I looked in the mirror and flexed my arms. Little muscle bumps appeared. I grabbed the fat hanging below my arm and tightened it, my muscles now appearing larger. Nodding to myself, I thought this could be me, but how? Cardio was always my go-to workout, but it never seemed to give me the results I wanted. All it did was leave me out of breath and with an obnoxiously red face.

The gym at Riverview Suites seems to be divided into two territories. Girls dominate the treadmills and ellipticals, and the guys stand guard over the weight racks and weightlifting machines, though it is not unusual to see a guy on the treadmill or a girl lifting weights.

I decided to branch out from the treadmill territory and try weightlifting, but I had no idea where to start. At first I was afraid, as most girls are, that I would bulk up too much from lifting, but after doing a little research, I realized that that would not be as possible as I thought. Women lack the level of testosterone that men have, which means we do not bulk up from muscle gain as easily.

After browsing a couple of weightlifting blogs, I found one that directed me to bodybuilding.com. Skeptical at first, I decided to see if the website would offer me any tips. Its front page was a bit intimidating, with beautifully sculpted men and women lifting weights bigger than my head, but the website proved to actually be useful.

Bodybuilding.com is free, which is a plus for a broke college student. After creating an account, I logged my current weight, and my goals and chose a bodybuilding plan to follow. Not only does the website give me a day-by-day workout, it also gives me images depicting the workout and video tutorials. The workouts do not only consist of lifting; there is also a cardio component, which the website also claims is important.

One of the biggest reasons I did not lift before was because I was afraid to look like I didn’t know what I was doing. It has only been three weeks since I started the plan, but I already feel more confident when I am weightlifting. It helps that my boyfriend and best friend are also weightlifters, because I can ask them questions about proper form or how to use specific machines.

In addition to bodybuilding.com, there is a free nutrition website, called myfitnesspal.com. You can track your meals every day to measure your calorie expenditure and limit the amount of carbohydrates, fats, protein, sodium and sugar you eat.

Although I wish I could see progress right away, losing weight and building muscle is a process. Soon, I hope my little arm muscles will bulge on their own, without me contorting them.

Soon, I hope to be fit; not just skinny, but strong and muscular. For those who are in the same boat, step outside of the realm of treadmills and ellipticals, and explore the land of weightlifting with me.