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Hi. I'm Mike & live near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I was fit for most of my adult life, and didn’t really “work” at it. I was a carpenter for 25 years and an avid rock climber. At age 40 I was climbing Devil’s Tower and Yosemite. But a
couple years after that, I decided to go to college, get a degree in Computer & Information Science, and change career. I've worked as a

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Hi. I'm Mike & live near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

I was fit for most of my adult life, and didn’t really “work” at it. I was a carpenter for 25 years and an avid rock climber. At age 40 I was climbing Devil’s Tower and Yosemite. But a
couple years after that, I decided to go to college, get a degree in Computer & Information Science, and change career. I've worked as a software engineer for the past 9 years.

Almost as soon as I changed career, I began adding about 5 lbs/year. The stress and sedentary work eventually caught up with me when I had a 100% blockage of the left main artery and a
heart attack at age 52. After a month of rest, did 3 months of cardiac rehab, followed by working out solo at the local 'Y', always with a heart monitor and keeping heart rate low. I changed my diet to low fat and lost 20 pounds the first month.

One good thing about having a month of "down time" is that you get to read
books that you wouldn't otherwise. My favorite book of 2007 was "Deep Survival, Who Lives, Who Dies and Why", by Lawrence Gonzales. In it, he quotes
Stephen Callahan, who survived three months alone in a raft at sea after his
boat sank, " 'I've got to do the best I can, he told himself. 'The very best. I cannot shirk or procrastinate. I cannot withdraw...I have sometimes fooled other people. But Nature is not such a dolt'"

Because of my years of climbing, this resonated as truth with me. But, when
the one-year anniversary of my MI approached, I realized that I’d become quite depressed. The workouts, though fairly regular, didn’t seem to be doing much except adding another task to my already long list. The stressfulness of my job increased again, and I'd regained the 20 lbs. I began to doubt that I'd ever be healthy again.

I needed new goals that would motivate me. Just avoiding another heart
attack was losing its power. I felt weak, old, tired, fat, and disappointed with myself for allowing myself to deteriorate to such a state, but even so, I struggled to find something, anything, that would inspire me. Then I saw the P90x commercial.

While vanity hasn't been a good motivation for me in the past, the transformations seemed beyond belief. While I was dubious, I remembered an old Yogic saying, "If you smile, you become
happy; if you frown, you become sad."

Perhaps the "cure" for my depressed state would be getting fit enough to do
some of my old activities again. Since the path I was on wasn't working, and 90 days isn't a very long time to test the hypothesis, I decided in early July to give it a shot.

Due the medical history, I had to clear a few hurdles first. By the first week of
August, I had doctor's approval stop one of the medications and start a rigorous routine. I passed the fit test.

Update Fall, 2011:
It's been 3 years since I first signed up for P90X and I've yet to get all the way through the program. An old rotator cuff injury flaired up after too many pullups. Then I crashed my motorcycle and broke my collarbone. Lastly, I've had lower back problems that have made some movements unwise if not impossible. But all along I've never lost sight of the goal, and have learned a lot about fitness and my body. My diet has steadily improved. I sometimes cheat big time, but then feel awful and can't wait to get back to "clean" eating because I know I'll feel better.

I've been working out the past 6 months or so, lost weight and gained a small amount of muscle. Perhaps best of all, I've been rock-climbing, biking, and kayaking again. My goals have shifted now, don't feel I need to lose anymore weight, but I do want less body fat and more muscle. Planning to re-start the program on 3-October-2011. I'd love company, join in!

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