I recently started going to the gym. Mostly I've decided to start because I'm not that active, I've got a lot of time on my hands at the moment and I'm noticing how my body starts giving my issues; partially through weightgain, which in turn comes from unhealthy eating and not being that active.
Besides that I'm trying it to see if it keeps depression at bay. I wasn't feeling that miserable consistently, but I rather try to keep myself a bit sane by being a bit active and try to even out those few moments where I actually crash (since; as I posted in another thread, I tend to have some moodswings, just not enough for a bipolar diagnosis).
So right now for me it's mostly just some activity, though eventually I'll get into it a bit more serious in terms of exercising. Just need to make a start now, since it has been decades before I actually did some kind of sports. Luckily I have a nice instructor/trainer at the gym who can advise and help me out when I visit; even if he is a bit overzealous, he's aware why I'm visiting and tries to help me out with that.
As much as I like bodybuilding as a hobby and to read up on, I don't think it's for me. I abhor routine too much to get into a strict regimen of eating and exercising (I mean; I can't even get 24 hour cycles straight for sleeping and waking). An aspie friend of mine was heavy into bodybuilding, but considering what it did cost him to stay healthy as well as adding up all those supplements he took (not to mention he eventually started doing steroids), I doubt that I could even afford it. But perhaps I'm looking at this entire body building this way to serious and just see Arnold in Pumping iron, hehe. (though, that was my friends perspective as well)
As for appearance; I don't know if I really bother with it that much. I just know that I don't have the build to be a skinny guy at all. Said body building friend once told me that based on my build, if I were to work out seriously, I'd probably end up looking like some kind of wrestler... nothing wrong with that though, but I guess it signifies that I don't have a small build in general. If anything I'd end up a thuggish goth, lol. But I don't really care a lot for it. Even now, despite being heavily overweight, I'm not that bothered by it appreancewise. I mean, it would be nice to lose a few pounds and perhaps buy a smaller size shirt, but it's not a priority. Overal, I think, that despite my weight and height, I'm somewhat evenly proportioned where my bodyfat is. Clearly a bit more clutters up at my stomach (an area that's quite common), but it doesn't all gather just there.. it spreads out fairly evenly, so with that I can't complain too much.