New guy, very unique story

**PuraVida** · 08-16-2010, 09:41 PM

Hi guys. I've been following this site monthly for about a year now. I finally decided to join and get some advice for myself, rather than just reading about all the advice given to others (which has been fantastic, don't get me wrong).

I have a unique story, and I will try to keep it brief. Right now I am 6'5" 167 pounds....yes, I said 6'5" 167 pounds. AND that's almost the biggest I've ever been.

I was an elite distance runner pretty much all my life. In high school I was one of the top runners in the country, and then went on to college to become a 4 time conference champion and all-american. For years I ran many miles, upto 120 miles a week. During this time my average weight was about 150 pounds. I looked exactly like the african distance runners you see in the olympics.....anorexic. But it didn't bother me, as that was my natural weight and was required to be highly competitive, and trust me, I ate as much and as often as possible!

About a year ago I quit running all together as I graduated college and no longer had an interest in ever taking another step as a runner. I always looked forward to the day when I could just lift and "get big". I failed, multiple times, but gathered LOTS of information on workouts, diet, rest, supplements, etc.

Each phase of training that I did I learned something new. But I could never gain nearly as much weight as I wanted. I would eat, eat, lift, eat eat and rest well, and over about a 9 month time I managed to go from 150 to 176 pounds (MOST of this initial weight gain came from simply not running anymore). I could never get over that though. I was doing a lot of workouts that came from jason ferruggia (not sure if I'll get bashed for that lol) but I liked his stuff and it made sense to me. BUT, the one thing I always knew is that though I was eating a TON of food, everyday, it wasn't necessairly the right foods.

So I am at it again. I finally have the one thing I never had before, and that's the MONEY to afford the types and amounts of food that my body will require to put on lean muscle.

I am not interested in getting on any gear any time soon at all, I think I have a TON of untapped potential to get bigger naturally in the next few years. Distance running taught me a lot of things which can be related to weight lifting (hard work, patience, persistance, consistentcy in training, etc). and I am ready to give it another go, the right way this time.

My dad is a pretty stout guy, so is my grandpa, and at 23 years old and 167 pounds it's time for a change. My "dream" weight is 200 pounds....far from "big" but even at 175 I felt pretty legit (I know that might be weird to hear).

I don't pretend to know everything and I take criticism very well (hell, I had one mean SOB coach in high school that could make a grown man cry). So, that's a little about me. I am currently still reading every piece of valuable information I can get my hands on. Most importantly I need to get a really good set in stone diet that I can follow 7 days a week, because the old one that this shitty "traininer" wrote up for me just didn't cut it, knowing some of what I know from this site about nutrition now, I can't believe I was so pumped about what I thought I was doing correctly before.

I look forward to growing with yall (was that a pun?) haha

**HawaiianPride.** · 08-16-2010, 09:44 PM

Good story, welcome.

First step towards your goals would be to post what you eat on a daily basis, layout your stats and goals in mind, all in the diet section. They have an excellent set of nutrition members here that will set you in the right direction.