alright....so I've ALWAYS wanted to join either than National Guard or Air Force and...I know, I have to lose at LEAST 100 lbs in order to be in the Air Force and at LEAST 120 to be in the National Guard.

I talked to my mom about it and well....she doesn't like the idea of having a daughter in the Armed Forces where she could potentially die. I, on the other hand, have had the desire for a long time. I know it will be a while before I can really think about it because of my weight, but I think it's a good motivator as well.

Anyone here in the armed forces? Anyone have to lose weight before joining? What are some of the really tough things I will encounter?

I know it seems like I"m asking all of this stuff rather soon but I'm determined that I will lost 100 lbs in the next year and maybe by next summer will be joining!

My best friend joined the Navy. The process took about 6 months. She was 25 when she signed late last fall and went to bootcamp Feb 27th. Since she had several semesters of college and because of her age, she had a few more options and went in with a higher ranking.

She was also very overweight (195 lbs or so) and generally not in good shape (she also was/is a heavy smoker). She had to lose about 25 pounds before they would even sign her and it proved to be a great motivation. And even though she wasn't "officially" a recruit, they granted her access to the facility where she could work out and worked with her recruiters to get in shape. It was actually quite easy for her from that point on. I think she had to be 162 at the deadline and she was absolutely committed to doing it.

Basically, if you want to join the military, they will do whatever is necessary to get you into an acceptable condition.

I think you have to be in the healthy weight range for your height in order to join. When my boyfriend was talking to the recruits about joining the marines, I was with him and looking at the requirements, and for my height I'd have to be 160 lbs to be able to join.

Sheila, one of my biggest regrets is not joining the Air Force after high school. I always wanted to and let Men get in the way.

My son is in the Army Reserves and is currently at Ft. Irvin California for his summer drill. He will be gone for 4 more weeks. My 18 yr. old step-daughter leaves to the Coast Guard on July17th. My brother is now Retired from full-time Army service. My 24 yr. old SD enlisted in the Air Force and did not make it through boot camp. They booted her out with a Medical Discharge after she told them she was suicidal. She couldn't handle the stress and was being yelled at constantly for not being able to do the situps.

I say, if this if your dream. Go for it. I wish you the best of success with your wt. loss and your military career.

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I know about the men getting in the way. I have a boyfriend....and I'm not too sure he's going to be thrilled when I tell him. It's not set in stone...but it is something I have thought about since before I finished highschool and I can't wait around my whole life waiting for a guy to propose to me. Right? I mean...I love him to death and have thought about just proposing myself...but to be quite honest...in a relationship like that I want to be the girl.

After I tell my trainer at the gym he'll probably start kicking my butt even harder and tell me to go through Ballys Boot Camp program. Might actually be a good idea. I remember when I got the phone call from the Air Force recruiters when I was in my Senior year in HS and they asked me if I had thought about joining. I told them I really wanted to but that I was a little overweight...they asked me how much I weighed and I lied and said like 180 or something and I was actually 298. And at 180 they said I needed to shed some pounds so I stopped thinking about that possibility for a while. Shame on me to let my weight get in the way of something I want to do!

Oh well..moving on and hoping I can do this. I will also be getting some additional college courses in as I already have 1.5 years finished.

Oh, it's also worth mentioning that they may appreciate seeing how committed you are to the process, so maybe you should go talk to a recruiter now anyway? ... like, "wow! she lost 100 pounds to join! She will make an excellent soldier!"

I'm sure they weren't sold on my best friend joining, but she told them she was going to do it and she let them see that she was in fact committed.

depending on the service you need to either be a certain weight or a certain body fat percentage - thats how they can handle having 6'5" 275lbs marines!

you also have to be able to complete a run (some branches allow swimming) within a time frame and so many crunches and push ups. for the marine corps, its pullups and more rigorous standards. it's a great motivation!

i'd look into it and see what the exact requirements are for your branch and it will give you some set numbers to aim for!