Hey all, well let me introduce my self. I'm a 20 year old female who turns 21 in
July. I'm currently in a relationship. I have been looking into joining the
National Guard for some time now. Sometimes I come on the forums to see what
people are talking about. Now I have some questions of my own. First off let me
say why I'm joining. I have finaltl decided to join because I knew that my life
was headed nowhere. I'm doing poorly in school. I have been enrolled in college
since August 05 and haven't been doing good since. When I thought I was getting
my act together but when I really looked at it I wasn't. To serve my country
because of all the freedom we ever had, I also want to give back like others
have, their more to that. I chose the guard because I wanted to be close to the
boyfriend and stay in a relationship with him. He dosent like the idea at all,
but then again what boyfriend, girlfriend likes the idea of their loves one
leaving. I have taken two pratice ASVAB at the recruiters office but I didn't do
so well. I'm afraid to take the test and stink at it. I'm waiting to the end of
the month too take it. If I do pass I hope to leave in the middle of August, or
sometime during it. Now here's for some of the issues I haven been able to study
because when I do try to I have something else to study for. I loose
concintration right away especially when it comes to math, I haven't done it in
years. As for my height I am 5'3 and weight 169. I'm not sure how to start off
with working out. When I run I loose breath quickly. I'm not sure what too eat
and when I do try to eat right, it goes off track. I'm confused with this part.
Any females or anyone with help, please help. Thanks

hmm... I think I can help you out with a few things, but hopefully others will also chime in with advice.

First off, with the ASVAB, academics are academics. Either you study and do well, or you don't study and take your chances. Simple enough. There's lots of info out there on the ASVAB and requirements, etc. so I won't go into more detail here.

As to exercising and eating right, there is no quick fix. You didn't gain the weight you have quickly, and it's not going to go away quickly either. Same thing for working out, it will take you a while to get in shape. If I were in your position, I wouldn't make plans on enlisting until I was already in shape. This is going to require self-discipline on your part. The Army's physical fitness test consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and a 2 mile run. Here's a link to the Army physical fitness requirements. You need to score a minimum of 60 on each event.

As far as actually working out, start out slowly, especially with running. Here's what I'd recommend:
1) work out 3 times a week, with one day rest between each workout day (ie. M/W/F or T/Th/S workouts)
2) make each run section of the workout session 30 minutes long, not including warm-up and cool-down.
3) when you first start, instead of running, just speedwalk. Because your body isn't used to running long distances, this will help it get ready.
4) for pushups and situps, do those before you run, and just do as many as you can, but remember to take it relatively easy when you're first starting out. Make sure to rest a minute or two between doing pushups, situps, and the run. As you do this with every workout session, you'll find out that you're slowly improving.

For eating right, here's what I recommend:
1) more vegetables and fiber, less sugar.
2) control your portions. Too much food at a meal equals weight gained, not enough food at a meal equals no energy to work out.
3) fast food is NOT your friend.
4) snacks and snacking is also NOT your friend.
5) when you start working out, increase your intake of lean meats, as your body will need the protein to help repair itself.

Remember, you're responsible for yourself, no one can do this for you. If I were you, I'd use the time I'm trying to get back into shape as extra time to study for the areas I'm weak on in the ASVAB.

Good luck!
giblackjack

I greatly appericate the fact that you wrote back. As for the whole ASVAB thing Im taking my time and studying for it first. Then at the same time Im going to start doing work out slowly.. Thanks...