Happy Super Bowl Sunday!  I hope you're all well and are enjoying this "holiday" weekend - my beloved Bears got eliminated by the Pack, but Super Bowl weekends are fun nonetheless.  I remember at this time last year, getting ready for the "big game," I was probably in the worst shape of my adult life.  Sure, my dirt bike accident in December of 2009 had contributed to that, but no excuses, it was what it was. 

When I finally was healthy and recovered enough from the accident to exercise again, I decided upon P90X as my program of choice.  Honestly, I was too embarrassed to take my fat butt to the gym, and the fact that I could at least struggle in the comfort of my own home appealed to me. Plus, if I happened to fail or "fall off the wagon," the only people who would know were my family.

The next 90 days changed my life.  Period.  Is that a cliche?  Yes.  Is it 100 percent true?  Without a doubt.

Listen, if you're reading this right now...maybe you've seen the infomercial...and you're debating whether to try this incredible program, DO IT! I promise, it will forever change your life.

I am NOT an extraordinary person. I'm married, I have two young kids, I have a job and that job has a long commute attached to it. I'm not overly athletic, "grizzly-bear" strong or even particularly skilled when it comes to exercise. BUT, I was extraordinarily motivated, and anybody can do that!

Those workouts beat me down in the beginning - "blood, sweat and tears" were actually very accurate descriptions of my early workouts! But, I always came back for more, I never walked away and I always gritted my teeth and improved upon whatever my numbers had been the previous workout.  I never quit.  I trusted the program and I "put in the work."

Physical fitness has become a way of life for myself and my family now - it's part of who we are.  Beachbody has affected us in so many positive ways - first my health and now my coaching of others.  Being a "coach" gives me the satisfaction of changing other peoples' lives, while it also earns me money for doing so - what could possibly be better than that?  I want to share an excerpt from a post into a thread created by someone I recently coached through P90X:

"I want to thank my coach - Joel Sydanmaa. You can find Joel all over the message boards. One mistake I made early in the program was that I did not understand the nutrition program for a good 60 of the 90 days. My results were not bad during this time but after I connected with Joel and made the changes to my nutrition plan that he suggested, my results took off. Joel made a huge impact on my final results and I can't thank him enough. Even after all the great advice he gave me, he never asked for anything in return. If you need a coach you can't go wrong with Joel. He is a terrific guy and I now consider him to be a great friend."

I've gotta be honest - that paragraph hit me in the heart.  I've learned a lot about myself over the past eleven months. Sure, P90X made me look better on the outside. But, the PROCESS has made me a better person on the inside.

It's still early in 2011 - earlier than when I got started back in 2010! Do it - make this the year that you:

Change. Your. Life.