After I turned 14 I had a massive growth spurt, gained a foot and almost 100lbs in a year I was killing a gallon of milk a day. By the time I hit 16 I was chubby, awkward, clumsy, and covered in pimples. A counselor suggested I start weight lifting, so I got into a morning class with the school athletes, I was the only one who was in there just as an elective. Throughout that year, my pimples mostly went away, I lost about 30 lbs of fat, and felt much better, although I was still terrible with the ladies.

In my adulthood, I've been in and out of weightlifting for years, each time I learn more and more. I joined the army in 2010, and quite frankly, I have never encountered a lifestyle that has been worse for my health. The exercise was unimaginative and repetitive, and made me want to never ever exercise again. Deployment was a different story, I was given plenty of time and even encouraged to exercise on my own, and why not? Theres nothing better to do over there.

This last year I processed out of the military, got screwed on my post-service benefits, have been struggling financially, watched all my buddies fall victim to all sorts of issues, and plenty more fun stuff. So it's been a real rough year, but I'm over it and I want to get to a new level of fitness. I am motivated to look like I never have before, I've never had a really good look at my abs, thats the new goal.

I love watching my body change. I like the way I feel when I'm working out regularly, confident. Also, honestly, I love being able to see all the skin from my eyes to my junk, I've always had a bit of a belly and when I don't, I know I'm doing awesome.