[Pj-Macx]

Hey guys.. I would like to hear your personal stories, life, and how and why you decided to start lifting and taking care of yourself....

I will start with mine..


I got married at 20.. to a man that I thought was a decent guy.. I had my first child when I was 21.. and during that pregnancy.. this decent guy that I married.. changed.. when I was 7 months along.. he pushed me off a porch.. breaking my ankle.. putting me in a cast for 18 weeks.. and while I was pregnant.. the doc put me in a wheel chair... because he didnt want me to fall again.. so I gained 78 pounds in the 18 weeks that I was in a cast.. it took a while to be able to walk again after the cast was off.. but the abuse that started.. continued.. verbal abuse, being called fat, ugly, stupid on a continuous basis.. you actually start to believe those things.. I got pregnant again.. did not gain much weight this time... but I was being told every time I sat down for dinner.. that I should not be eatting because I already was a fat cow.. I fell into a depression.. and other things in my life started falling apart.. my Grandfather who.. I adored.. died.. my depression got worse.. the abuse got worse.. over the 14 years of marriage.. the list of bones that I have had broken is longer than the list that I havent broken.. I have 3 wonderful kids.. but I was so depressed and felt so lonely most of the time that my safe zone was or seemed to be when I was eatting... I ended up weighing 428 pounds.. feeling horrible about myself.. about how I looked.. I finally attempted to take my own life.. I was ordered to see a therapist.. and that was the turn around in my life.. she put me on medication to help with the depression.. and got me to start caring about myself again.. I started doing small things.. like walking with weights.. and then I got myself a job.. and bought myself a small set of weights for at home.. started lifting a little at a time.. but was already noticing a change.. I was losing weight.. slowly.. but it was happening.. I then left my husband of 14 years.. and began going to the gym with a girlfriend of mine.. and started talking to a few people at bb.com.. they helped me with a diet plan.. and a workout plan.. I worked very hard.. for a long time.. suffered some injuries.. but always worked through them... I think the biggest was a minor heart attack because of the stress I was dealing with going through the divorce.. and having the ex come into the place I was working and causing a scene... I also tore my abdominal muscle.. had it surgically repaired.. and started back to the gym when they said I could.. at that point.. I was weighing around 265.. I was feeling alot better about myself.. I then met my husband now.. moved to Cailifornia.. and we work out together.. I am not yet where I would like to be.. but I continue to work hard to get there.. I am now around 155 - 160.. I just had my gall bladder removed.. so I am on the shelf for a few weeks.. but am hoping to get back to the gym soon.. so maybe by next summer I will be down where I want to be..

[skelooth]

I hope you kicked your exes ass or something. So many times I've heard stories similar to yours and it makes me sick. Any man who would physically abuse a pregnant woman should be strapped upside down in the center of town, and flogged in the head with a sandal until death.

*realizes he's not a woman.... runs*

[Pj-Macx]

LoL.. Skel.. I didnt but my current husband would love to have the chance to do just that...

[skelooth]

I'm a believer in "karma" and I'm sure your ex will get what's fair some day. I'm sorry to hear what you went through, and I'm glad you are in a stable relationship now. A lot of girls in abusive relationships just accept it "as it is"... then they have enough, date me, and realize there are good men out there. :crazy1:

[krzna]

wow...PjmacX....u have my respect....thatz a lot of weight loss, and I thought I did a great job losing weight!
Keep fighting girl, i hope u reach ur goals soon and stay healthy for life!

[LuxuryChic]

Why i started lifting?

Simple, i've always been overweight!!! As a child i was always bigger than everyone else, height wise and weight wise!! I've always been active too, but for some reason i was just overweight always. I played intense football with the guys, basketball for leagues and my schools, but yet i was still overweight! Funny thing is tho, i've always been faster than everyone else, running wise, i was the fastest thing here, until i gained more weight than my legs could carry me. I remember i was at basketball practice one day in middle school, we had to run suicides, at this point in time i was probably 40lbs heavier than the "heaviest" person, anyways we ran suicides and we had to run them in up like 30 secs, i did mine in 20 secs flat, i was the heaviest person there but outran everyone. So anyways, high school came, and i played ball their but that was when i noticed it, i was slow and FAT, i went into HS at 235 size 20, that was when i had enough of everyone saying i was fat and blah blah blah, so i started using all the stuff my dad had in the basement which was alot. I did my reading and everything and started lifting regularly, lost about 20 lbs, size 18 (if my years are correct that was fall/winter of 2003) then in december i sprained my ankle in a game and was out for about 6 wks, those six weeks i lost all motivation and never got back in the gym after i was healed, i ate everything and needless to say summer of 2004 i had gained all of it back and an extra 10 or so lbs, so i tried again, and got frustrated with it and gave up for about another 6 months, so now it's late feb. 2005 and i say i've had enough, 245-250 and counting size 20-22, i didn't feel good about myself at all!! i said i'm going to do this thing right so ever since then i've been dieting and gaining muscle! 205 lbs, size 14-16. I'm not where i want to be, but i'm happy with the changes i've seen both physically and self esteem wise! end of year i want to be 160-170. AND LOTS MORE MUSCLE!!!

[pammiejoe6]

well even though i have my journal over in "over 30" i will post my story here since im a female...hahaha


BUT FIRST...UGH PJ...im so glad you were able to get out of that horrible situation...youre one tough woman....


my story starts when i was a teenager.....
i was really into smoking pot and munching out with my buddies...hahahaa.... so i started gaining weight...i was never FAT though...just chunky....145-150lbs...but i really never thought of myself as fat. i was very athletic...played volleyball and ran cross country track believe it or not...LOL...at least until i decided all i wanted to do was get high..then i quit everything. this was when things started getting tricky for me. i can remember us all getting toasted and then going to the convenience store and scarfing on everything bad we could afford. this did NOT help me learn how to eat correctly. once i graduated high school, i went to college. my ways did NOT change...they only got worse...i started drinking AND smoking AND doing basically everything anyone else did ( except i never shot anything into my body with needles)...i NEVER exercised...needless to say, my weight started inching up each month when i was at college...the eating habits were HORRIBLE...i only made it through 1 1/2 years at college before i was flunking out and my parents decided i wasnt going to change and they stopped paying.
so i moved back home....my parents were military...air force... both of them....so they really pushed me to consider joining the air force....to keep them both happy i decided to go through the motions and at least TRY...but of course i couldnt pass my chemical substance test and i was denied....this caused my parents to kick me out of the house and i was on my own.
i lived here and there after that for a few months...with friends...with boyfriends...always partying...always eating like crap...never caring about anything but what party was on the schedule basically...pretty freakin sad i guess... but i was living it up and having a blast...at least i thought i was!
a few months of all that though and i had had enough...i knew i had to get my shit together and make something different before i ended up in BIG trouble...well it wasn't soon enough...i ended up getting pregnant and having to have an abortion because i was too afraid that my parting ways would have already harmed the baby ( plus i couldnt afford it anyway....countless excuses i guess, but its what happened and i cant take it back)...once i had had the abortion i changed....i decided to look for my real father whom i hadnt seen in over 10 years....i looked him up and found him living in Missouri...gave him a call...and before i knew it i was on an airplane to see him. it was amazing! he welcomed me with open arms....i lived with him for about 3 months until i could afford to get my own apartment....got myself a job and started a new life for myself...but i couldnt deny that i loved to party!
i met up with other people like me and started back on that old familiar road...started getting into trouble...upsetting my dad...getting behind in my bills...gawd i was a mess in no time!
it wasnt long before i was calling my mother back in texas begging her to let me come home....i was embarrassed that i was so irresponsible, but i knew she would help me get back on my feet...and she did....she set me up in a new apartment back in texas and got me going....i moved back and got a job...things were actually different for me! i stayed away from all the "bad crowd" and kept to myself as much as possible, knowing i was weak and trying to work towards changing.
a few months after i got back to texas i ran into an old boyfriend of mine, who i wasnt ever able to be with because he had been going through a divorce when we had first met....we both had always somehow reconnected time and time again, but it wasnt ever the right time or place..at least not until that last time we bumped into each other!
he came to my apartment that night and never left! hahaa....we eventually got married and started a family...
amazingly, i never went back to my crazy partying ways and he and i have been married for almost 14 years now.
course it hasnt been easy....my eating habits never got better...i always ate like a damn pig...all kinds of bad stuff....when he and i got married i weighed 180lbs...but after i had the first kid...then the second....then the third...i found myself at a whopping 302lbs.
our marriage has never been perfect...he likes to drink, as did i, and we've had our ups and downs and abusive situations, but they never came to blows...it was always verbal....
there for awhile i really did believe i was a fat pig...and honestly i guess i WAS...but the only times he would say those things to me was when he was drunk...so i would file it away as that being the reason and not that it was his real feelings coming out....but i guess it was. i noticed his interest in me was fading...we always had great sex, but even that was diminishing those last few years before i woke up and decided it was time for me to do something for myself and make a change. even though i knew my husband loved me...i also knew by the way he looked at other women, (in much better shape than i), that he was attracted to something OTHER than what i had become...but he always stayed faithful...always tried to tell me i was beautiful....( unless he was drunk)....
it wasnt until one of my oldest sons friends asked me when i was going to have the baby that i realized how huge i really was. this was in 2003...i was 302lbs or maybe even more...and after that kid mistakenly took me for a pregnant woman i decided to take an honest look at myself in the mirror and i was horrified by what i saw. i took off all my clothes and stood in front of the bathroom mirror and really looked at myself...i was disgusted...it was not a good day...but it was the day that finally changed my life.
after that, i realized that there was no way i could expect my husband to want me, or be attracted to me, while i looked like that!
i started walking the track at this local park in my town...but months went by and i didnt lose anything! of course i hadnt changed the way i was eating at all....so nothing WOULD change. my portions were huge! i would eat a LOT and never even bat an eye...drink gallons of wine....i was trying to hide in my misery of being fat and living in a piece of shit trailer...and it wasnt working anymore...i started to realize that this was going to take a lot more than just me wanting to do the right thing...it was going to take hard work and determination...LOTS of it...so i looked at the local library and found the atkins book and read the whole thing...
got started on it Oct 3, 2003...this is when things started to change for me...i lost about 20lbs in the first 2 weeks....this fueled my fire and i stayed on atkins religiously for 1 year...i lost 110lbs!! about 1 month into my weight loss efforts i gave up walking and decided to start lifitng weights...i scrounged up enough money to buy a barbell and weights set from walmart and got started on BFL. i followed the BFL 12 week challenge without ever missing a workout...then again...and again!! by the 3rd challenge i was in love with lifitng...i knew this was something that i would never stop doing and i was extremely motivated by the muscle definition i was forming!! this was about the time that i started researching online and learning...i found a lot of great information on line and really got into learning about nutrition and lifting...not long after that i was invited to a new site started by women who wanted to learn more about lifitng and how to eat beyond the low carb approach... www.beyondlowcarb.net ...this is where i learned the most about how to eat while lifting and what was good and not so good etc etc...i really made a definite change thanks to that site and i give it credit for getting me on the right path to changing myself for the better...after that i reintroduced carbs back into my life and gained 30lbs FAST...but i didnt freak out!!! i started switching up my menu and eating cleaner and cleaner...and before i knew it i was starting to lose inches again, even though the scale wasnt moving!
not too long after i found beyonelowcarb, i found rugged....then bb.com and now i am here...and i feel like a new woman! i will NEVER go back to that person i was so long ago! i have changed so much in just the last few months its not even funny! i am so proud of myself! my body has deifnitely changed! i am now 212lbs ( 214 today thanks to TOM...lol) and the muscles i have under this fat are spectacular!! when i finally get these last 50-60lbs off i will be magnificent!! hehehehe...i have also learned how important it is to stay away from alcohol for the most part...and drugs are in the past for me now...ive never claimed to be perfect...and even though i have had a few fun "girls night outs" with my girlfriends...toking out daily is NOT something i do anymore....i am so proud of that fact alone!!! i think i am finally growing up! hahahaaa....well at least as much as i CAN grow up anyway...i like being a kid at heart!! but there comes a time in everyone life when you have to decide whats right for you and whats not...and i realized that being a good wife, great mother and spectacular weight lifter was MUCH more important to me than any doobie or drink could ever be!!
and thats where i am now....i am proud as hell of myself and i take my training VERY seriously! i am doing a great 4 day split and my eating is squeaky clean! i love eating clean now better than any chicken fried steak or glass of wine or whatever...lol...i can ONLY get better from this point on...theres no turning back for me...i am determined to make my body into what i have always dreamed it could be...no matter how long it takes me....i will NEVER give up!

[Pj-Macx]

That is great Girls... I would like to see all of the female members post their stories in here.. and help me get the female section moving...

Thank you for sharing...

[OmgSexy]

WoW awesome stories ladies! I am so proud of you!

I started lifting weights, because after I got married (at 19) I became a slacker with working out and eating healthy. Lets just say I had a two year vacation LoL! I basically ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted without a care in the world.
I have always been lucky in the way that I don't have to try very hard to keep the weight off (fast metabolism from years of sports), so I didn't gain or lose weight.

BUT this year I started working and got enrolled in school, so I automatically just snapped back on track and started reading up on everything that I could find about lifting and eating healthy. I just felt like my vacation was over, and I needed to pick up where I left off. I have always felt like I am a work in progress (physically, mentally and spiritually) and "finding" myself makes me happy. A healthy lifestyle helps me to love myself unconditionally, because I know that I am being good to myself.

Now I can see the huge difference between eating healthy and eating junk...It affects you in more ways than you realize.

[dbflgirl]

Wow - there are some inspiring stories here, especially yours, PJ.

I started working out about 2 1/2 years ago. I had given my daughter a bath and went to lift her out of the tub. I just didn't have the uppser body strength to really lift her up and out and over the track for the shower door. So she nicked one of her feet. Her nick was nothing a kiss didn't fix but I was startled at how weak I was. I have fibromyalgia, and I knew that loss of strength was one of its effects, but until that moment I didn't really understand how much strength I had lost.

So I got a book (the Firefighter's Workout), some dumbbells and a bench and started working out at home. About 6 months later, I had outgrown my home equipment and no room for more, so I joined a gym. I've been working out 4-6 times a week ever since. I can easily lift that daughter now Although my lifts are weak compared to some of those I see posted here, they are always going up so I know I am making progress. Best yet, I haven't had a fibro flare since I started.

[RealFantasy]

Hi All!
I am going to give you all my story too. I am probably the oldest female member here (God, that sounds bad!!), but I guess at this point, it is true.
My name is Brenda. I will real soon be turning 50 years old. All my childhood I was a walking stick. But, at 18 got pregnant. At the time I got pregnant I only weighed 106 pounds, and was 5' 8". I put on some weight after having my son, but it was not that drastic. I married for the first time at the age of 21, (after living with him for a year) to a very abusive man. He beat me, ran around on me, and pretty much did everything wrong to me that a man could possibly do to a woman, if he is going to be a jackass. He drank, did drugs and never was able to keep a job, or pay bills. He ruined my confidence and at many times through the marriage had me to the point that even a good head doctor could not help me. He totally ruined my self asteem. I lived like this for 11 years, and finally came back to reality and got the hell away from him. He was a drunk and died at the age of 48.
I again ended up in yet another abusive situation with a man that was a drunk and lived like that for 3 years. Needless to say, at this point I too was a drunk. I got away from this one and today he is no longer here either. The alcohol got him too. Today I am married to a man that I have been with for 17 years. He does not drink, and has never laid a hand on me. He is a good man, but he is jealous and plays emotional head games constantly. But, I guess I could have it a lot worse, and has been in my past.
The reason that I decided to start lifting weights for the most part was that I ended up somehow over the past 15 years going to almost 200 pounds, and just quit caring about myself or what I looked like. This was never me. I never was happy with my self image and today I am still not. So, I bet my mother that I could be 50 and have the body of a 30 year old. She took me up on it too. But, I totally hated myself for what I had let happen to me, so it was a bet that I could live with win or lose. I went on the Atkin's Diet and lost 32 pounds, but gained some back in a four month span after about 8 months of following it to the T. I did not exercise, and as a matter of fact had never exercised in my adult life. When I could no longer lose weight and after getting frustrated again and again over it, I realized that what was missing was the exercise.
I began walking daily, and the weight started dropping again, but there was still something that was not right. I still had a bad looking body without clothes on! If you look in the mirror and it scares you, then you darn sure don't want anyone else to see what you see!! So, I started thinking about weight lifting. I had some weights, but not many at that time, but I searched the internet and the first place that I came to for help, I joined. BB.com. This is where I meant GameDayDog, and he set up a routine for me. So, here I was 49 years old and trying to lift weights by just reading what I was given. Here I was someone that knew nothing about weight training or what to lift, how to lift, or even if I could lift!! It took time, but for the most part I got it right, and I began to see some changes in my body that I did not think was possible. Today, 3 months later, Dawg is still helping me, and he has done wonderful with setting up my workouts and modivating me to do them the right way.
I have a long way to go, I believe that I have come to a crossroad that has made me see that anything is possible at any age and believe me girls this may be you all someday telling your story when you are going on 50. And at that point you will be saying "DAMN it really is never to late to look good and feel good about yourself".
Someday you may even see me competing. As crazy as it sounds, this is a goal and a dream even if in the end it's just local petty competition. Winning one or just placing would be a dream come true for me, and I would be talking about it when I am 80.
The reason that I am still lifting weights and will continue to until I can no longer lift them is that I am vain and refuse to let my age slow me down or stop me from being who I have always dreamed of being. The sad thing is, I have always wanted the perfect body and in my mind all my adult life I knew it could be done but I never had the modivation to begin to achieve it. Now I do and I will never stop.
Someday I would like to be here helping other people instead of getting help too. I hope that I can do this soon too.
That is my story, with a lot of gaps, but I don't want to keep going.
Hey, you guys got a seperate board for this. I wrote a book!!!

By the way, everyone above had a fantastic story to tell. You should all be very proud of yourselves. You have all doing wonderful. The stories were great too.
Brenda

[dnyc99]

Congrats to all you girls for being strong and getting your life together. :winkthumb

My story is similar to Pj-Macx and Brenda's...abusive ex-husband...put me through hell and back. Doesn't even deserve mention.

So I'll just move onto happy times.

I remarried, and have 3 terrific kids (all boys!)...

After my 3rd child was born I decided it was time to lose the weight I had put on with each pregnancy. So I dedicated time to myself and lost approx. 62lbs (220lbs to 158lbs) through diet and exercise.

Later I was inspired by a terrific lady that had transformed her body through mostly weight lifting and diet. She started me on a beginner weight lifting program her trainer friend had made up for her. I was immediately hooked on iron and the results of it. I've been lifting for 1 1/2 years and I'm amazed at how my body has taken shape...gotten firmer, stronger and curvier.

I'm a much more confident, outgoing, happy person now.

That's my story in a nutshell.

[DarkFalcon]

Wow amazing stories ladies. Pretty insiring and much different then you'd get in a similar guy thread..lol. "Ya dude I started working out to get buff and stuff. I also did it to pick up chicks! Too weird how we are so alike! Ya and that's about it."

[dnyc99]

Originally Posted by DarkFalcon

Wow amazing stories ladies. Pretty insiring and much different then you'd get in a similar guy thread..lol. "Ya dude I started working out to get buff and stuff. I also did it to pick up chicks! Too weird how we are so alike! Ya and that's about it."

True DF...and well, I might have left out the "I also did it to pick up hot guys" part only cause I'm married.

LoL

[fitness4fun]

Wow! All you ladies are quite awesome! My story is boring compared to all of yours! I've been married for 11 years, and I have two wonderful kids. I've never had a weight problem, but now that I'm 38, I've noticed that I just can't eat anything that I want. In the past I've started an exercise routine, then stopped. I wouldn't eat much,