About Me

"All these happened, more or less." 

Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five

My fitness resurrection came in 2012 at the age of 34. I was in a fancy trader job making big bucks and outwardly enjoying the trappings of material success – flashy sports car, fancy apartment in a nice part of town, expensive watches, you get the idea. 

Unfortunately the expanding waistline and terrible blood work came with the territory. Fatty liver, high cholesterol, pre-diabetes, low grade hypertension all said hello during an insurance health check.  Binge drinking and eating, my escapes from the pressure of my corporate life, were speeding me towards the coffin. 

I decided "nope, not going to do that", and I changed course.

I switched jobs to take a massive pay cut (disclaimer: I was lucky that I had a healthy bank balance to start with). I started to eat better, cut my alcohol consumption and my smoking habit.

In 2014, I got a clean bill of health regarding my fatty liver, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. Building on that, I started on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and a proper general conditioning and strength program, with the aim to run fast, lift heavy, and kick ass.

Today, I am trim and muscular for my age at 14% body fat. I can crank out a 2.4km (or 1.5mile if you don't speak metric) in about 10 minutes, squat and deadlift almost 2x my bodyweight, and do as many pullups as I could manage as a teenager. I am happier, healthier, stronger and more productive than any stage of my life.

That said, real heroes find a new dragon to slay, so this will always be a work in progress and that’s perfectly fine with me.