Weight Loss Blog

How I started my Weight Loss Journey

Welcome to my weight loss journey from fat to fit to financially free. Being plagued by illness and poor health, I took it upon myself during the lockdowns to get myself fit and with the looming prospect of retirement not too many years ahead. I started an online business to promote some of the products I used.  Follow me to see what I have done and the fitness equipment, programs, and supplements I used along the way.

I aim to inspire you to start your weight loss journey and financial freedom plan. If you started getting into shape, what would you have done to get started?  What was your motivation to finally do something about it? Let me know in the comments section, and we can share our stories.

Here’s the brake down on my weight loss journey:

• Overweight and out of shape, I was afraid to drop dead before 60. My only exercise then was catching the bus; the bus always won. I remember how much my knees and feet would hurt when I tried running after it and how out of breath I was when I was able to catch it.
• Clothes wouldn’t fit right, and the feeling of frustration of trying to find something that would be comfortable or complementary. Hoping what I found would not be so tight that my shirt or pant buttons would not be screaming to be opened.
• Spent most of my time after work on the couch, tired and stressed from the working day. My eating habits were poor during working hours, consistently snacking on high sugary items. My typical meals were mostly large portions of carbs, and the only healthy item was a bottle of water that came with it.
• Typical workday breakfast, Toasted bagels or muffins with butter/cream cheese
• Sausage egg and biscuit (Favorite)
• XLarge coffee with extra sugar
• Occasionally fast-food breakfast
• Workday Lunch
• Depending on the day
• Street food (Some protein over rice and beans)
• Hero type sandwich that could easily feed three people
• Two slices of Pizza with toppings
• Dinners were always healthier since my wife would do the cooking
• Protein with vegetables and on special occasions, I would make a fresh focaccia bread for the family

Support team and turning point

Family: (Lean on ME)

My wife always has been my biggest cheerleader in all the crazy ideas I had and wanted to accomplish. She has always encouraged me sometimes painful to have my weight under control, especially as we are getting older. Seeing my parents’ passing before the pandemic put life into perspective that we all have an expiration date. So why not grow old as gracefully as possible and do what you can to stay as sharp, pain-free, and fit as possible?

Show me the books you read and the people you hang out with, and I will show you the person you are

Close-knit cousins that are more like brothers in our group chats, talking about different topics (How to make more money in real estate or other business ventures) and encouraging each other in our endeavors. It wasn’t until the pandemic that most of our topics were around what we need to do to keep our families alive and healthy.

“Say it isn’t so Joe”

I was introduced to the famous Joe Rogan Podcast a few years before the pandemic Joe Rogan Podcast. I was intrigued to hear the guest speakers he would interview that can give you a great perspective on a broad range of topics. His passion for staying in shape always comes out on his shows, and he needs to exercise and take supplement products to keep his mind and overall well-being as sharp as possible.

During the pandemic, his guests were primarily physicians, scientists, and sometimes conspiracy theorists to put everything into perspective and how certain studies have determined who was most at risk of being susceptible to the virus.

I decided to take vitamins and supplements to ensure that my body had the nutrition needed to stay healthy . Before I get banned or canceled I want to be clear that the FDA does not approve any supplements and any programs, vitamins promote are: “NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE. See your doctor before you start your weight loss journey.

The Stack:

• Multi-vitamin
• Quercetin
• Zinc
• Vitamin D3

Seeing the light:

It wasn’t until the combination of things that affected me:

• Passing of my parents
• Time of living life was running out
• Living with pain
• Overweight or obese
• The feeling of not being well
• Not having enough to retire

This all happened in the last few years that led to the pandemic, and I had a burning desire to start my weight loss journey finally.

• Lose Weight
• Increase my well being
• Financial freedom based on residual income through real estate or other online business means

Christmas came early:

The treadmill was a family present to keep us in shape during the pandemic. My start was slow, but I became hooked as soon as I found the right program. Dropping 30 lbs. in two years take consistency and life-changing habits to keep the weight off.

What I do now that I never did before:

• Exercise 30 mins 5 days a week
• Followed the IFit program from Nordic Track that went from walking to running in 30 days, followed by another program to run 5K in 60 days to 10 k programs
• And now a 30 min light jog is all I need to stay in shape
• Just added a 30 min Weight Training program three days a week that is simple and using light weights to keep my muscles tone and slowly increasing protein to build leaner muscle.

• Eating habits under control (no sugar) and portion control are much smaller than I previously had, and I will split any food in half if I can. Instead of snacking, I would take a Metamucil (Psyllium, mainly used as dietary fiber) to fill me up and help me make it to lunch.
• Working days, breakfast now consists of:
• Breakfast is a small cup of coffee with creamer (no sugar) until lunch, or occasionally, at the beginning of my journey, I would take Metamucil to hold me over.

Lunch

• Protein shakes without extra sugar
• Fill up on water or zero sugar non-carbonated liquids
• Protein over salad. I avoid carbs where I can, and I never overeat
• Dinner as before since my wife has always given the family a healthy meal• Occasionally, we would order or go out to restaurants and splurge on high-fat or carb items. Still, I now eat them in much smaller portions.

Weekends with friends and family

• I still eat what ever we are doing as a groups but always smaller portions
• Negroni is my cocktail of choice and then scotch/ bourbon depending on the season but always in moderation followed by as much water my bladder can handle
• Alcohol is always on my menu but I try to stay away from any of the higher sugar content
• Then back on track and sticking to the exercise plan of moving my body for 30 mins 5 days a week.

Show me the money!

In keeping up with my action plan, next up was financial independence, where I would start a side hustle to reach my retirement goals. My dream has always been to retire at 62, only six years from now, into some business venture that will give me the freedom to do what I want and stay engaged with the world and people so I can keep my mind sharp.

It’s a tall order with our country and the world’s situation as of writing this blog and the Stock market cutting everyone’s returns in half, but I am determined to put my head down and not look up until 62.  With that said, I had to come to terms with the fact that some of my past business ventures did not turn out as I had hoped and start to realize my strengths and weaknesses. I looked back at my career and what made me successful as I rose through the ranks of corporate America as a technology leader in a large organization—faced with specific challenges of planning for a large global scale project. That I realized I always used specific consultants to help plan and guide my team and me on what our technical needs were at the time.

This made me realize I needed that same course of action with my financial plans. With the budget I had in hand, I dived into the online world of Fiver to see if I could find someone to fill the role of an online business consultant that would be legitimate in creating the plan I need to be successful in reaching my goal in six years.

My weight loss journey begins:

With a limited budget, I decided to give Fiver a try to find the consultant I needed for my project. With its vast outreach of support where people offer their service for a price. I was surprised to see an enormous amount of business consultants providing ways they can help you start an online business. After reviewing and talking to a few, I found Mr_Formula. Who seemed to have a background in creating an online supplement business. After a few meetings and checking his experience, I thought he’s a good fit for my goal.

He is leading and consulting from real experience since his organization has experienced the ups and downs of the online rat race of Google and other ever-changing marketing tactics and industry-specific challenges that will come into play.  In so doing, FATFITFREE.COM was born.

Next steps:

Please check in from time to time, and you can follow me through my journey from Fat 2 Fit 2 Financially Free. I will document how I lost weight and what I did to keep it off. What supplements do I pick up along the way, and why and how did I choose to start an online business to help others lose weight, get healthy, and stay that way?

Please leave a positive comment or tell me what your online business plan is and how you were able to lose weight or overcome any particular challenge and if we post them on the site I will send you a 15% coupon to try the supplements I am promoting.

Follow me on my next story: Finally Fit.

Thank you,

Vito

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