I got started after high school in college. In high school, I played tennis, so I was always really lean. I entered high school at 5'7" and 140 lbs (zero muscle), and left 125 lbs (just about zero muscle). Throughout college, I worked out on and off, with a year of pretty steady lifting. However, I used the typical excuses of 'too much homework', 'too many things going on', and 'I'm too hungover' to keep anything that produced really good results. I left college at 145 lbs (there's muscle at this point). The first year after college, I worked at a job in Wisconsin that required anywhere from 50-70 hours/week, with tons of traveling and hours upon hours in front of a laptop. Needless to say, my diet and workouts were the first to go down the drain. I quit that job 9 months in when I realized what a ridiculously unhealthy lifestyle I was living, and that I was working for a company that almost promoted living this way. I have since moved to California, where I am working a great job for 40 hours/week, leaving me time to cook for myself and really concentrate on a steady and productive workout schedule. I decided upon coming here that I would make my health and fitness a top priority for the first time in my life.

Working out is everything in a way - it's a release, an escape, a goal, and for me, it's becoming a lifestyle. Knowing I have a workout to look forward to after work makes the work day that much better. I like trying new lifts as much as the old faithful ones. I also like how working out makes me feel - no matter what my mood is beforehand, accomplishing my goals at the gym makes me feel great everyday.