Hard work pays off, doesn't it?

[dvickers1]

First I'd like to say it's good to be on the forums here, secondly I'd like to state my business here.


I am 23 years old and have realized my true calling to be a United States Marine.


I do not take this as an easy task, as anything that comes easy must not be all taht its cracked up to be.
My current weight (August 16th, the last time that I weighed myself) is 279lbs. That of course is just unacceptable. To Ship I must be at 203 for my height (72in).


Before you can begin to understand the monumental task that is before me, you must know where I have come from. The only thing that I can imagine, is that my metabolism runs at near record highs, because it was nothing for me to eat 7-10k calories in one day. Drink a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper? sure thing! Three beef burittos? Sure!. An entire plate of Texas cheese fries? Bring it on!


Only being at 279 pounds seems like a win for me.


I drastically change the way I put food into my body on August 16th.


No more Cokes, no more fast food. No more junk food or sweets.


I enrolled in a local CrossFit gym, started drinking about a gallon an a half of water per day, eat a balanced diet. Healthy foods, more water. Even in just this short amount of time, it has become contagious. I love it.


Doing CrossFit 3 days a week just doesnt seem good enough for me though. Every morning I get up and run 1 mile. Every night I ride my bicycle 3 miles.


I visited the local Nutrishop and discussed what would help me get the results i wanted. So I began taking the necessary supplements to achieve my goal.


I intend to be in great physical shape and ready to go by next spring. I believe that this routine can get the job done for me. I do have a few before pictures that I will post as well. Any advice, praise or just general comments will be greatly appreciated. I know I am not the first to do this, But i believe having the support of others is going to really help me. My family doesnt approve of me trying to serve my country, so any support is greatly appreciated.

[m14ed]

I must be at 203 for my height (72in).



No more Cokes, no more fast food. No more junk food or sweets.


I enrolled in a local CrossFit gym,

started drinking about a gallon an a half of water per day,

eat a balanced diet.

Healthy foods, more water.

Even in just this short amount of time, it has become contagious. I love it.


Doing CrossFit 3 days a week just doesnt seem good enough for me though. Every morning I get up and run 1 mile. Every night I ride my bicycle 3 miles.


I visited the local Nutrishop and discussed what would help me get the results i wanted. So I began taking the necessary supplements to achieve my goal.


I intend to be in great physical shape and ready to go by next spring.
I believe that this routine can get the job done for me.

I do have a few before pictures that I will post as well.

Any advice, praise or just general comments will be greatly appreciated.

I know I am not the first to do this, But i believe having the support of others is going to really help me.

My family doesn't approve of me trying to serve my country, ,
so any support is greatly appreciated.

It sounds like you're making some good moves on loosing weight, exercising as you go.

IF you're serious on this,, Contact a Recruiter in your area,,, you may just want to get
the "Paperwork" started early...

You may well learn some of the process of "Leading By Example" to younger POOLEE's

When you said your family (My family doesn't approve of me trying to serve my country,)
I find that hard to believe......Perhaps somebody is haveing problems saying their desires,
or somebody cant say they support just the "MarineCorps"

Good Luck with it Studley !, Hang in there

[doc h fmf]

YOUR DOING GREAT MY FRIEND YOU WILL REACH YOUR GOAL but REMEMBER NO STARVATION DIET did you see your doctor did he give you any guidelines you should at least on exercising .

Good Luck and keep up the good work

Stephen Doc Hansen HM3 FMF

[dvickers1]

I would like to thank the both of you for taking the time to reply to my thread. First, to m14ed, I have actually talked to my local recruiter, and he has told me that he can't actually talk with me or work with me until I get to the max weight to get into the DEP, somewhere around 248. My family doesn't support my decision to join any military force, for my safety. I assume this is the number one reason many families dont want their sons or daughters to join. It just makes things hard when they are your only support. That is why I have reached out to the good people on these forums. Next, doc h fmf, thank you for your support. I have been on a consistant diet of protein, a little carbs, water and milk. I feel alot better. I haven't actually talked to a doctor but I did talk to a personel trainer and he recommended my diet. Many small meals spread out across the day. The words of encouragement that everyone gives only keeps my motivation strong!

[m14ed]

There are a lot of us on here that go to prove that we all weren't killed serving in our time.....

Park your bicycle and run your fat a$$

Bicycles are tools to ease your labor !!!!!

2- 5miles in the morning is a good start for youngsters!

Work your way up to where you can do some real distance.

You can't get to where we've been - unless you knuckle down and

DO IT

[dvickers1]

There are a lot of us on here that go to prove that we all weren't killed serving in our time.....

Park your bicycle and run your fat a$$

Bicycles are tools to ease your labor !!!!!

2- 5miles in the morning is a good start for youngsters!

Work your way up to where you can do some real distance.

You can't get to where we've been - unless you knuckle down and

DO IT

Thats actually one of the most motivating things I've ever been told. Nothing comes easy so why should this? Embrace the pain!

[MordeaniisChaos]

Speaking as a "wannabe" who barely failed to get through DEP (Although I'm still working on enlisting! I don't give up that easy!) I understand the whole family thing, getting my parents to sign off on getting me into DEP was a pain, especially with my POS father in jail, but eventually you'll get it done, or you'll do it without their blessing.
As for the rest, the key to getting in shape is keeping a healthy diet that is appropriate for your metabolism and keeping with it. Don't stop for a week because you're sore. Work yourself hard to get used to the pain, because you'll go through a lot one way or another getting to your goal.
Nothing builds strength like intensity and repitition. When I started getting ready for Recruit Training, I could probably do 20-25 pushups max. After about a week of doing a rep an hour for several hours throughout the day, I doubled that without too much trouble. And max means MAX, if you aren't hurtin' and shaking, it ain't max effort! If you can do another rep, do it, and then push out another. Get very, very familiar with crossing "the wall" and pushing through it, because it gets oh so much better after that.
And don't let a recruiter tell you to just focus on PFT. Just doing pushups sit ups pull ups and runs will get you to boot camp, but it won't make things easy on you. Buy some weights, start lifting. Ask a recruiter for the little training booklet if you can, it gives you a bunch of exercises to work on and when to do it. It's a good way to get started for those who don't know how to get their asses in shape. It helped me! I've heard good things about "Insanity" and "P90X" so you might look into stuff like that.
If you don't have one, get a pullup bar. Either a free standing one, or a door frame one, anything. I don't know a single Poolee who had more trouble with anything more than they did with pull-ups. I was never astoundingly good at them but I'm working at it, and the key for those is, even more than anything else, repetition. This is probably because of the relatively low rep counts that are realistic for you to get any time soon, which means that it can be a bit disheartening when after 3 weeks, you've barely made any progress.
You don't have to get to top marks in PFT, but try to aim higher than the minimum requirements to get to boot camp. You'll have to get better than that to leave a Marine, so you mind as well push past that and just go as high as you can. Doesn't really matter how well you manage to do, you'll always get a nice boost in strength and endurance at boot camp, so the higher you start, the better.
Sorry for the rant, and go kick some ass!

[m14ed]

I don't know about the current BootCamp WEIGHTS..

I know, about the ONLY thing we used was a LOG.

a PugelStick,

and a Rifle.

Everything else, was moving our a$$.

never fast enough, never good enough.

do it,

again.

and again,

and again......Get the point ?

[Mongoose]

During my time, there was 60,000 men that choose Canada over serving their Country. Today, when serving is widely applauded, I don't have to look down at the floor, if someone ask me if I was ever in the Military. Your life is in your hands, molded by your choices. Choices that will follow you where ever you go. Leave Mom and Dad at home and follow your heart. You won't regret it.

[fl1946]

Before you participate in a weight loss program: 1) get medically cleared to avoid possible medical problems, e.g., hypertension, cardiovascular, pulmonary function, ortho, etc. (you don't want to drop dead or stroke out, the latter a hellova life altering experience); 2) sign up in a gym or nutritional program with certified trainers, or 3) check out assorted self training programs, again provided by certified organizations (you will find on Internet).

Your body mass index (BMI) is 38.9 based on what you provided: 289 lbs, 6' ht. You are unfortunately obese. You need to bring your BMI down to at least 25 and body fat down to 10% (if you can). Reduce your caloric intake below 2100 calories but not below 75o calories per day. Calculate the amount of calories you will/are going to burn daily. If your calories burn is more than calories taken in, you're going to lose weight. All this can be refined when you talk to a nutritionist or trainer. The key to success is NOT just losing weight but building up ENDURANCE. If can't keep up you'll soon be dropped.

Former co-founder/CEO of national obesity surgery company. Good luck.

[usmc5831]

Just be careful with Crossfit and injurries setting you back. Not a big fan of 279lb people doing box jumps. You tear your achilles and your done.

[usmcdanno]

So, where are you with your program now? How much do you weigh?

[dvickers1]

Hey there Marines. Sorry it's been awhile since i've posted any updates. Things got kinda hairy for a bit. I had to take a break from my routine because of certain circumstances but i'm back at it now. I'm currently at 263lbs. I'm back on my eating habbits and running 3 miles everyday now. I don't want to set a date as to when i'll be ready, I just know I want to be gone yesterday!