From 2009 to 2013, I lost over 200 pounds through weightlifting and proper nutrition.  In the fall of 2013, I injured my lower back; over the next two years, I sustained multiple back injuries, knee surgery, varicose vein removal, and a dual diagnosis of fibromyalgia and degenerative arthritis in numerous joints. My inability to find an exercise regimen my body would tolerate drove me into a depressive cycle and all of my poor eating habits came raging back.

At the beginning of 2017, I found out I needed reconstructive surgery on my left hand - once the procedure was scheduled, I started researching ways I could get healthier, to be ready for medical clearance - surgery was in March, got the all clear to resume activity in late May. 

A search for low-impact exercise not only sent me to yoga (which I had tried before with some success, but it aggravated my lower back immensely), but it also sent me to DDP YOGA. I was a wrestling fan back when DDP won his first title, and seeing the results people were having, and the energy that was generated, convinced me I should try it out.

Although I'll always miss pushing heavy weights around, this program has given me SO MUCH in the last 13 weeks. I can walk, stand up straight, move without crippling pain, and by following a responsible eating plan, I dropped 56 pounds in 101 days. My size 24 pants are now a 16. Is my pain gone completely? Nope, but it's about 95% less. I've still got arthritis and the back issues will always be there (structural breakdown) - but I have my LIFE BACK. That was the goal I was shooting for. The rest of it, and everything still to come, is just a bonus.