Losing weight gets personal…
Two. Four. Seven… as in 247, or more specifically, 247 pounds. That’s how much I weighed on March 16, 1997. That was the day I got out of the U.S. Marine Corps. I weighed 247 pounds with 15.7% body fat. It’s hard to believe that was 18 years ago. How does one go about rewinding 18 years? Well, since getting back to my last Marine Corps weight of 247 pounds is my goal, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
Like a lot of kids, my childhood was a myriad of phases where I was at times thin, chubby, lanky, lean, muscular, and athletic. It wasn’t until I became a teenager that I started to become self-aware and very self-conscious about it. When I look at pictures of myself during high school, I see an athletic teenager. What I remember feeling about myself during those years, was a very awkward and self-conscious kid. I ended up getting a football scholarship and played for a couple of years before joining the Marine Corps. Even in college, when I was in the best shape of my life up to that point, I remember being very self-conscious about my body. Then, I joined the Marine Corps.
I weighed 233 pounds and was in excellent football shape when I shipped off to Parris Island, South Carolina for boot camp. Three months later I graduated at a very thin, and impossible to maintain, 197 pounds. I lost 36 pounds during three months of boot camp in the swamps of Parris Island. I was in the best shape of my life. For the first time ever, I wasn’t self-conscious about my body. I felt like I could fly. It was a good but very unfamiliar feeling.
Throughout my five years in the Marine Corps, my weight constantly fluctuated between 210 and 230 pounds depending on where I was stationed, whether I was in school or working, how much I worked out, etc. Although I was in the best shape of my life, I was oftentimes singled-out and made consciously aware that I exceeded the Marine Corps weight standards (214-pound maximum allowed) for my height of 6’2”. Even though I was always in the top ten percent of finishers for Physical Fitness Tests (PFT), because of my larger build, I was always required to have a weight waiver. I found this extremely annoying since I was below the 18% maximum allowed body fat percentage, was an outstanding Marine, and played by the rules.
About a month before I got out of the Marine Corps, there were a few times when I was required to attend remedial Physical Training (PT) sessions based solely on my weight instead of my physical conditioning. The real reason it happened was because my Gunnery Sergeant at the time had it out for me. He and I had never gotten along and everyone knew it. The remedial PT sessions were useless for me as they were tailored for Marines who were either injured and recovering or who had serious fitness deficiencies. Besides, I was a gym rat who spent most of my free time playing basketball, football, or working out simply because I enjoyed it. I remember one instance when my Gunny made me attend remedial PT at 5 in the morning. I was not a happy camper. The following week, as we finished the first mile of our annual three-mile PFT run, I yelled, “You got this gunny!” while I passed him. He nodded in acknowledgement and let out a half-assed “oorah!” before realizing it was me. I easily outweighed him by 40 pounds, could complete the three-mile PFT run faster than him, and I was the one who needed remedial PT? What a piece of shit I thought.
I don’t know if it was purely out of spite or if it was because I knew I was getting out soon and the rebel in me wanted to prove a point, but the last couple of months I was in the Marine Corps, I decided to see just how much weight I could gain before getting out. I ate anything and everything and spent all of my free time in the gym lifting, heavy. Well, I gained about 15 pounds and ended up getting out at 247 pounds at 15.7% body fat. Not too shabby… mission accomplished.
After getting out of the Marine Corps and two months of being unemployed, I began my career as a contractor/consultant. My level of physical activity dropped from an average of two-three hours a day to less than one. Within two years I gained nearly 60 pounds. I still frequented the gym and lifted but my cardio was nonexistent. I ballooned to 306 pounds at my heaviest. A very unhealthy 306 pounds. I was drinking large, white chocolate mochas twice a day, eating like a horse, and doing zero cardio. I let myself go. I stayed between 285-300 pounds for about ten years before fully realizing just how unhappy I was with how I felt and looked.
Over the past five or six years, I gradually began working out again, did more cardio, and generally tried to stay more active. I even managed to get my weight down into the 250s a couple of times (temporarily) but it usually hovered between 260 and 270. I was 272 pounds when I started culinary school last year and about five pounds lighter when I graduated this year (seems counterintuitive after spending the last year in the kitchen). I’ve never gotten down into the 240s again. At least not yet…
So, 247 pounds is my goal. I have more than a few pounds to go. I should say, that’s my first goal. Perhaps, depending on how I feel once I get there, I may take it a step further and shoot for my pre-boot camp weight of 233 pounds. Perhaps…
Wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted on my progress!
James