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My older sister told me about this program that helped her and my aunt lose weight, and they enjoyed it. Now, for one, I’m skeptical by nature. For two, I have tried many programs that range from the cabbage soup diet to the ten-pounds-in-two-days diet and from the ab rolly thingy to the ab springy thingy. Lastly, neither my sister nor aunt was remotely as large as I was. One thing that helped was how enthusiastic she was that it would work for me. She even got our younger sister to join. The next thing I knew she wanted to take before pictures and measurements. “What if the program doesn’t work?” I remember thinking. I did not want measurements written down cause I thought the next time I checked, will probably be bigger anyway. As for the pictures, I would not even take off my shirt because I was too embarrassed of myself. Even in front of my own family.

“Welcome to Power 90, I’m Tony Horton.” This program changes lives? Will see how day one goes. Right off the bat Tony was moving. I was already behind and struggle to catch up. Tony and the crew lifted their knees, so I lifted mine. I kept up until I had to fight gravity with jumping jacks. Gravity won the battle big time. Something in the program and in my mind kept me going. By the end of the 35 minutes I looked like I stepped out of a pool and panted like a woman giving birth. But for whatever reason, I felt good. Each day I pushed play. People who saw me sporadically said I looked like I lost a bunch of weight. That motivated me more. Before I knew it I was halfway through the program and I lost 40 pounds! Granted I had about 100 pounds of pure krispy kreme to loose, but it felt great! I was swimming in my clothes. I tried to only buy a few shirts because I knew I would be swimming in those too. I got down to 250 in one year, but then I hit a plateau. So I got Slim in 6. Talk about kick starting your life again. I had a whole knew wave of dedication. For one month straight I did Slim in 6 in the mornings and Power 90 at night. Not to mention my diet was close to impeccable. I was hooked. I then got P90X. Talk about challenging gravity, say hello to Plyometrics. Ab ripper X, “I hate it, but I love it.” This program was the most challenging physical activity I ever even attempted. I got down to 180. Half of me…GONE! Luckily, it wasn’t my good half.

Things change and they did. I had a surgery which put me on a slow recovery phase. I ate badly and with no exercise, I gained some weight. I got up to about 235. I felt horrible. It was just a short time ago that I was feeling better about life than ever. You know, one of those feelings that can only be felt. I let it slip away and I wanted it back. This time I joined the gym to lose it. Don’t get me wrong, the gym is great, but it wasn’t for me. I never pushed myself as hard as I did when I pushed play. I jumped back into Power 90 then P90X and I’m down to under 200! I could not be happier at this time of how I have complete control over my diet and my body.

Coming up on year 5, I have managed to lose a total of 160 pounds and at least 25 percent body fat. More importantly I have kept it off and changed my lifestyle. My eating habits and my exercising routine are all designed to help me be a better and healthier me. I have gained an abundance of knowledge. I have learned the sluggish feeling after eating bad whereas in the past those nachos would have been part of my normal diet. I have learned how important exercise is to my health. My friends and family ask me, former 360 pounder, diet and exercise questions. I have learned that it is not people seeing me in a different light now that I am in great shape, but me seeing myself in a better light.

To struggle with a battle your whole life and come out victorious is the greatest feeling anyone could ever experience. I won. Losing weight has obviously benefited my life physically more than I could have ever imagined. Friends from high school don’t even recognize me. I now enjoy physical activities such as hiking, basketball, and even pull-ups (except corn-cobs). While going to work, I leave the train station and get pleasure from being the only one to take the stairs. I love my body, but my most valued changes through this are internal. I am making better decisions with my life then I ever did. I have more drive, determination, confidence, enthusiasm, success, and the list goes on, than I ever before. There is nothing I can not do and no one could convince me otherwise. I owe it all to Tony Horton, Debbie Siebers, the entire beachbody staff, the million dollar body community, and my family and friends. Thank you all for making me live and love life.