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?A Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins With a Single Step.?


Thomas Mygrant
Million Dollar Body Game
2008 Finals Essay


On September 26th, 2007, I stood in front of the TV holding a P90X workout, desperately ready for my first step in a thousand-mile journey. In the summer of 2007, I married a woman who loved me regardless of my excess weight and constant fatigue. My brother-in-law attended our wedding as a sick and dying man. He was in end-stage kidney failure and I was determined to undergo living donor testing to save his life. I applied to donate and doctors advised my obesity was a problem. In order to donate a kidney, I needed to lose 60 pounds. After years of helping others, my life had come to this. I was too fat to save someone?s life! My wife and brother-in-law deserved better than who I was.

My entire life was spent overeating and overweight. As a child, I was ?husky.? As an offensive lineman and high school football coach, I took pride in being ?big.? As an adult, I entertained people with Chris Farley impressions. I socially identified myself as a ?big man? and never understood the serious health risks of being 5?7? and 273 pounds. My lifetime of obesity resulted in pre-hypertensive blood pressure and cholesterol over 230. After years of self neglect, I found Beachbody and P90X.

I began doing P90X workouts and quickly wondered what I had gotten myself into. I couldn?t do a single pull-up, was doing pushups from my knees, and was physically tired after the seven- minute warm-up. But, I was determined and desperate. I refused to be the guy who died at 50 and had people standing around my casket saying, ?Tommy! What a great guy. Too bad he was fat!? That would not be my story! Clawing, fighting, and scratching my way through each rep of each set I began seeing amazing changes in my body, mind, attitude, and life. In June 2008, after 8 months of doing P90X, I won the Million Dollar Body Transformation Contest! This proud moment served as a crossroads. Either I had made it to my destination or I could continue reaching higher and achieving more.

I chose taking myself to a greater level, with Beachbody accounting for 100% of my transformation resources. P90X+ and One on One were incorporated into my workout schedule. I added Beachbody supplements including Recovery Formula, P90X Protein Bars, Whey Protein, Core Omega 3, and Activit Multivitamins. As a binge eater, nutrition is my nemesis. The largest step in this journey has been allowing Beachbody?s programs to change decades of addictive and emotional eating. Beachbody?s 2,000 Calorie Slim-Down Plan, Michi?s Ladder, and the P90X Nutritional Plan have become my daily intake guidelines. For accountability, I began using the Beachbody Community Message Boards to post my daily nutrition and WOWY to track my workout schedule, resulting in greater self-discipline and increased success.

With this Beachbody regimen of workouts, supplements, nutrition plans, and accountability I?ve been able to lose 112 pounds. My body fat has dropped from 45% to 8%, my blood pressure is a normal 110/68, and my cholesterol has lowered to under 150. Medically, I have extended my life by decades through clean eating and working out. No pills or prescription medications, just a drastic change in lifestyle and a newfound passion for health and fitness. My workout numbers are staggering compared to when I won last June. I have attained physical levels unimaginable in the beginning, doing 20 pull-ups each set, hundreds of regular push-ups, and double workouts on strength days.

My greatest transformations, though, have been mental and social. I?m half the man physically, but twice the man in every other way. I now live confidently, no longer bound by mindset limitations and excuses for mediocrity. Socially, my changed identity affects me daily, with people seeing me in a whole new light. Others have witnessed my transformation and gained incredible respect for me, and most importantly, I have gained that same respect for myself. My success has also enabled me to benefit others in ways I couldn?t before. My wife obtains a more energetic husband, my high school football players a more passionate coach, and my community a more active leader. Randy, who received a kidney transplant, gets a potential future donor. I?ve also inspired countless others to begin their own journeys toward a healthy lifestyle. With my help, our local recreation center has made P90X available to members and I gladly volunteer my guidance to those beginning the program. There is no greater gift than spreading Beachbody?s message in hopes others take their own first step of a thousand-mile journey. Without question, Beachbody has made me a better, stronger, more disciplined man. This company has completely changed my life.