If I'm being honest, I'm insecure about my body. I've always been pretty skinny. I ran cross country and played soccer in high school, two sports that don't exactly require a lot of muscle or weight training. I used to run everyday as recently as 6 months ago. I'd go for about 45-60 minutes a day, sometimes more, and obviously that was a big factor in me staying too skinny. I have tried a few times the last 3 or 4 years to put on weight/muscle and get into weight training. But I was never able to stick with it.
I hate weight training and lifting. Weight training is intimidating to me. I feel like there are so many different exercises, so many different machines, so many different muscles you have to hit. You have to worry about proper form, you have to worry about if you're using too much weight so you don't hurt yourself, or too little weight where you won't make any progress. It all seems just so overwhelming to me. I like running. Just throw on some shoes and go, it is simple. The biggest hurdle for me has been getting past that overwhelming feeling I get about weight training.
In January a girl told me after a first date I was too skinny for her liking. That comment was more of an eye opener than upsetting. I knew I was skinny, I heard my friends make wisecracks about it for years, I just kind of accepted it. But it got me wondering how many other first dates had thought the same thing but just didn't say it. So in mid-February I got back into it and took it much more seriously. Calorie surplus, gym 4-5 times a week, minimizing cardio (for now), all of it. I am 6'0 and I've gone from 140 lbs to 160 lbs in 3 months.
I'm still not thrilled with my body, but I can see the progress when I look at the pic I took 3 months ago when I started. I still don't like weight training that much, but it is very slowly growing on me. My goal isn't to get ripped out of my mind, I just want to "fill in" and fit my clothes better. Hopefully the next year or two when I'm at the lake with friends I'll be able to take my shirt off without worrying if people are judging me for my rib cage being visible.