Where did your life change?

[sawheet]

I am not sure, first off I am definatally not a model, and do not compete in bodybuilding. I guess my life changed at 21, I was wild and crazy!! I always played sports in High school, and was in good shape but after school i partied for a while and did not take care of myself. Ofcourse i got in trouble alot and did extrememly stupid things. I guess finding myself broke with no job after a two month long party fest in key West, I decided to get it together. I went back to school became a Firefighter and have been doing that for 15 years now. I started working out hardcore when I was 22-23, and have not looked back since. i also started to do the things which I loved back when I was a teen, Rock climbing, Hockey to name a couple. I do not know what clicked in me but it did and I am glad

 

[Dero]

Wow,dat's a tough question,have to think dat far!!!

Hiya Ashtyn,BTW welcome to DA SITE!!!
Ok,I'm not a body builder,I do not compete,I'm far from being a model
What am I doing here you may ask????
Well like you,when I was lurking about I did see the same things you saw about this bunch of people.
They are freaks,who in their right minds wants to be training and training on their spare time,HONNESTLY???

Wrong 'tude!!!
Ok,seriously!!!
My story...
When I was in high school and before that I was always sport active,played basketball,hockey,tennis and bike alot,then I entered the work world .No time for playing anymore,life was serious so I did get a bit overweight,(suprise I did not BLIMP OUT) up to about 8 years ago,I think the only physical activity I did was some walking.One day a friend of mine asked me over to his place,we were just sitting about and out of the blues, he said "LET'S GO FOR A BIKE RIDE!!!!"
Well since then,you could say that I'm a bike FANATIC,MTB is my thing,since that day I have losed about 40 lbs and for a 43 year old guy,(looking around at other 43 year old guys)I think I'm in pretty good shape!!!
This site has,more the people have shown me how to properly manage a diet and stick to it,in other words,what to eat,when and why...
In the last 2 years that I have been a member here I think more healthy then I ever had in my entier life!!!
The other thing is that the people are what makes this place really work well,the variety of personalities and the backgrounds,sure some of us clas SOMETIMES but overall,
THEY/WE ARE A DECSENT BUNCH OF HEALTH FREAKS!!!

Yes,I bike when I have free times,what's wrong witdat???

 

[BUSTINOUT]

Cut your hair and you'll prolly lose another 40lbs. ROFLMAO. Good to see ya back d.

 

[firestorm]

I started young. I started the martial arts when I was 8 and continue that to this day. I played high school and Collage football and then joined the military. I'd say I really got into bodybuilding in 1980 the year I graduated High School after seeing the movie Pumping Iron. Prior to that I just trained for strength and speed.

 

[Ashtyn]

sawheet your a firefighter i like firefighters hey LOL

dero i hear you i think its crazy that when you settle down and get serious you gain weight. i gained like ten pounds after college and all i did was buckle down with work. i started school again and i lost all of it. strange isnt it.

firestorm thats awesome. whats pumping iron? i got all motivated after seeing GI Jane way back in the day LOL

 

[Freeman]

pumping iron is one of the greatest films of all time, IMO.

I got into this because I was sick of having a "blah" body. I didn't initially want to get "BIG" but recently I've been bitten by the bodybuilding bug. I played high school football, but quit after a back injury (and because I didn't like the jock mentality) I didn't lift for 4 or 5 years. Last year I got into weight training again and boy was I weak (Still am, but slow progress is better than no progress). I was scared to EAT, thought I'd get fat. I found this board and learned that diet/nutrition are JUST as important, if not more so, than weight lifting in order to get big and get lean. I'm really niether right now, but I'm working on it.

 

[buff_tat2d_chic]

I went back to college when I was 31 after being married for 13 years and having 5 kids. While in college I had to do 2 different papers during the same semester on diabetes (which I have in my family). After an enormous amount of research....I found out that I could majorly change my future. I learned with diet and exercise that I could lessen my chances to get diabetes by almost 60%. I was amazed! I started exercising and weightlifting and watching my diet very carefully. I was 248lbs when I started and almost 2 years later I am 165lbs. I made a MAJOR life change.

It can be done.

 

[sawheet]

Originally posted by Ashtyn
sawheet your a firefighter i like firefighters hey LOL

dero i hear you i think its crazy that when you settle down and get serious you gain weight. i gained like ten pounds after college and all i did was buckle down with work. i started school again and i lost all of it. strange isnt it.

firestorm thats awesome. whats pumping iron? i got all motivated after seeing GI Jane way back in the day LOL

Well you like firemen and I like beautifull women, score

 

[SteelXtreme]

For me...and i know most guys start out stories like this but anyways...back in high school i was in tremendous shape. I loved how i looked and was extremely confident. Since tearing my acl in the last game of my senior year and losing my possible scholarship to college i have had two more knee surgeries and still can't do a lot with that knee. So of course, motivation was lost. Now that i am 29 and have been in terrible shape for quite a few years i know it is going to be a long road.
Well recently i have had several experiences with irregular heart beats and i have done some family research finding out that heart disease does run in the family. So i think it is time to try and drop all this extra baggage and get my life on the right track.
I have found a partner that can match my intensity level at the gym and can also give me that guilt trip when i miss a day so with that in place...i am giving it a serious go.
I started all this 5 weeks ago and have taken myself down from 262 to 254 (just yesterday). So i can see it working on the scale as well as feeling a lot stronger and more in shape.
I love reading all the stories fo inspiration here, it helps keep me going!

 

[Jenny]

Okay, my story.

I was an active girl ever since I was able to walk. At four years old I started gymnastict (not that advanced at 4 yrs old ) and when I was 5 I started horseback riding. I was never fat, but I was always insecure about my weight, even as a little kid actually. My face was chunky, but my body wasn't, but people always told me I had such a cute chipmunk face

When I was 12 I stopped riding but continued gymnastics until I was 14. At 14 I started taking step up classes and after a while I was doing that everyday. I ate next to nothing, ate Special K with water cause I thought that would make me lose fat I kept that up for about 2 years and started taking some Body Pump classes as well and dancing. There was some binging too.

When I was 16 I started a new school (the swedish version of High School) in another city and left the people I had been going to school with for 9 years. I didn't feel safe and became even more insecure and drove myself to start throwing up and got bulimia.
After that first year in the new school I met an older guy who were into bodybuilding. He understood what was going on but didn't push me at all, were just there for me and tried to make me feel better. No one besides him knew what was going on, I was a popular girl in school and had built up a rrrreally thick facade. My ex took me to his gym too and gave me a Lifting routine. After about a year I was getting better and ate a little more and didn't throw up as often.
I found a bb/fitness community like this one and lurked and read everything there. That's when I realised that I was actually supposed to eat. ´Great looking girls there were actually eating and that made me realise that what I was doing wouldn't get me where I wanted. One day I just said ENOUGH! and decided to stop puking. That was almost 3 years ago I have never thrown up since.

In the beginning I wouldn't eat a lot, but I gradually worked that up as my knowledge increased. I went through terapy and started to feel safe inside and got my confidence up.
I became a spinning instructor and last year a Personal Trainer.

Now, I feel whole as a person. I feel safe, confident and actually love myself, haha. Even though I sometimes feel flabby and unattractive, I have an inner peace inside and I've never felt stronger.

Ooops, this got really long..

 

[david]

And, it was very good reading/story! Thanks Jenny for sharing!

I used to work out a lot in 1992 and was trained by a former NPC gal. Time moved on, I moved and still worked out but due to school and then a job that involved 12-14 hour days, there was no time for working out. After that, I got back into it and then suddenly, I had a surgery setback. For that, I became diabetic 2 and the REAL change? For 2 years since that occurence I have had no need for oral medicine for diabetes and have not had any occurences.

That is my story... the one I'm sticking to!

 

[Jenny]

Thanks Dave

 

[maniclion]

I was first initiated to the iron by my 7th grade football coach. He started us out on deadlifts, squats and bench press. The next day I woke up and could barely crawl out of bed, I remember thinking, "Did I fall down the stairs last night?"... Five years later, the summer before my senior year, I got a job at Wal-Mart as a cart-collector, the guy who returns the shopping carts to the store. I would push 100 carts at a time almost consistently for my 8 hour shift. Let me tell you I got SWOLE. When school started that year my football coach couldn't beleive his eyes, he tried me out at linebacker/halfback and saw that I could move linemen out of the way with ease so he put me at nosetackle where I became a menace to quarterbacks... 3 years later bad times had hit I had joined the Navy and moved to Hawaii, my step-father was murdered, I hated life turned to alcohol, ecstasy and other drugs, left the Navy continued to maim myself then one night she appeared, Linda comes on the scene, we hook-up the first night and to this day have never been seperated by more than 24 hours. That's when I decided to quit all of my bad habits, I bought a weight set, bench and dumbells and started channeling all of my negative energy to that...flash to a month ago, I somehow had lost the habit of workingout for 4 month's (I wish I knew why) and needed to get back in the loop, an attack on my midsection had begun and people started telling me my muscles were disappearing. Looking for a new diet plan I stumbled onto IM, and as you did I found people with goals much like my own, so I decided to jump on and begin rebuilding my temple with the inspiration and help provided through here.

Mahalo (Thank You in Hawaiian) to all of you who keep this forum real.

 

[firestorm]

Originally posted by Ashtyn
firestorm thats awesome. whats pumping iron? i got all motivated after seeing GI Jane way back in the day LOL

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you Ash,, I only come on Sat, Sun, and Mondays. Pumping Iron was a documentary film that featured the "then",,,unknown Arnold Swarzenegger. It followed him through his training and then the Mr. Olympia contest. It featured many of the top pro bodybuilders of that time including the "newcomer" to the Olympia, Lou Ferrigno. It is worth renting if you have never seen it. Regards, Fire

 

[Freeman]

Hiya Fire! Long time no chat!

I'd stick around, but it's bed time for me and I just ate a big ass burger and ice cream/cake..

 

[firestorm]

Damn Freeman!! Are you getting Porky on me??? I'm not going to let you train with me if you get as big as John Candy!!!! Never Eat stuff like that prior to bed goofy,, It turns straight to fat!! Good to see you Again too Freeman I'll be around tomorrow night.

 

[SolidToTheCORE]

I decided that I wanted to get in shape ( strong and big ) When I was like 8 years old. My father used to beat my mom and I wanted more than anything to kill him. I started to work out when I was maybe 11 years old. I got this Hulk-a-Manic work out tape and I was doing push ups and pull ups. I was a joke. I was always getting beat up my the older kids in the neighorhood. In he summer of my freshamn year in highschool, I was jumped and beat up really bad. I got stabbed, both my eyes were closed and I broke my left hand and 2 ribs. So, I guess it was then, that I it happened. My parents divorced that summer and my brother and I moved to an aptment together and all I did was work out. I went from 130lbs to 180lbs in one summer. I joined the Marine Corps two years later and never really looked back. I am 210 lbs now and about 12% BF on a small 5'8" frame. ---- I just wanted to be apart of the in crowd. That never happened. I am so thankful for that.

 

[firestorm]

Oh bullshit solid you are part of the crowd my man. You just joined a much better crowd. Very touching story. I'm glad your mom left him and you found your way down the right path. Outstanding. Your to be commended on your perserverance. Semper Fi.

 

[Freeman]

Originally posted by firestorm
Damn Freeman!! Are you getting Porky on me??? I'm not going to let you train with me if you get as big as John Candy!!!! Never Eat stuff like that prior to bed goofy,, It turns straight to fat!! Good to see you Again too Freeman I'll be around tomorrow night.

It was a cheat day (and I got suckered into going to a sports bar to watch the canes play the gators) all they had was bar food...wings, burgers, sandwiches etc. So, I go there and had a burger around 9-ish, and hten about an hour and a half later, had the ice cream. Not too bad, and I'm bulking. eat eat eat they say, and I NEED to get stronger. I rarely eat shit like that, usually reserved for one day on the weekend, IF that.

 

[david]

Dude (Freeman), that most certainly was a cheat day! Just tell fire when he comes to Orlando, your taking him to Sonny's!

Then, tell him your going to take him to Firestone's on "ooh la-la" night!

 

[Freeman]

Hahaha will do Dave.

And it wasn't THAT bad of a cheat man! C'mon!

..and regardless, I'm back on track. just had meal 1 of the bulking w/ slowburners plan.

 

[trinsdad]

Im in the begining of my story

 

[Tha Don]

Well I was always a bit chubby in secondry school, my diet was bad, my health was pretty poor too, used to play a bit of football (soccer) and then towards the end of my school years got more into basketball, I was tall and seemed to be pretty good at it, I soon got into the school team

Throughout school i never wanted to be bigger (as I was already cubby) I wanted to be slimmer. In my last few years of school I used to live on a bag of crips and a chocolate bar for lunch, and then a maccy d's or some junk food for a meal in the evening. The only drink I had was diet coke/pepsi. Only time I got real food is when I went to my dads, i lived mainly with my Mum who fed me very poorly IMO

When I went to college things changed... I got into girls, played college ball and generally became more concerned bout my apperance (I wanted to look the best I could). My best mate at college was like the star player in the basketball team, similar height to me but hes naturally very muscular (big and toned, he has played national level at basketball, cricket and rugby), I wanted to be big like that.

My first year at college I began to lift, and steadily built up my upper body. I was so skinny when I started college, now i'm one of the big guys about to g into my 4th year. Its been 3 years of lifting but for me its been worth it, I feel like I've accomplished something. Now days I'm eating much more healthily than before, I feel like I know what i'm doing and I feel like I now know how to go about bulking and ripping up. I've never looked forward to much in life, but i do look forward to training and seeing results, there is nothing better. Its a good challenge too.

Building up has certainly helped my with my basketball, I'm now a key player for my college team as I've got the strength to be a real offensive threat dow low, i'm much more agressive now.

 

[firestorm]

Originally posted by david
Dude (Freeman), that most certainly was a cheat day! Just tell fire when he comes to Orlando, your taking him to Sonny's!

Then, tell him your going to take him to Firestone's on "ooh la-la" night!

Why do I have a strange feeling from you guys that "firestones" is a GAY bar!!! Dave, my mother never liked you. Just thought you should know that. hahaha

 

[Freeman]

I've only been to Firestone once for a show. I saw the Faint there and it was lame. never been to ooh-lala night tho...

 

[firestorm]

Its probably gay night Freeman don't go. David is setting me up.

 

[david]

Oh how did you two know?? Freeman, isn't that place "gay" on certain nights?

I did go on a Thursday one time and it was freakin' awesome! Yes, it was straight night!

FS, when are you coming to Orlando? We should all meet up then!

 

[firestorm]

Believe me David when we figure it out you will be the 1st to know. I think my wife was contimplating June after school gets out. I'll be sure to let you know though.

 

[david]

That's actually a good time to go! Cheap rates and low season! Less "clowns" there and more fun for us. Are you scared to go to Islands of Adventure??

 

[katie64]

Hey Ash, thanks for starting this thread, this is amazing, so heartfelt, this is exactly why I love IM, so many great wonderful people here, thanks Princess & Jenny for sharing, and everyone, it's so inspiring to read different journey's of people and what has helped those to meet their goals, WOW, great read..........

For me, I was always a dedicated athlete, I lived for sports and was very good at them, I was always very thin growing up, never more than 100lbs, but with a muscular body, til after high school then into the child bearing years (25 to 33), LOL, 3 children later with never a care in the world about my weight or physique, I took a look in the mirror and yuck, I had totally lost myself in the process of trying to take care of everyone else, and completely forgot about what was important to me, and since I had never had a problem with weight and/or nutrition, I never knew much about it, so at 39 years old, after joining numerous body building sites, someone invited me here to IM, and I have learned so much about nutrition, weight traing and supplements, it's been a God send to me, a true blessing, the start of a new healthy lifestyle, there are many great wise members here, and I have learned much and applied it to my life to the point of really wanting to help others..........plus I'm turning 40 in less than 8 months and I "am" going to look like I did when I 20...........