Team Beachbody Guest

I am a 53 year old high school special education teacher and minister. In
January of 2007 I moved from Tennessee to South Carolina. That move
marked a new
start for me. I have always had to fight a battle with my weight problem, but
during the
previous six years I had gained an additional 60 lbs. Already overweight, I had
now ballooned above 300 lbs. I was wearing 48” pants and still suffering
from “dun-lapped” disease (done lapped over my belt). I had a hard time
bending down in my class room to pick up anything from the floor. Putting on
my shoes was a chore. I still put in long hard days with all the activities I was
involved in, but I had very little left over to give for other areas of my life.

The day we moved from Tennessee my wife and I stood on the front porch of
our house and had our photo taken. Then we
headed for South Carolina. Once there, I downloaded the photos to my
computer and looked at that picture. I deleted it. My stomach was huge and
hung over my belt. My shoulders were stooped from the weight in my
abdominal area pulling them down. To myself I looked pathetic, disgusting,
and I knew better. How had I been in denial for so long? I was very grateful
that, at this new beginning in our lives, I had the opportunity to see
myself with a new and honest perspective. It very well may have been a life
saver.

Once in our second home (a small apartment) I started getting serious about
loosing weight. Right away I started walking daily. Then I joined a gym and
was making progress. It was in early February that I first saw a P90X
commercial. I was ready to commit, but when I tried the fitness test for P90X,
I was woefully short of being ready for the program. So I committed to
getting in better shape and loosing some weight before I started. Then later
that month I somehow managed to break my right collar bone. That brought
my progress to a grinding halt. I did leg exercises, treadmill and stairmaster,
but everything else was put on hold. That certainly included any chance of
starting P90X anytime soon.

I continued to work on the weight and my lower body. For inspiration, when I
got up in the morning I would watch a P90X infomercial for inspiration and
motivation. It helped keep the dream alive that one day I would be doing that.
I joined MDB and started reading the message boards and checking out the
progress of people who, like me, were fighting the good fight for good
health.

Progress continued. I lost 50 lbs during the first 4 months. My weight was
low enough (in the 240’s) to begin running. So when my collar bone had
healed and the doctor said it was okay, I started running to augment my
weight loss. A complication with my hip put that to an end in August, but I
was able to work on my upper body again and continued my progress. During
this time I decided that I would do well to start out with Power90 and take up
the X after I finished. My weight got down into the 220’s and I decided it was
time to act on the commitment.
During November I will start Power 90 and see how much further I can go.

I haven’t even gotten a box to open yet, and already I’m grateful to
Beachbody for keeping me inspired and motivated throughout challenging,
sometimes difficult, year. I plan to bring it and reach my goal of 180 in
weight and 15% body fat. I will loose a hundred pounds by February 2008,
which will be a year since I joined the gym and started serious about taking
good care of my health.