality hard working person who will uphold the core values while defending the constitutional rights of our great country. AlI want to continue a path my unclewho passed in vietnam started. He begun the Marine legacy in my family and iKll continue it

[IHaveEGA843]

Oh ok, I'd probably quit that job also if it wasn't paying anything with no type of incentives. Currently I work for SAIC *Science Applications International Corp* and where the prime contractor for the mrap project. We intergrate all the communication systems *manpack 117, 104, satcom, etc* in all the new mrap vehicles each military branch buys. Currently we're pushing out the Armys Socom trucks along with the Armys MaxxPro Dash trucks. We had a couple Marine trucks but now they're sending bac their old vehicles to have new systems intergrated in them. I get to seee some cool stuff and do take pride in helping the warfighter while giving him the protection they need.

I'm not quitting but going reserve. My company caters to the military and sucks up to theMarine Corps so I'm going to milk the hell out of this company while furthering my knowledge and experience in the Corps. Wish I would've had this drive out of high school but I've done pretty good for myself. Dropped out of college because I was pushed in by my father but never did any drugs. I hope the Corps offer me the experience I'll love because ill offer them a quality hard working person who will uphold the core values while defending the constitutional rights of our great country. AlI want to continue a path my unclewho passed in vietnam started. He begun the Marine legacy in my family and iKll continue it.

Good luck to you bro, I'm positive you'll be making it.

[Dveres95]

I feel you bro, im 24 and in pretty good shape, I make weight for my height 5'11 210lbs. All the other poolee's in my recruit station are all 18-19 yr. old guys who just got out of wrestling or football for there high school. I was in awesome shape at 19, but being engaged for 3 yrs. and having a full time job, put me in at 250lbs. when i was 23. Ive lost most of the weight but i need to lose about 15 more lbs. I ship to PI in 5 weeks, just keep your head up and stayed motivated, it will come in time, and as long as you can pass the IST, bootcamp will do the rest for you. Good luck bro!

[IHaveEGA843]

Good stuff bro, I'm sure youll do well in recruit training. A guy I use to train with wrote his grandparents and I had a chance to read the letter. He said its "easy" but so fun.