Why am I doing this?

The end of week 3 is approaching. This has been a tough week. I've been so busy with family and work. Still I make no excuses and continue to pop in the Insanity DVD. I've been ramping up my intensity this week. I'm really pushing hard to get at or below 200 lbs.

My 200 lb mark has been my nemesis for a long time. Looking back, it's been almost 12 years since I've been below that weight. As expected, it was for my wedding to my beautiful wife. This time I don't need any special reason except for my WHY?

WHY am I doing this? Well here you go.

My why started 5 years ago. Our first son was born. I stopped working out and starting eating bad. I was always thinking I’ll start working out again, but never did. 

Then 3 years ago, we were blessed with Identical twin boys, but life changed greatly. 16 weeks pregnant and my boys were diagnosed with TTTS. It’s a virtual death sentence. We had to rush down from Atlanta to Miami to have an emergency surgery (in the womb) to save their life. The weight started piling on, along with the stress. 

More bad news, they were born 3 months premature. This brought on a whole new set of problems, they were struggling for life. They were in the Intensive care for 3 months. They finally came home. I thought this was the time to start getting better. I tried Insanity (on my own) and only got through 4 weeks and then stopped. More weight and more bad eating habits. 

1 month after my boys being home, my father was diagnosed with incurable brain cancer. He fought for 2 ½ years. I had hit the heaviest I've ever been in my entire life. Then one day I saw a video on the beachbody facebook page. It was a young man explaining his why: Christian Dimitui, he awoke something inside of me. I contacted him and he became my BeachBody coach. 

On Nov 3, 2012, I began my journey with insanity again, this time with a Coach and a challenge group. I got to the 4 week mark and hospice was called in for my father (Ironically, week 4 is where I quit the first time). He only had days to live. I stayed at my parent’s house those entire 9 days. I didn't miss a workout and I didn't eat poorly. In fact, I did better. 

My father was a man who always felt that I could do whatever I set my mind too. He always taught me, “no excuses”. If you set a goal, get it. My father passed away on Dec. 26th of 2012 and I finished my round 1 of insanity on Jan 5. I lost just over 20 lbs. 

I know he would be proud. I realized through all of this, that many people have problems, much worse than mine. I realized that these saying, “you have one home, your body” are in fact true. These sayings aren't just words. I realized that this is life and I want to be around to see my boys grow up, get married, have families of their own and be there for my family. I want to keep a promise to my father to keep a watch on my mother. This made me think, if you cannot look out for yourself how can you take care of others. 

I became a coach, because I want to help others who have struggled. I want to provide them a product and a support system so they can succeed. It took me 5 years to realize this is what I needed. #PushPlay.

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shannon.s.uden
Beachbody: http://beachbodycoach.com/pacopike1
Email: pacopike1@bellsouth.net