I am a totally untrained novice and have not yet even had my first workout on this program. After some study and planning, I am going to have my first workout in the next day or so. I have never done any real strength training, but did have a gym membership about nine years ago. I "lifted weights" on the Nautilus machines and also ran on the treadmills probably two or three times a week. I realize this is NOT strength training. My previous experience was supposedly about losing a little weight, general fitness, I guess.

My wife has been doing cardio (treadmill) and what she says is "weights" two to three times a week for the past several months. She did aerobics for a while before that. She has lost a few pounds, but I really don't see much progress. We have a family membership, so I have good access to a fully outfitted weight room.

I am not in terrible shape, nor especially weak, but I get very little exercise. Most exercise I get is just mowing the grass, general home repair, moving furniture, you know the routine. I do not exercise aerobically at all. I am 43 years old, 6'0", not obese, about 195 lbs. At my heaviest, I weighed almost 230 lbs. That weight was lost mostly by fasting, which I can explain about later. In my youth I played baseball and basketball, but my school was so small, and it was so long ago, strength training was not really being done to any degree where I grew up. I did a lot of road biking, with interval training as well, and even thought I could be competitive. But, my financial situation (and that of my parents) as a teen was not conducive to that sort of thing (high end equipment, travel to races, etc.)

I would say I have a medium build. I have not taken all my measurements yet, but according to my wrist size (7.5"/19 cm) I should have much bigger arms, both forearm and upper, and a slightly larger upper body. My legs are probably the most muscular part of me. Not flabby, except for a little around my mid section. I will probably post some before/after pictures once I get started on the program for a while.

My wife is 33 years old, 5'11", probably 155 lbs (she doesn't like to talk about it). She definitely does not look fat, though she is concerned about her hips/thighs/butt. She does not have a lot of muscle tone, and I think she could benefit from some real strength training. But, I would have to know something about it to convince her, I think. She would run for hours if she could stand it, but I just don't think it's doing much good. And her knees have started to bother her too.

My diet is fairly "clean" so to speak, and I avoid a few foods scrupulously. These are all vegetable oils (except olive and peanut oil), all hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup, and all soy products. I avoid, to a lesser extent, highly processed cereal grain products, e. g., breakfast cereal and the like, but do eat bread. Other than that, I basically eat whatever I want. It goes without saying that avoiding the previously mentioned "foods" eliminates all junk food. We cook/prepare nearly all our meals from a raw/scratch state in my home (even bread). My wife and children still consume a ton of junk though.

I have read up on the Starting Strength program, and believe I have a fairly good idea about how it is supposed to work. I have not gotten the book yet, but it is on the wish list, so to speak. The descriptions here have been very good, so I do not feel like a complete idiot about strength training anymore, but I am sure I have a lot to learn as well. I happened across references to the SS program while on some other sites about nutrition/diet and the problems with the low fat/high carb standard American diet.

My goals are pretty simple. While I am currently strong enough to do the physical work that I need to do, I would like to be stronger. I also would like increased endurance for hard physical labor. I would like to lose my spare tire as well. I work in an analytical laboratory, so I don't really perform much physical labor at my job. I do all my own home repairs though. I think that strength training would improve my sense of wellbeing, general health (which is not currently bad), and reduce vulnerability to illness and injury as I age, not to mention avoiding degenerative diseases. I wouldn't mind being "ripped" as they say, but it's not a primary goal. My wife would like it though, as I would for her. Thanks to anyone who read this long first post; any comments are appreciated.