How to Meet Weight Requirements for US Military Enlistment

It happens to the best of us. We get lazy and quit watching what we eat, or we become stressed and lose the time or motivation to exercise. However, if you have plans to join the United States Armed Forces, then those bad habits will only bring you grief.

I'm speaking from experience. I dropped thirty pounds in a few months for the Air Force, and I am still struggling to stay at weight while I'm in the delayed enlistment program.

If you are truly committed to joining a branch of the military, then from experience, I suggest that you lose the weight the right way. Otherwise if you cheat your way (by dropping five pounds overnight of water weight), it will only cause you more headaches while you wait to ship out to basic training.

So here I will explain how to lose the weight correctly. However, I will also talk about a few ways to drop a few pounds too quickly, because chances are if you are going to do that, then you've already made you mind up about it. The least I can do is to help you do it the healthiest way possible so that you do not cause yourself long-term bodily harm.

It is up to a recruiter's discretion to allow overweight candidates join the Delayed Enlistment Program (DEP). However, in my experience, if the recruiter knows that you are serious about enlisting, he or she will be happy to help you lose weight.

In the past (especially during war times), the military has allowed overweight individuals to join, and they went through a "fat boy program" during basic training. This is no longer the case. Every individual must be within the height and weight standards before signing a contract and on the day they leave MEPS to basic training. If you are overweight for your last MEPS appointment you will be sent home, even if you were within weight standards at previous appointments.

The first step to forming healthy habits that will lead to a prosperous military career is to identify the problems that have caused you to become overweight. This is no time to make excuses. You have to be honest with yourself.

Some causes could be:

• You have been overweight all of you life.
• You have become lazy about your eating habits.
• You have become lazy about exercising.
• You have lost your motivation for exercising.
• Unhealthy weight-loss habits have slowed down your metabolism.
• You have over scheduled your life.

Any reason can be overcame. It will just take time, patience, and hard work, all of which will be required once you join the military.

Each branch of military has different weight requirements. The weight requirement depends on your height and age. They also can do a body fat percentage.

Air Force Requirements:

A recruit must be 4'10" or taller to enlist, and at this height the minimum weight is 91 pounds and the max weight is 131 pounds. With each additional inch of height, increase the minimum weight by three to four pounds and the maximum weight by five pounds.

Under 30:

• Males must have no more than 20% body fat composition.
• Females can have no more than 28% body fat composition.

Source: Air Force direct height and weight requirements

Army and National Guard

Men must be five feet tall, while females can be 4'10". With each inch, the min/max weight increases by about four pounds, and with each age bracket the weight requirements change more so than most other military branches. The female weight max at 4'8" is 109 for recruits with prior military service, and the max is 112 for recruits who have not previously served with the Armed Forces that are between the ages of 17 and 20. For males of the same age group, the max weight at five feet is 132 pounds.

• Females must not be over 30% body fat composition. (For a non-prior service member age 17-20)
• Males must not exceed a body fat composition of 24%. (For a non-prior service member age 17-20)

Source: Army and National Guard direct height and weight requirements

Coast Guard

The Coast Guard has a measuring system that, to be honest, I am unfamiliar with. They determine max weight by height and "frame size." The frame size is determined by measuring the circumference of the wrist where the two bones stick out like little "knobs." To be sure, just ask a recruiter.

• Females under 30 years old can not have a body fat index of above 33%.
• Males under 30 years old cannot have a body fat index of above 23%.

Source: Wrist measurements and Coast Guard height and weight requirements

Marines

Source: Marine Corps direct height and weight requirements

Navy

Source: Navy direct height and weight requirements

There are a ton of ways to quickly lose weight. Unfortunately, few of them are healthy or will keep the weight off long-term. Remember that, by enlisting, you are commiting to a lifestyle change.

However, if you are convinced that you want to lose the weight quickly, sign those papers, and worry about the consequences later, there are a few things you can do.

The three-day military diet is a trick that is used to make weight. It's possible to lose up to ten pounds doing this. After completing the diet, it is possible to repeat it after a two day rest. The majority of the weight lost through this is only water weight, and will come back after stopping the diet. However, it is useful for the week before your MEPS appointment.

The diet works by severely limiting calories—it comes out to under 1,000 calories a day. Such calorie restriction is not healthy; neither is the lack of nutrients to be found in the all of the processed food.

DAY 1:

Breakfast

• 1/2 grapefruit
• 1 slice of toast
• 2 tablespoons of peanut butter
• 1 cup of coffee or tea (with caffeine)

Lunch

• 1/2 cup of tuna
• 1 slice of toast
• 1 cup of coffee or tea (with caffeine)

Dinner

• 3 ounces of any type of meat

• 1 cup of green beans
• 1/2 banana
• 1 small apple

• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream

DAY 2

Breakfast

• 1 egg

• 1 slice of toast
• 1/2 banana

Lunch

• 1 cup of cottage cheese
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 5 Saltine crackers

Dinner

• 2 hot dogs (without buns)
• 1 cup of broccoli
• 1/2 cup of carrots
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream

DAY 3

Breakfast

• 5 Saltine crackers
• 1 slice of cheddar cheese
• 1 small apple

Lunch

• 1 egg (usually hard-boiled, but can be cooked however you like)
• 1 slice of toast

Dinner

• 1 cup of tuna
• 1/2 banana
• 1 cup of vanilla ice cream

Losing weight is a fairly simple process. You have to take in fewer calories than you burn during the day. Most people burn roughly 2,000 calories a day, so to maintain weight, a normal person would aim to consume about 1,850 calories a day. I generally aim for less calories than needed, simply because I know that I am bad about "secret calories," or consuming calories without realizing.

It's generally accepted that one pound of weight is about 3,500 calories. So to lose a pound, you would need a negative amount of 3,500 calories. To lose weight healthily, you should never consume less than 1,000 calories in a day.

To see the time that it would take you to lose the amount, multiply the number of pounds that you need to lose times 3,500. Then figure out your caloric goal. For example are you aiming for 1,500 calories a day? Then factor in the amount of exercise that you plan to do daily (running one mile=100 calories).

Depending on your current metabolism, if you cut your calories down to 1,500 a day and run/walk/jog five miles a day, then you will lose about two pounds a week. At first, you may lose slightly more, so as your body adjusts, you may need to add more exercise or eat slightly less.

If you cut your daily intake to 1,000 and continue to run 5 miles a day, then you should be losing about a pound every two days. I do not suggest eating less than 1,000 calories a day, especially if you plan to exercise vigorously.

Also, stay away from all soda, processed foods, and salt. Period. No arguing or moaning. These foods are only going to hinder your weight loss.

Do not take pills or supplements to lose the weight. They check your urine and you have to tell them all of the medication that you have taken in the past week. I told them about a Midol that I had taken two days before, and I was disqualified for two weeks because the doctor said that it causes water weight loss.

You could always take the pills and just not tell them. However, this runs the risk of something funky coming up in the urine test, which will lead to you being disqualified for a lot longer (I believe 180 days).

A simple way to lose weight is to sweat. This will not be a permanent loss, and the weight will return as soon as you rehydrate, so this is done the night before. Don't start to dehydrate yourself too soon, because it will cause you to become weak and not perform as well at the MEPS station. There are a few wrestling/weightlifting techniques to lose this water weight.

The first is using plastic wrap. Any type of standard kitchen-grade plastic wrap will work. You wrap the plastic wrap around your body, touching your skin, on as many places as possible, especially your stomach and thighs. Then dress in layers of clothing to begin to overheat yourself. You can try just sleeping like this, or if you are farther away from you goal for the next morning, work out with the wrap on. This can also be achieved wearing multiple layers of clothing and a trash bag.

There are two other ways to quickly lose water weight: dry saunas and immersing your body in water that is as hot as possible without becoming burning. These two work the same in that they force your body to sweat. Do not combine the plastic wrap with the sauna or hot water; it can fuse to your skin and cause major burns.

You can also try taking ex-lax or other diuretics starting a few days before and only eat liquids for a few days to help clear out your bowels. I can lose five pounds in two days with this.

Always remember that these will not actually get you to your weight. You may be at weight when the nurse asks you to step on the scale, but the moment you begin to rehydrate and eat solid foods you will gain the weight back (and, normally, you'll gain a little extra).

Make sure that you do not forget about your ASVAB scores while you focus on weight loss. Your weight can get you into military service; however, your ASVAB score determines your job.