My story may not be quite as impressive as many, but I do have one of my own. I am about 135 lbs by nature. By "by nature," I mean if I were to live like the typical college student lives: 3 meals a day, some snacks, garbage food overall, partying, not sleeping right, etc.
I was introduced to drugs and partying at a much earlier age than I should have been. To put things into perspective... I was taking prescription pain killers at age 12, smoking pot on a DAILY basis by 14, and I did cocaine for my first time on my 14th birthday. LSD, mushrooms, any pill you could imagine, MDMA, mescaline, opium... Anything but straight heroin, crack, and methamphetamines... I had touched by 18. Only reason I never touched heroin was because I never came across it. I knew crack was retarded. I also knew better than to mess with meth, because that is why I had never had a father.
Anyway, I first got into lifting weights in 10th grade when I was on probation and couldn't be as invested in the drug abuse. I was really into sports and skateboarding at the time. I smoked cigarettes and did little shit like that still, but I was actually 50+ percent sober for the first time since puberty. Anyway, I saw two of my friends (who were already a little bit bigger than myself, but they were still skinny too) growing and starting to shape up a little bit while taking a weight training class together. We were required to take a PE, health, or weight training class anyway in my high school... So I decided I would try weight training the next semester. I got into that pretty quickly. I was always training chest and biceps and doing all kinds of retarded upper body work and ignoring my lower body. This was fun and I saw a lot of changes. Though I didn't know shit about diet nor training, really... I did see improvements and got addicted (yeah, I clearly had an addictive personality). I was taking 2 weight training classes at the same time and then going to the gym after school. Idk, man. I had to be shot out on something.
Okay, so I did this for about a year... Had some relationship problems, got depressed, and then fell back into the drugs and partying. I straightened up a bit again, and then my grandmother died (I lived with her more than I had lived with my mother, never had a father, throughout my life), and shit started getting real. I tried to join the Army, but they wouldn't accept me without waivers due to my juvenile record from being a drug-invested moron from ages 14-18. Since the Army thing fell through (I am glad now that it did. My heart was not there. I just needed direction and some sort of structure in my life after 19 years without), I had to do something. I was a month away from homelessness when I found a job washing dishes on the weekends at IHOP. This was enough money to BARELY survive... I mean like 12 hours a week at minimum wage. They would even send me home when I got there sometimes because they didn't need me and didn't want labor to be so high.
I decided it was time to make some shit of myself. If I ever wanted anything to come of my life, it was time to fucking do it. I went to the local community college and started taking some classes. The school had just merged with another line of schools, so the curriculum was all fucked up. THIS IS ABOUT THE TIME I STARTED TRULY GETTING INTO BODYBUILDING. At this school, I had to take classes online, some partially online, etc. Some classes, I had to drive to diff campuses for tests and to buy the right textbooks, etc. It was a total mess. However, financial aid was giving me that extra cushion to survive. I had enough money to keep my car running legally, to have a phone, and to buy protein powder and multivitamins!
Anyway, I did that for 5 quarters (started one summer and went through the next), and I FINALLY had my GPA and credit hours high enough to transfer as a sophomore (I fucked around too much in high school for any university to accept me as a freshman or transfer freshman). And I mean barely, too. I literally had a 3.01 GPA and needed a 3.0 to qualify for aid. And, yes. 3.01, not 3.1.
So, boom! I applied for uni and was accepted with the VERY latest acceptance possible (since my original school was on quarters, I had two weeks after final grades before acceptance). I had another two weeks from the day I got my acceptance letter to find a home near campus. I moved into a run down house (we had rats, the porch was about to fall and kill anyone on or under the damn thing, our AC stopped working, our water heater did the same), but I had a fucking home. I lived this way for a year (spent all my money and time on growth. Unlimited meal plans, always kept protein [even if it meant turning off my cell phone, luckily prepaid], and hit the weights with everything I had. I had no job and had to borrow $600 to keep everything up even after all my student loans and the grants/scholarships I qualified for.
Well... I found a job ON CAMPUS. As of this year, I am living/working/lifting/eating/sleeping/learning all within a 2 mile radius. I am still taking out hella loans and working my ass off for the things I want in life. I am up from 135 to 170, and my body fat is lower than it has ever been. I am, however, junior status in uni now... and my GPA is up to 3.4! Climbing the ranks in all aspects of life, and I am finally starting to feel proud. I am taking 5 classes right now (4 is full-time), working 20 hours, eating 8 times a day, spending my Sundays at tutoring to TRY and stay caught up with everything, and sleeping 8 hours a night. I have also been sober for a year, I haven't had legal troubles in 4, and I even quit smoking cigarettes a few months ago!
Shit sucks sometimes, but I realize how fucking miraculous life truly is when I take the time to sit down and think about the changes that have come. I want to thank you for this thread. I had momentarily forgotten how good life has been to me lately. Shit is always hard, but it is supposed to be... Life has been good to me, and I want to thank you for reminding me to remind myself.
I am sorry if this is way too long, but this is the short version... Believe it or not. I hope anyone who reads it can appreciate it. Best wishes to all of you.

Goth and I met at chocolate shop ;-) We got in an argument about who was going to get the last chocolate truffle ( we all know who won that argument ;-)

I m not offended my post was intended to ask you all, who supports you ... who gives you that little extra when you are having a hard time getting it done...

This is a fantastic post ;-)

Our society is crumbling, our kids don't play outside anymore. I remember my neighborhood and all the kids outside playing all day. We didn't have video games (except for Atari) .. and even then we weren't allowed to play on it all day.. Priorities have changed, kids have changed.. parenting has changed ...

Hey mate that is fairly full on and honest. I actually see child obesity as a form of child abuse and this needs to be stopped. Not to sure about the states but I think we need a fat tax. When you also get to a certain weight say 150kg then you forgo any medicare benefits. But at the end of the day it's all about educating people in the right ways to eat and exercise. But anyway what motivates me is I do this for longevity and general health. Now a few of you may laugh at that how is taking AAS healthy.Well if done correctly then there are no probs with it, I also have 3 kids and I want to be around for them in the years to come. Mate you get a plus 1 from me.

Outstanding post jek!
Thumbs up.

My lifes dream from bout 5 was to bodybuild.. Saw big Lou ferrigno and said that'd what i want! I was a scrapper lil shit. Skinny...so skinny a fart would blow me down. Started lifting uncles weight set back in like 4th grade. They kept saying pushups n pullups. Highschool hit and full time lifting began. Still small but stocky. Senior year was strongest in school pound for pound. Lil 122 reppin 220 bench. 10 reps 210 military. Hit the worlds biggest gym chasin the dream. Sponsored by the top 2 gyms at 20 all natty. 160-3%bf....60shoulders...28waist...25 thighs. Life took a uturn but kept lifting. Didnt hit gear til 28. It added enough size that i stayed happy natty after for couple years. Hit again...two a year for added base. Now kids are older im going to try the stage finally. Hopefully bout 198 shredded. Seems like forever now but i learned food and got sponsored. Gym ethics....the old powerlifters would force anyone not cleaning up their mess to clean up. Lol! Main point is this....my 7th grader has more muscle than i did starting high school. Long ass time but from 100lb skeleton to the 205 cut lil monster i was in march this year. Was all that wasted sweat in the gym worth it? Definitly!! Mostly natty...which taught me discipline. The thing that keeps me in the gym? It is me. Part of me. Im not huge or mega strong. But without a passion in life....you're lost.