Injury will not hold me back!

My fitness over the years has been like a rollercoaster or a Yo-Yo at best. Growing up as a child basketball became my preferred sport. In my late teens at 6ft tall I was able to dunk a basketball with two hands. It seems when I achieved a goal, I would get injured. At the age of 19 while getting robbed, I was shot in the shoulder and could not work out. I was due to join the United States Navy in a few months, but gained too much weight from recovering from the wound. I had to lose weight before I could enlist. I lost just enough to enlist with 1 pound to spare. Then I went to boot camp and lost 24 more pounds. It felt great. I was 189 pounds, 8% body fat and felt like I could fly on the basketball court.
While playing a pickup game on base, I completely ripped my left ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). I was devastated. I went from dunking a basketball with two hands, to not able to touch the net. I gained 40 pounds and lost 6 inches of muscle from my left leg due to atrophy. I never wanted to see a basketball again. I had two screws in my knee and couldn’t jump any more.
My knees began to hurt from lack of muscle and I was diagnosed with PFS (patella femoral syndrome). I worked out just enough to pass Navy fitness standards, but was still saddened by the weight gain and the pain I went through every day. Still gaining I ballooned up to 281 pounds. Home on leave, visiting the parents, I knew it was time to make a change when I had to hold my breath to tie my shoes.
I watched the Power 90 infomercial a couple times and the phrase “In Home Boot camp” brought back memories of feeling great right out of Navy boot camp and I wanted to try getting back into boot camp shape. At the time a lot was going on in my life. I hit a lot of mid life milestone all around the same time. I turned 30, went over 10 years in the military, and was promoted to E-6 all within 3 months. I started to feel old and had very little motivation. I started Power 90 and stopped after day 30. I placed it on the shelf and didn’t look at it again for 3 years. In 2006, I was scheduled to go on deployment and wanted to complete Power 90 at sea. It worked great; I lost 57 pounds with Power 90. I felt great and I could dunk again, well with one hand at least.
During a morning workout doing laps around the track, I was having severe pains in my left knee. I went to the doctor and was told that maybe my ACL surgery was causing arthritis. So I was confined to the Elliptical and stationary bike in the gym. The Elliptical was too much pain to bear. Another trip to the doctor and several x-rays later, a calcified bone growth was revealed under my knee cap from the first surgery. Once again I undergo surgery to remove the excess bone and I get discouraged and gain weight. This time I am up to 275 pounds. During my rehab I was riding the stationary bike and noticed the P90X infomercial on the gym TV. I was hooked and watched Tony and the P90X infomercial every time I rehabbed.
The doctor told me that I had degenerative arthritis and I could only bike or swim. So I maintained between 260-270 pounds because I didn’t work out hard enough due to knee pains all the time. Eventually I left the military and really piled on the pounds. Exercise was not mandatory anymore and I didn’t do a thing for 6 months. My blood pressure was to the point I had to be medicated and I was taking maximum dose of pain killers each day.
I did not want to be dependent on pain pills all my life and knew that I needed to change fast. I knew that if I didn’t make a change then spending time with my wife and kids would probably be cut short. I got a second opinion on my knee and discovered it was the PFS causing the pain and not arthritis. I already knew what I needed to do, build muscle to strengthen my knees. From that day on P90X was on my mind. I knew the results that Power 90 gave me and I was sure that P90X was the next step to take.
I am 30 days into my P90X work out, and the doc told me I needed surgery on my “good” knee. I was experiencing a little pain and got it checked out. After a MRI the doc found a major tear in the meniscus. This time I will find a way to incorporate P90X into my rehab, because I have already dropped 22 pounds, 9% body fat and 6 inches off my waist in the first 30 days. I cannot let injury hold me back. Quoted best by one of our WOWY members “I will not lose the pounds I will discard them, because I never want to find them again.”
I am no longer taking pain meds or blood pressure medication, I can go to the mall with my family and my knees will not hurt from walking. I am surprising myself with how fast I am progressing.
P90X is doing more than getting me back in shape; P90X is giving me my life back!