PRINCETON, W.Va. — A West Virginia man solved a weighty roadblock to achieving his dream of joining the U.S. Army, losing 145 pounds in less than two years.
Kadyn Punturi weighed 365 pounds after graduating from Princeton Senior High School in 2020, WVVA-TV reported.
He played football in high school but decided that he preferred military service to college, but when he went to the Armed Forces Career Center he was rejected because of his weight, according to the television station.
However, an Army recruiter, Sgt. First Class Michael Keathley, decided to work with Punturi and put him on a program to shed pounds.
“A lot of what we do here is coaching and mentoring, especially with these young men and women who are looking to join the military service,” Keathley told WVVA. “So a lot of it with us was adjusting his diet plans, helping him come up with new workout plans. When he hit his plateaus, keep him from giving up and stuff like that.”
Having a plan is one thing. Sticking to it is another. But Punturi was equal to the task.
“I got up every day and went to the gym. Worked out about an hour and a half, two hours every day with a lot of cardio just sticking to it and my diet plan,” Punturi told WVVA. “Just mainly eating a lot of grilled chicken, vegetables. Just trying not to eat junk food, staying healthy and drinking a lot of water.”
The results were dramatic. Punturi, now weighing 220 pounds, was able to enlist and will pursue his goal of becoming an aviation operations specialist. He will head to boot camp in September.
“I mean this journey is not impossible. Kadyn here is proof of that,” Keathley told WVVA. “So to anybody that is looking or thinking that, ‘Hey, I weigh too much or I have too many medical issues or the army wouldn’t accept me,’ you don’t know unless you try. I mean, I’m willing to help anyone out who truly wants to be here. If they show that dedication, the same dedication that this young man showed, we’ll help them along their journey as well.”
Punturi echoed that resolve.
“Stay motivated and it’ll come,” Punturi told WVVA. “Your time will come, just stay after it and just make sure you have the right group of friends around to make sure you’re on top of everything.”
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