Success Story: Derek H.

I grew up a chubby kid.  Watching the other kids who were good sports always made me jealous.  I wanted to be like them, but never was. 

In High School I started Weight Training and got stronger, learned a lot, but it wasn’t until I started practicing Martial Arts that things changed.  My physical condition improved, but my shape never changed because my nutrition hadn’t. 

In College I had to back away from my Martial Arts practice, and any weight lost came back.  Near 170 lbs, depressed about where my body was going, I decided to do something about it.  I started riding an exercise bike daily, and added weight training to my twice-weekly Martial Arts practice.  I cleared the cookies and temptations out of our apartment, and I started losing weight.  Wanting more, I took a step that would inevitably haunt me for the rest of my life:

Counting and limiting my calories.

In 1988, there wasn’t much information about caloric requirements.  I picked a number that sounded high: 1000 per day.   Increasing my exercise output as well, including running, swimming, and biking to/from the gym.   On only 1000 calories the weight fell off at an unhealthy rate.  I lost over 30 lbs in a month, but the entire process was a constant emotional battle.  My body was starving, and my mind fought against the overpowering urge to eat, causing mood swings, anger, and eventually binge eating.   Getting that under control took a lot of hard, emotionally challenging work

After college, my career in aviation finally took off, literally, but that brought new challenges.  I struggled to maintain control over my diet while on the road, but as it got worse, all of the lost weight came back.  By the time I turned 40 years old I was again over 170 lbs.  I was desperate to do something about it, but I knew about my past, what could happen if food ruled my life again.  I sadly shrugged it off, not willing to go down that path again.  Of the choices, getting fat was better than the battle it had been earlier in my life.   That acceptance never made it any less depressing, or easier to accept.

Looking for the way to change, I found it in P90X.  With my results came an enthusiasm that grows every day.  I dropped from 170 lbs as low as 138, 20% body fat to 4%.  I was ripped but skinnier than I wanted.   Over time I have been adding muscle, bringing my weight up into the 140s again, while maintaining single digit body fat.

I am very active in the Beachbody Community.  I helped organize Tony Horton’s D.C. Fitness Camp, attended another Camp in Vegas and other Team Beachbody meetings.  I’ve led several group workouts in the D.C. area.

My passion for fitness has spread at work as well, getting many of my coworkers doing P90X.  I reconnected with one of my college roommates because of Beachbody.  After starting, his weight dropped from over 230 to 200, with a goal of 180 for summer.

My activities are massively different, no longer playing video games all day.  I am capable of things I never thought I’d be able to do, including Lever Pull ups, Plyo Pull ups, push ups totaling over 400 in a workout.   Shoulder, wrist, and back issues I’d been plagued with from my Martial Arts work are gone. 

My diet has changed completely.  Gone are the days of fast food, pizza, Chinese, or chicken wings.  I eat lean cuts of meat, steamed veggies, whole grains.  I make smarter choices, control my portions.  I stopped drinking sodas, going from 20 or more cans per day to flavored water.

Working as an Airline Pilot, it is difficult to maintain a healthy diet.  Airports don’t have the healthiest choices, and often our time is limited.  To overcome that I carry foods with me in a small cooler.  Protein bars, nuts, and healthy snacks keep me away from vending machines. 

My life is entirely different from what it was before starting with Beachbody.  I’m an active Coach and member of That Team, working to spread these programs and Fitness.  I eat better, workout harder, and live a much fuller, happier, active life.  In May 2007 I was awarded $10,000 for my transformation in Beachbody’s monthly Challenge (then called the Million Dollar Body Game).   The journey has been amazing, and it’s ongoing.  The world is open to me now in ways I could never have imagined thanks to my health, fitness, and business with That Team, and Team Beachbody.