My name is Brian, and this is my TT journey......I am 41 years old and before starting my TT challenge my life had consisted of constant back pain for many years. I had my first back surgery in August of 2013 and another in September of 2015, with my most recent in December of 2015. My first surgery in 2013 worked well, but was followed by severe headaches for the next year and a half. My headaches were so painful that I really didn’t do much of anything for almost a year. It was getting to be hard on my wife and kids because I never wanted to leave the house because of the pain that I was dealing with. I searched for answers for the headaches for months upon months and finally received a medication that slowly made the headaches eventually completely subside.
Shortly after beating the headaches, I began having back pain again, which then lead to an unsuccessful surgery in September of 2015. I dealt with a lot of pain after the surgery and tried physical therapy and lots of walking but neither helped. After three months off of work, I decided I had no choice but to return to work and push through the pain. After working for about a month, I couldn’t take the pain anymore and decided to see a new spine specialist. He informed me that I would need another surgery. Last December, and just days before Christmas, I had my last and most recent back surgery. Needless to say my 2015 Christmas consisted of staying home in bed and resting, when I really just wanted to be enjoying the holidays with my family. This surgery was a success, and with lots of walking, I returned to work after one month and actually felt pretty good. I still knew I needed to make more changes in my life in order to not go down this road again.
My wife Holly had been doing FBBC for several months and had been encouraging me to give it a try. After having three back surgeries and two of them just six months earlier I just wasn’t sure my body could handle it. After a few months of Holly asking me to give it a try I finally said yes! I met with one of my coaches, Brent, to go over my concerns of back issues and surgeries in the past. After talking with Brent, I felt much more comfortable about my decision to give FBBC a try. I was very nervous going for the first time but we went bright and early on a Saturday morning to give it a shot. About fifteen minutes into the workout, I thought I was going to throw up, so I didn’t even finish my first workout. After that first experience, I was hesitant to go back, but after a few days, I did. Holly would go to an early morning class and still go with me in the afternoon just to make me more comfortable with it (I know, I’m a chicken and she’s amazing!). Yes, there were some aches and pains, but I pushed through it and in just a short time, my endurance and strength has increased.
This is the new me and I’m glad that the TT challenged me in so many more ways. Holly and I have learned to improve our nutrition at home with meal preparation. TT gave me the extra boost I needed at the perfect time in my life. I enjoy the variety of the workouts and I make sure to work with the coaches to make modifications when needed, which is becoming more and more rare. Just because the 12 week TT challenge is over, I’m still going strong and excited to see my journey continue. Thank you to my coaches Brent, Nick, Alyssa and Brittany for helping me and encouraging me every day. None of this would have been possible without my amazing wife and coaches helping me to believe in myself!!! A healthy life is a happy life!
