Gainesville Florida woman lost 84 pounds to become a soldier

Woman Loses 84 Pounds to Become Soldier


January 04, 2012
Army News Service
by Cynthia Rivers-Womack, USAREC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Allison Scarbrough will officially change jobs Jan. 3, 2012, from retail cashier to Health Care Specialist in the U.S. Army. But the change has not been easy.

In May 2010, then 20-year-old Scarbrough walked into the Gainesville recruiting station ready to become a Soldier. This was a brave move for her because before she could enlist two things had to happen. Weighing 240 pounds, the 5-foot-5-inch Scarborough had to lose 84 pounds -- and keep the weight off -- before she would be eligible to enlistment. But for the motivated Scarborough, failure was not an option.

In 2010, Scarbrough belonged to the country's growing demographic of 18- to 24-year-olds considered overweight and obese. In 1998, the National Institutes of Health announced the release of the first federal guidelines to identify, evaluate and treat overweight and obese adults. When the guidelines were released, 97 million Americans, or 55 percent of the population, were identified by physicians as overweight or obese.
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