I’m 24 years old and I work full time. After graduating college, I went from being very active to spending all day long sitting down at work, so I gained a bit of weight. In high school, on top of dance practice, I had 2 hours of tennis practice 5 days a week for a total of about 10 to 15 hours per week of intense cardio. In college I averaged 10 hours per week, focusing on dance. During those years, I was athletic, thin, and defined from all of the practice. But after I stopped that and started working full time, the weight crept on and I lost the muscle tone and strength I formerly had. After some time, I joined the gym and began working out doing cardio, lifting weights (which I’d never done before), and going to aerobics classes. On longer days at work, I couldn’t make it to the gym afterwards so it was hard to stick to my schedule.
At the very end of 2005, I met Mike and learned about his workout, so I decided to give it a try at the start of the New Year. I’ve been doing the O15 workout since and I haven’t felt better or more comfortable with any other exercise routine. It’s an extremely difficult workout, but the atmosphere at the training studio helped me to learn to work as hard as I can. It’s a comfortable environment without a bunch of people walking through and gawking. Since it’s so quick, it’s no problem for me to fit in my workout after a long workday. It’s at most an hour and 15 minutes per week.
Other than doing this workout, I like to run or walk for 20 to 30 minutes 2 or 3 days of the week, because it’s nice to move around after doing nothing but sit all day at work. After starting, I haven’t altered my eating habits. I tried to eat a balanced diet, though I like to have a beer every now and then, but I haven’t made any changes since starting or tried to diet.
I don’t often weigh myself, but I lost between 10 and 15 pounds. I was never actually heavy to begin with, so it was a decent amount for me. I have the muscle tone in my arms and legs back again, and for the first time I have lines from my abs. Doing this workout has also really boosted my energy and my self esteem. For anybody who is thinking of starting, you have to be patient and willing to learn. It is very difficult, so you can’t let yourself cheat; it’s something you have to really want to do.
