I am very insecure about my weight because I am just under 10 stone. Should I join anyway?

Hi Kieran and thanks for your question,

I would personally say that the Army is a place where any concerns you have about your physical appearance will not cause a hinderance. I have known many people across my time in the army of all shapes and sizes and you would always be surprised of the things they have achieved or can achieve.

As long as you can meet the standard in terms of fitness, and you are within the BMI range required, then you should not have any problems. Often times you will actually be able to use it to your advantage if you would like to, for example in some sports such as rugby or tug of war, you could be one of the stand out performers.

If you are insecure about your weight, then we will also provide substantial training and instructors once you have joined who will be on hand to help you get to the physical condition you would like. Of course this will require hard work on your part too, but they will advise and help you as much as possible to make it much easier.

Overall, we don't see any issues with physical appearance when it comes to joining the army. The Army can help hugely with confidence too, so over time, you will probably see less issues about your weight and and other insecurities, you can then see where you can utilise your strengths even more. As long as you meet the criteria and standards to join and then maintain service life, then you should have no problems.

Hope this helps, and if you have any other questions then feel free to ask.