Cherry Hill social worker wanted to join the U.S. Army but wasn’t fit. So he lost over 100 pounds.
by Marc Narducci, Updated: August 17, 2020
At their first meeting, Army recruiter Sgt. Derek Melendez had bad news for Tashime Felder.
It was March of 2019 and Felder, then 28, wanted to enlist. The Cherry Hill resident stood 5-foot-8 inches tall and weighed 297 pounds.
Melendez, the station commander of the Cherry Hill Army Recruiting Center, appreciated Felder’s desire to serve his country, but the young man didn’t meet the Army’s weight standards, which are calculated according to age and height. To successfully enlist, Felder’s weight needed to be under 190 pounds and his body fat less than 28% of his total weight. At the time, he was 107 pounds over the weight limit, and his body fat was 35%.
https://www.inquirer.com/life/army-recruit-weight-loss-philadelphia-20200825.html
