Because I want a rockin' muscular body like Christmas Abbott (she's 5'4" and 125 lbs; I'm 5'6" and 122 lbs...I need to gain some mass if I want that *kitten*).

When I was younger (even two years ago) I wanted to be thin. I don't want to be thin anymore, I want to be athletic. I want to look like a chick that you don't mess with.

oh she looks good, i just googled her! my idol is Dana Linn bailey, i'd love to have scary arms and shoulders like her !

Wowza! Good luck! I don't need that much, but that's seriously badass!

I could write a novel but I will keep it as short as possible. Basically I love muscle and always have. I went from 98lbs and a diet pill addiction in highschool to learning to lift, build muscle up to where I weighed 140lbs and stepped on stage in a figure competition at 23 yo. 10 yrs later, after a break and a weight gain from infertility drugs I found that passion again. Lifting is something I'm good at, it's something that gives me tremendous confidence in myself and a sense of pride. I use to suffer from horrible self esteem and no confidence in my ability to accomplish things and it maybe corny but lifting changed all that for me. I put on a good amount of size in the last year, I went from 112lbs to 124lbs; but after watching my husband in his first bodybuilding show it left me wanting so much more. I'm seriously considering getting on stage again but I want more size first. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but being built strong and muscular is what makes me feel beautiful. Being strong as hell makes me feel like I can take on the world. Sharing this passion with my husband, well that's just icing on the cake. Which leads me to cake. More muscle means higher metabolism, which means more food! In all honesty though, even if I decide not to compete this coming year this is just something I do to always better myself. Marathoners run, I lift and eat to grow big to lift bigger and better. No difference.

FYI This girl below is my inspiration right now! FWIW she weighs around 112-115lb, can squat 185lbs for reps, not a 1RM, shoulder press 50lb DBS like its a 5lb DB, row 80lb DB and pullup like she's done it for years. Built and strong, hard combo to find sometimes in competitors.

1. I like food.

2. I was always really tiny (103lbs when I left for Basic Training). I was able to put weight on (unintentional bulk) during Basic Training (135lbs, but lost a lot of mass when I got back to school) and then tried really hard to put some more weight on in police academy (120lbs). I put on some wrong weight (about 20lbs - got up to 140lbs) a few years ago by eating too much and not moving enough. I cardioed my butt off and did the 1200 calorie diet thing and lost about 15lbs. Still looked too fluffy - found weights. Which brings me back to #1.

3. I work in a job where it would be highly beneficial to be strong(er). Physical training (should be for all) is a must for me. I don't want to be "that guy/girl" who has been on the job and looks like they will kill over if things ever got physical.

4. I just prefer the aesthetics of well developed muscles on people. We were made to move around and its only natural to have bodies to reflect that.

5. Eating more = more muscles = lifting more weight. Win-win.

1. I used to be fat. After getting off the cardio and switching to weights this year, my body changed, big time. I was lean for the first time in my life. I had MUSCLES. Actual, visible, muscles. I like them. A lot. I like how they look. I like how they make me feel about my body, I like how they make my shirts fit, I like how they jive better with my identity than when I was "softer". They make me feel awesome and badass and powerful. So, I'm bulking because I want to make them bigger so there's more to love.

2. I used to blanch at the thought of lifting more than a 15 lb dumbbell. I used to think I didn't have it in me to be really strong. I was wrong. I CAN lift heavy things. like feeling strong, I like the fact that I can now do pull-ups/chin-ups (!!!). I like that everyday physical activities feel so much easier. I like how my progressive program constantly challenges me to do more weight, more reps. It's a competition with myself. So, I'm bulking because I want to get even stronger.

3. I love food. BOY DO I LOVE FOOD. So, I'm bulking because I can eat all the things.

I honestly just love the way muscle looks on a woman! I want more!!

also, I like being different from (most) other women. My favorite compliment is when the big guys at the gym tell me I'm not "one of those girls" LOL I certainly don't want to be "one of the guys", I still like girly things and spending time with women...but I want to be able to hang if **** goes down. Kind of an independence thing, I guess.

I lost weight, got down to a BF level I felt comfortable with but felt too scrawny at that level. Hence the need of me building some muscle. Besides, I really dig being/becoming strong.

I'm bulking because I pinned myself under the bar twice while benching and once while squatting. The squat incident was downright scary. I felt like I was losing strength every time I lifted, and my running was suffering too. Most importantly, the scale was telling me that I was starting to lose lean mass. I'm not nearly as lean as a lot of you ladies, but my body was clearly saying Enough.

I want more strength, so I switched from a quarter-pound-a-week deficit to a quarter-pound-a-week surplus. That was all of a week ago, but I noticed a difference immediately and I'm totally in love with the strength gains. I still have fat to lose, but I want those strength gains. So for now I'm eating more, or at least running less -- and doing my full-body barbell workout three times a week instead of two.

Because I want a rockin' muscular body like Christmas Abbott (she's 5'4" and 125 lbs; I'm 5'6" and 122 lbs...I need to gain some mass if I want that *kitten*).

I love Christmas Abbott, I just posted an article about her on my Facebook this week!

http://www.heavy.com/news/2013/02/christmas-abbott-females-nascar-pit-crew-bio-facts/

I am a bit funky here but I wanted to bulk to get my upper body to be stronger and build muscle. I am very pear shaped, very wide hip bones and since my boobs ain't big enough I wanted to try my best to bulk up my upper body to give the apperence of a more hourglass body type. I since I can already squat what I weight and leg press double me I don't think my lower body needs any help lol.

I am a bit funky here but I wanted to bulk to get my upper body to be stronger and build muscle. I am very pear shaped, very wide hip bones and since my boobs ain't big enough I wanted to try my best to bulk up my upper body to give the apperence of a more hourglass body type. I since I can already squat what I weight and leg press double me I don't think my lower body needs any help lol.

Don't neglect your lower body though. Impressive numbers but now work your way up to 1.5xBW etc.

Oh that isn't a problem. I still do squats, deadlifts and a full compound lift routine so I get in lower body as well. I just always add in an extra day of just upper to the mix. I actually enjoy doing leg days more then the rest of the days so its something I always have to push myself to do is the upper body things.

You are so right! I'm happy to have found such support and helpful advice I can relate to.

So that I can look like the woman in the picture that Holly posted ! A year and a half ago I just wanted to be skinny, and when I reached that goal, I was very unhappy with looking like a beanpole, and I was weak. Muscle is SEXY, I LOVE feeling strong, and being a bad-*kitten* is very empowering!

For me, it is all about strength. I am fed up (no pun intended) with being so pathetically weak. I am lucky to have an awesome personal trainer who is helping me learn to lift, but I am contunually frustrated and jealous by how much more other ladies who are bigger can lift than me. OK, so the weights I am lifting are going up each week, but I know that there is only so much my muscles can do at my current weight (5'5"-5'6" and about 116lbs). I want to be healthy and strong, not half-starved and weak.

Of course, doing it is a whole lot harder than saying it! :-( Years of 'thin is in' mindset does not readily accept eating to bulk.

I could have written this. Seriously. I'm 5'6" and had gotten down to 113. Right now I'm at 124 and goal is to bulk for another 16 weeks.

I want to go to compete in the figure olympia!