God brought me into this world on April 23, 1965. He created me for the main purpose of writing this book so that you could read it. The year 1965 also happens to be when Joe Weider held the first Mr. Olympia contest.

I attended Elmwood Elementary School in Mount Vernon, Ohio. I was the fat kid in class.

I didn't like gym class. Any kind of physical activity like doing push-ups or chin-ups on the monkey bars was out of the question. Other kids could do five or ten chin-ups. When it was my turn, I couldn't even pull myself up once.

I did have a pretty good imagination, though, and I liked to daydream. One of my daydreams was about some bad guys who tried to take over the school. They would come into the school and take the students and teachers hostage. I would disarm the bad guys and save the rest of the school. Everybody would congratulate me. I would be the hero and the talk of the school. 

I was a total flop when it came to girls. There was a pretty girl in my class whom I absolutely had a crush on. I thought she was the cutest girl in the whole school. 

One day I built up enough courage to talk to her. "Hi, my name's Dennis."

"Isn't that a boy's name?" she asked, puzzled.

I was embarrassed. She had mistaken me for a girl! I had long hair and my chest was so fat it appeared like I had breasts. It was an honest mistake, but I was bummed out.

By the fifth grade I got pretty good at building model cars. I formed the Bates All-Star Model Club and members paid 50 cents in fees per week. I was able to sign up ten members. The model cars only cost me $2.50 each. I would buy two and keep one. I held a drawing each week and one of the members would win a brand new model car. 

I was only 14 years old when I first shook hands with Joe Weider, the founder of the I.F.B.B. (International Federation of Bodybuilders). He was known in bodybuilding as the "Master Blaster" and the "Trainer of Champions." 

I'd made my way backstage at the 1979 Mr. Universe Contest. I was excited as I approached him. After all, he was the "Father of Modern Bodybuilding." 

My excitement quickly turned to curiosity as we shook hands and he spoke to me. The tone of his voice was not as I had expected. Instead of a husky, manly voice that would have been more suited to his physical features, it was nasal. The incident reminded me of the Wizard of Oz when Toto pulled the curtain away to reveal just an ordinary man instead of this great mysterious force.

I was 10 or 11 years old when I'd first heard of Joe. My brother-in-law lifted weights and had developed a strong body. He had big arms and a huge chest. We both liked arm wrestling. He was so strong he could let me use two hands against his one. He put me down on the table every time.

I was looking through his stuff one day and found a Joe Weider bodybuilding course. He had mailed away for it. He used it to build up his body. I asked him if I could borrow it. He laughed and said, "Not until you lose weight." I couldn't believe my brother-in-law would keep the muscle building course away from me.

Looking at the black and white photos of the giants of bodybuilding, I knew I could look like them if I was given a chance. But my brother-in-law was firm. I had to lose weight first.

I was self-conscious about my big belly and fat chest. Whenever I put on a shirt I would stretch it out so it would hang loosely.

I ate enough food for two people. My favorite restaurant was Burger Chef. A meal for me was two Big Chef hamburgers, a large order of fries and a giant milkshake.

I wasn't interested in sports. My life was built around TV and food. Each day after school I would sit in front of the TV set with a box of Hostess King Dons and watch "Happy Days," "The Andy Griffith Show" and "Gilligan's Island." As long as the junk food held out I was a happy camper.

That phase of my life was coming to an end. The Pillsbury Dough Boy was going to become a bodybuilder.