For years I had seen the commercials; the loud, charismatic Tony Horton, pushing people to their sweaty breaking-point, yelling out “X”, jumping up and down. I used to break a sweat just watching the infomercials on the couch. As a recovering insomniac I was relegated to watching late night TV; which included infomercials like the ones I saw for P90x. I usually flipped past the commercials, thinking “I would never do that; only jocks and athletes would enjoy something like that.” I had remembered my Parents basement being full of exercise equipment; Tae-Bo and Denise Austin tapes that were now collecting dust on the shelf.
As someone who struggled with his weight all through life, I was born round and I thought I was going to stay round (Built for comfort, not for speed). Like Luther Vandross I went from a fat “Beach” to a skinny “Beach”, from D’Angelo (Voodoo album cover) to Ceelo (any album cover), with every yo-yo diet you can imagine. I tried Atkins, South Beach, Slow Carb, No Carb, Low Fat, High Fat, Cabbage, Lemonade, Juicing; you name it, I tried it. I tried Men’s Health, Men’ Fitness, Eat This, Not That; but I kept yo-yo-ing back and forth, until I just gave up.
I started to worry in my early 30s that years of eating crap, not exercising, and crash diets were wreaking havoc on my body. I started to have high triglycerides, high anxiety, low (good) cholesterol and a host of other illnesses. I had a bad case of the S.A.D. (Standard American Diet) blues. Inside I knew I had an inner Rockstar body, but it was covered up by a has-been layer of blubber. I knew in my mind I could change it, but I didn’t know how.
P90 to the rescue:
I first became interested in P90 when I saw my friend Jason Froehlich from high school post on Facebook his amazing transformation photos after finishing a round of P90x3. Of course when I knew Jason in high school he was a pretty slender fellow, and very popular with the ladies. I did not think I had a chance in hell that a program like that would work for me. At the time I was working at music school teaching part time and I met another teacher (I don’t remember his name), who I noticed was in fantastic shape. I asked him if he worked out in the gym all day, and he replied “No, I just use P90x.” So, I was again slightly intrigued, but not sold yet.
You see, P90, is not only difficult physically, it is difficulty mentally and emotionally too. Not to mention it is not the cheapest form of exercise. The DVDs are easily $100, and if you get a challenge pack with the Shakeology shakes, over $200. Of course they do come with a 30 day money-back guarantee, but who returns things on time?
Then one day I was on Facebook and Jason was sharing a photo of a friend of his who had done another Beachbody (makers of P90, Insanity, 21 Day Fix) program and had made an amazing transformation in less than 30 days. Well I thought, “I’d sure love to look and feel better in 30 days, maybe I should give Jason a shout and talk to him more about Beachbody and see if it will work for me.”
So, I wrote to my friend Jason to reconnect on Facebook and gave him my number to call me. By the weekend, we were on a phone call; Jason was telling me all about his transformation in detail, but when we got to the price, I still wasn’t sure. I told him I would think about it and get back to him. He followed up with me a few days later, but I still hadn’t made up my mind. Then we went silent, not speaking for a while. It was almost six months or more before I finally got back to him and said I was ready to take the plunge to do something.
I think I had to wrestle with all the fear and negative voices telling me not to do it, to finally say, “What do I have to lose?” I got the challenge pack for P90, on the recommendation of Jason, since it was less intense than P90x, and would be a good starter program for me. With it came the Shakeology shakes, which are not cheap, but definitely packed full of vitamins and minerals, with very healthy ingredients. When I got my box in the mail it also included a resistance band, nutrition and fitness guides, and bonus DVDs.
The first few days were OK. I think the novelty started to wear off after week three. I was miserable. Waking up early to work out, when you are NOT a morning person, and you don’t drink coffee, is unbearable. So many days when the alarm clock went off, I wanted to chuck it out the window and go back to sleep, but then I remembered the words of famous motivational speaker Zig Ziglar, who said when asked about getting up to jog every morning, “I hated every minute of it!” Luckily, I was asked to join an online Facebook Challenge group; a bunch of people doing different workout programs that are there to inspire, motivate and keep you accountable. With their help and encouragement, I decided to stick with it. I had already past the 30 day return policy by then, so I kept on going; taking my before and after pics, writing down my goals, watching what I was eating and cutting back on alcohol (the hardest part for a musician playing in bars). It was a sacrifice, but as Brian Tracy once said paraphrased, “You must know the price and pay it every day.”
I went through all 90 days of the program, and let me tell you there where setbacks and days I missed from being sick, tired, sore etc. but when it was all over I had transformed. Like a butterfly emerging from his cocoon, I was beautiful and I had changed, for the better. I had lost over 25 lbs., went from an XL to M shirt and could start wearing my skinny clothes again. I submitted my photos to Beachbody, who then requested more info from me, gave me a free P90 tee-shirt (I earned it!), and eventually, I won a $500 daily challenge.
I am now in my last weeks of the P90x program, losing another 11lbs thus far, making my total weight loss in 2015, a whopping 36 lbs. in 6 months and I was doing the modified versions of the moves in the program the whole time. From flabby to fit, Cliff Beach at 32 is finally getting the Beachbody he always wanted. I am so thankful that I ran into so many users of the Beachbody products, including Jason, or I never would have tried this program. Their pictures were the best testimonials. I can’t wait to update this post with info from my full P90x transformation in a few weeks and my progress with P90x2 and P90x3 the rest of the year. Until then, here are some great take-aways from P90:
1.) Decide, Commit, Succeed- This is the Beachbody mantra that was printed on the box. Once I had made the initial decision, I had to commit to 90 days to change my life; getting up every morning, six days a week (and even on some active rest days) to workout.
2.) Do your best and forget the rest- In this program it is OK to modify, and skip or take a pause break and rest when you need to. The main thing is to get back on the horse and try again. Keep monitoring your progress and stay encouraged. It's a marathon, not a sprint.
3.) Support is vital- I would never have made through the program without my coach Jason and the challenge group on Facebook. Even though we were all at different levels, different goals, and in different time zones, it felt like I wasn’t doing it alone. I had a forum to talk about my limitations and frustrations, as well as share my success stories.
If you are thinking of transforming your mind, body, soul and spirit I would happily recommend the P90 series and other Beachbody products. To read more about their products please visit http://www.beachbody.com or visit my coach Jason’s site http://jfrofitness.com/.
What workout programs and/or supplements are you using? What diets have worked or not worked for you? We would love to hear about your success and failures so we can continue to learn. Feel free to comment below.