Thursday, August 16, 2012

My Transformation (P90X, P90X+, P90X2, Insanity)

by Coach Koos


      Hey guys and gals!  Sure you can go to my "About" section and learn a little bit about me.  But some of you might have questions and might want to know more.  I'm going to give you the run down of the last 3 years in my battle with health and fitness.  So hang on...cuz this gets bumpy, and at times, a bit emotional for me.

       Let's rewind to 2008.  I was a college dropout for the second time.  I moved back in with my mom and bounced around from job to job.  I never really considered myself a "fat guy".  I really didn't.  I was just having fun, eating whatever the hell I wanted to eat, and drinking myself into ridiculous situations.  I was also a heavy smoker (mostly legal stuff...shhhh).  I couldn't keep a romantic relationship going and I had no idea why that was.

       <<<<<  LOOK at this guy!  Sure he looks fun to hang out with, but he was NOT going down a proper path.  Sure he could drink beer with the best of 'em, but he looked pretty flabby and has a ridiculously shiny forehead.

        Partying was the name of the game for me back then.  I loved going to bars, smoking it up, just feeling good and getting crazy.  I was almost 24 and something had to change, right?!  You can only be a party animal for so long.  I was tired of being out of breath after walking up stairs.  I was tired of not having any energy to do anything other than watch TV or play video games.  Something had to change.

        I don't even remember where I heard about P90X, but an ex-girlfriend of mine let me have a copy of this program, and let me tell ya...it was ROUGH!  I mean, I should have expected it to be rough, right?  After all, it stands for Power 90 Xtreme!  I simply got my butt off the damn couch and started out with this crazy program.  I didn't have the nutrition guide or the fitness calendar, so I did not know which programs to do and when to do them, so I just did them in order from disc 1 to disc 12. A buddy of mine told me I needed to look up the calendar because there's a system for it and it needs to be done the right way.  It didn't matter at first though...because ANY exercise was getting me into shape.  I was not really paying attention to nutrition.  I was still eating crap but I was eating less.

       So I quit the booze and smoking altogether and started to see some REAL changes.  People started to notice.  Ladies started to notice.  I was getting CRAZY good compliments and I couldn't believe it.  I weighed myself EVERY Friday (now I weight myself monthly rather than weekly) and started to see the pounds drop.  290, 282, 276, 267...the pounds just kept coming off.  I figured there HAD to be something to this program.  I stayed on it for a whole YEAR!  However, I DID happen to relapse with booze for a good 6 months though...until I realized that I actually had a problem with it (I have now quit and been sober for 19 months).

       Another 9 months went by with P90X and it was still doing crazy things for me.  I knew I needed heavier dumbbells.  I was in great shape, but "great" was never enough for me.  I constantly wanted to strive for more and tone up.  I saw that Beachbody offered P90X+.  All new workouts to incorporate with your P90X routine.  Tony Horton always spoke about "muscle confusion" and how it's so good for your body, so I figured why not give it a shot.  I did 90 days of P90X+ and then P90X2 was released!  I was ecstatic!  I started P90X2 on 1/1/2012.  I did over 90 days of that and believe it or not, I gained a pound!  How could I gain!??!  I've done nothing but lose weight like my fiance loses her phone (quite a lot).

       I wouldn't let this get me down.  I had always heard the saying that "muscle weighs more than fat".  And I'd always been told to measure your results by inches, not in pounds lost.  I started P90X2 under 200 lbs.  For the first time since I can remember, I was under 200.  Guys...wow...I mean, what a feeling that was to read 194 on the scale.  I couldn't have been more proud of my hard work.

       Now this brings me to Insanity.  Insanity is a ridiculous cardiovascular program.  And can I just say...the name says it all.  I had never sweat so much in my entire life.  My shirts looked like I'd stepped out of the pool!  >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

       This program was the real deal.  I was so tired of being sore every morning, but the soreness eventually went away and I found myself getting BETTER!  I actually looked FORWARD to my Insane workout every day!

       And if you're saying, "Coach Koos, can Insanity really do good things in just 60 days?  I mean, you didn't get crazy results until you did P90X for 5 rounds of 90 days."  Look at my Insanity Before & afters:

Are you kidding!???  Those are 60 day results?!  Everything tightened up like crazy!  I've been very upset lately about all of the loose skin that I have and I'm just wondering if it will EVER tighten up.  Well it looks like it's starting to!

       My fiance and I wrapped up Insanity and I lost another NINE POUNDS!  I went into this program thinking..."Yeah, I probably won't lose anymore weight...I'll probably just tone up".  Uh...and don't even think about asking me if I was eating enough.  I was taking in anywhere from 2500 to 3000 calories a day!  Contrary to popular belief, you have to take in calories in order to burn them.  You have to eat food if you wanna lose weight, bottom line!

       So now we're starting P90X again (the fiance has never done it).  This time we're throwing Insanity into the mix and doing a P90X/Insanity 90 day hybrid program!  We're about done with month 1 (I got heavier dumbbells too!) and things are going great!

       This didn't happen overnight for me, folks.  I was almost 300 pounds and it took over 2 years to lose 105 lbs.  This was a long journey that I'm presently still on.  I don't say things to discourage any of you.  If you're here and you're inspired by my success...then by God, let's work together!  Let's find something that's right for you and get you your better body.  If you're happy with yourself, then man, that's fantastic!  But if you wanna make a change (not just physically but an overall HEALTHY change), then let's talk, guys!  I didn't get into this business for myself.  I've already helped myself...now I'm here to help everyone else.

-It's Never Too Late-  Coach Koos

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