Hey teamRIPPED!
I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We did. And now it’s time to reflect on the 2012 — what things did we do that we are really proud of? What things would we like to do different in 2013? What are our goals for the New Year to make our lives and the lives of those around us better?
If taking your fitness up a notch is one of your 2013 goals, you better join our teamR1PP3D ’13 Challenge, cuz that’s exactly what we plan to do! If you didn’t see the details about it, CLICK HERE.
We have fitness groups to plug into, we have the new and improved Chocolate Shakeology flavor, we have all the nutrition tips a person could want …. no more excuses! Make the commitment to a new you in 2013!
The first few weeks of a new year are always exciting, because it’s the time of year people get that rush of motivation to turn over a new leaf, to expect more from themselves, to raise the bar. Let’s be sure we are encouraging the people around us to STICK WITH IT! New Year’s resolutions don’t have to last a month or 2. There is absolutely no reason they can’t last a lifetime and take our quality of life to a new level. It’s up to us to be the source of encouragement to those around us. And it’s up to us to stay motivated ourselves, so stick together in our groups to keep that passion fueled!
This story I’m about to share is a tough one to read — it will bring tears to your eyes to read about what Bruce has gone through — but it’s inspirational and Beachbody featured him on their main website Success Stories this month. Bruce has been a faithful, consistent member of our team for over 2 years, and we’ve all gone through the highs and lows together. If you haven’t heard Bruce’s story about his fitness and his life, do him the honor of reading this =
Strength From Within
Bruce E. Lost 40 lbs with P90X, Insanity and Asylum and used that inner strength he gained and the relentless support from the Beachbody community to overcome the most heartbreaking loss of a lifetime. Read his story below in his own words.
Coach Bruce with his wife and daughter.
My journey with P90X and Beachbody began in 2009. I had gotten pretty lazy and gained quite a few pounds being your typical couch potato. You know the kind, sitting on the couch or in the recliner downing some chips and beer during a ball game. Then I started seeing the P90X commercials on TV and kept telling my wife that I should order that and start working out again. And her response was always the same “Bruce, you will buy that and do it a few weeks then it will collect dust,” but to my surprise after a few months of saying I would like to try it she bought it and gave it to me as a gift. Well I started it and that lasted about 2 days. After the first day of Chest and Back I could barely get the covers off of me the next morning. Then after Plyo….whew that was pretty much it. I thought this is just too tough. Then of course I got the “told you so” speech from my wife.
About two months after that failed attempt at the program a co-worker was telling me about this new workout he was getting ready to begin and how it was pretty intense and it was 90 days. So, I asked him if it was P90X and he said yes. Then and there we made a deal to do it at the same time and keep each other accountable to finish it. This time was going to be the time I got through it and there would be no excuses. I knew if I was going to stay dedicated to it I would have to workout first thing in the morning which for me meant getting up at 3:00AM. This time my wife was behind me 100% and even prepared all my meals for me every day. With my nutrition dialed in on day one I took Tony’s advice and paced myself through round one so I had something left for round two. I started feeling good about myself again and I was seeing some good results from my hard work. Finally by the end of phase two everyone was seeing my results and wanting to know what I was doing and I would always say P90X. They would always say that looks so hard and my response was, “Well I would say it is hard, but so worth it.” I made it past my first round of P90X and decided to do it again, in fact I ended up doing 3 rounds of P90X before deciding to take it up a notch and get P90X+. During my cycle of P90X+ I decided to become a Beachbody coach. Initially I became a coach to get the discount because I had decided to start taking Shakeology and what a difference that made in my results.
After finishing up my round of P90X+ I decided to tackle Insanity. Man oh man was that ever a workout for those sixty days. Once I got Insanity I sat and watched the DVD’s. Afterwards my wife asked me what I thought about it and I told her, “Well in the morning when you get up, you might want to check the basement and make sure I survived the workout.” Well I survived the sixty days and I had talked my wife into joining a P90X challenge group and us do it together and I would coach her to meet her goals and help with her nutrition. So she did and we began the challenge together. I will never forget how tickled she was when she finally got her blue Beachbody Challenge bracelet. She always had it on. The only time that we actually got to workout together was on Saturday’s but it was always fun because she would have me laughing the whole time with the things she would be saying to the TV. After every Saturday workout we always high fived each other and said great job. Well my wife decided to draw an outline of her hands on the wall so that I would still be able to high five her after my morning workouts before getting ready for work. She made it halfway into the second phase before my life took a terrible turn for the worse.
On October 26th my daughter left her boyfriend and decided to come stay at our house for a few days. On the morning of October 27th the day began as usual with me getting up early and getting my workout in. After that I got ready for work then had some breakfast. On the couch my daughter laid sleeping with her baby boy and she woke up for a second and asked if I needed to turn the TV on and I said “No baby girl I’m good, about to leave so I love you and I will see you this evening after work.” She said, “I love you too Daddy have a good day.” Then I finished breakfast and went upstairs into our bedroom and kissed my wife on the forehead as she lay sleeping and said, “I love you baby.” Pulling out of the driveway I even thanked God for having such a great wife and kids. Later that morning my wife got up and came online and we began to chat just like every other day. I ended up having to walk away from my computer for a while and once I came back I never could get back in touch with her. I began calling and never could get an answer. My gut feeling took over and I ended up leaving work to go find out why I could not get an answer from them. I arrived to a scene that can only be described as something you would see in a horror movie. My heart just sunk and everything became a blur after that. On that day my wife and daughter were murdered in our house by my daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
After a few days went by and as arrangements were being made I decided that I should let my coach know why I was not posting in the challenge group that my wife and I were in. He got with the group and other coaches to let them know about my tragedy. Well needless to say they all showed me such support and gave donations to help with expenses. It really showed me just how much of a family Beachbody really is. Even during all that I could still hear my wife telling me I needed to keep hitting play so that’s what I did. I went to my home gym and hit play and gave it everything I had. I can honestly say that the workouts were a great relief during that time.
Every single day since, before every workout, I still high five my wife’s outlined hands and kiss them and say I love you baby then after each and every workout I high five them again and say, “Great job Baby.” My why? Well one stands about 3 feet tall and the other is a little over 2 feet tall. My grandchildren depend on me now and that gives me the drive to stay in shape and active for as long as I can. I still hit it every morning at 2:30AM to make sure I get my workout in.
He still high-fives her every day.
I can’t begin to thank Beachbody enough for all of the amazing programs they have to offer not to mention the AWESOME opportunity they have provided me with. I have since done the Body Beast program and I am currently awaiting the arrival of Insanity The Asylum Volume 2. I have also become a P90X certified trainer and have begun building my personal training client base. Currently I have 11 clients so between that and my day job I stay a very busy man. Now I’m focusing on paying it forward and trying to help all the people that I can reach their fitness goals. I know that is what my wife and daughter would have wanted and expected of me. Each person I help in some way and every good thing that I do is in their memory.
Wow Bruce. You are a man of incredible strength. God bless you for your perseverance, perspective, and faith. I’m inspired.
And 2 favors that I ask:
1) If you like the hard work I put into writing my articles and videos, PLEASE help me out by sharing them. Click the share links below them and share them on FB, twitter, etc. It really helps me get more exposure and grow teamRIPPED!
2) Also, as always, remember that the way I benefit from being your coach is that I earn a commission from any Beachbody products that you purchase, as long as you buy them through my site, www.teamRIPPED.com, or by logging in to www.teambeachbody.com to do your shopping (If you buy from the plain beachbody site I get no credit). It helps with the amount of time I spend answering all your questions and helping you out. Thank you! I really appreciate it!
Keep bringing it and inspiring others to do the same gang!!
Need a coach?
My email: coachwayne@teamripped.com
IG: @wayne_wyatt
