Team Beachbody Guest

Hello Beachbuddies. Exercise and fitness have always been an important part
of my daily schedule. Growing up, I was really overweight, which can be
attributed to adopting the wonderful American diet: I had just spent a year
trying to get to the US; my family along with hundreds of other Vietnamese
refugees endured much hardship and severe deprivation, first from being lost
on the open seas

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Hello Beachbuddies. Exercise and fitness have always been an important part
of my daily schedule. Growing up, I was really overweight, which can be
attributed to adopting the wonderful American diet: I had just spent a year
trying to get to the US; my family along with hundreds of other Vietnamese
refugees endured much hardship and severe deprivation, first from being lost
on the open seas and then trying to survive on “CuCu” Island, a refugee camp
located in Indochina. Once in America, I was suddenly exposed to all the
wonderful and exciting new foods that I had never imagined existed; oh the
first bite of a Ho-Ho and the taste of a Snickers Bar!!!! You can just image
the horrible scene of my sweet and delectable youth. I was affectionately
called “Porky” for much of my childhood and well into my early teens. Denial
is a wonderful thing. I was puzzled at the fact that kids were calling me by
these other names. I remember saying to myself, “What are they talking
about, I’m not fat.” I was sure because I did not feel fat; the world was crazy
and mean I thought until I decided to glance at my reflection in the living-
room mirror.

As an adult, I recently experienced those very same emotions I had as a child
standing there in front of the mirror. Like so many who’ve seen the
commercials and witness the great success of P90X, the DVDs just sat
collecting dust on the shelf. Since I had experience with exercise and fitness,
I thought I knew better and that I could produce similar results my way (read:
so I don’t have to work as hard). Needless to say, that didn’t work out so
well; how could it since I’ve been stuck all these years struggling “my way”. I
had this confirmed after looking at pictures of myself thinking, "yeah I
remember being in shape at the time these photos were taken". Then coach
Barbie came along, and I began to take notice of the subtle then amazing
changes in her condition. We spoke over a period of time, with her patiently
working through my reluctance and reservations.

Today, I’m on day 60 and am ready to join the “crew”. I’ve signed on as a
coach for sometime but have not begun the plan until recently, putting more
trust and faith in the Beach Body “system” (program + support). That being
said, I’ve finally made up my mind that my life will never really “in order” and
am ready to BE a Beach Body Coach and “bring it”.

Having gone through my own struggles and now working with the ill as a
health professional, I constantly look for opportunities to educate and
provide support; being knowledgeable about various disease states and their
long term effects, I try to speak with friends, family, and patients about
changing their habits and lifestyle: getting people to understand that more
than half of the conditions that Americans live with through heavy
medications can be prevented with diet and exercise is one of my primary
goals. Witnessing the loss in health and function is truly a sad thing for me;
to have a person not be able to carry out the activities of their daily lives is
unacceptable and regrettable to me, yet the doctors (cardiologists and
internalists) I work with simply continue to adjust and add to the long list of
medications that the patient is on instead of working through dietary and
lifestyle changes. I hope to bring this awareness to the public and put more
of an emphasis on prevention as a way to promote longevity and hopefully,
happiness.

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