My Introduction and transformation story!

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Hello everyone my name is Jacob Buehler and I just wanted to introduce myself. A little over a year ago I was extremely depressed because of my downward spiraling health.

I had always been thin my whole life. The skinniest I had ever been was Marine Corps boot camp graduation, I was 137 lbs. I never minded being the skinny guy, I figured at least I was in shape, and I was active as well, always going for a jog etc.

Well as the years grew on I found a job working in a call center for the Rio here in Las Vegas. I've actually never gotten out of the call center business since (still am in it almost 10 years later). But the sitting involved with it really started to take a toll on me.

And I can't blame my job for me getting out of shape, it was my fault. They had free employee buffets at the casino jobs I worked at, and I really took advantage. I got married shortly after and we had a child very quickly. The ex wife cheated on me though when our son was only 4 months old.

We immediately split and did split custody for our son Trent, but after 1 month her crazy night life was too much so I asked her for full custody and she agreed. She's since signed off parental rights to me so I've pretty much always been a single dad.

Well my weight really started to get out of control after I became a full time single dad. I was actually glad that she was out of my life as crazy as it sounds. She was a very damaging person and it felt good to be free, despite the pain of having been cheated on. It was just me and the boy!

I got to raise him how I saw fit, and got plenty of video game time in too haha. Naturally playing a lot of video games I was always munching on pizza and drinking soda, sometime 12 a day. Before I knew it I was completely addicted to fast food, sometimes getting junk food twice a day. I bought all frozen pizzas, spaghetti, hungry mans etc. It was very bad.

I ballooned up over 200 lbs. A year later I was disgusted with myself and decided I needed to try and lose some weight, but I was half hearted in it and didn't really know what I was doing. I started going for some pretty intense jogs, and starved myself on a chicken / lean cuisine / oatmeal diet. I lost about 30 lbs but then I caved in to fast food all over again because I just couldn't stand starving myself.

I ballooned up again to around 200. Anyways long story short I lost weight again by starving myself and hitting the treadmill, at least to the point where I felt confident in dating. I think I got back down to around 160. I met my current girlfriend Adriana and we got comfortable in our relationship. She's an amazing human being, but yet again I let my health go, and this time it started affecting her.

We both gained a lot of weight. I was up to 185 before I was fed up and decided to make a change. I remember coming home with Taco bell and eating it with my girlfriend and my son. I was watching my son drink down his mountain dew "baja blast" and thought to myself "What the #%@&! kind of a father am I? We only have this one chance to live right and treat our bodies with respect and I'm feeding this junk to myself AND my family."

I thought...enough was enough... I told my girlfriend I wanted to get in shape once and for all for the rest of our lives. We started researching personal trainer routines we could write down and take to the gym with us, along our research we came across P90X where you could work out from home. I figured the program was probably nonsense or easier than the routines I was used to (Marine corps stuff) so maybe I would pick and choose a few workouts out of the schedule that I might like.

I was very surprised to find that the program had a complete total body schedule that you followed on a daily calendar, as well as an easy to follow meal plan so you wouldn't ever go hungry, that was what really attracted me haha.

So anyways "longer" story short, we stuck to the program and the nutrition and I lost about 35 lbs. My girlfriend got some amazing results too but she was too shy to put together a transformation video or any pictures of herself so here is mine. I hope it inspires you all.

Since I got in the best shape of my life, and learned how to eat right from home with this program I've been hooked on paying it forward ever since. I've since got my mom AND my dad involved, who are both over the age of 55. (You're never too old).

I've also got my 2 brothers and my sister Jessica on the program (you can see a picture of me with all of them in the beginning of the video, of course that was years ago). A ton of my friends have also joined it.

Overall I'm just really happy I changed my life, and have been an inspiration to so many other people to do the same.

If there's anyone out there reading this that may not be where they want in their current health status, I say to you, stay strong, and stay committed. Reach out, use forums like these for support. Places like this are a place of HEALING where others will encourage you along your journey. I'm here for you as well. Keep fighting the good fight! God bless.

My P90X Transformation Video: http://youtu.be/L0QUq_RwLww <----

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A little extra about me:

I live in Las Vegas, I love playing guitar, I love video games still but I've balanced my time!

I love cooking now! I haven't bought fast food in a long time! Occasionally we'll celebrate by going out to a restaurant but only occasionally. I work as a travel agent currently but I'm trying to make fitness coaching my full time gig as I love helping others change their lives (much more rewarding).

I have 4 other siblings. I have 1 son, his name is Trent and he'll be graduating kindergarten in the coming months! He just learned how to read and loves reading everything aloud to me everywhere we go lol.

My girlfriend is Adriana who will probably be joining us on these forums soon as we're both crazy about fitness and nutrition.

I grew up in California and Washington state and somehow ended up in the desert of Las Vegas lol.

Let's see what else...I'm a big sci fi buff, favorite movies would be Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, STAR WARS! (I even like the new ones even though they're not as good as the old ones)

Feel free to ask me anything! This looks like an awesome forum and I'm surprised I haven't heard of it sooner.

Replies

  • MikMont
    MikMont Posts: 49 Member
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    Awesome story! I have always wanted to try p90 but we live on the 2nd floor of our complex. I dont think the elderly neighbor below us would appreciate us hopping around. lol I appreciate your transparency in your post!
  • gseburn
    gseburn Posts: 456 Member
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    Well, I didn't read every word, but I get the gist. :-) Great transformation and story. I wish you, your son, and Adriana all the best!
  • Jezebel9
    Jezebel9 Posts: 396 Member
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    Wow! Awesome! I am a vet too (Army), 43, happily married and my son is just about to go into kindergarten. looking for some male friends on here and hope you can be one. Thanks for sharing your story, it is indeed paying it forward and gives a boost to morale. SF and all that! haha
  • TStend
    TStend Posts: 8
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    Thank you for putting it all out there! Love the honesty and inspiration. I too hope to have a similar story to yours out here one day! It's amazing the support that there is out here! Thanks again!
  • loves_jc
    loves_jc Posts: 86 Member
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    Great Job what an insperation, I will be praying for your family, let adrianna know that we would love to see her side of that story to. Well very excited for the both of you, your son will be thankful to you.
  • Seminolegirl97
    Seminolegirl97 Posts: 307 Member
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    Amazing story! Great job! Inspiring.
  • ChristaFall
    ChristaFall Posts: 72 Member
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    Very inspiring! Congrats to you and your girlfriend!
  • Mel2626
    Mel2626 Posts: 342 Member
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    I just love a great transformation story! How wonderful that you're not only living a better life yourself but that your girlfriend, son, parents, siblings and even friends (wow that's a lot of people!) are starting to see what changes they can make too! Very inspiring of you~thanks for the post!! :smile:
  • vb4evr
    vb4evr Posts: 615 Member
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    Welcome. Mirroring others here, great to see such inspiring transformation stories.
  • CoachJake83
    CoachJake83 Posts: 108
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    Thanks everyone. It's been an incredible year. We're definitely going to post a transformation update for Adriana (video and pictures as well) but she says she isn't quite where she wants to be yet in regards to hitting her goal. Once she feels confident in hitting her goal I'm gonna help her throw an awesome video and before & afters together.

    Her story is pretty amazing. She comes from a very traditional Mexican family. They're very nice of course, but the eating habits are terrible! She's very short at 4'11" so all that greasy food took a tole on her throughout her life. She was always the chubby girl in school. She's come so far now but she's still so hard on herself!

    ALL of her clothes are too big for her now, we need to do some more shopping. I think she'll be ready to share her story after she finishes her current round of Insanity. She's been hard at these workouts for a year and has seen some amazing results. She started about 30% body fat, maybe a little higher. Now she's in her teens and still dropping.

    Thanks again for all the kind words! I'm really blown away by how positive the community is here! Nice to know we can use the internet for a good purpose. =D
  • samra2012
    samra2012 Posts: 715
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    I did p90x one (three months).... but I guess I have to do it again!!!!:laugh:
    Great story!!!!!