Recovering Drug addict

[brother1]

This is my first post and let me fill you guys in a little about myself. I'm 23 and i've recently turned toward bodybuilding and God to help me after battling drugs for the last 5 years. I've always had a love for the Pros and competition part of the sport. I've read most of the articles on this site and everytime i got started, drugs made me take a step back. I respect most of the people on this site (eg. abdominator, layne, spytech) that have shown me anything can be done if you stick with it and want it bad enough. Now that I know i'm clean for the rest of my life, I can finally accomplish my bodybuilding goals.

My stats:
127lbs
bf: 19%
biceps: 12.25
forearms: 10 1/8
quads: 41.5
waist: 31.25
chest: 42

My goal is to use my knowledge that i've learned and clean bulk to 150 lbs. and then cut. Some might tell me to cut, but then i'm left with skin and bones.

I will update my pics every 2 months.
I have 9 pics.

[brother1]

heres the rest of the pics:

[GeneticTweak]

I think bulking first is a good idea too. Congrats on the new, healthier hobby.

[Kupid]

Prolly cheaper as well.

[bigdave33]

[QUOTE=brother1]This is my first post and let me fill you guys in a little about myself. I'm 23 and i've recently turned toward bodybuilding and God to help me after battling drugs for the last 5 years. I've always had a love for the Pros and competition part of the sport. I've read most of the articles on this site and everytime i got started, drugs made me take a step back. I respect most of the people on this site (eg. abdominator, layne, spytech) that have shown me anything can be done if you stick with it and want it bad enough. Now that I know i'm clean for the rest of my life, I can finally accomplish my bodybuilding goals.

My stats:
127lbs
bf: 19%
biceps: 12.25
forearms: 10 1/8
quads: 41.5
waist: 31.25
chest: 42

My goal is to use my knowledge that i've learned and clean bulk to 150 lbs. and then cut. Some might tell me to cut, but then i'm left with skin and bones.

__________________________________________________ _______________

Congratulations man!! Just remember that with God's help, anything is possible. Looks like you are well on your way to a New Life. Bodybuilding will help you establish healthy alternatives to drugs and with God and bodybuilding you will discover a high you have never realized was possible. Keep it up!!

Dave

[Abdominator]

Hey brother1!

Congratulations on getting off drugs and moving forward with transforming your physique.

I mentioned this in a PM to you, but from looking at your pictures, you look the way I did when I started out. Keep in mind that it's going to take years to gain solid muscle mass, but as long as you stick with your meal plan (making sure you get a minimum of 2500 calories per day), and you exercise consistently 3-5 times per week, you'll make a difference.

Here's a personal testimony you might find inspiring. One of my workout partners years ago, I met while we were in college. We were both in the same geology class and he seemed like a cool guy. It turned out that we both worked out at the same gym, so we became workout partners shortly there after. After I got to hang out with him a bit, I found out that he had a bad marijuana habit, and because of his habit, he wasn't as focused on school (and other aspects of life) as he should've been. He did workout routinely though, and eventually (after some encouragement) he stopped all the drugs, improved his nutrition and after noticing that he was getting results in the gym, he got more serious with his studies, and a few years later (upon graduating with his bachelors degree) he was admitted to the medical school here at UF. He and I still keep in touch, and now (several years later) he's a doctor, living in Colorado with his wife (whom he met in medical school). So hey... bodybuilding can definitely change your life.

Stay encouraged and take it one day at a time. With enough days behind you, you'll be a new person before you know it.

- Skip "Success is easy to find. It's down the street from Discipline, and around the corner from Consistency."

[bluemarlin04]

good luck man...keep at it and dont turn to drugs again if you were an addict. look for something else. keep at it and good luck.

[Nainoa]

Hey Bro... Just figured I'd chime in...

Give you my own personal story... For four years I had a whopping drug problem... Started out small enough, booze and weed... Ended up on week long binders of Crank, opium, a little acid and a little shrooms. Had a drug and sleep deprivation induced attack of schitzophrenia... Evil voice in my head kept saying "Disinfect Them..." Over and over again... Referring to my friends in the other room...

I even got to the point where I was standing by the door, holding a crappy steak knife, trying to think out the best way to kill them... All of a sudden this thing inside me snapped. I like to think of it as the last little piece of humanity still alive in me...

On instinct I started I turned around bolted out the door of my house and started running in the knee deep snow of the tail end of the blizzard that was moving through. Every step I burned, every step I turned more and more into a cathartic mess...

I made it about two blocks, to this vacant lot behind the nearby mini mart, the voice saying "Disinfect Them!" Ranting in my head... I stopped and screamed out, "Make it stop, make it stop, Please God make it stop!"

And all of a sudden the whole world stopped... It was like some messed up scene from the Matrix... Snowflakes seemed to hang in the air, and I heard this other voice, deep, and soothing say "Then you make it stop!"

The whole world moved again, the Evil voice was gone... I curled up in a ball in the cold snow, and started vomiting and crying for what felt like somewhere between a half hour and three days...

Afterwards, I felt "Sobre." I went back to the house, kicked everyone out, and dedicated myself to going clean. The next day the withdrawls began. If you've ever seen the movie "Basketball Diarys" that gives you a picture of what the withdrawl was like.

I spent 40 days puking blood every morning... Slowly teaching myself how to eat again on KC masterpiece BBQ chips, and V8.

When I had started the drugs I was a fat boy, at 6'4" 220... When I scraped up enough money to go to the doctor around day 20 of the withdrawl process, I weighed in at 6'4" 165. Your pictures look buff compared to how I looked. I looked pretty much like a Jew liberated from a concentration camp.

The Doctors wanted to hospitalize me, and put me into an in-patient treatment program... But I had no medical insurance, and was too far estranged from any support from my family in those days. So AMA I went at it alone...

Here are some tips that I learned...
-They say "No new relationships for 6 months." It's the truth Bro... I had a minor relapse, 99% because I tried to have as many new relationships in 6 months as possible. You've just got to spend sometime figuring it out.

-Watch out for Crossover syndrome... The old addiction isn't gone... And if you say have a couple of beers, your brain will simply switch over to another chemical... In my case it was booze... I became a rampant alcoholic for stretches at a time... Hell the Movie "Leaving Las Vegas" used to be my theme movie... I even wrote a poem called "Whiskey for my pillow" because I used to pass out on the floor and put the whiskey bottle behind my head.

-Journaling is a massive form of support... Write in a diary or what have you every day... Really work on "Understanding your emotions."

-Change your environment... Get away from the people you know who do drugs... I don't care if you've known someone for 20 years... You owe it to yourself to get clean and be healthy first... Before you should worry about hurting someone's feelings. Besides... In the later years, I helped all the rest of them get clean, and they have all thanked me for it!

-Understand that there is no compromises... Toking a spliff, or making an excuse like "It's a special occasion." Is horrendous, as the next day it can lead you into the shame spiral that re-enforces the addiction.

-Go with God... During my 40 days, I was kicked out of confession (Long Story). I may have turned my back on the catholic church, but I still kept my faith with God, as I still do today.

-After you start to get control... Start thinking about the future, college and stuff... Keeping a light on at the end of the tunnel, helps a lot!

I've been 100% clean now for 6 years, ten months, and twenty days...

Within the first year after I quit, I came up from 165 to around 180-190... Held in that range for years... Around 24-25, I started gaining weight... Started working out from late fall to early spring, to keep from ballooning up fat... Now I've made the lifestyle change permanent... As of this morning I rang in at a rather lean 218.5...

Just think about that... Lets round up... And say I'm 220... When I was where you're at now, I was 55 pounds lighter! Fifty-Friggin-Five!

I can't even begin to express how much better I feel at +55... How much better I look at +55, How much more capable a person I am at +55. And most importantly how much more strength of character I have.

Keep it up, Bro... And as a Pastor Friend of mine said "When the shadows get around you... Just turn your light up!"

Nainoa

[brother1]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support. The drugs were the only thing holding me back from my bodybuilding goals and now that i'm done with that shiit, there's no stopping me now. I'll have updated pics for the new year. See you then!!!!

[unr]

Stay strong dude and drink a lot of protein!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=348666

[RonaldAsad]

i wish you the best. Have faith my friend.