What made you fall in love with lifting?

I love lifting, even though I am not yet a "heavy" lifter. How do I put all this down here and make it make sense? I'll try.

1. I feel like I've accomplished something at the end of each set.
2. When I do cardio, I just feel tired afterwards. When I lift, I feel ready for action! I usually clean my kitchen and living room. 2 birds, 1 stone.
3. I do see results with cardio, it helps me lose weight faster. But with lifting, even for months with no weight loss, I'm still losing inches. My pants are falling off me again for the second time this summer.
4. After a few weeks break from exercise, I feel better after my first lifting session than I have in weeks.
5. I love seeing the muscle definition in places that was just lumps of flab before, even though my weight has stayed the same.
6. I still have lovely lady curves, but they are getting firmer and smoother rather than rippley and dimply.
7. I am stronger and have more endurance in daily activities.
8. My husband loves my physical improvements, even though he never complained about how I looked before.

I don't even know if half of that made sense, but lifting gives me a focus on myself, it gives me self confidence, self worth. I look in the mirror and admire myself for days after a good lifting session.

One of the things I really enjoy about lifting is when I'm working in sets with a guy, and have to add weights to the bar. :laugh:

The sense of accomplishment is something I don't get from much else in my life. I had been chasing a 200 lb deadlift for what seemed like forever...the day I lifted that and then some I wanted to run to the top of the buildings and scream it to the world. Yeah, it's nice to go out and run 5 miles, but a LOT of people can accomplish that. Comparatively, not many women can lift their own body weight off the ground. Running makes me feel fit...lifting makes me feel STRONG.

I just have to say. I love what you said here "running makes me feel fit, lifting makes me feel strong" I just it

Realising I had the ability to change the way I looked and being in better shape than I ever thought I could get to

my trainer who is a guy.. about 2 yrs ago when i started working out with him and i hated lifting and he made me do it 2x a week. realizing how strong i actually was he kept pushing me even when i thought i couldnt....now i lift 5x a week and only do cardio 2-4

At first, the fact that I could up my weights every time, or could go for an extra rep every time was what kept me going. It was progress, and that's exciting.

Then, I found friends on here who are into lifting. Felt like a community, I got to learn a lot from them, see them progress, and that's exciting.

Later on, I noticed my body getting smaller, my arms stopped being flabby and soft and I started seeing muscle definition. That's exciting.

Moved from lifting at home to going to a gym. Met more people who taught me stuff, i see them work hard and it makes me push harder. That's exciting.

My biggest issue with my body was my legs. Thick, but soft, jiggly, flabby, lots of cellulite, etc. I would not wear shorts ever. My legs are now solid. I find myself touching them all the time and it makes me proud and happy. If that's not exciting, i don't know what is.

THIS^^^^^^^

the toning