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I wrote this about a year and a half ago, but it still sums up my feeling about Beachbody very well, so here it is:

I discovered Beachbody just about a year ago, after reading quite a bit of “buzz” about an extreme program called P90X. At the time, I wasn’t sure I was quite ready for it. I’ve been athletic all my life, most recently with the usual ups and downs associated with being a busy working mother. But I didn’t know if I was “X-ready.” It took me a month of regular visits to the Beachbody website, viewing the X clips, until I finally ordered the program. After receiving the materials, I had set June as my start month, and stepped up my current workout routine to prepare for it. As the date got closer, I got more and more excited as I poured over both the fitness and nutritional guides, and I quickly ordered a Power Tower so that I could even work on the pull-up aspect of the program.

After the first workout, Chest and Back, completed, I was in love! Tony was incredible – what an amazing motivator and coach! The entire cast was incredible as well – Maren was a superstar in my eyes, keeping up with the boys like it was no big deal. I felt like I was back in my college days, working out in the gym, egging each other on to push a bit harder – it was amazing. These were REAL people, really working HARD, not some staged and highly choreographed workout with fitness professionals as participants. I knew I had found the ideal program to get me back to the prime condition that I knew I still had in me, at 38 years old.

You could not keep me down over the 90 days that followed. I looked forward to each and every workout, even in the early days when I ached all over. I knew that the workout of the day would work out the soreness from the previous workout, and I’d end the morning feeling better than I started. And I was right – each and every workout was incredible, week after week. Focusing on trying to beat the previous week’s numbers was my daily goal, and I found myself doing just that every week. I was waking up before my alarm went off at 4:45am on most days, and I had energy through the roof the entire day.

I’d been fairly good on the nutrition front, generally speaking, but reading the nutrition guide and following the phase macro nutrient ratios really helped me to better understand the direct tie between nutrition and performance. After eating truly clean for a few weeks, I found that I could trust my body and what it wanted before and after tough workouts, and now have a much deeper understanding of fueling for activity, rather than for looking good or losing weight. And the looking good part? That comes along for free with this mindset.

Over the course of the round, I lost inches, made incredible strength and endurance gains, and had more muscular definition than I’ve had in years. But much more importantly was the profound difference the program made on my general outlook. I was an athlete again. I no longer thought about how my abs looked, or if my legs were looking too thick. I started to think about how fast I could run or how heavy I could lift, or how long I could continue to toss my 4 year old daughter into the air at the pool. I entered a 10k race, after doing very little specific running training, and finished strong and with a respectable time.

I started a second round in mid-November, with the goal of furthering the strength gains I had made over the summer. That’s when what started as a bit of a lark, the thought of participating in a triathlon, turned into a real goal. A triathlon! I’m just a regular person, with two small children and a job, so this is insane, right? Wrong! I am an athlete – my mindset had changed, and I knew I could do this.

So here I am, a week away from heading off to Tucson for a four-day triathlon training camp, where the first bike workout is a 70+ mile ride (followed by a run and swim workout – this is day one!), and I’m signed up for my first triathlon scheduled for early June. I have such a different mental outlook now – training for an event, rather than working out to fit into a smaller size, is an extremely powerful transformation. I went from being an average fit person to now being in what could be the best shape of my life. Yes, I have visible definition in my abs, legs, and arms, which I will freely admit that I enjoy. But the best part of this experience is that I now have the attitude that I can accomplish absolutely ANYTHING I put my mind to, no matter how far-fetched or seemingly difficult. The abs are great, but the new mindset is truly priceless.

I owe this transformation, this amazingly powerful mental transformation that accompanied the physical transformation, to P90X and Tony Horton. I fear that I may never truly be able to express how grateful I am to both Beach Body and Tony for this gift, but I hope that this letter somehow gets across what a difference this program has made in my life, at a fundamental level.

Thank you, from the bottom of my soon-to-be-triathlon-finisher-medal-wearing heart!

NOTE: I've since completed my 2nd triathlon season, with huge improvements this season over last. My current Olympic Distance PR is 2:35. Next season I'm shooting for a sub 2:30 Oly and to complete my first 1/2 Ironman distance.