I was 30 when I married my wife. In our wedding photo I am holding our 4 month old son. This is not quite a true statement. In this photo I am nearly 270 pounds. I am not holding my son as much as he is completely sitting on my belly as if my belly is a chair. Almost a year ago I began school at UAH, this gave me free access to a gym. I began then, and almost 50 pounds less later I have not quit yet. I guess it could be said that I started with the intent of being able to keep up with my young one.

This is another one where I just have so many things I can say. I love to work out because my clothes fit better, I look better, but that is not where my true passion for working out stems from. To be honest I would have never seen myself as one of those guys who goes to the gym. When I started going I hated it. Every ache sucked, and the time going to the gym takes out of my day could truly be spent on my school work (These were my thoughts), but then one day I asked one of the Gym Techs how much the bar-bell weighed. He told me that it weighed 45 pounds. That told me that I had just got done lifting 205 pounds. The sense of accomplishment I got from that realization was huge. Soon after that I started doing pull-ups and thought to myself what if I pulled myself up and then I pushed myself over the bar. I still have to use an assist machine, but I am not far from doing this without the assist machine. The feeling that comes from doing that is so much great than simply lifting a heavy weight for me. Every time I find something new I can do with my body my first thought is absolute amazement, and my second thought is, "Ok self how can I challenge myself next." I have often believed that one is one's own worst enemy, and I believe that this is exceptionally close to true when it comes to working out. I constantly looking at what I did before and pushing myself to do better than myself of just a week ago. It is like a game and your opponents in this game are your weakness, and drive. That is why I love working out.