My Story: A Journey to a Life of Health and Fitness
I have always struggled with being overweight, but never really had the desire to lose weight or get fit. Of course, I might say every once in a while "Hey, I should lose weight," but I never really ever had any initiative to actually DO something about it, except for a couple of times in my life,
One time, can't remember exactly, right before I graduated college (the first time, 2006-ish) I went to the doctor and I stepped on the scale, and they told me I weighed 252lbs!!! I couldn't believe it, I was in shock, denial, you name it, I was it. I knew I was overweight, but I never knew I was THAT overweight. At that time, I knew I didn't want to be bigger than that, so I went on somewhat of a diet. I tried watching what I ate for a while and I switched from regular soft drinks to diet soft drinks. I didn't know or care to know anything about sugar or anything like that, I just figured that DIET Coke must be better than Coke, it had 0 calories and had the word "Diet" in it. Heck at this time in my life, I probably thought that "fat free" candies were good for me, because they didn't have any fat.
One time, can't remember exactly, right before I graduated college (the first time, 2006-ish) I went to the doctor and I stepped on the scale, and they told me I weighed 252lbs!!! I couldn't believe it, I was in shock, denial, you name it, I was it. I knew I was overweight, but I never knew I was THAT overweight. At that time, I knew I didn't want to be bigger than that, so I went on somewhat of a diet. I tried watching what I ate for a while and I switched from regular soft drinks to diet soft drinks. I didn't know or care to know anything about sugar or anything like that, I just figured that DIET Coke must be better than Coke, it had 0 calories and had the word "Diet" in it. Heck at this time in my life, I probably thought that "fat free" candies were good for me, because they didn't have any fat.
This was me, roughly circa Christmas 2004 or so
Anyway... I'd say I was moderately successful, I remember dropping down to about 225-230lbs or so. I kept that weight off for the next few years, I didn't watch what I ate, but I had a moderately active job at the time. I was in retail, a non glamorous job at PetSmart, but I was on my feet all day, moving aquariums, lifting dog food, things like that, so I did stay "active" at work, but at home, the most exercise I got was getting out of my recliner and going to the bathroom.
In 2008, I was in graduate school, I was working full time, and during this year, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and subsequently died on December 23, 2008. Me and my mom were really close, and I have always been a stress, emotional, and bored eater, so I think I started eating more during this time. Food makes you feel good, then you feel bad for eating, but then you eat more because yummy junk food releases those feel good endorphins. Shortly thereafter, I became a manager at PetSmart, so this meant I did a bit more office work and a bit less moving around. I remember when I would close at night, I would walk next door to the Dollar Tree and grab a bag of chips or some candy (Mike & Ikes or Redhots) to snack on and pass the time. Also during my time in retail and especially after my mom died, I would eat fast food for breakfast (if I had to open) and eat fast food for lunch, or lunch and dinner or heck, maybe even 3 times a day!
In 2008, I was in graduate school, I was working full time, and during this year, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer and subsequently died on December 23, 2008. Me and my mom were really close, and I have always been a stress, emotional, and bored eater, so I think I started eating more during this time. Food makes you feel good, then you feel bad for eating, but then you eat more because yummy junk food releases those feel good endorphins. Shortly thereafter, I became a manager at PetSmart, so this meant I did a bit more office work and a bit less moving around. I remember when I would close at night, I would walk next door to the Dollar Tree and grab a bag of chips or some candy (Mike & Ikes or Redhots) to snack on and pass the time. Also during my time in retail and especially after my mom died, I would eat fast food for breakfast (if I had to open) and eat fast food for lunch, or lunch and dinner or heck, maybe even 3 times a day!
I really didn't know HOW to lose weight, I knew some basic science, like eat less calories! I started out doing the SlimFast plan supplemented with frozen dinners, like Lean Cuisine. In hindsight, I know they aren't the greatest, but they mark how many calories you are eating, so it was really easy to watch what I was eating and counting calories.
I went from being a fast food junkie to a 1,200-calorie a day eater. Probably not the greatest idea, but I was desperate. And I started losing weight, In the picture above, I was wearing a XL shirt and size 40-waist pants. I dropped to a 38 and had to get Large shirts! I was making progress. People were noticing.
After a while, I decided I needed to start exercising, I started walking around my neighborhood and bought a home gym (which I did use, wasn't just a dust collector :) ).
I went from being a fast food junkie to a 1,200-calorie a day eater. Probably not the greatest idea, but I was desperate. And I started losing weight, In the picture above, I was wearing a XL shirt and size 40-waist pants. I dropped to a 38 and had to get Large shirts! I was making progress. People were noticing.
After a while, I decided I needed to start exercising, I started walking around my neighborhood and bought a home gym (which I did use, wasn't just a dust collector :) ).
Me in the background to the left, I saw this picture and was horrified by what I was becoming. THIS is the picture that made me decide to make the change and really focus on my health.
In November 2011, I even did a 3.5 mile mud run, I didn't run the whole time, but I did complete all the obstacles! That's me, 2nd from the left. My niece Lindsey and her friend Marissa were telling me about this crazy new home workout program they were going to do and suggested I join them. This program was none other than...
INSANITY! This was absolutely, without a doubt, no questions asked, the hardest thing, physically and maybe even mentally that I had done in my life. I attempted the fit test 3 times! 3 TIMES before I built up the nerve to attempt to go thru the program! And guess what, I did it! Me, the fat kid in gym class, the guy, who a year before couldn't run 15 seconds at a time, the guy who when he did try and run could feel his back fat jiggle around. Could I keep up with Shaun T, nope, who can, haha. Could I complete the entire video without taking extra breaks, nope... who can! To steal a line from my next program (which I will talk about later) "Do your best, forget the rest!" I did what I could do, and after tracking my Fit Test results, my numbers increased dramatically. I didn't lose A LOT of weight, but I did lose A LOT of inches. I probably lose about 8 lbs, 188 or so to 182, and I lost about 15 inches overall! Those are some major results! I don't think I have ever been more proud of myself than I ever have been after completing Insanity and getting my T-Shirt.
After completing Insanity, I wanted to start lifting weights, so I decided to tackle this next beast of a program. Now, I had never heard of Insanity, but I have heard of P90X, and NEVER did I think I would ever complete something like this. Just the name intimidated me, the set intimidated me, the buff guys and girls intimidated me, but I was going to do it, I could do this, "Do your best, forget the rest," that's all I had to worry about. Tony said so, if you can only do 5 reps, then do 5 reps, next time try 6. Can only do 1 pushup, then do 1 pushup, next time try for 2. That's what I did, before I did P90X I couldn't do a pull up to save my life if I was hanging on the side of a cliff, well, honestly, I am still not that great at pull-ups but I am a LOT better than I was. Well, long-story short, I fell in LOVE with P90X, Tony Horton seemed like such a genuine, goofy guy on the videos, and after a while, was not intimidating at all! I actually completed P90X twice at home, and once at a local gym. I just brought my P90X sheets with me and just did them at the gym. After I was done with my 3rd round of P90x, I mainly just worked out at the gym and didn't do much with Beachbody programs for a while.
Now we are in the beginning of 2013 and I was asked to do a presentation at my work, Lamar University, about my personal story of weight loss, so I agreed. And funny enough, from the time I told them I would do it, till the day of my presentation, I had EXACTLY enough time to do Insanity again... so I did Insanity again! This time I dabbled in Les Mills Combat (great program, I will talk about that one more later). I was going to the gym in the mornings before work and coming home and doing Insanity at home after work. Some days I would do Insanity and Les Mills Combat. I ended up hurting my wrist at the gym doing shoulder presses and had to really slow down for a while, there are lots of moves in Insanity in the plank/push-up position, but I never quit, I just modified and did some things from the knees. I did stop Combat at this point, swinging my wrist around did not feel good, and sometimes you have to let yourself heel or you will do even more damage to yourself, all this was around April 2013.
For some reason I started to slack during the summer of 2013, stopped for some milkshakes at Sonic, never stopped working out, but just wasn't as focused, before this time I was typically 178-182 lbs or so. I remember I started gaining weight again, which is what happens when someone like me starts to slip up, I am a food=a-holic. I ended up getting back up to 195lbs, and I SWORE to myself I would NEVER let myself EVER get back to 200lbs. So, again, my niece and her friend I mentioned earlier were going to do this new program, so like last time I decided to follow along...
For some reason I started to slack during the summer of 2013, stopped for some milkshakes at Sonic, never stopped working out, but just wasn't as focused, before this time I was typically 178-182 lbs or so. I remember I started gaining weight again, which is what happens when someone like me starts to slip up, I am a food=a-holic. I ended up getting back up to 195lbs, and I SWORE to myself I would NEVER let myself EVER get back to 200lbs. So, again, my niece and her friend I mentioned earlier were going to do this new program, so like last time I decided to follow along...
Focus T25! Whew, this was a 25 minute beast! This one might only be 25 minutes, but its about as crazy, for me at least, as Insanity. Just Insanity's faster paced cousin. But boy does this one kick your butt! I did Alpha and Beta twice and then after the 2nd round, I did a round of Gamma! T25 helped me get back under 180lbs! Which I was really excited about. I also liked the 25 minute concept. I was still doing my morning workouts at the gym and then doing evening workouts at home, so this really gave me some free time afterwards in the evenings. After T25 I decided to give Combat another go.
Oh Les Mills Combat... I LOVE this one. When I was a kid I took Tae Kwon Do, and being the fat kid, I was actually decent at it and was the only thing remotely physical I was any good at. Anyway, this brought back some martial arts memories. This workout is NO JOKE, you pour some sweat, you melt some gristle, but it is so much fun, you don't even realize it. Jabs, crosses, uppercuts, hooks, front kicks, jump kicks, side kicks... weight training, Muay Thai, Karate, Boxing, Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian Martial Arts, MMA, you name it, its in there. Dan and Rach are super energetic, make the workouts fun, their banter is funny, the music keeps you pumped up. I really do LOVE this video. I really hope Dan and Rach and the Less Mills brand one day make another BeachBody video.
And so we get to today, 6-23-14, I start my next program, P90X3. I am ready and excited! Can't wait to get a 30 minute P90X level workout in after work. I am still going to use this as a supplement to going to the gym in the mornings.
Also, after a couple of years of people asking me and telling me how good I would be, I decided to be a BeachBody coach. I am not doing it for money, although I am not going to turn down any commissions :), I am doing this because I know that if I can be successful and losing weight and becoming more healthy and active, then so can other people. I know it is cliche`, but I KNOW if I can do it, you can do it. I hope my story can inspire you, Feel free to message me if you are ready to #EndTheTrend and are ready to commit to a more healthy you. BeachBody has many programs, and there is one right for you... don't have a lot of time, try T25, or P90X3, wanna get shredded up, try Les Mills or Insanity or P90X, wanna get big, try Body Beast... like to dance, Hip Hop Abs or Rockin' Body... ChaLEAN Extreme... There IS a program for YOU, its just waiting for you to choose!
Also, after a couple of years of people asking me and telling me how good I would be, I decided to be a BeachBody coach. I am not doing it for money, although I am not going to turn down any commissions :), I am doing this because I know that if I can be successful and losing weight and becoming more healthy and active, then so can other people. I know it is cliche`, but I KNOW if I can do it, you can do it. I hope my story can inspire you, Feel free to message me if you are ready to #EndTheTrend and are ready to commit to a more healthy you. BeachBody has many programs, and there is one right for you... don't have a lot of time, try T25, or P90X3, wanna get shredded up, try Les Mills or Insanity or P90X, wanna get big, try Body Beast... like to dance, Hip Hop Abs or Rockin' Body... ChaLEAN Extreme... There IS a program for YOU, its just waiting for you to choose!
Here's a recent picture of me June 2014 in London being silly at the Clink Prison Museum. Roughly weighing in the mid 170s :).
Again, I hope my story will inspire you and others to make the decision to make the change to end the trend. BeachBody programs worked for me and do work for others. They aren't easy, they aren't a quick fix, and they are definitely not the magic pill. BeachBody programs will give you the tools needed to take the road to a more healthy you with fitness programs, Shakeology, and wonderful community of members, nutrition guides, challenge groups to keep you focused, and a plethora of other resources.
Again, don't hesitate to contact me if if you have any other questions or are ready to commit to a new and more healthy you!
See ya!
Again, I hope my story will inspire you and others to make the decision to make the change to end the trend. BeachBody programs worked for me and do work for others. They aren't easy, they aren't a quick fix, and they are definitely not the magic pill. BeachBody programs will give you the tools needed to take the road to a more healthy you with fitness programs, Shakeology, and wonderful community of members, nutrition guides, challenge groups to keep you focused, and a plethora of other resources.
Again, don't hesitate to contact me if if you have any other questions or are ready to commit to a new and more healthy you!
See ya!