I'm a type of guy that tends to do well if given no choice. One thing I know for sure is that I'm getting fat and I feel uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. I used to have a will of steel when it came to nutritional discipline but recently haven't. I think it's mainly because when I tend to stick strictly to my diet, I become a social loser who doesn't hang out with friends and just stays home so he can eat his food. So, I've been wondering about going to boot camp this summer, not only to lose fat that I've gained, but also to gain self control and discipline that'll last all throughout my life. And if I do this, man my future is guaranteed. I already killed the Korean language test, which will enable me to become a linguist. Not only that, doing this can kill 2 years off my college education so I can get my bachelor's in 2 years instead of 4 years. This is great for me because I'm not a school type studying type of guy. I hate studying so much that I'm not even really excited about college...:mad: Not only that, once I start as a linguist, dun dun dun... I can start making $80,000 a year, and this would be at a age of 21 and 22. And another DUN DUN DUN my college would be paid for and I would be an officer in the U.S. Army.

Okay, I went kinda off topic there, so back to my original question. From what I see in boot camp training, it seems that it's very catabolic. I know that many people go to boot camp out of shape and come back in shape. But usually these guys are people who never really worked out before or are in terrible shape. I was wondering if boot camp can get me to where I want to be in physique wise?

My husband went into the Army looking a bean pole and came out looking healthy, but there's a catch. The food out on the field was really disgusting according to him and there wasn't time for traditional workouts like you see around here. He gained endurance and mass by doing lots and lots of running, carrying heavy packs while on runs, and just general Army fitness kind of stuff.

Yeah they talk about college and all of that, but they don't discuss what you'll have to go through the get that "free" education in detail. We have people calling here all the time trying to bribe hubby to get back in. At one point he was considering it until he found out how bad it would mess up his retirement. There is a whole lot more to it, but the point is if you're going to go in, go in because you want to be there, not just to lose fat.

It's not all fluffy and nice like recruiters make it out to be....

Before you join the army for your aforementioned reasons, please do yourself a favor and do more research. I don't mean this as a political discussion (I come from a military family), but there's more than one way to skin a cat.

If, after talking to former enlistees, vets, and people off the front lines, you choose a military career, all the best to you, and serve your country well.

I have to tell you I thought I was the only one that considered that as an option! I am a female that is overweight and as lost any discipline I may have had, and wanted to go in to get disciplined basically. I have leaned away from it lately but just wanted to at least say that I ad thought about it too.

Good luck either way.

I've seen people come out of the military undisciplined and out of shape. If you want to get certain ares of your life/lifestyle sorted, then do that. If you want to go to the military, then do that. But the one doesn't necessarily follow from the other.

Also, every serviceman and recruiter I've talked to says to read the fine print before you enlist, and pay careful attention to what you have to do to get the bonus, or the job you want, or whatever.

Also, I'm super uncertain about how this will allow you to get your bachelors in half the time. I've gone to school with ROTC guys, with GI Bill guys, and with guys who enlisted and then were sent back to school by the service, and will be returning to the service. All of those guys have to put in the 4 years to get the 4 year degree...Research that issue carefully...

I've seen people come out of the military undisciplined and out of shape. If you want to get certain ares of your life/lifestyle sorted, then do that. If you want to go to the military, then do that. But the one doesn't necessarily follow from the other.

Also, every serviceman and recruiter I've talked to says to read the fine print before you enlist, and pay careful attention to what you have to do to get the bonus, or the job you want, or whatever.

Also, I'm super uncertain about how this will allow you to get your bachelors in half the time. I've gone to school with ROTC guys, with GI Bill guys, and with guys who enlisted and then were sent back to school by the service, and will be returning to the service. All of those guys have to put in the 4 years to get the 4 year degree...Research that issue carefully...

The reasons I'm considering the military is, discipline, get my life together, fat loss, and most importantly, my future. I know that if I do this, my future is pretty much guaranteed. There is pretty much 0% chance that I will be unemployed after college.

About the bachelor's in half the time, if I do this, I do basic training for 9 weeks, then go to california for my linquist training for 4 months. After that, I'll get my associates degree from the military and enough college credits to knock out 2 years of college. And this will all be done by December 11th. According to my recruiter, from here all I'll have to do is 2 more years of college and I'll have my bachelors.

Making 80K at 21-22? How ya figure? More than likely you're looking at more than a year at DLI, plus whatever other schools may be needed. Training like that generally means signing up for a stint longer than 4 years, even if you're 18 now. Good luck squeezing in 2 years of full time college while you're still active. Possible, but not easy.

Also...as to the linguistics stuff...what MOS are they talking to you about. Once upon a time I had recruiters just about talk me into going in as a 93G - EW/SIGINT...which would have involved time at the DLI in Monterrey as well.

I soon realized how many half-truths are involved and didn't go through with it. (I had actually went to them looking for some other training and had they let me continue with what I wanted to do, I probably would've joined...but after they twisted my thinking into believing this is what I wanted to do, I no longer wanted any part of it). In recent years I found a coworker of mine who'd been a 93G in the middle of the cold war.

His linguistic specialty was Russian. The training they give you (at least for that MOS) is only partially applicable to the "real world" after the service. See, they didn't teach him to _speak_ russian, only to listen to it and interpret it. So he was basically an interpreter. Not that that's useless, but surely you can see your career options are far more limited as an interpreter than a fluent speaker / translator...

Further, he had some pretty advanced hearing loss due to sitting with headphones on for his whole shift listening in on communications.

All I'm saying is...make sure you know exactly what you're in for.

As Tee said, be very careful... You would not believe how many times I've got recruiters in a blatant lie. Do yourself a favor, if you want to be an officer go through ROTC... Compete for a 4 year scholarship. The enlisted recruiters will often try to sell you a dream that isn't attainable. Not many Soldiers who enlist will become officers, even if they try their hardest. The majority of enlisted Soldiers who became officers discharged from the army first, went to college, then re-enlisted.

Also, I don't know about 80k a year... Once you factor in the fact that you won't be living off base, plus medical benefits you're not gonna get near as much as you may think. Trust me on this. Hell, even an O4 (Major) doesn't make 80k in base pay after 20 years of service. As a newly enlisted soldier you're looking at a base pay of 18,408 (assuming you make PFC after basic) plus language pay which will give you an extra 1000 a month if you're lucky. That's about 30K before taxes, which is great for someone out of high school, especially considereing your housing and food will be provided, but that's not the 80K they're talking about.

I love the Army, so don't think i'm trying to talk you out of it. But if you want to be an officer, go through the ROTC program. They'll whip you into shape, that's a promise. I'm currently in college trying to lose weight so that I can keep my ROTC scholarship and become an officer. I almost enlisted, but I was blatantly lied to by many recruiters, so that turned me off of enlistment.

Also, you would not believe how many people come out of Basic trainig fatter than when they went in. It's not geared towards fat loss, it's geared towards building you up as a Soldier mentally.

Join the military to serve your country, not to get in shape.

http://www.nndb.com/people/237/000024165/candy4-sized.jpghttp://www.ropeofsilicon.com/Images/umds/s/stripes.jpg

Though I agree that Boot Camp is a good way to loose weight and get in shape I don't think that is a good enough reason to join. After 23 years in I can tell you that it is about love of country and dedication. All these ingridients put together will most likely give you a good career.

I second the idea that if you are going to boot camp to lose weight you are going for the wrong reasons.

Also, you might want to get that recruiter to explain how exactly the military pay scale will work.

When you get out of college you will be a CO with a rank of 2nd Lt. This means you will make roughly 40k/yr (it may feel more like 80 if you live on base and don't have bills).

Be warned, everyone I've talked to who went in the military emphasized this point above all others "recruiters lie".

Thats good Chris that you're going to Boot Camp this summer to loose weight and gain your self respect back because I feel when you gain weight you loose respect for yourself because you let yourself gain weight and don't do anything about it and your family tells you oh you should go on a diet but you should mentally want to do that not just do it because they want you too but do it for yourself. Chris you're doing a good thing here.

Just another voice for being careful. I'll go ahead and bring up the adage that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. I know people who have joined the military and are very happy with it and I know people who are upset because reality was not even close to what they were promised. I'm not saying the military is bad - I thought about joining the navy - just make sure you know what you are getting into.

Along those lines don't join to get in shape at boot camp. You can lose the weight without going to boot camp and joining the military is a major decision that involves a lot of other factors.

Join the army if you want to, but doing it using its weight loss benefits as any reason? Stupidest thing I've ever heard, and I mean that from a kind place but an honest one. Exceedingly crazy reason to do it, no explanation needed, I hope.

That aside, I'm so freaking glad I never joined the military. I see stories of dads saying good bye to their 1 year old and thank my lucky blessings I get to see my kids every single day, not missing any major moments in their life. You don't have kids, but one day you will, and I suspect saying good bye to one for a year is harder than any weight loss could ever be. I also get to spend the evening chilling. I get to wake up when I want, eat what I want, do what I want when I want. I have enough motivation internally to get up at 5:00 if I need to to train and eat what I need to to acheive my goals. I'd advise working on that instead of volunteering yourself into a position where it's no longer possible to control your life and its day to day. The military is no joke.

Also, I'm super uncertain about how this will allow you to get your bachelors in half the time.Not to mention, frankly, that it's hard to study for a test when you're on patrol in an Iraqi province. I work with a marine. He's 29 and just finished his degree. He's very motivated. I am the same age and have had mine for more than half a decade.

Hate to say it, but there's a reason why it's more blue than white collar kids going into the army. It can be a rough way of doing things.

your family tells you oh you should go on a diet but you should mentally want to do that not just do it because they want you too but do it for yourself.His family telling him is no different than a drill sergeant screaming at him at 5:30 to hurry the @(#$ up because that four mile hike in the rain isn't going to walk itself.

Hi.. well I plan onjoining the army! I already talked to the recruiter and the next stop is the MEPS.. :-S

I'm also a little over weight well i think at least im 5"2 and weigh 131.


Sohopefully, i can get back into shape and serve my country!!

I'm prior service. 97echo. First, if your recruiter told you that because you aced the dlab(korean) you will go to language school HE IS LYING. I aced the same test, was told the same thing, even got it in my contract. The loophole is a "time of war needs of war" clause. Long story short, I never went to language school as promised and was immediately sent to Iraq post MOS training. So, don't buy into that lie. Also keep in mind, and I think I'm allowed to say this b/c I'm prior service:lol:, military recruiters are essentially professional liars. I have a laundry list of blatant LIES, not misleading statements, LIES, I was told as well as the vast majority of my fellow soldiers. I'm just throwing it out there so you know before you sign the dotted line.

Morever, if you do get sent to language school in CA keep in mind that the college credit you receive isn't exactly easily transferred. Most of my fellow soldiers ended up having to graduate from no name, BS online colleges in order to get their credits to transfer-most state schools wouldn't accept them. 80k per year? In the military, or are you referring to post-service private sector work??? You ain't making 80k per year as an enlisted linguist, not even remotely close...Another thing to keep in mind-that big signing bonus they lure you with is taxed at a very high level and is not paid in one lump some. So if you were expecting a 40k check post MOS training from the military, think again.

You mention "then I'll be an officer." When? I hope you don't think that once you get your degree (Which BTW you will NEVER get done in your 4 year enlistment), you just become an officer. Thats not the case. You can acquire a PHD and you'll still have to serve out your enlisted contract.

As far as joining the military simply to get in shape, no disrespect, you'd be hardpressed to find a more ridiculous reason to join the military. I feel no need to elaborate on that, it should be pretty obvious.

An interesting side note, I gained weight(and not the good kind) in basic training. The food they give you is all greasy, fatty crap, and Army BCT these days is an absolutely disgrace/joke from a physicality standpoint. It's 99.9 percent hurry up and wait, learning orders, getting yelled at, and .1 percent pushups/hikes/PT. Thats a common misconception, probably because old timers had it a lot harder than soldiers these days. My fellow soldiers would kill me if they heard this, but the truth is, if you wanna be forced to get in shape join the Marines.

Even with all the negative points I made, I'm still glad I enlisted. Then again, I didn't sign four years of my freedoms away to "get in shape." Best of luck with everything, and shoot me a PM if you have any questions.

The military is no joke.

So very true, you would be surprised how many people once they join wil do anything to get out.

So very true, you would be surprised how many people once they join wil do anything to get out.

qft. I think its a sort of "hush hush" thing that not many prior service repeat because they don't want to come off unpatriotic. Most of the guys I knew in the army, and I knew a lot of them, were absolutely miserable and wanted desperately to get out. When speaking of BCT, well, lets change miserable with suicidical(literally). But, I suppose thats to be expected.

I used to have that train of thought - "Maybe the military will give me discipline!" so I was all signed up and ready to ship out with a friend, we were gonna be Marines. Well, I got a serious injury that disqualified me permanantly from any branch of the military (despite my full recovery).

A year or so later, my friend was back in town with a dishonorable discharge and a wagon load of horror stories. I'm incredibly glad I didn't join, and thus far I have been disciplining myself, and getting in shape myself, in a much more desirable manner.

You don't need the military, you need a game plan. Start exercising will power in a small way until you build it up to where you have yourself strolling through a fast food joint, stomach rumbling, to get to the veggie stand on the other side ;)

#1 You won't lose weight by joining any of the Armed Forces; trust me.

#2 Reconsider the branch you're joining; test with the Air Force.

Well I've found that my recruiter have been hiding some things from me. Technically she didn't lie but she was trying to hide some bad stuff from me... which kinda pissed me off. I don't think I'm going to the Army. I've found the reason why I was having such a hard to losing fat. I've tried to lose too fast. I think my body won't let go of fat at 2lbs a week. I end up doing a lot of cardio and eating a lot less. I'm losing at 1lb a week now and am very comfortable with the pace. It's slow, but slow and steady wins the race. Thx for all the advice.

qft. I think its a sort of "hush hush" thing that not many prior service repeat because they don't want to come off unpatriotic. Most of the guys I knew in the army, and I knew a lot of them, were absolutely miserable and wanted desperately to get out. When speaking of BCT, well, lets change miserable with suicidical(literally). But, I suppose thats to be expected.Glad you said that. I always figured it would be like that but wondered if my impressions were off.she didn't lie but she was trying to hide some bad stuff from me... This is literally their job. They are not allowed to outright lie, technically, but anything that can be disingenuous of course, just like a car salesman, will be thrown at you.

Hey Chris
Just checking on you. seeing what your progress is because I have not been on here for a while so I was just thinking about you

I'm enlisting into the Israeli Defense Forces in November for a two year stint as a combat soldier. I never talked to a recruiter, because every person I know, both old and young, served in the IDF.
I expect that I will lose weight, but not lose body fat at all, and that the majority of my time in the army will be spent being bored.
These things are okay with me. I'm in a unique position, far different than yours, but bump to the other posters.

I'm enlisting into the Israeli Defense Forces in November for a two year stint as a combat soldier. I never talked to a recruiter, because every person I know, both old and young, served in the IDF.
I expect that I will lose weight, but not lose body fat at all, and that the majority of my time in the army will be spent being bored.
These things are okay with me. I'm in a unique position, far different than yours, but bump to the other posters.

IDF now?

I'm around your age and I've been following your posts for years. It seems like you're always doing something significantly more interesting than me. :lol:

Good luck man.

IDF now?

I'm around your age and I've been following your posts for years. It seems like you're always doing something significantly more interesting than me. :lol:

Good luck man.
HAHAHAHA!!! I'm really LOL. Thanks man!

I came to Israel as a volunteer that worked alongside the military on military bases, and after 3 weeks, i decided I wasn't going to leave...I flew back to the States for 4 days. In that 4 days, I dropped out of school, broke my lease, gave away everything I owned that wouldn't fit in my car, drove to see my friends, went to my dads, put everything in storage, drove to my moms, sold my car, packed two bags, and took a one way flight back.
Then I lived on a commune, worked as a fish butcher, landscaper, cook, and janitor while learning Hebrew.
Then I decided I wanted to be a citizen here, so I applied for and recieved citizenship (so I'm a dual citizen), and they require that I serve 6 months.
...but 6 months of army here is worthless because they'll just make me a paperpusher at 1.75 a day...so I signed on for 2 years so I could join a West Bank combat unit and do some real work...
I live a crazy and beautiful life.

I went to Basic Training weighing 210 and finished at 180. Most people in my platoon lost plenty of weight as well. I was in terrible shape when I joined. The runs were especially bad at first.

To echo somewhat what a few others have said, if losing weight is your only reason for joining, re-think things. Plenty of people that were in decent shape dropped out of basic. By dropping out I don't mean that they were given the next plane ticket home. They had to stay there for at least a month or so, doing extra duties in a "holdover" company.

Still, the one thing I loved most about finishing basic was how much better I looked. My mother and sister were shocked when they came to visit me.

One more thing, recruiters exaggerate in almost all they say. If you're going active-duty, you won't be making anywhere near $80,000 a year. You'll have to be a higher-level officer to make that amount. Also, once basic and AIT (job school) are done with, you're on your own for the most part in terms of staying in shape. Even though active-duty units make you do their pt (physical training) in the morning, you can eat pretty much whatever you want all day. The Army is infamous for heavy drinking off-hours. After a while, the pt becomes easy and routine, which means your body has adapted and you won't be getting in any better shape.

I recommend the military to everyone, but just make sure your motivations are in check before joining.