Team Beachbody ¡preestreno!Español Guest

“I’ve always been somewhat “thin,” but have also always been soft and not very strong. I had little commitment to exercise. I spent about 10 years perfecting a steady diet rotation of: Taco Bell, Sonic, Arby’s, hot dogs, chicken strips, and any other kind of greasy food I could get my hands on. I went to the gym occasionally, but really struggled with going on any kind of regular basis. I suppose I thought that if I maintained a gym membership and used it occasionally, then that might make me stronger and somehow healthier. When I actually would go to the gym, I had no real workout “plan” and would just do a handful of weightlifting exercises with no noticeable results. Sometimes I would try to run and would make it maybe a mile before I tired out and quit. To top it off my wife thought it was funny to squeeze my love handles. Not a confidence booster!

A friend of mine told me about P90X and for about a year I talked about starting it, but I managed to make excuse after excuse about why I couldn’t do it. And I had a lot of excuses:

“I am a graduate student in school 40 hrs/wk, not including time for studying.”

“I have church activities no less than 3-4 days/wk.”

“I don’t want to cut in to family time.”

And the big one: “It will COST too much.” Being a student on a tight budget, how could I afford all that healthy food, supplements, and workout equipment?

Finally, I got tired of not feeling good about the way I looked, not taking care of my body, and being out of shape. Most of all, I feel like God gave me this body to live in, so I think He would appreciate it if I would take care of it! I mean, come on, I’m 27 years old and get winded running a mile! That’s ridiculous!

As far as the time thing goes, even as busy I am, I figured I was still watching TV at least 1 hour/night and did I really NEED 8 hours of sleep every night? I started waking up at 5 AM instead of 6 or 6:30 and worked out first thing every morning. I’ve found that I am not only able to still live life as usual and get things done, I feel way better and have more energy on less sleep!

For anyone who thinks they can’t afford it. I think I am the guy to talk to. I have managed to find some of the best bargains around to get the most protein for your buck without all the extra fat and sugar. I eat extremely healthy and only spend about $10-15/day on food. That’s including protein and everything! As far as equipment goes, I live in an apartment complex with a gym, so I take my videos to the gym and watch them on my laptop (just one benefit of working out at 5 AM, there’s no one in there to annoy), so I didn’t even have to invest in dumbbells.

I committed to a 1 hour workout everyday and to eating healthy without cheating. I’ve found that the hardest thing to do was not losing weight. I had 2 goals in mind: Maintain my weight and turn all that soft flab into muscle. It was hard sometimes, but every time I thought the Plyometrics was going to kill me, I’d just look at the cross on the wall, and realize that my sacrifice is minimal to those Christ experienced for me.

I started at 5’7”, 153 lbs, so my target calories were about 2400/day. That was not enough. After 60 days I had lost 10 lbs, without even trying. My wife even saw the diet benefits without doing the workouts, she lost 10 lbs too. Now her only complaint is that I’m not as soft to lay on anymore. I’ll accept that!

I’M NOT DONE YET! Round 2 is underway and I am determined to gain that weight back, but this time as muscle. I’m working to build up my upper body and core. Also, I have become my wife’s running partner in training for a half-marathon. That’s right-The guy who could barely run a mile 3 months ago is going to run 13!