Team Beachbody Guest

I grew out of my father's hand-me-down clothes at 10 years old. Being overweight was something I got used to (if that's possible) and just became complacent. It has bothered me throughout my life, but with the hereditary health problems I have it seemed impossible to ever change it. My Dr. told me at 12 years old my back was so deformed that I wouldn't walk on my own after 18-19 years old. At 18 years old I was 6'4" tall and 320 lbs. and still walking, but my health was going down hill. I took less and less care of myself and at 19 I was up to 400 lbs. At 27 years old I had a TIA (This is a form of stroke where a blood clot forms in your head, but moves on its own). It's worse than a stroke in some cases because the clot can hide somewhere else and cause more problems. After this happened my health was in the worst shape ever. My pain management Dr. told me to lose weight, I asked how he suggest I go about that, his response was "I don't know....lose weight." I called my older brother Larry (a Chiropractor) and he suggested trying out P90X for the meal plan, and some modified exercises to change my metabolism and help with rebuilding muscle tissue. I started on a meal plan based on blood type 2 years ago; I am not sure how heavy I actually was at my biggest... I know after my scale at home was tapped at 350 I threw it away. I added up the calories, fat etc. of my daily diet and found I was eating 15,000 calories a day and doing no physical activities...after a few months of this new diet, I was feeling better, eating less and my clothes were starting to get loose. I went and bought a scale and realized I was much lighter just from changing my diet and how much I was eating. I purchased P90X in the Fall of 2008, and began working out to the sessions my Doctor told me to, and had to be very careful not to injure myself with all the back and heart problems I have. I was 290 lbs at the start of P90X. My waist was down from 58" to 52" when I started and I was still very out of shape. It's now 10 months since I began the P90X program. I cannot do all of the workouts in the package due to my Dr.'s instructions, but I have seen some amazing results. The bands are awesome because I can still get the benefit of chin-ups, without risking an injury. Anyway...back to the story. My brother the Dr. and my father were the only 2 people in my family that knew about this transformation. I have 7 siblings...keeping this a surprise was not easy! I went home to my parents for Christmas in 2008, not having seen most of my family for a year or longer. I parked down the street from their house, and knocked on the front door. My mother answered and said "Merry Christmas....can I help you?" Then after a few seconds she realized it was me. There's more to the story of course, but I just want to say this if nothing else..."THANK YOU TONY HORTON AND BEACHBODY!!" When so many Doctors, and friends who knew of the obstacles I had they all wrote me off as a train wreck in progress.....I never could have imagined an adventure this big to even think it up and wish for it! Bring it!