My fitness journey

Fitness is not simply point A to point B, it's more like a road map.  There are ups and downs, highs and lows, and everything in between.

My journey has been tumultuous at best.  I started out working out because I had friends that were doing it.  Later it was my desire to succeed in the Marine Corps that drove my fitness.  Through this all, I started out as the "fat kid" though my middle school aged years (our elementary school went up to 7th grade and our high school, at the time, began at 8th grade).  Later I progressed to being sort of the "skinny kid,"  once puberty kicked me in the face.

I began lifting in my friend's garage, with those old cement filled weights and a weight bench.  It was mostly benching, curls, more benching, and more curls.  Later it was a local gym membership and a heavy dosing of machines that filled my time.  Eventually, I learned about the proper way to do free weights and have since loved them.

I've battled with the "fat kid" most of my adult life.  As I've gotten older, I've realized that for me, I need a few things to totally improve my fitness.  These are:

1.  Cardio:  I have a love/hate with cardio, but in the end, without my doing it I chub up.
2.  Weights:  I tend to put on muscle fairly easily, when I lift that is.
3.  Intervals:  While these are good for fat loss, I find that if I devote the majority of my training to them, I don't tend to improve my physique.
4.  Diet:  I tend to work fairly well on a low carbohydrate diet.  Though this winter I'll be experimenting with other forms.

Like many, I am at war with my body.  This war is never-ending.  I have periods that I gain and I have periods that I lose.  Lately, I've been in a better position to improve, but the war has been far from won.