After two years of lurking...

[mdlangley]

Just a warning up front, this might be a long one.

Well Marines, I finally did it. After two years of gathering info and advice from this site I am now an official Poolee. Talked to a recruiter from Hot Springs, AR on about May 16th weighing in at 265. He told me the weight I needed to DEP in at (227 for a 72" 20 yr old) and told me to come back when I was 235. June 19th I was 235 and my wife and I sat down with him and got all the nitty gritty details. One week later (yesterday) I hit the gym with him for about two hours to sweat out some extra water weight for the last few pounds and headed to Little Rock for the ASVAB. Today (20080627) I weighed in at 223 and swore into the DEP. Currently I am in an open contract and am waiting for the new job list to come out to see if I can get into an Intel slot. If not...well I'm not sure. My initial choice was 02xx with a second choice of 26xx. Today I found out that those fields make up only one choice. No big deal, just means I need a new second choice. I'm sure this site will help me choose one.

I'm pretty excited about this and have suprised myself with the life-changes that I have made to begin to achieve this goal that I have had for many years. The only apology I have is to LeonardLawrence. You tried hard to help us wannabes who were overwieght with your online program. Honestly even though I failed at doing that, it was that final failure in my life that really pushed my buttons when I talked to the recruiter in May. I would like to thank you for holding me accountable for not following through with your program. Thanks to that, there was an extra tug of guilt that I had let a Marine down who had sacrificed something to help me and I know it helped pushed me over the edge of doing something sometime and got me going down into the unknown territory (to me at least) of doing something now. LeonardLawrence, I'm Sorry and Thanks.

To the rest of you Marines on this site, thank you for all your wisdom and guidance and keep it coming. I'm not there yet and I still have a long way to go before October. This site helps keep me motivated.

With much appreciation,
--Michael D Langley

[SlingerDun]

there was an extra tug of guilt that I had let a Marine down who had sacrificed something to help me and I know it helped pushed me over the edge of doing something sometime and got me going down into the unknown territory (to me at least) of doing something now. LeonardLawrence, I'm Sorry and Thanks.

You mean you quit, right?

I wouldn't make that a habit, sorry or not it's tough to kick.

[mdlangley]

Yes Sir that is what I mean. I'm sure I had excuses at the time but thats what it all boils down to. The fact that it is a tough habit to kick is a very true and I'm working very hard to make sure that it doesn't happen anymore. I just wanted to make sure that he knows that I am trying to make amends and know that I do appreciate his help.

[SGT7477]

Keep up the hard work and stay motivated.

[DJA20080211]

This advice is coming from someone right out of bootcamp...

Try to loose as much weight as possible before you leave. Losing the water weight is all fine and good before a weigh in, but you need to get the fat burned. Doing it here is a lot easier then there, you might get put on a diet tray which will make the training that much harder. There were guys that came down on waivers, you WILL lose weight, I lost 20 lbs there, but the more you can lose now the easier it will be.

Good luck to you though, and congrats on losing what weight you have already.

[bgsuwoody]

Not entirely true I gained 12 lbs

[DJA20080211]

Not entirely true I gained 12 lbs

Were you a smaller recruit when you went? the bigger recruits like me lost weight, the smaller ones gained weight.

[bgsuwoody]

5'11" 165 lbs...pretty average...enough IT and personal motivation will get you anything

[SlingerDun]

Starting senior year i ditty bopped around at 6ft. 190, HAD to cut 22lbs because i was a fish at 190 and the 78 slot was owned by an experienced 'natural' at that weight who i was not able to best. Happens often and it's a biatch but usually worth it. Theres always a stud hoss just around the corner thats custom made for each weight class (well bred) and the rest of us have to work harder to try and find a temporary place in the world, no shame. Improvise and do what you gotta do. 196 now and haven't seen that guy since........1983 and i'd like to have a go at him again as a late bloomer hehe
OH, lost water weight is quite simply dehydration Shrinking fat cells and maintaining them is a discipline.

--->Dave

[Psurichie]

This advice is coming from someone right out of bootcamp...

Try to loose as much weight as possible before you leave. Losing the water weight is all fine and good before a weigh in, but you need to get the fat burned. Doing it here is a lot easier then there, you might get put on a diet tray which will make the training that much harder. There were guys that came down on waivers, you WILL lose weight, I lost 20 lbs there, but the more you can lose now the easier it will be.

Good luck to you though, and congrats on losing what weight you have already.

How much did you way when you went to boot camp?

[DJA20080211]

How much did you way when you went to boot camp?

i was 195 when i was weighed at bootcamp, and i was around 170-175 when i left. when i depped in i was around 215.

[Psurichie]

How tall where are you? That is about the same situation I am in. Would it be best for me to lose a lot more weight?

[mdlangley]

OH, lost water weight is quite simply dehydration Shrinking fat cells and maintaining them is a discipline.

I probably put back on all the water weight I had lost about 10 minutes after finishing the "duck walk"/weigh-in part of MEPS. As soon as that was over I hit the water fountain hard! Now I'm just working hard to lose it back the right and more permanant way.

I think one of the things that surprizes me so much is how much better I feel after only losing about 15% of my body weight. It's been a couple of years since I was this weight and a couple more years since I've been 200 pounds. I can not even imagine how I let myself get as big as I was and I know that I will never take being a lower weight for granted again nor will I be so lazy as to allow the weight to creep back on.

As far as losing the weight here, I will. The recruiter told me that a 5% waiver was no problem to get but I do not want it. I will lose the weight. No excuses, no whining, just get out there and run it off and I'll be happier (and healthier) in the end.

[DJA20080211]

How tall where are you? That is about the same situation I am in. Would it be best for me to lose a lot more weight?

im right around 6 ft, im not sure to the exact.

loose what you can. as long as you are within the the weight limits you are fine. just dont go there on a waiver and have the stress of losing weight plus the rigors of bootcamp to deal with, it will be better to do it now. join a gym if you havnt and tell them your plans and what you want to do, they will be able to get you on the right track. eat right and MOVE! go run, walk, bike ride, hike, anything, it doesnt have to be healthy.

Psurichie, i wont be able to reply after this, i have to report to MCT in two days. just like my brother told me, the better shape you are in now, the easier it will be on you. you will get into shape there, but trust me, its gonna be hard.

[Psurichie]

Thanks Dja20080211 I really appreciate it good luck at MCT.