Team Beachbody Guest

This section will be a work in progress, as it will be for you, if you come along for the Beach Body ride. As I mentioned, health and fitness have almost always been important to me, but there have been times when I did not do so well with that. I have always been fairly active, played lots of sports, racquetball, skiing, etc., along with being a long-time runner. I have some average and some above average athletic skills, and some not so great ones too (for instance, I’m fairly tall, but I don’t play basketball...long story…).

As happens with many folks, as I got older and more involved in other things, proper care of my physical health started to fade further and further away. Not only that, but bad habits started creeping in, including poor eating and drinking choices. I won’t bore you with all the details, but will simply head straight to my early 40s. At age 43, I was feeling lousy, and started getting a burning pain in my chest after strenuous exercise. I finally checked with my doc and found that my blood pressure was quite high. He directed me to the ER, to make sure there was no other problem. There, tests suggested the possibility of a blockage!! I underwent a cardiac catheterization (a tube and camera sent into a groin-area artery, into your heart, to check things out). This test came up clean, thankfully, but no definite cause of the pain was ever found (even with many, many other procedures). It kind of scared me, so I cleaned up my diet and stopped drinking soda and alcohol. The pain gradually went away, but sadly, my old habits crept back in over the following few years.

Fast forward to May, 2008. Still having some chest pain, a lot of work stress, and experiencing some nagging injuries, I semi-gave up on physical fitness. At that point, a downward spiral began. Throughout the summer months, my daily breakfast (that’s right, I said BREAKFAST) consisted of three supreme tacos and a 44oz Pepsi. Lunch would often include a more “healthy” meal of a foot-long sub (and Pepsi refill, of course). After playing racquetball, I would then drink a couple of beers. I’m saddened by this now, but it’s just the truth of where I was at the time.

In late September, 2008, I hit my all time high weight of 239 lbs. I could only fit into one pair of pants, which I dubbed, “the fat pants.” Concerned, I prayed for help. Slowly, I began to clean up my diet by removing the taco breakfasts. A short time later, I phased out Pepsi and all other sodas. Within a few weeks I lost 10 lbs. Then a friend called, asking if I wanted to do the Turkey Trot (Thanksgiving run). I first told him no, but then thought, “Hmm, that’s about seven weeks away – maybe I can do that.” I began “jogging”, which consisted of shuffling 100 steps and walking 30. By this method, I eventually shuffled three miles, a few days each week. In early October, I came across the famous P90X infomercial on TV. I had seen it before, but this time it grabbed me. I told my wife, “If you’re looking for something to get for my birthday, there it is.” She ordered it, and it arrived two days before my birthday. I stopped drinking beer that day and started following the nutrition plan the next day. I used the Lean Program for about 2-and-a-half weeks, then decided to follow the Classic Program, and I just recently completed my second round!

I can’t begin to say what a difference P90X has made in my life. It is so much more than a workout program – it’s a “total lifestyle change” program if you ask me. By December, my 36-minute 5K (3.1 mile) time was a decent 25 minutes. By February, my weight had dropped from 229 to 204. Today it was 197. My body fat went from 24% to 14%, and is now 13%. I do not yet have “ripped abs” (I can feel 'em, but I can't totally see 'em yet!!), but my health/fitness have improved dramatically, clothes fit better, flexibility is great, my chest pain has disappeared, I'm now training for a marathon. , strength has improved, I feel better, I sleep better…I could go on and on. P90X cost me about $120., but in my mind, it was a gift, because I get more and more out of it every single day.

So again, welcome to Beach Body. If you’ve reached that “certain place” in your life, and you are ready to make a change for the better, I encourage you to join me on the journey. Come on in and enjoy the ride!!