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  1. #1
    Registered User AutumnOwl's Avatar
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    Smile What got you to the gym and what keeps you going? Spread YOUR Story!

    This thread is simply to discuss what motivated you to change your life. I'll begin.

    During my junior year of college, I swelled to 240 lbs. During a break from school, while walking through my living room, I experienced a sharp pain in my back that sent me to the floor. Imagine, if you can, what it would feel like if your torso slipped off the lower half of your body. I managed to pull myself into a chair, in tears and became immediately alarmed, because I couldn't feel anything from the waste down. Slowly, the feeling started to return and I was able to get to the doctor. Luckily, I had a case of inflammation. Unfortunately, it had become so severe that I was actually pinching a nerve near the base of my spine. I took medication for several weeks, called a pair of close friends and go into weight training. Over the course of the next year, I would still feel sharp pains go through my entire body. It was like electricity coursing through my spine and out the top of my head. I'd have to take it really easy and for a long time, I never even went about 25 lbs dumbbells. Over the course of 3 years, through diet and exercise, I was able to take all that horrible weight off. The stretch marks faded, my back no longer hurt and I was healthy. Today I'm able to do floor planks and add an additional 135 lbs to my back, which got me super amped! My back is what got me in and the high I experience when I hit a new goal is what keeps me going!

    What did it for you? I'd love to know!
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    Registered User Swrice06's Avatar
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    For me what got me in there was 2 years ago when I went through a bad break up and met a gym rat co-worker at my new job working at a supplement retailer. I was a fatty with low self esteem and no confidence at all. I quickly got in the gym with him and we formed a great friendship. I lost 60 pounds, went from 245 to 185, a size 44 waist to a size 32. I was on my way to developing a great body. But I got distracted once another female came into my life, and like the one before her she left me broken and destroyed, during my time with her I regained 20 pounds. Once her and I broke up I got back into the one place where I always felt like I belonged. I quickly lost the extra weight and got back into my routine, but a lot more hardcore this time around. I hooked up with an old co-worker and got him to train me and I am not bulking and training for my first natural bodybuilding show in Nov 2013. I may have gotten super distracted for the wrong reasons but now I am on a mission and nothing will get in my way. The gym is my life, everything revolves around it. I wouldn't give it up for anything.
    Steven

    "Blood, Sweat and Respect. First two you give. Last one you Earn!" - The Rock

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  3. #3
    Registered User AutumnOwl's Avatar
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    I was married at one time in my life, so I know what that feels like. Great outlook my man!

    Originally Posted by Swrice06 View Post
    For me what got me in there was 2 years ago when I went through a bad break up and met a gym rat co-worker at my new job working at a supplement retailer. I was a fatty with low self esteem and no confidence at all. I quickly got in the gym with him and we formed a great friendship. I lost 60 pounds, went from 245 to 185, a size 44 waist to a size 32. I was on my way to developing a great body. But I got distracted once another female came into my life, and like the one before her she left me broken and destroyed, during my time with her I regained 20 pounds. Once her and I broke up I got back into the one place where I always felt like I belonged. I quickly lost the extra weight and got back into my routine, but a lot more hardcore this time around. I hooked up with an old co-worker and got him to train me and I am not bulking and training for my first natural bodybuilding show in Nov 2013. I may have gotten super distracted for the wrong reasons but now I am on a mission and nothing will get in my way. The gym is my life, everything revolves around it. I wouldn't give it up for anything.
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  4. #4
    'Tis but a scratch j1akey's Avatar
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    I'll just re-post from my blog. Easier than telling it again. It's a long one.

    Where I was and where I'm going

    I guess you could say this whole thing started a couple years ago back in the spring of 2010. I was 32, ate like ****, my exercise consisted of slaying monsters in World of Warcraft, and I smoked one to two packs a day. Marlboro Lights were my poison of choice at the time. I have no idea how much I weighed at that point but it was quite a bit and I kept growing. Fast Food, Hamburger Helper, Ice Cream, the works, if it was made from crap I probably ate it. Taco Bell was my favorite crap of all time and if I'm honest I still think it tastes great.

    Anyway, every day I'd wake up, proceed to hack up a lung, and light up a cigarette. My home smelled, my car smelled, I smelled, I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded, or even down the road to get lunch for that matter. My 2nd poison of choice was Mountain Dew. I would drink the stuff like water and for lunch I'd always walk/waddle to the store and get a couple of bottles to get me through the afternoon. The walk back from the store had a slight incline and I actually got tired! I'd need to catch my breath and take a break when I got back to the office just from walking a block. Pathetic.

    I decided that I was sick of having less lung capacity than a 10-year old so I picked a day to quit. Here's the trick to quitting smoking. There is no trick, you just need to want it bad enough, and that’s it. If you want it bad enough then quitting is easy. No amount of quitting aides like patches or gum will help you if you don't really want to quit smoking. They help but you really need to want to quit before they'll help you at all. I got some nicotine patches and that was that. I haven't had a cigarette since and that was over two years ago. Now it actually disgusts me. Last march I did the 5k Shamrock Run here in Portland and someone was smoking along the side of the course and I almost choked on the smell it was so bad. The lung full of residual smoke didn't help either.

    So I quit smoking which was great but I was in total denial about how fat I was. I didn't know how much I weighed. I knew I had some gut but I didn't really think I was "fat".

    Another year goes by and now it's the beginning of 2011. I was still smoke-free but my waist-line was expanding. I just broke up with my train-wreck girlfriend of the last 6 months and if I'm honest with myself I was a train-wreck too. One good thing to come of it though was that it forced me to take a long and hard look at myself. "OK, what the hell is wrong with me?" I thought. I'm fat, I'm miserable, I'm lonely, I sit on my ass all day long, I hardly ever get out to meet (new) people, I have no hobbies other than playing video games, I'm not very sociable, I'm embarrassed to take my shirt off in front of others, my self-confidence and self-esteem are in the ****ter, and I have a bad attitude about everything. **** man! I'm that guy that sucks the life out of a room. No wonder I have hardly any friends and always aim for the bottom of the barrel in my dating life. How did I get this way? **** it, who cares...This Situation is Unacceptable!

    That was it, those four words. My life sucked and it was time to stop feeling sorry for myself and do something about it. "Get off your ass and change it you fat, lazy, piece of ****!" and that's exactly what I did and what I'm still doing.

    February(ish) 2011

    The apartment complex I lived in had an ancient exercise room. It contained a couple treadmills, bikes, and an elliptical machine. It also had one of those "all-in-one" weight machines. "Well, it's not much but then again neither am I." So I jumped on the elliptical machine, kept it on the lowest setting and off I went. This was workout #1, yeah I'm bad ass! Day 1 of the rest of my life!

    Just FIVE minutes later I'm gasping for breath, dripping sweat, my legs are on fire, and I stumble out of the room barely able to walk back to my apartment. I thought 'Day 1' was the last day of my life. "Are you ****ing kidding me?" Five minutes of what should be an easy as hell exercise and I feel like they should be nailing the coffin shut! God Dammit, I'm REALLY out of shape. I went back the next day, and the next and the next and I kept going back. After a few weeks I could go an hour on that stupid machine...at the lowest setting of course.

    OK, now that I could exercise a bit without feeling like my heart and lungs were going to burst out of my chest like an Alien that needs to have its ass shot off by a platoon of space marines I figured I should start using the all-in-one machine which was more like a some-in-one machine since it was missing most of the attachments and that continued for a while. By this time I was eating better, I had already lost some weight and I was feeling pretty good so I decided to join a gym since I had proven to myself that I could stick with it. I wasn't going to be one of those people who paid for a membership somewhere and never used it. I originally looked at 24-Hour Meat Market (I mean Fitness) but these guys wanted like $50 bucks a month just to let me lift some weights.

    They tried to lure me in with the shiny new circuit-training machines and the sea of elliptical machines and treadmills. Let me tell you, I had seen just about enough elliptical machines to last me a lifetime by this point and I had only been using one for a few months. I already hated it. I almost got sucked in and he whipped out the contract expecting me to sign on the spot. Fortunately for me I'm pretty much an ******* to anyone who kisses up to me and just assumes I'm going to dish out my hard-earned money and sign a contract just because they show me around for 5 minutes and tell me how cool I am for coming into their gym. I made him give me a 7 day trial (bitch). He didn't like that too much but he can go whine to someone who gives a ****. I'm also an impulse buyer so I have to force myself to walk away from things to think about it first before I make a decision that's going to affect my monthly bottom line like that.

    Luckily I found another gym (after my free 7 day trial of course) right down the road which was only $15.00 a month. This was more like it. So I joined and I started doing the typical go-nowhere spin your wheels gym rat routine which basically is another way of saying I had no idea what I was doing. I showed up, did my cardio, did some random exercises and then left. I did this day after day and did make some progress because anything is better than nothing and I was still new to the whole exercise thing but progress in both my strength gains and weight loss came to a halt. ****...

    The Learning Process

    Along the way I met a really awesome friend named Yogi. He's been around the world, has been practicing and teaching Yoga for 18+ years, and is the best chef I have ever seen. Every time I eat his food it's some of the best I've ever had. Easily as good as or better than any restaurant I have ever been to in my life. Here's the kicker, it's all vegetarian or vegan. Best of all he's a great friend and he puts up with my ****. Now I’m not Vegan or Vegetarian and I’m pretty sure I never will be unless meat goes extinct but the point is that you can eat great tasting food that you normally wouldn’t consider eating as long as you know how to prepare it. Getting outside your food comfort zone can be a great thing. If you're in the Portland, OR area and want to practice with the best Yoga instructor around let me know and I'll give you his information.

    Anyway the first thing I needed to do was learn how to cook. I mean really cook, not open a box of processed horse **** that you find in 95% of the aisles at the local grocery store. One of the great things I learned from Yogi is that you can actually make healthy food that tastes good and also fills you up. Who would have thought such a thing was possible! I sure didn't. The first meal I ever had was amazing. It was Cabbage, Onions, Potato's, Jalapeno Peppers, Salt, Turmeric, Olive Oil with rice and sour cream on the side. The first time I saw it I have to admit I wasn't sure what to think of it, I was a little scared to even try it. Where were the instructions? Where was the cheese packet? These things were missing! It was just vegetables! How was I supposed to eat this? Not wanting to be rude I took a spoonful of the veggies, some rice, and a bit of the sour cream and shoved it into my mouth...and it was amazing. It was as if rays of sunshine were coming through the ceiling and landing on my plate. I had never eaten anything like it, or even close. I still make this dish or some variation on a semi-regular basis.

    The point is that you can eat good food that actually tastes good as well. As Yogi likes to say, "Eat food that gives you life and avoid food that takes it away". When people think of eating healthy they instantly think of eating nothing but salads which is a very narrow (and incorrect) view of what constitutes healthy eating.

    The next thing I had to learn was how to exercise properly. Here's a quick tip if you join a gym; learn how to lift weights. By weights I mean barbells and dumbbells. Most gyms operate on the notion that you'll join, workout for a couple of months (that's you New Year's Resolutioners), and then quit coming while you continue to pay your membership dues. You want to get into shape so you join the gym, you go through the typical gym rat routine of doing some cardio on a bike or some ****, then do the circuit machines that are all nicely put out on the floor in a straight line so you don't have to think about it. After a couple of months you don't really see much in the way of progress so you give up but keep your membership just in case you go back and the cycle continues.

    I found a really great book called Starting Strength which is now in its 3rd edition. I recommend it to anyone that wants to learn how to lift weights properly as to not injure themselves. You can find it here. Once I learned how to actually lift properly then my strength and muscle gains started to take off but I wasn't really getting everything I wanted out of it. I was losing some fat and I was getting stronger and I was looking better but after about 6 months I needed something else to mix in...I was getting bored.

    (continued...)
    "When you fall into a pit, you either die or get out."
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  5. #5
    'Tis but a scratch j1akey's Avatar
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    (...continued)

    CrossFit

    If you've spent any time at the gym talking to the bodybuilder types that hang out there you may have heard about CrossFit and what they had to say probably didn't leave a very good impression about it. I think this mind-set is born out of ignorance and word of mouth rather than them having actually tried it. Sure I want to look good but I also want to BE good so I decided to try it. I don't regret it for a second.

    April 2012 rolls around and my first CrossFit class was like a firm kick to the balls with steel toed boots and a knife on the end. We had to work in teams of two for this particular WOD (Workout of the Day). Obviously I was teamed up with a teenager that has some sort of genetic mutation that gives him unlimited amounts of stamina, endurance, and energy. Without going into details I thought I was done for. I started having flashbacks to my first 5 minutes on the elliptical machine over a year ago but this was 3 times worse. Before I walked into the class I thought I was getting into fairly decent shape, and compared to what I was like a year before I was, but in order to do CrossFit exercises I would have to step it up to a whole new level entirely. Against my better judgment something brought me back, I think it was the feeling that I didn't want to give up and I wasn't going to let intense exercise beat me. After all I'm here to get in better shape and if I'm afraid of some hard work then what good am I and what the hell have I been telling myself for the last year?

    So far I'm about four weeks in. My endurance, stamina, strength, speed, and agility have all increased. This was far above what I was accomplishing with just a weight routine. My energy level is through the roof. Even if a workout ends with me lying on the ground trying to catch my breath I'm good to go in 10 minutes and I feel good.

    If you've spent the last decade destroying your body like I did then there's no time like the present to turn it around.

    Update 9/19/2012

    So far I'm about 6 months in. It's not CrossFit anymore and my time at the gym now consists more of strength and conditioning style workouts with some elements of CrossFit as well. We do have WOD’s but they’re generally preceded by some sort of strength training. My endurance, stamina, strength, speed, and agility are all still going up by leaps and bounds. Many people balk at the cost of belonging to a gym like this but I figure if I can afford $150.00 to sit on my ass watching TV and surfing the internet then I can afford $120.00 to get a kick ass workout to get in shape, meet some good people, and have a great time working out. It's also a little funny that I'm willing to pay this kind of money since I wasn't willing to do it earlier on to work out at a place like 24-Hour Fitness. On a side not I’ve also since cancelled my cable except for basic reception and the slowest internet they can offer me and Netflix still works great.

    If I can do it then anyone can do it

    This sort of exercise definitely isn't for everyone and it's good to keep in mind that not all gyms of this sort are created equal. That isn’t to say though that exercise itself isn’t for everyone. We did not evolve to sit on our collective asses. Our bodies were meant to move and now that I’ve reminded my own body of this I can’t get enough of it. A year and a half ago I couldn’t even walk down the block without getting tired. Now I’m planning on doing the Portland Triathlon in 2013, I’ve knocked over 3 minutes off my mile times during Portland to Coast without even specifically training for the event. I’m also planning on doing the Seattle to Portland bike ride in 2013 and I’m finally under the weight limit to go sky diving. I’ve been able to do things that I would never have even dreamt of before…like confidently approach and talk to good-looking women!

    The world has really opened up for me and it’s not just because I’m in better shape. The process has also improved my confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. I can concentrate better, I have more energy, and I sleep better, not to mention a hell of a lot better looking as well. On a side note guys, just because you get into better shape and look good, that doesn’t mean women will be throwing themselves at your feet in a desperate attempt to get your attention everywhere you go. You still need to be man, grow a pair, and go for it.

    Changes don't happen overnight but if you're persistent and take it one step at a time then the changes will come and that applies to anything in your life. Eventually it becomes your new lifestyle, I don’t even think about working out anymore other than looking forward to it. There is no “dragging myself to the gym” because the gym is where play time happens. One sure-fire way to fail is to try to tackle everything all at once and personally I play to win. I look at it like this; time is still going to pass whether or not I'm going do anything to improve myself as a person. I can choose to be better or I can choose to be same or I can choose to be worse. Life is all about choices. No one is fat and out of shape because they don’t have a choice, they choose to be that way, either purposefully or out of ignorance of why they are that way. I think I’ll choose to be a better person and a healthy person so I can go out and live and experience the world rather than simply exist and watch that world go by. I think it’s a much better option than killing myself slowly with junk food, cigarettes, inactivity, and endless hours in front of the computer or TV doing absolutely nothing.

    Another update 11/28/2012

    I started getting serious Olympic Weightlifting coaching from Nick Horton of PDX Weightlifting which began on November 4th and it's been awesome. I think I've found my niche in Olympic Lifting. It's very technical and really forces your weak points into the open, it's helped me with power development and really it's just a ton of fun. By the end of a 2-hour training session my legs are usually smashed and my my quads are starting to out-grow my jeans which is good and bad. On one side it's bad ass that my leg muscles are getting bigger, on the other...I just bought these ****ing jeans a few months ago after going from a 42 waste to a 34.
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  6. #6
    RZULTZ X8 MBidas's Avatar
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    j1akey Well said!

    For me, it was a competition among my friends. I've always lost, and was never able to come close in competing with them. However, just a year ago, I haven't seen them for a few months, since I went away to school, and I used that gap to surpass ever single one of them. I now continue to go to the gym because I've found better competition and I'm trying to keep up with the big boys now.
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    Registered User fropleyqk's Avatar
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    I always hated being the short, skinny twig-man. Cant get taller but I can get bigger! Anyone with little-man syndrome knows what kind of motivator that can be. I put on a lot of size and strength during my deployment to Afghaniland back in 2010 then lost it all when I got home. Back on the horse again and 6 months in am in better shape than I was in 2012. Still have a long way to go but definitely sticking with it this time. All I think about is the next chance I can go to the gym.
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    I started back lifting again. This time, I'm doing it right. Taking it back to the basics and sticking with a program and regiment I know I'll succeed in and won't get spent on so easily. This time around, strict progressive loading (5 lbs. per workout increase). In short, I was on a lifting program where I moved too fast and burnt out too fast. Throwing around 300lbs of metal at will got addictive and nice, but I was moving so fast that I burnt out. Now I'm dedicated to doing it right.
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  9. #9
    hEDS Brah drawp's Avatar
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    4 years ago, I was eating nothing but garbage and ballooned up to about 250ish. I knew what I wanted to do, but I didn't have the willpower to do it. I was lucky enough to move overseas to Asia and lived there for the past two years, since then I started eating a lot smarter, until Nov 11, 2011, then everything changed.

    Long story short, after a break-in (the 3rd one in 2 months) and a scuffle, I was thrown off my balcony and fell 6 stories. I shattered my ankle, heel, broke my tibia, dislocated my patella, tore a few ligaments in my knee (still not sure which ones since it cannot be MRI'd), broke L3 and L5, my coccyx (tailbone), and my sternum. Along with this, my heart got all messed up. I laid in the hospital in a foreign country for 2 months before I could get home. This was great in a way, helped me find myself a bit more, and I lost quite a bit of weight, but most of that was muscle due to atrophy. I got the okay to bear weight in April, and my leg had issues and broke again. I have an external fixator on now, but everything is finally healed and I finally was given the okay to get back into the gym at the beginning of December.

    As much as people say it, I actually am making up for lost time. I spent 4 months in a wheelchair, 7 months on crutches. It's going to be a long journey back to where I was, but I am dedicated to do it, my body didn't quit on me, so I am not going to quit on it.

    tldr version;
    broke 12 bones, bed rest for a long time, need to get back into shape
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    I started when I was 15 in a tragically-misguided attempt to make myself more confident and outgoing, and ironically then ended up avoiding and missing out on every single situation and experience that would have made me confident and outgoing (soz brah, can't come to the party unless you're serving tuna and oats). Left with no friends outside of the internet, no job prospects and few other hobbies, I continue to train into my mid 20's as I basically have nothing else to do and part of me still thinks that one day I'm going to be 16 again.

    HAPPY NEW YEAR
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    Registered User AdamTrue85UK's Avatar
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    Having 160/90 blood pressure aged 27 and passing out at work because of it. Feeling tired and sweaty after kicking a ball around with my little boy after only a few minutes. What keeps me motivated? Four months later, my blood pressure is 120/80, I can bench 200 pounds 10 times without breaking a sweat, while my little boy proudly tells all his schoolmates how since Daddy has quit smoking he can do pressups while he's sat on my back. Life is good.
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  12. #12
    Registered User AutumnOwl's Avatar
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    Hell yeah man!

    Originally Posted by j1akey View Post
    (...continued)

    CrossFit

    If you've spent any time at the gym talking to the bodybuilder types that hang out there you may have heard about CrossFit and what they had to say probably didn't leave a very good impression about it. I think this mind-set is born out of ignorance and word of mouth rather than them having actually tried it. Sure I want to look good but I also want to BE good so I decided to try it. I don't regret it for a second.

    April 2012 rolls around and my first CrossFit class was like a firm kick to the balls with steel toed boots and a knife on the end. We had to work in teams of two for this particular WOD (Workout of the Day). Obviously I was teamed up with a teenager that has some sort of genetic mutation that gives him unlimited amounts of stamina, endurance, and energy. Without going into details I thought I was done for. I started having flashbacks to my first 5 minutes on the elliptical machine over a year ago but this was 3 times worse. Before I walked into the class I thought I was getting into fairly decent shape, and compared to what I was like a year before I was, but in order to do CrossFit exercises I would have to step it up to a whole new level entirely. Against my better judgment something brought me back, I think it was the feeling that I didn't want to give up and I wasn't going to let intense exercise beat me. After all I'm here to get in better shape and if I'm afraid of some hard work then what good am I and what the hell have I been telling myself for the last year?

    So far I'm about four weeks in. My endurance, stamina, strength, speed, and agility have all increased. This was far above what I was accomplishing with just a weight routine. My energy level is through the roof. Even if a workout ends with me lying on the ground trying to catch my breath I'm good to go in 10 minutes and I feel good.

    If you've spent the last decade destroying your body like I did then there's no time like the present to turn it around.

    Update 9/19/2012

    So far I'm about 6 months in. It's not CrossFit anymore and my time at the gym now consists more of strength and conditioning style workouts with some elements of CrossFit as well. We do have WOD’s but they’re generally preceded by some sort of strength training. My endurance, stamina, strength, speed, and agility are all still going up by leaps and bounds. Many people balk at the cost of belonging to a gym like this but I figure if I can afford $150.00 to sit on my ass watching TV and surfing the internet then I can afford $120.00 to get a kick ass workout to get in shape, meet some good people, and have a great time working out. It's also a little funny that I'm willing to pay this kind of money since I wasn't willing to do it earlier on to work out at a place like 24-Hour Fitness. On a side not I’ve also since cancelled my cable except for basic reception and the slowest internet they can offer me and Netflix still works great.

    If I can do it then anyone can do it

    This sort of exercise definitely isn't for everyone and it's good to keep in mind that not all gyms of this sort are created equal. That isn’t to say though that exercise itself isn’t for everyone. We did not evolve to sit on our collective asses. Our bodies were meant to move and now that I’ve reminded my own body of this I can’t get enough of it. A year and a half ago I couldn’t even walk down the block without getting tired. Now I’m planning on doing the Portland Triathlon in 2013, I’ve knocked over 3 minutes off my mile times during Portland to Coast without even specifically training for the event. I’m also planning on doing the Seattle to Portland bike ride in 2013 and I’m finally under the weight limit to go sky diving. I’ve been able to do things that I would never have even dreamt of before…like confidently approach and talk to good-looking women!

    The world has really opened up for me and it’s not just because I’m in better shape. The process has also improved my confidence, self-image, and self-esteem. I can concentrate better, I have more energy, and I sleep better, not to mention a hell of a lot better looking as well. On a side note guys, just because you get into better shape and look good, that doesn’t mean women will be throwing themselves at your feet in a desperate attempt to get your attention everywhere you go. You still need to be man, grow a pair, and go for it.

    Changes don't happen overnight but if you're persistent and take it one step at a time then the changes will come and that applies to anything in your life. Eventually it becomes your new lifestyle, I don’t even think about working out anymore other than looking forward to it. There is no “dragging myself to the gym” because the gym is where play time happens. One sure-fire way to fail is to try to tackle everything all at once and personally I play to win. I look at it like this; time is still going to pass whether or not I'm going do anything to improve myself as a person. I can choose to be better or I can choose to be same or I can choose to be worse. Life is all about choices. No one is fat and out of shape because they don’t have a choice, they choose to be that way, either purposefully or out of ignorance of why they are that way. I think I’ll choose to be a better person and a healthy person so I can go out and live and experience the world rather than simply exist and watch that world go by. I think it’s a much better option than killing myself slowly with junk food, cigarettes, inactivity, and endless hours in front of the computer or TV doing absolutely nothing.

    Another update 11/28/2012

    I started getting serious Olympic Weightlifting coaching from Nick Horton of PDX Weightlifting which began on November 4th and it's been awesome. I think I've found my niche in Olympic Lifting. It's very technical and really forces your weak points into the open, it's helped me with power development and really it's just a ton of fun. By the end of a 2-hour training session my legs are usually smashed and my my quads are starting to out-grow my jeans which is good and bad. On one side it's bad ass that my leg muscles are getting bigger, on the other...I just bought these ****ing jeans a few months ago after going from a 42 waste to a 34.
    Hit me up!
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  13. #13
    Registered User Dezzimin's Avatar
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    Being picked on in elementary-middle school for being a fatty, jokes on them now as I look better than all of them.
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    Registered User Jfriend88's Avatar
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    It all started out when i was a kid in elementry school. My parents had me in soccer, baseball and then later in middle school karate for four years (i was in AAU Karate and the training was awesome) After i got my Jr Blackbelt i quit karate and did nothing untill 12th grade. I joined the gym with my buddy and we just kept going. 4 years later we go our own ways, i ended up going from a new girlfriend every year and a half and not working out anymore. So i let girls get me side tracked purty much (not a god thing i know..) So the recent break up of one after 3 1/2 years made me sit back and look at what i did with my self. I never just focused on me, and what i wanted to do. I was broke from always going out and living the socal "club" life. 1-2-2013...today..is the day im starting over. Im focusing on myself, i never want to let my self go for any reason again. Not to mention the summer here in Florida will be starting soon...and i need to be looking good
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    Registered User DiveInTheBlue's Avatar
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    I always did workout but with a lot of on and off periods and not much of a proper routine. This time all changed.

    I am full of my own sh**t and I can't stand to be like this anymore. I started to train seriously and with proper nutrition plan followed with a proper workout plan. I want to get in the best shape of my 23 years. A lot of this has to do with my ex. Who really shook me up, but in a good way. She showed me a lot of my problems that I didn't want to accept. Now I accepted it all and I'm on a path of becoming a better man - person.

    I am doing a lot of work on my body and also on my mind. I want to change it both and be the man that I can be. Be more happy, satisfied and proud of myself and also the most important thing show the girl I love that I did grow and that I have the power, I will bring her back to me. I am fighting for more things then I ever did in my life, and it feels damn GOOD!
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    Registered Manlet dyel90's Avatar
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    GF dumped me, miserable for a 6 months, low self esteem, gained 20 pounds late 2010.... I started lifting to get rid of the stress, started to love lifting, seeing the pumps, etc. Bought Jack3d for the first time in early 2011, never looked back. It's helped with my life dramatically, I've become better everyday because of it.
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