I thought I would post an update on my progress; but instead I decided to post my entire progress history since I started doing Beachbody workouts. Once again, I think this is a testament to the combination of their great workouts, diet plans, and support system. If it weren’t for the support system I probably would have never made it here. The two plots you see in this post are my body weight history (left panel) and my body fat % (right panel). As you can see in my first 60 days I completed Insanity and had a drastic drop in both my weight and my body fat. Over the next 90 days, I did a hybrid program with P90X and Insanity and during this time I started using Shakeology. Through this time, I only lost a few pounds in weight; but my body fat continued to decrease. The same thing happened in the next 30 day series where I completed Asylum, didn’t lose much weight; but my body fat kept decreasing. Following this, I have been mixing P90X, Insanity, Asylum and running (training for half marathons). It is interesting because I started gaining a bit of weight; but my body fat continued to decrease. Which is good because this means that all the weight I gained was muscle mass and not fat.

It is clear that America’s obesity rate is on the rise. The above figure shows the obesity rates listed for each state in 1990, 1999, and 2009. In 1990 The worst was only 10-14% for the rates of obesity; but in 2009 more than half of the United Sates is above 25%. Results like these make me afraid to look at the results for 2009. For a more detailed report, check the CDC’s website on obesity. Many people blame fast food chains, too much time watching TV, and too little time exercising.

But when it comes down to it its all about the choices we make. I understand both sides of the equation because I was obese for most of my life. I am blessed that I had a change of heart my senior year of high school and gained a true desire to live a healthy lifestyle. From then on I have sought ways to improve my own health, fitness, and lifestyle. To me that included changing what I eat, how much I sleep, how much I exercise, and how I treat my body. For years I have focused this inward on myself; but I realized that if I am really passionate about this, I need to turn this outward. Anyone who has a relationship with Jesus knows that his greatest commandment is to love others. So I have decided to try to help others end the trend of obesity. To do that I have signed up to be a coach for an awesome company called Beachbody. Beachbody is committed to ending the trend of obesity in America by promoting better nutrition and adapting to an active lifestyle.

To anyone out there, who is reading this and struggles with obesity: First of all, I know how you feel. I’ve been there and I along with my team want to help you. First of all, if you are trying to change your lifestyle for the better, DON’T GIVE UP! Keep moving forward. If you need help, please contact me, its one of the reasons I’ve set up this blog.

For those of you who have or are in the process of conquering your struggle with obesity, now its time to help others. If this is what you want to do, then join my team by clicking the link below. Or feel free to contact me.

Join Team Beachbody

Brandon Henderson, PhD
Division of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, The Ohio State University
440 Riffe Building, 496 W 12th ave, Columbus, OH 43210

Hi friends, I started a New Challenge on Fatsecret! This challenge is called “The Beachbody Challenge”. Its all about making small changes that will benefit our future for the long term. For any of you that know me, I’m not about ‘diets’. To me, diets are things that most people go on to lose weight; but as soon as they lose the weight they go off the diet. When they go off the diet, they go back to bad habits and gain the weight again. Next thing you know, there back on a diet again. Thus begins a never ending cycle. I know this from experience as a young teen when I would constantly battle my weight. Now as an adult, I know that if I want to be healthy, I need to be consistent in my health, nutrition, and exercise. This is what this challenge is about, helping people get consistent.

For those of you who have never heard of fatsecret, here is a short blurb about what the website is about:

“FatSecret is a new online diet, nutrition and weight loss community that harnesses the collective contributions of our members to generate practical and motivating information so that you can make better decisions to achieve your goals.”

When I was a varsity rower in college, I started to have a lot of issues with joint pain my senior year. Most of the pain I felt, happened to occur in my right shoulder. I never knew why because I thought I had always been careful in the way I trained. It only dawned on me why this was happening when I ended up needed physical therapy for ‘over-use’ injuries to my shoulder. As a rower, especially in my senior year, I only concentrated on developing the muscles I needed.

Therefore, I lifted to strengthen my legs, back and arms. I never did any chest workouts. In doing so, I ruined the symmetry of my body and my body started to tried to overcompensate. Thus, my shoulder got out of alignment and then the pain started. If only I knew how important it was to keep my training ‘symmetrical’ I would have never had this problem.

So moral of the story: Balance your workouts. Don’t just focus on one body part in all of your training; because eventually you’ll be asking for trouble. You want big biceps? Then work your triceps. Need quad strength for jumping? Work your hamstrings as well. Need chest strength to push hard (I’m talking to you, linebackers)? Then work your back.