Weight loss Via jogging

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Nalj10

New member
Okay, when I lived in Maryland about a year ago, I was 260 pounds. After 3 months of working and getting back and forth to work on a bicycle, I lost a total 60 pounds, which is good for a 3 month period. I moved back to maryland about 3 months after that and stayed at 200, going down to 190 a few times but mostly at 200.

I decided to move back down to Florida about two weeks ago to talk to my recruiter about joining the Air force. He wants me to lose another 20 pounds in a month, and potentially another 10 in the next month.. which is possible.

Statistics: 5'8" 200 lbs, 19 years old.

Okay, so i decide to start jogging.. I've never been good at distance running.. My first day out i do my stretching, push ups, crunches, then i go for a half mile walk. After that i go for a real light jog for the same path which equals another half mile. each half mile I drink about 10 OZ of water because the temperatures are really high. I went a total 1 1/2 miles through the entire day. The method I used of crunches is to increase by 10 each interval. 30 first, then 40 the next set. 50 after that, then 70 after that.

My diet consists of few carbs, lots of fruits and salads, and sometimes a hearty breakfast... Generally the same daily. (plus one-a-days, fish oil, and hootia.)

Through the past 5 days, i've worked myself from only being able to slow jog a half mile up to a total 3-5 miles depending on the heat of the morning/evening twice a day bringing a total 6-10 miles a day, and am currently at 110-120 crunch intervals.

Now what has me confused is with all this going on, i'm GAINING weight. In the two weeks of being here, eating healthy, and exercising at the beginning of the second week, i've actually GAINED 10 pounds.

I dont believe it is muscle nor any physical disorders.. i'm just confused as to why i've had a 10 pound weight gain in two weeks..

Thanks,
Nalj10
 
Sorry to keep this short but the short answer is fast loss equals fast regain.

Those are not healthy goals the requiter gave you.

Not eating right, no weight training and jogging equals you losing muscle not gaining it.

You need to understand and learn the true methods of fat loss and living a healthy lifestyle. You don't seem to lack the drive, just the education.
 
Thanks for the response Leigh, but I regardless- I need to lose 20 pounds by the end of the month to make a certain weight. My recruiter is too lazy to break out a tape measure, so he wount let me apply until I lose that 20 pounds.

By gaining muscle in place of fat, i'll be gaining weight.. so by applying mediocre weight lifting, will that induce weight loss?
 
Pro lifters with the massive eating programs and spot on training on lucky to gain 1 pound a week of pure muscle. So trust me when I say there is no way what you gained is muscle, it isn't physically possible to gain that mush muscle growth. More than likely you are cycling some water retentions because of you training program being well a bad one mixed with a bad diet approach.

I understand you need to make weight, I also no that there is never a cut off date (unless age is an issue) for signing on to army, air force, etc. They will take you at a later time.

It's not that it can't be done, I just wont advise doing it, especially under this type of circumstance.
 
Yeah, I know. I've cut back on the running to about 3 miles a day and cycling at night for two hours or so.. and am giving more time to actual weights, crunches, sit-ups.. things to target fat areas.. plus the pushups to build some arm muscles for it.

I am going to talk to his chief sergent about his lack of correct protocol and see what my target weight REALLY is. 170 is just an unhealthy weight for me.

I plugged it into some military site where they do

Neck Size Minus Waist Size = circumfrence .. and base it off height to determine what size you SHOULD be. I'm supposed to be 180 or alittle more, not 170.
 
Are you a male? I know that at 6' my ideal weight was 202. However the AF has moved more towards fitness assessments rather then weight standards.

With hard exercising (weight training, cardio) and proper nutrition, you'll reach those goals in no time.
 
good luck with it. but i think those expectations are rediculous!

surely they should want healthy people in the air force. not ask peopel to loose as silly amount of weight in a month. 20 is possible BUT ITS NOT HEALTHY. sure if you loose the weight they will let you in but you might just put it back on again after. if i was you id take the time to loose the weight slowly and properly, while working on the stuff youll be learning in training once you join - stamina, fitness etc. you want to be sure the weight wont come on so easliy like youve gained 10 lb in the last week.
 
Running is a really quick way to lose weight. I lost 20 lbs.the first month while on the cross country team in college. I did a 10 mile or 2 five mile runs every day at a 5:30/5:50 pace. Diet didn't seem to matter, it came off real fast.
 
I'm in the exact same boat. I'm seeking a commission in the Air Force and am also a bit heavy. I've done so much weight lifting over the last 10 years and I'm 'thick'.

I need to get around 160lbs and I started out at 185lb (and barely able to run .5-.75 miles!) 2 months ago. I started a diet program that consists mainly of grilled chicken and fish with moderate sides. I've dropped all sugar drinks (sodas/sweet tea). I also run almost daily and continue to do weight lifting 2x a week (down from 4-5). I'm currently at 172 pounds (from 185) and can run a mile in around 9 minutes. My goal is 1.5 miles < 12:00 minutes (2 minute laps). I'm getting closer and closer and I can definately see progress!

So I can definately relate to ya. Good luck with your goals. What I did is made a spreadsheet that tracks my weight daily so I can see progress little by little. I have a graph that plots my points and provides me with a "trend line" so I can estimate where I'll be in the future. So far I'm on par to be around 155lbs by the end of August.
 
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Running has shed weight off me.

I go through heavy and skinny stages in my life. I am usually around 200 pounds but BALLOOOOOONED up to 253 recently.

So, I picked up running 3-4-5 times a week and cut me alcohol OUT and lost 22 pounds in just 1 month.

I don't expect to lose nearly that much anymore but I do expect to lose some more weight until I get around 215 and it gets a lot tougher.
 
Go speak to a different recruiter. My husband is an office in the AF and they have a points system they go on. The rectruiter should have taken measurements and done a fitness asessment. Those goals are unrealistic and the recruiter is probably just trying to make a buck. You need to do this the healthy way or you may not get through basic training. The AF has high standards on the fitness of their troops.

Congratulations on keeping up with your cardio and weights, but you need to focus on your nutrition a little more. I go to an AF dietician and she preaches about eating six small meals a day. At your activity level, you need to be consuming 130-180 carbs. Try watching your calories and try to keep them 1700-2000 and see if it works. You may need to raise the number. You can keep up with the calories at fitday.com and calorieking.com. If you take the healthy approach, I promise you'll get the results you want and you'll feel great too. Good luck with the AF.
 
I'll agree with most of what's been said here already. From a personal point of view, now that I've lost 100lbs and gone through a plateau I would aim for.

* Rest, rest, rest. You can do too much,and rest is as important as being active. I've had enough weeks now to say that when I rest 2 days I seem to shift more weight than if I work out on them.

* Six small meals a day. I tried everything to break a plateau, and in the end this is what did it. I currently eat bran flakes for meal 1, meal 2 is 5 pieces of fruit, 3 being cottage cheese with rivita or a sandwich, 4 is a protein based meal replacment, 5 is main food of the day, 6 then a post work out whey protein shake.
 
About his expectations: I totally agree with AmyRB. Also, I had a friend join the marines for which she had to lose 75lbs. She ended up losing 45 or so by the deadline they set but they still took her. I think they are mainly looking for dedication. As long as you are in good health, can pass their physical, and keep up with the other recruits, you should be fine.

Focus on your diet some. Add protein with fish or chicken. It'll help build muscle which will help burn fat. Also when you're running, drink as much water as you need, don't limit yourself; you craving water is your body's way of telling you you need it.

Good luck with the Air Force.
 
Sorry about the delayed response. Glad to see all the feedback!

Anyway, I joined a gym and I'm down to 195, able to run for about an hour non-stop but at a 3 1/2 mile per hour pace, nothing fast.

I started eating differently again, getting more carbs and less trans fats and things like that plus I'm lifting weights at a greater amount to build my upper body for the push-ups; cant quite kick out as many as I need yet.

Yeah, all of you are right too! I went to a different recruiter and he even told me I'm fit enough to hang in Boot Camp but he still wants me around 180, not 170.. Still a lot to go but a lot better than 170.
 
I am in the air force. The thing with the wieght, yes they would prefer people to be at a certain weight, however, if they look at ur body and see that there is a lot of muscle, depending on circumstances, they will see how much body fat you actually have. When I was going through MEPS, there were a couple girls that were too heavey but they had really low body fat and were able to get wavers so they could still join. Someone needs to go talk to that 1st recruiter you talked to and tell him he's an idiot.
 
If all else fails, dehydrate the day before you go to weigh in, like boxers do to make weight. Some of them shoot back up by 10 pounds or more before the day of the fight.

I'm not saying be stupid and kill yourself, but drinking alot less and sweating alot more for 1 and 1/2 days only just to make some stupid weight requirement wont hurt. And for God's sake if you over do it and feel sick drink some water, dont die and haunt me :p While your doing it if your thirsty suck on ice, and dont forget while it does drop alot of weight fast its a one day only thing. This will have negative, permanent, and counter-productive effects over a long period.

You might want to consult a high school/college wrestling coach or a boxing trainer for advice on this one.
 
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The OP's reasons for losing weight aside, the title of this thread "Weight loss Via jogging" , makes for an interesting discussion.

There was a recent similar thread over on Body Recomp, a forum mentioned from time to time around here. ( ).

Lyle made some good points - jogging isn't that good an idea for the average newbie.

joint impact forces will still be very high

connective tissues take time to adapt to the stresses and maximal anything has to be worked into

and if you are unconditioned to it, jumping straight into it is going to be a huge mistake. which is, of course, what most people will do.

of course, that's boring to most people so they'll go out and try to run a bunch of 100m sprints figuring "I lift weights, I'm 'in shape'" and get injured
Click to expand...

Uh, yeah. Who hasn't been there, done that?

Instead, Lyle suggests, in his inimitable style of writing:

I prefer non-impact for intervals for non-athletes anyhow. f**k running, put them on the bike or stairclimber or EFX so that when they get t ired, they don't blow out a knee or ankle
Click to expand...

Uh, yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

I found a real good cardio routine by accident. I bought my kid a 40 lb heavy bag for Christmas. Try throwing 5X10 roundhouse kicks with each leg at that thing, even at 1/4 or 1/2 speed, and see how much you're sucking wind!

Not to mention the flexibility and balance you develop as a bonus. :eek:
 
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