About

Have you ever woken up one and realized that the decisions you have made in your life do not reflect the person you imagined yourself being? I am one of those people.

I am 23 years old and live in Knoxville, TN. I work in the field of IT and live pretty comfortably. However, I am unsatisfied with the person I have become. From the outside, most would say I appear happy and confident; which I am for the most part. However, there are two things in life which have not happened that are holding me back from becoming the person I always wanted to be.

1) My Weight
At the time of writing this, I currently weigh 303 lbs.

2(150)+3

2727/9

3(75*2)-147

No matter how you look at it, I weigh 303 lbs. This is a weight I have allowed myself to become. My freshman year of high school, I weighed 220 lbs. And have ballooned as high as 330 lbs (as of July of this year). I fluxuate tremendously due to my own inability to control my attitude about eating. It’s a vicious cycle of addiction I am learning to overcome. Part of this blog’s purpose is to publicy hold myself accountable for my actions and decisions. However I do have a time frame, which I will get into soon.

2) Military Service
Unlike many other countries, the United States does not enforce a mandatory military enlistment once reaching the age of 18. I believe this generates a certain amount of pride and patriotic heritage about serving this country. Our entire armed forces are served by men and women who are volunteers. There have been few times when military personnel have been legally conscripted by the government to serve, but for the most part… we are protected by a volunteer military force.

My family shares a rich background in military heritage. My grandfather was retired US Army. My father is a retired Msgt with the USAF after 20 years of service. I have a few cousins who are Marines, a few who serve in the Air Force. I feel drawn to the sea. I wish to serve this country by enlisting in the United States Navy.

That is where this blog gets it’s name from. Shipweight. Ship, mighty vessels of steel that enforce the United States’ military from sea. Weight, the one thing holding me back. A caloric surplus.

What is in the Navy that is appealing?
After doing quite a bit of research about the different branches years ago, only one job in the military has latched onto my mind and has yet to seize grip. The Navy offers a rigorous program that teaches the operation of Nuclear reactores onboard submarines and aircraft carriers. The Navy Nuke program is a presitigious program that is very demanding. It is something I feel passionate about and compelled to strive for.

The Goal
The Navy requires men of my hieght (68″) be at a maximum of 181 lbs. So this is obviously my goal. I know it will be a long journey, and there will be times when I come face to face with wanting to quit and admit defeat. But I can’t and I won’t. I have set myself goals that I will use to benchmark my progress, for both weight loss and enlistment into the Navy.

• 300 lbs -Create blog.
• 250 lbs -Purchase ASVAB study guide.
• 200 lbs -Contact Navy Recruiter.

This makes it simple, and gives me something to do. The Navy also requires that to qualify for the Nuclear program (aside from testing scores), the person must not be 25 years old at the time of shipping to boot camp. I will be 25 on January 14th, 2012. I have heard of age waivers however, I will not count on this. I have to act now.

I hope you will follow through my journey of getting healthy and pursuing a dream of mine that I have wanted for quite some time. I hope you will witness me make my shipweight of 181 and be able to enjoy the life I have dreamed of.