I was raised in the South - Talladega, AL. If you don't know anything about the south, you know we love to eat! When I went off to college, I definitely overindulged a bit too much on the endless buffets. I gained the dreaded freshmen 15 and some. Once I graduated from college, I moved to Littleton, CO. It's the complete opposite of AL. It's a healthy state and all of my coworkers were extremely active. I was finally bit by the active bug and decided to try my hand at running. Before I knew it, I ran my first marathon! I was happy with the progress I was making but in my opinion, I was still too thin. I purchased a couple Taebo and Jillian Michaels DVDs and NEVER looked back. Now I'm in the gym multiple days a week, competing in BB competitions, and aspiring to become an IFBB Figure Pro.

Working out is an outlet for me. My full time job is a software engineer. I work on a program that is building the next space vehicle to transport the astronauts to the International Space Station and hopefully to the moon some day. It's pretty stinkin cool! Anyway, working out helps me to relieve stress. It's the "Me" time that I look forward to daily. My coworkers think it's weird to wake up at 4:30 AM, get to the gym by 5 AM and work by 7 AM. Little do they know, it benefits them too. If I didn't, I'm certain I'd be in a BAD mood! :) ... Really, I just want to be an inspiration to those who have full-time jobs, busy schedules, etc. I want them to know, you can do all those things and still make time for yourself. To workout, to be happy, to be healthy. Like everything else, it's a choice. We make time for the things we really want in life.