Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

Hello! I'm Steve, and I was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. I attended university at UC Berkeley, where I studied Civil Engineering. All through high school and the first half of college I rowed competitively and was in fantastic shape. In my senior year of high school we even took the national championship in Philadelphia. After a successful high school rowing career my college rowing experience was a downer. For multiple reasons I was fully burned out by the end of my sophomore year. So I quit to focus on my studies. Truth is I was so burned out, I pretty much stopped working out. There was a summer when I got back into riding my bike, but the routine didn't stick, and the truth was that I was letting myself go. I remember thinking, "When I'm 35 I'll need to get serious again, but for now I can relax." Sadly, the hard body I had in high school was melting, and slowly being covered by thickening layer of cushion.

After graduating from college I moved to Colorado to ski. That lasted a few months, then I got an engineering consulting job, worked summers in the Colorado Rockies and winters in Chile in the Andes mountain range. My desire to engage in more regular activity was increasing somewhat, but I tended to only do it for fun: skiing, mountain biking, hiking. It was never about the workout or my fitness.

I soon met and married my wife, and we moved to Chile in '96 where we lived until late '99. There were weak attempts to get back in shape and begin a regular workout routine, but the pounds kept adding. I added beer brewing as a hobby...not a great sign. I was coasting on my previous levels of fitness, as well as the great metabolism of my early/mid 20's. Then in late '98 I gained about 20 lbs. and started to get that I was truly out of shape and not happy with my body.

Fast forward to 2007, and from a fitness standpoint, that's basically where I stayed. I was very successful in 2001 at losing about 30 lbs, but 20 lbs of it gradually came back because I had no fitness routine, and no control when not on a focused restricted diet. Then I decided to get rid of that 20 lbs. and some more in 2006. Again I was successful, and made it to my target weight. But it started creeping back in and I put 10 lbs of it back.

Then in August of 2007 I saw the P90X infomercial. I was very intrigued. (After all, I’m past 35 now, and that 25-year-old from years ago keeps telling me I need to get with it!) The P90X infomercial was (and still is) the only one I've ever seen that sold me on its product. I was blown away by the results they were showing. I went straight to the Beach Body web site and started researching. I read blogs and reviews, watched people’s youtube video chronicles, and pulled in everything I could find to figure out if Beach Body was for real. It didn't take long to see they are! And in my research I also saw that my body was in no place to begin P90X. I decided to start with P90 and then transition to P90X on day 91. I bought P90 … and it sat on the shelf for 3 months.

Finally in late December I had an amazing conversation with a personal coach, and we worked out a plan to get me going and keep me committed to my workout routine using P90. I don’t like to say it’s a New Year’s resolution, but the result was that I started the program on 1/1/2008, and have been loving it ever since! I’m writing now in mid February, and the transformation has been incredible!! My wife can’t believe it, and neither can I. I’m getting that body I remember from high school back! I’m shocked with the results physically, but even more so mentally. I am looking forward to my morning workouts when I go to bed, and actually miss them on my rest days. That has never happened in the past!

I’m now in this for life. My transformation is just beginning, and I can’t wait to see what another 1 ½, 3, 6, 9, 12…months is going to do for my body and my health. I am committed to making an immediate transition to P90X on April 1st, and am really looking forward to starting it. My body is finally in a place where it can take what Tony has for me! My self image hasn’t been this high for years. I’m simply thrilled with the results I’m getting, and expect much, much more over the coming months.

Update (Early April, '08): I just finished P90 and can't believe what a difference it has made in how I look and feel. I expected it to get me ready for P90X, but had no idea it would deliver the transformation that I've experienced. And what a perfect time to make the transition: the 3-4 routine was just getting a bit easy. Now with week one of P90X under my belt, I'm soooo glad I didn't try it first thing. I would possibly not have kept going. Even with the great preparation P90 has given me, P90X is kicking my butt! I'm fired-up about the next 3 months, and a how fit I will be at that point. Thank you Beach Body, for producing such effective and enjoyable programs!