My story such as it is

Hello:

My name is Charlie and I have been at MFP for like 10 months. I was one of those people that NEVER had to worry about weight. I was always told that..... "It will catch up to you when you are 20, when you are 25, when you are 30 etc.... I had played cardio type sports in my youth (basketball, baseball, etc) and could run what I ate right off. Weights? nah ,wasn't interested.. ,, didn't want muscles or had a bad attitude toward them.. This was partly from fear of embarrassment .. I was pathetically weak in the upper body especially.. and didn't want to humiliate myself. I had a joke about weights if anybody ever asked.......... "if you pick the weight up and put it down.. why didn't you just leave it there in the first place"

I grew up and stopped being as active and got more sedentary.. and finally the weight crept up.. I never was a very confident sort. socially.. and this started adding to it.. The real world and its obligations took away my "accidental and fun" cardio and I got heavier and even more sullen and introverted. I had no confidence at all with the opposite gender. It was just brushed off in my mind as a sign of the ravages of age and something I could do little about

In July of last yr a friend was visiting from down south, we got talking about getting old.. I had, for some diversion , gone out and tried to shoot basketball the week before and had NO endurance whatsoever.. it embarrassed me but I kept it to myself. During this talk with my friend, we talked about weight... I hadn't gotten on the scale in forever and when I did at home it shook me..
210 lbs......... now I am 5 ft 9 so this is not horrific but I took an honest look at my belly and was appalled.. I had been in the 150-160s for for ever.. where did this 50lbs or so come from

Through roundabout means which are of little import, I came to MFP... Remember ,, exercise to me was cardio.. so that's what I tried.. I tried 1-2 times to run and that was embarrassing and impossible.. remembering what I could do and Now couldn't. For a while all I could manage was walking for like 20 min and watching what I ate a bit...I took a chance and made some friends here in the early days and they encouraged even that little bit of movement.. and I was taking baby steps. I didn't take pics in the beginning but this is Late August....... I think I was about 10lbs down here.. maybe 200 lbs


[img]http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b542/udproud5/august29_zps87281b31.jpg[/img/] I was losing weight and that was a good thing, but not many people were noticing and I didn't feel much different. People on here kept mentioning strength training but my ego prevented me....and how could I do it on my own...?? Well, I finally went out and purchased New Rules of Lifting for Women.. yes women.. I was told it was a real good beginners guide and I had nowhere to start from so I wanted Lifting for total newbies.. Short story is.. when I ventured into the weight room. I was blessed to find my apt complex has a trainer.. .. I took the risk and signed up for sessions with her.. that was about November 1st , I think? As I said I haven't been good about taking progress pics.. so I will jump ahead.. Lifting hasn't been easy..I am learning new stuff all the time.. I still feel like a total fool 90% of the time when I try a new lift or move.. There are some things I still cant get.. I am still very weak in the upper body.. but my confidence is growing.. Here are my latest progress pics[/img]

What I really want to note is ......................I still love my running and now I can do it much much better.. running 5ks in under 30 min regularly and hoping for a 10k.. BUT the lifting is what really got people to notice once the recomposition of my body kicked in

From the first pic to the Jan 1st pic above there is like 15lbs of loss.................. From the two pics in the side by side above (Jan 1st to the other day there is only about a 9lb loss!!!!.. but it is in the last two months or so ..where people are starting to notice and I think that is in large part due to my lifting

will I get a 6pack I don't know.. will I ever get muscular biceps.. who knows... but the thing is .... don't be afraid of trying lifting.. if I can do it ANYBODY can

I don't know what the future holds.. but I am happily surprised with what ive done