I was always a chubby sort and was teased unmercifully in elementary school about it. I was also clumsy as a kid so serious sports participation was pretty much out. Things improved as I got older -- lost the baby fat somewhat, wasn't as clumsy, etc. -- but by then sports were out of my life until after college so I had no outlet for burning off the fat or being fit.

I dropped some weight in college (no car, lots of walking!), but still was by no means fit & trim, and I chunked up even more again after college. I'm blessed with a decent frame so I never looked quite as fat as I really was, but despite the big frame I was never particularly athletic looking, either -- I've never seen my abs, yet. I took a conditioning class in college and was introduced to lifting, but not for size, and while I liked it, I didn't stick with it after the class ended. I was too intimidated by the jocks in the weight room and too unsure of my own ability and potential to go it alone w/o the support of the class instructor... those elementary school bullies really affected me.

Shortly after college I got enough courage to play hockey in an adult beginner league and that helped to keep the weight down, but there were too many juvenile-acting NHL wannabees in that beginner's league that there was sometimes no room on the ice for all the egos out there! Between that and not having enough time and money to pursue both hockey and a masters degree (had to to keep my job), I dropped out of the hockey and got chubby again.

Years later (too many years later) I started doing some lifting on my own and saw some very modest changes. I did the usual buy-the-cement-weight-set-and-hope-for-the-best that many have done, but I spent far too long not really knowing what I was doing, and never sticking at it with any kind of a routine. I think like most guys starting out in BBing I thought that after three half-hearted workouts I'd be ripped and awesome... yeah, right. So I didn't make any big gains; I just toned up a bit -- though not that you could see it under all the fat... see my early "progress" pix! I also wasn't eating right, which of course doesn't help at all, so the BF% never went down and slowly kept climbing. Talk about a formula for failure.

I eventually discovered bb.com and found real workout plans and made the commitment to sticking with a decent routine and minding what I eat and finally made some progress.

The pump, and seeing the progress in the mirror and in pix. It's a physical activity I can do myself and not have to put up with or rely on others (and their attitudes) like in the hockey league. I have also found that it is a great stress reliever and a lot of frustrations get pounded into submission with each rep.