My story…(pics have been uploaded to illustrate and shed light)

I wasn’t athletic in highschool or anything but was slim with thunder thighs (as the guys referred to them)

135 lbs Just out of highschool

I was always like, ‘hey I am going to do this bodybuilding (one day) and so the following year I would say, ‘ok I will do it this year’. Well 17 years and 70+ pounds later I am finally starting to do it.  Man do I have a ways to go now, but now I am mentally ready.  While I thought I had time and well somehow thought I was going to remain slim forever, I didn’t lift a finger or budge a muscle back then to even start.  I even broke my ankle at the age of 21 and joined the gym for rehab, did I start lifting then, nooooooo, hell I didn’t even properly or completely rehab my ankle, to this day I still can’t run.  Ankle won’t bend properly to allow me to do so and it is so uncomfortable.  My doctor says my weight gain adds to the discomfort.  Anyway, now that I am older and wider, I mean wiser ok ok and WIDER I AM READY!

204 lbs before any training whatsoever

So In 2006 I got a personal trainer and said I want to be a bodybuilder.  He set me up on a routine of heavy weights, supplements and a very bland no nonsense tasteless diet.  I was making progress in the beginning in that I was building muscle and shaping up, I didn’t necessarily stick to my tasteless diet nor was I doing my cardio the way I should and therefore I was not losing fat fast enough, needless to say boy did I bulk up.  You could see the form of the muscle but I was looking more like a wrestler or days gone than bodybuilder. 

198 lbs while training to body bodybuild and not really losing fat

Anyway to make matters worse I got involved in a new relationship, fell off my diet wagon, stopped working out, moved out of state and gained even more weight on top of the muscle and weight I hadn’t lost while working out in the first place.  What the heck was I thinking.  Now what?!

215 lbs after falling off wagon and gaining weight

Well…

In Jan. 2007, I found another personal trainer and said I want to be a bodybuilder.  He takes a look at me and he says, why not try figure bodybuilding to help bring your weight way way down and show off your shape, which I had, it was just well umm wider.  He ways you can always very easily transition into body bodybuilding after if you choose.  I was like oh ok. He started me out very quickly on a gradually high intense cardio routine, high rep light weight regemine and a diet with taste, less the potatoes which turned out to be the devel for me.  Potatoes keep me fluffy and Ooooo I love Chick Fil a Waffle fries.  I started slimming down and seeing results and I was so excited, then I noticed man my bulky muscles are gone he then reminded me that my initial goal is to lose the weight while toning the muscles beneath and as I get closer to my goal weight then we will focus on slightly heavier weights.  I am so syked about my new start and this time I am going to stick with it.  DawnMelanie a member here has an excellent body and a look I eventually want to strive for, well that I am striving for.  She and YettaMae are my new inspirations.

4 months into figure training and 193 lbs

…and to think I wanted to be a Body Bodybuilder.