Snapchat: slipsloth / Instagram: LadyLSSJ

Goku inspired me. He made me realize I had first world problems and that I had more than enough power to fix them. For years I'd go to bed every night thinking to myself, okay tomorrow morning you're going to change... eat right, exercise, lay off the booze, etc etc... tomorrow, tomorrow will be the day. Tomorrow never ****ing came! But then it did. One day in 2010 a friend told me I was "looking good" and asked if I had gone on a diet. I didn't even realize it but I'd somehow dropped enough weight for others to notice a difference. I wasn't on a diet. I had graduated college and now spent the majority of my time sitting alone in my bedroom at home watching Dragon Ball Z between design jobs.

It was then I had an epiphany; every unnecessary piece of food that was shoved in my mouth, I had an excuse for. This ice cream because I'm sad, this buttery ass popcorn because I'm at the movies, this poutine because it's only a dollar more than fries, this slurpie because it's hot. It seemed that every activity I went about in life had the perfect snack to go with, being stuck at home in the middle of nowhere left me with no place to acquire said goodies. I no longer ate at KFC every day or had access to a vending machine full of chocolate, chips and candy. I had no idea it would make so much of a difference. Every little thing adds up, took me 20 years to realize it. I had been fat as long as I could remember, when I was in elementary school I'd eat bags upon bags of candy and chip after chip after chip. I had no idea what I was doing to myself. When I became older I was more aware of what makes one gain weight but I allowed the excuses to override any logic. I was trapped, ate because I was sad and sad because I ate, that was my biggest excuse of all, an infinite loop of excuses.

The only one to blame for my size was myself, I could either accept mediocrity or I could rise above the quota and be more than just a blob wandering this earth making excuses as to why I'm not who I wish I could be. I decided from that moment on things would be different. Now that I knew progress was possible I had the motivation to move forward. No more excuses! I slowly cut all the sheit out of my diet and eventually bought a pass to the community complex and began swimming laps every day after work. I gained enough confidence to enter the gym, the day was May 3rd, 2011. I'll never forget lol. Jogged for 5 minutes on the treadmill and almost died. The people around me had been running solid for what seemed like forever, my mind was blown. Had to progress. Next day I did 6 minutes, then 7, and eventually worked my way up to half an hour. I felt so good!

The confidence I had gained from progressing gave me the courage to enter the weight room, never thought in a million years I'd lift weights. The girls in there were fit as fuark and just as confident. I was intimidated (oh look, another excuse!) but knew that if I let intimidation (and excuses) hold me back I'd never become the person I strived to be. Couple weeks went by like nothing and I noticed changes in my arms, legs, back, everywhere. I ran into my hairdresser squatting on the smith who told me some fundamentals of lifting and she also said to check this site out, so I did. Once I had an account here my progress level went through the roof (you could say it was over 9000). I was now educated on nutrition, muscle groups, supplements, the works. Rest is history, it has now been over a year and I feel, for lack of a better word, reborn.

Do something enough and it becomes normality, the only difficult part of this lifestyle is getting into it. I had been eating copious amounts of sh*t food for years, it had become normal for me. I needed to slowly change what I called normal. Baby steps, gotta crawl before you can walk. You can make progress, or you can make excuses. If I'm feeling gross and lethargic, I don't use that as an excuse to stay home, I use it as a reason to go workout. I've never felt bad after working out but holy chit did I ever feel horrible when I sat at home on my arse. I look at my old pictures and it feels as if they're from another lifetime, it's as if I've lived in two completely different universes with two completely different sets of social laws. I don't regret a single day of it, who I was then has helped shape me into who I am now. I used to avoid mirrors and cameras like the plague, I couldn't even keep eye contact with people I was so ashamed. Today I can shamelessly say that I love myself! My life began when I started lifting, and this massive wall of text above is how I got there. Sorry, no cliffs lawl.

Lifting has given me the confidence to do anything I set as a goal, made me realize I can do whatever I put my mind to (apart from a Kamehameha wave). It keeps me mentally sound, as a woman I must accept that I'm emotionally driven and if I don't be careful I will self destruct. Lifting gives me something to be proud of, even if everything else in life is going to **** at least I'm bettering myself somehow. Progress is progress. Lifting has also given me something I never thought possible, attention from the opposite sex. I can't deny it's ****ing awesome, I no longer get written off before I even open my mouth. Non-lifters have it all wrong, they think we waste away our lives in the gym but it's the opposite for me, I get so much more out of life now than when I didn't lift. Also I have more energy and get sick less, win win win situation.