August 2005

Before

After

My name is Matt W., and I first tried Power 90 back in late 2001. I started the program to get myself in better shape. I was a little heavier than I would have liked, but I wasn't too concerned. I mainly wanted to tone up and get into shape—I had never really been in shape. After receiving the tapes, I worked hard and Pushed Play every day through day 45, when personal disaster struck. I lost my job, and a drunk driver hit my girlfriend within the same week. As a result I got completely off track. Everything came spiraling down, and I found myself binging on fast food and beer. I had no idea how much damage I was doing to myself, living like that.

Over the next year or so, I proceeded to gain nearly 30 pounds. In November 2002, the scale hit 178 pounds. I couldn't believe it. I am only 5' 6", so 178 for me was a very, very big number. I was starting to have diabetic-like reactions to foods—even things like white bread would make me feel moody and headachy and tired. That wasn't okay. I had lost my grandmother to diabetes, and I was following her path to the grave. I was killing myself. I decided it was time to do something.

I started with a major shift in diet. Cold turkey, I cut out sodas and drastically reduced my alcohol intake. I discovered that whole grains would not alter my blood sugar nearly as much as processed flour. I increased the lean protein in my diet as well. But I was not working out at this point; I was still leading a very sedentary existence. After a few months I had lost 20 pounds and was down to 158, but I had hit a plateau. My body simply refused to lose any more fat, and I knew I still had a long way to go (judging by the amount I could still grab on my belly!).

It was now May 2004, and I was getting very frustrated. That's when I found my old Power 90 tapes and threw those in the VCR. So after nearly three years(!!!) I started up again on May 10, 2004, and have not looked back. For my first round of Power 90, I started with 10-pound weights on all the exercises, and it was tough! I was in far worse shape than I thought. It took awhile before I was ready to increase the weight, and my progress was slow going at first. I was doing well on the diet, though. The 40-30-30 eating plan and Michi's Ladder helped me perfect the diet I had already started on my own. Around day 30, I decided I was ready for phase 3-4. Wow, 3-4 was way harder than I remembered it from three years ago. But after just a few days on 3-4 (and continuing to stick to the diet), I really started seeing results. It was so amazing.

After some great results from Power 90, I decided to CRUSH the X—and man alive, did I get results! This program makes Power 90 look like a walk in the park (and that's a good thing!). And the diet is very strict. I won't say it was easy—it fact, it was one of the hardest things I've done. But it was so worth it! I'm continuing to do the X and I continue to get amazing results. I'm using 35- and 40-pound weights on exercises I struggled to do with 10-pounders when I started. I've never been in such good shape in my whole life.

It's sometimes hard to believe I've lost 50 pounds in less than a year. I don't recognize the guy staring back from the mirror, and that's just fine. I feel better than I ever could have imagined, and I'm so much happier living a healthy lifestyle than I ever was eating at Jack in the Box. I tell everyone I know about these truly amazing Beachbody products—I've already converted three people this summer. Here's to a hundred more converts to the Beachbody lifestyle!

Matt W.