So I wrote a little about the reason that I became a beachbody coach in my transformation story but I want to elaborate on it. I was out running last week and it dawned on me (as things so often do during exercise, particularly running) that my "why" is much deeper than I had realized.
I grew up with the belief that I wouldn't ever allow myself to get into a career that I didn't enjoy. I wanted to do something exciting like professional soccer or professional BMX. I wasn't too far from the BMX dream when I decided that I needed to change my lifestyle so that I didn't become a wastoid that lived for nothing more than booze and drugs and partying. In order for me to get away from that path that I was on, I needed to do a full 180 degree turn. I can't just kind of do anything. It's all or nothing for me. So I gave up on that dream and I just sort of accepted this new reality of living in a career that wasn't necessarily fulfilling or exciting. I sell insurance. Kind of the the other extreme of the "excitement" scale. I have done insurance for a long time and I still ride my bike but it's really hard for me to find time to fulfill that passion of mine.
So that was my life for multiple years and being so, I gradually gained weight. Before I knew it, I was 30 pounds over weight (not obese, just overweight). I didn't really have much motivation and I certainly didn't have much energy. I ate about 2 or 3 dozen cookies per week...because I make the best cookies on earth. I wasn't sleeping very good. I was struggling to really get myself to do anything productive. Every time I looked in the mirror I was a little bit embarrassed for myself. Not because of being superficial, but because I was ashamed that I had once claimed (and truly believed) that I'd never let myself get a gut and I didn't live up to that claim. I used to always complain about how I was fat and I felt so old. I'd try to play basketball and half the time was spent making comments about how I'm too old for this and I wish I could just be younger...blah blah blah. I always wanted to get in shape. I was envious of people that were really active. I saw people that were in good shape and I'd always think "I wish I had their energy" or "I wish I looked like that, I'll bet I'd feel better about myself".
In April of 2013, my 25 year old active wife who was an avid runner and did P90X regularly, started having symptoms that were very hard to diagnose. After about 8,000 doctor visits and months of speculation, she was finally diagnosed with a genetic disorder called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. There are many many forms of it and she got the lottery pick of it, meaning that if it's associated with the disorder, you can bet that she has it. Most people with it will experience a few of the symptoms. She experiences them all. She has autonomic nervous system problems like a lack of a body thermostat, or like the sudden and uncontrollable muscle spasms that cause a lot of pain and sometimes almost death (when the muscles spasming are the ones in your neck or tongue). She gets a lot of dizziness because it affects her blood pressure a lot. She can dislocate joints like it's no big deal and then relocate them by herself many times because it's just a part of daily life now. These, and other symptoms, have gradually taken over our lives. She was a stay at home mom and I would work all day up until this started. So I started having to stay home a lot and try to work at home but it was usually futile because being a caregiver and a father of 2 young kids is pretty time consuming. I had about 20 hours of combined work to get done in any given day but only had energy for about 10 of that.
I would try to get as much work done as possible and take care of the girls and my wife and the house and yard and all the other normal daddy duties...and by about 5 or 6pm, I'd be totally drained. I just didn't have it in me. Enedina would ask me to grab a drink for her or something like that, and I'd feel like she was asking me to run a marathon for her. The kids would want to play and I'd try to force myself to do it but I just simply couldn't enjoy it. I was burning out quick and I didn't know what I was going to do. I didn't really have an oulet that I had time for so I just had all this pressure building up with no outlet. The bills were piling up, the income was decreasing, the workload was getting bigger, my energy was depleting, and I felt like I was in a never ending uphill race that I couldn't ever compete but always had to try. It was horrible. I could go on for pages and pages about the difficulties that I was feeling but I think this will suffice.
One night when I couldn't sleep, I watched a paid program about a beachbody program called Focus T25. It is only 25 minutes of exercise a day and it looked pretty intense. I thought that it would be a great idea but it seemed expensive at $120. I didn't buy it right then. I talked to Enedina about it and she made fun of me because she says that I'm a sucker for paid programs. lol. Then I told her that it was a beachbody program and she changed her opinion because she LOVED P90X. After a few nights of deliberation, I got it. I had it for a couple weeks but I was a little scared to actually start it. I knew that once I started it, I'd have to go all in and it'd be a big life change so I hesitated a little.
After a few weeks, I decided that I had no choice but to do something about it. If I wanted to have the energy I needed, then I needed to take control of my situation and actually do something about it. I was at that point where I pretty much had no other option.
So I started the program. There is a pamphlet that came with it that is called the "5 day fast track". It is a diet plan for the first week of the program and it's supposed to boost the results from the start. Since I can't just sort of do anything, obviously I had to do that part of it too. So I started losing weight quick. I lost 7 pounds the first week. Second week I lost 5 more. Then 3. Then 2. Then I lost a couple pounds each week after that for a few more weeks. More than that, I started seeing muscles that I had never had before. The biggest change though, was my energy level. All of a sudden things started seeming easier. I had more energy and I had it for longer in the day than I'd had in years. I was able to play with my daughters and actually enjoy it because I wasn't just thinking about the couch or the bed...I was thinking about playing with the girls! I was able to do more around the house to make my wife happy. I was able to help my wife get around when necessary without it seeming like such a daunting task! Sleep started improving. I used to wake up every hour or so and never feel rested. All of a sudden, I could go to sleep and get at least 5 or 6 straight hours of sleep and actually wake up feeling rested! That in itself was a life changer! All of these changes led to a general feeling of well-being that I hadn't experienced in about a decade. So I was a happier person all around!
It was such an improvement that I just couldn't keep it to myself. I realized that there are people all around me that don't realize how much their diet and exercise could improve everything in their lives! So at that point, the only logical course of action seemed to be become a coach. So I signed up! I have been a coach for about 1 month now and I have already felt such a sense of peace and happiness from helping others! When I was a missionary, the feeling that I would get when someone told me about how much of an impact I had had on them was something that I have longed for ever since finishing the mission. For the first time in almost 5 years, I have been able to feel that feeling again! There is nothing I could do for myself that would feel better than doing something for other people. Helping others in whatever capacity I can gives me the greatest sense of purpose and happiness that I've ever felt...other than taking care of my family...The family trumps all.
Since becoming a coach I have realized why exercise has become such an obsession of mine but I'll save that for a different blog post because this post is already super long.
In the beginning of this whole post, I told you about my ambitions as a child and how insurance wasn't fulfilling that ambition. I'm not going to be quitting insurance anytime. I'm just really excited that I've found a new course that I can follow as a part time thing that is SUPER fulfilling and fun AND can make some money on the side. There are people that turn their beachbody business into a fulltime job but for now, it is just my new passion. I love being a beachbody coach! I try not to come off to people as a salesman for beachbody because I don't feel like I'm selling it...I feel like I'm spreading good news. It's like I just discovered fire and I'm trying to show others how much it can help them. I suppose it's ingrained in my behavior to sound salesman-like because of all my time I've spent selling insurance but that really isn't the intent. I just want to help people improve their lives. I want others to feel the difference that I've felt. I want to spread the joy!
