The long version? Here you go:
I was overweight as a kid and never really understood how to manage my weight. I'd lose and gain weight and never know why or how to control it. At 5'11", I've weighed anywhere from 155 - 255 lbs. Even when my weight would drop, I never saw my abs and I just assumed that I had bad genetics.

That didn't stop me from trying, it was just the excuse I fell back on every time I failed. I tried everything. No carbs, low carbs, counting calories, paleo - nothing seemed to work consistently. Those diets were coupled with P90X, long distance running, crossfit, etc. Even after 3 months of crossfit and paleo eating and I looked the same.

I always knew that I let my body keep me from enjoying life. I never played sports. I never went swimming. Running was my outlet and I was never very good at that. Over the years, I accepted my fate but tried to keep exercising for health reasons (I have a heart and a liver condition). I realized that I was missing out on enjoying time with my children and I decided that I needed to change. I didn't want to keep them from the pool, but I didn't want to be the fat dad either.

July 2013 I started meeting with a personal trainer who gave me a nutritional plan. The plan was simple enough that I could do it, yet altered my eating habits enough that it made a difference. I started the plan, stopped running, started walking and lifting. It worked and I dropped fat and built muscle. I dropped from 27% to 10% bodyfat and put on 27 pounds of lean body mass.

Truth hurts, and I didn't really know what I was doing in the gym. I couldn't squat or deadlift without hurting myself. I got so thin that my old running injuries started coming back. I was mentally depleted and eventually gave up again. By the end of 2016 I was back at 250 and not exercising. I tried to get back in and find something, but depression and anxiety took over and I let myself drift.

In 2019 I hired a lifting coach to teach me to deadlift, squat, bench, and overhead press correctly. I was amazed that I had lifted incorrectly my whole life. Things were going great until one day I was in the middle of an overhead press and my right arm just gave out on me. That was terrifying. Eventually, and with a lot of Dr appts, I found out that 2 of my cervical discs were completely gone and my vertebrae fused themselves together, pinching the nerves that went to my arms. Well, elective surgeries were shut down in 2020 and in 2021 I had to start the whole diagnosis process over again with my insurance company.

Additionally, in May 2021 I was prediabetic and had several other looming health issues from being obese. I made a commitment to exercise, even if I couldn't lift much. Severe depression and anxiety controlled my life completely and I was tired of feeling that way. Jan 2022 had the discs replaced and gradually worked up to 5 days of lifting each week over the next 6 months.

It's the perfect outlet. We all have bodies yet most of us know so little about them and treat them poorly. Working out is physical, mental, and emotional for me. I love the way I feel after a good workout. So much that I have to force myself to take rest days.