I have been trying to get consistent with working out for the past 10 years. When I was 19, I served a mission for my church (LDS) in Argentina. During that time, I did a ton of walking every day - anywhere from 7 to 10 miles per day. Before I left, I bought some "walking/sturdy" shoes that I thought would benefit me. They didn't.

After 1 year of walking in the same shoes every day, you begin to wear holes in the soles. I guess I walked so much that my feet started hurting. I didn't know at the time that I was walking on fractured sesamoid bones. So to avoid the pain, I would walk on the outer part of my feet. I did this for months.

After a few more months of walking, my knees, hips and lower back started hurting more and more each day. I eventually had to say, "I'm done. I need to go home." So after 20 total months of walking, I went home. When I got back to the U.S. I went to a podiatrist who told me that I had developed tendonitis in both of my knees and that I was going to need to wear custom insoles in my shoes if I wanted to correct the damage I had done by walking different (to avoid the pain).

I remember I was completely unable to drive because my knees were in so much pain. Thankfully, after 6 months of using the insoles, I was able to start driving again and getting back to my normal life.

That all happened 10 years ago.

I am now 30, been married for 6 1/2 years (at the time of writing this) and my knees are doing MUCH better. I still have some problems doing Plyometrics (P90X) and sitting in movie theaters but other than that, I'm doing very well.

I have been off and on with working out/going to the gym for 6 1/2 years now. My wife is gorgeous and has never been fat or overweight but somehow after being married, I managed to gain a few pounds - about 45 total. The most I've ever weighed was 235, which isn't saying much but I never felt comfortable with my shirt off. And come to think of it, even when I was younger and skinny (from playing sports - basketball and volleyball) I was never completely satisfied with how I looked shirtless.

So I started working out. I have never been extremely motivated to work out. I mean, I've always wanted that "good body" but was never willing to work hard enough to get it. Until now...

I learned from a friend that there was a $100,000 transformation challenge on bodybuilding.com. I figured that even if I didn't win the money, I would have the body that I've always wanted. I've made a few friends on here and added some people that would help me stay motivated and I'm finally in a position where I feel I've got nothing to lose doing this competition. I am going to complete this 12 week challenge whether I win money or not because for me, it's not really about the money. Sure, prizes and fame are great but I'm a web designer/developer. I don't necessarily want to be the one in front of the camera (But I would if I won, of course!!). haha

So that's my story. I am working out for myself. I want to prove to myself that I can do something worthwhile. I want to show everyone that you CAN get a great body from eating vegan (like me). And I really want to promote healthy eating to those around me.

I love working out because it's one of the few things in life you feel better after you do it. Life sucks a lot of the time but if you know that every morning you get to wake up and you'll be guaranteed to feel better after working out, then that's good enough for me. I'm sure that over time, as I get more and more focused with my eating and working out (and seeing results) that I will love it because it keeps me looking healthy and feeling happy.