Beachbody Week- Meet James!

Are you wondering why this is Beachbody week??  May seem a bit random, even though you all know I love me some Shaun T and Insanity!  Well, in the spirit of full disclosure, I was contacted and asked if I was interested in doing a post that included links to some of Beachbody's newer products.  Like p90x2, Ultimate Cleanse, and becoming a p90x certified trainer. I will happily give some link love to a company like Beachbody.....but I would feel not right offering my opinions on products I have not tried. (posts this week will be a bit long as I found everything James said to be relevant and did not want to edit his opinions, so pace yourself, maybe grab a cup o coffee and settle in)
So, I want to start off  introducing you to the person you'll be hearing from a lot this week, James Allen. Brian and I have known James since we moved to CA from WA 13 years ago. Over the years, he has gotten married to a wonderful lady, Sandra, and has a daughter in kindergarten. I have never thought of James as being heavy, or fluffy, or overweight at all (or as 51 for that matter).  When I reached out to him about helping me this week, I was surprised to read some of  what I received from him, but it's a good reminder that we all have insecurities and things about ourselves we would like to improve.
I knew James had completed p90x, and that he had Insanity.  I thought it would be great to hear his perspective on the two programs, some comparison and contrast.  Come to find out, James has completed p90x 4 times, p90x2 once, and is doing Insanity for the second time!!  I think that puts some weight behind his thoughts on these programs and how they stack up against each other!
So, with that background, here is a little intro, in Jame's own words, as to why he began working out, and how he came upon p90x:

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James Allen:

"I believed at one time that working out was for other people and not me. I also believed that it was a huge waste of time and that while others would miraculously lose weight and get six pack abs (or whatever), it would never happen for me. I thought it was all a big scam to get $$$.

Sandra saw the p90x infomercial late one night a number of years ago. She woke me up and made me watch it. It looked interesting because it seemed to have "real" people doing it and not a bunch of buffed actors. Month after month went by and I would sit and occasionally watch the infomercial. I told myself that this program looks pretty tough and I would never be able to do even 10% of it. Finally though I pulled the moths out of my wallet and bought the program. You'd think that after spending the money I'd actually pull the discs out of the box and start doing it, right?..... but not me. They sat on my office desk for four years. FOUR years.

Sandra was getting after me to do something before I got too fat, keeled over or died. A few of my friends were telling me that I was gaining weight and getting a big tummy. Hearing comments like that made me feel great of course.

I remember taking a bike ride with a few of the brothers one day (10 miles) and I almost passed out at the 1 mile mark. They on the other hand were peddling and riding as though they were 20. I felt like an old man in my 80's compared to them.

Beachbody a year or so ago updated the original p90x infomercial. I saw a guy interviewed who basically looked and felt like me. He decided to buy the program and do it four times through (so about a year) and the changes in his body shape was dramatic because he took pictures during and after each 3 month period. I told myself that night that if this clown can do it, that I could get off my fat duff and do it too. He was a potato chip, beer boy and junk eater just like me. Reality was though, even he seemed in better shape that me. I hadn't worked out at all since I was in high school (so about 30 plus years of inactivity). Anyway, that next day I started. My wife almost fainted when I told her I was going to start. She believed that I didn't have it in me to maintain it because I've never done anything like this at all. I told her and some friends that I'm not doing this for them. I'm not sure why I'm doing it. I'm going to try this out and see what all the fuss is about. Maybe I wanted to prove to myself that this workout thing is a racket. So I began. I started on a Monday and went 7 days a week following the program to the letter. By the third day I was so sore I couldn't move. Picking up a glass of water was beyond difficult. I couldn't believe that my body could be so sore. But it was. The weeks passed and the soreness went away and I started to believe in the p90x muscle confusion concept. I work hard each day with the program improving and gaining strength as each week went by. I started to see my body take a little shape and weight slowly began to drop within three weeks. Now the weight didn't fall off in mass. I realized that it took 30 years to get it there and it was going to take some time to get it off, but I was impressed that the program was working. Of course I didn't know a good program from a bad one. I did know that this one was working every muscle in my body.

I've done the program for a full year now. Lost 25lbs or so. I've enjoyed it. I've also moved into Insanity and p90x2."

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So now that you know a little about James and how he went from zero workouts to becoming someone who does not miss a day of working out!


Tomorrow you will here his input on the p90x program.