Growing up I was the last person who would ever have been accused of being athletic. I was teeny, scrawny, had a heart murmur and was “allergic” to anything that involved sweating. I was also a compulsive over-eater. When I hit puberty, my metabolism changed and I doubled my weight in one year. Since I was already the school geek and prone to being everyone’s favorite punching bag, the extra weight didn’t do my self-esteem any good and I developed Bulimia. After 15 years of suffering through my self-destruction, I was able to overcome the disease.

Photo by Dan Ray, courtesy of MuscularDevelopment.com

Although, I struggle with my mental pre-dispositions everyday, I just look myself in the mirror & yell, “Stop it!”, when I feel like I may falter.

Several years after I married Patrick, he was diagnosed with morbid obesity and ordered to a health awareness class because he was told he would die if he didn't change. That is when I realized how big he had become (significantly obese). He weighed in at 302 lbs, 43% bodyfat, but I was not much smaller at 188 lbs, 38% bodyfat. I knew that if we didn't do something together, that neither one of us would make it.

It had to be something that would interest us both. That something turned out to be bodybuilding. Since then I am proud to say that between the two of us, we have lost about 250 lbs. My weight is now increasing once again but it is all lean mass. I can’t tell you what bodybuilding has done for my self-esteem. Anyone who thinks that they are the same person now that they would be thin, just has no idea. Truly, we have been able to do so much because we changed our lives. We are now both Paid Call Firefighters; Emergency Medical Technicians; Apprentice Stunt Persons & Certified Personal Trainers. Not too bad for folks who once became winded due to the exertion of feeding themselves & broke their mattress because they were so fat. I’ve even done 3 Full-Body Burns so far. If we can do it, anyone can.