Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

My current transformation story began about six years ago. In early 2006, I was overweight at a whopping 230 pounds and I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. Almost every night after work, I would come home, drink 3 or 4 beers and eat half a bag of Tostitos. During the summer of 2006, my mother came to visit us in Pennsylvania. When we went to the pool, she saw how big I had become and made a comment about how fat I was. No one had ever called me fat. To be honest, that comment stung badly and soon after, I made a promise to myself to make a change in my health. No one would call me fat ever again.
About that time, I was finishing an 18 month school to get my senior reactor operator’s license. Over those 18 months, I sat on my butt in a classroom and ate (and smoked, too). By the time the class was coming to an end, my weight topped out at 230 pounds and I was in the worst shape of my life.

Immediately upon completing my class, I set a goal for myself...get in shape and get my weight down to 175 pounds. As a reward, I would sign up for and get my scuba diving certification. Scuba diving is something that I always wanted to do even when I was in the Navy. I started working out 4-5 days a week, which included cardio and weights. I did meet my goal of 175 pounds one week before I started my scuba diving certification. However, one thing that I did not do was to include supplements in my diet, such as whey protein. This is a lesson that I learned and I now include several supplements in my diet, including Shakeology.

As I was dropping weight down to my goal of 175 pounds, the one thing that I had failed to do was quit smoking. I tried the gums for a while, but it never worked. Then on December 30th, 2007, I went cold turkey with the cigarettes and have not touched one since.

Once I met my goal weight of 175 pounds, I really became consumed with fitness. I started running and wanted to participate in triathlons. However, when I would run, I started having a stabbing pain in my left hip. This pain kept getting worse and got to the point where it would wake me up in the middle of the night. I finally broke down and went to the doctor. After some poking, prodding and x-rays, I found out that my left hip would need to be replaced in a couple of years. That put an end to the running and any thoughts of becoming a triathlete.

Finally, in November of 2009, I had my left hip replaced. It was one of the best things I had ever done for my health, second only to quitting smoking. Suddenly, all that pain was gone! However, I made a promise to myself that I would never allow my hip replacement be an excuse for not working out or being active. I am more active now than I ever have been in my entire life.

As I move forward with my fitness goals, I am going to start out with Insanity: Asylum! The reason I chose it first was so that I could work on my agility. Some of the workouts look like the kind of exercises I used to do when I played football. Not to mention, it looks really intense!

I look forward to meeting many of you and helping others! If there is anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to ask!