I used to go to the YMCA when I was 15 and spend the whole day there playing basketball, doing boxing training, swimming and tooling around with the weights; so from 15 on I lifted on and off. When I hit 30 I got really out of shape from eating poorly, drinking too much beer and working late nights and weekends all the time. From age 30 to 43 I yo-yo'ed between being in really good (not great) shape (for a corporate/ad guy type) to being in so-so shape. From age 43-47 I let myself slide completely and felt old and tired. I pulled myself up by the bootstraps at 47 and starting working out very seriously and with 100 percent intensity from there until today (2 years and change). I look and feel better then I did when I was 25. I have totally exceeded my wildest expectations physically. I look at my photos and think "Is that guy really me?". I recently got my personal trainer certification and am avidly (and rabidly) pursuing a career in the fitness industry (all facets). "It's never too late to be great" That's my motto.

You can work really hard at a job, give it your all, and the boss's nephew can get the promotion over you, you can give your heart and soul in a relationship and you can get jilted for someone else; with bodybuilding--and fitness as a whole, you will reap what you sow. The harder and smarter you train and eat, the better your results will be. You are totally the master of your destiny. My motto (I'm certainly slinging a lot of mottoes around today, aren't I?) with fitness and bodybuilding is: "No excuses offered. None accepted." How you look and feel is totally up to you and nobody, but nobody, can take that away from you but you.