this is my journey_

THE BEGINNING

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been chubby.

Not obese, just uncomfortably chubby.

I come from a great family with an incredible journey that began in Lisbon but soon after, took me all the way to Bahrain. A family full of love yet unintentionally sabotaging any hope for me to become athletic, fit and in away, physically appealing.

Ironic, because my older brother was fit as fuck. I wasn’t. I was permitted not to be.

So much so, that I came to believe that it was this way and nothing could be done. He had great genes – abs, sexy, girlfriends.

Me? I had the shit genes. Funny, nice chubby guy. This stayed with me forever.

It meant that I spent my life, right up to university, chubby. Externally confident, internally sad, retreated, introverted. Any activity that meant taking my shirt off was a no go.

Living in a country where people swam outside all year round, I hid. And when I didn’t, I was the “cute” chubby guy. No dates. Nothing. Just the “friend”.

With years this developed into all sorts of other “traits”. I wore the same dark clothing all year round. I began to love winter which is when I could hide behind clothes. Couldn’t wait for summer to be over.

Being on the beach with t-shirt all summer long sucks. This made me even more sedentary, made me eat more comfort food to make me feel better – albeit temporary.

I did end up losing 20 kgs at university by basically starving myself. I did the same several times, but I never felt that this was sustainable and it wasn’t – I would gradually go back to being chubby.

Even when I lost weight, though I was thin, I was skinny fat. No definition, no abs.

Nothing. My fucking genes – even when I was thin.

THE DESCENT

Working long hours as an entrepreneur, always broke, also contributed nicely to the narrative I had constructed and cemented throughout the years.

My identity was of someone who would never be fit, never have abs and never feel confident shirtless.

But something happened when I was looking at the photographs of my me in the European Leadership Academy.

I was really proud of my work but as I looked at my physique, my external image, I realized it was incoherent with the leadership transformation work I had been doing for years. Why could I help them but not myself?

I had built businesses, mentored founders, and helped more than one hundred and fifty startups find clarity in chaos. I ran accelerator programs, sat on panels, and lectured on the future of technology as part of the Singularity University Global Faculty and OpenExO.

On the surface it looked like control. Inside it was exhaustion disguised as success. My body had stopped listening.

I told myself I did not have time. That high performance came at a price, a sacrifice. That discipline at work compensated for decay in health. What I did not see was that my biology had become my bottleneck and my mind had become my greatest obstacle.

To add to that, I was smoking more than ever which removed my energy and increased my anxiety.

In that exact moment, looking at the photograph of my cookie face, I felt a hypocrite. A complete fraud. And that was the trigger.

THE SHIFT

I started looking online and searching about diets, recipes, protocols, anything that would help me. And in the midst of all that, came across all the gurus with their programs.

I tried a couple but it was just standardized. I have always been a learner. A curious self.

So I wanted to be pushed. I wanted to learn.

And then, I came across Azri Zakariya.

Azri was a 4^th year medical student that had gone from chubby to abs and was now selling his “expertise”. I didn’t really look at any of his testimonials or students. I have learnt to swim in my own lane and as President Theodore Rosevelt said it best: Comparison is the thief of joy.

I got on a call with him. We got on really well and I could tell that he was in the beginning – not faking it till he made it, something I had seen in working with startups, but more along the lines of getting things sorted but contrary to others, he was executing.

As soon as we started talking, I was so excited that I just wanted to get going. Now!

He promised me abs as long as I followed his instructions.

I was 52 at the time and this was going to be my last attempt at being chubby.

But abs? Seriously.

I was in my fifties and I had NEVER seen my abs. Obvious I didn’t have them. But something inside of me just thought. Fuck It. It's now or never.

He nervously made his way to presenting the price but little did he know I was in – whatever the price he gave. Whatever. At the end he sheepishly presented 9k$ for 12 months. I told him I wanted to do it in 6 months. And we closed at half.

I refused to pay on the call out of principle. I was going to pay, but on my terms and not be pushed into it. Ten minutes later I got the link and I paid. We were off!

So I went on a calorie deficit – nothing new.

1300 calories per day, fasting and skipping breakfast.

What was new was the importance of protein, so I really focused on that and bought protein powder for the first time of my life. I also stopped exercising during this period and just concentrated on other things – work.

And then it happened. I began to lose weight, especially fat, and in a few months, I looked in the mirror and I saw abs. For the very first time in my life.

As I looked in the mirror at the new me, I realized I would have paid so much more for this – 10k, 20k 30k. If someone had walked up to me with the guarantee that this would happen, I would pay.

We are talking about five decades of being trapped in a fat man’s mind. Five decades of forfeiting being truly happy.

How much is that really worth?

THE REBUILD

In August of 2023 I went on holiday with my family. An epic holiday to San Francisco and then Honolulu, Maui and back again. I had new swimming trunks, t-shirts. In fact, I had a whole new wardrobe. I had gone from a 34 waist to a 28.

Do you know how hard it is to buy trousers size 28 in the US?

It’s hard but it’s also cheap. No one wants them. I also started buying t-shirts and hoodies in all sorts of colors in the kids’ section – 14-16 years old. And then the Nike Air Force 1s – in all colors.

On the beach, in the pool, my family took lots of photographs of me and for the first time ever, I was actually happy to go along – and curious to see the result. Who was that sexy motherfucker? Me. New Me.

On our way back, we were at the airport in Honolulu, and I wrestled with the idea of posting them online. I had always been very private online – maybe more embarrassed than private. But the result seemed to be the same. But I thought, it’s now or never.

So, I pressed publish and watched them levitate into the cloud. I didn’t even seem if they were published. I put my phone in airplane mode, and we boarded the flight back to Lisbon via San Francisco.

When we finally arrived in Lisbon, severely jetlagged and so tired, I switched my phone on and then it happened. Notifications just kept coming in. But what really took me by surprise was the direct messages from friends, people I had coached and peers all enquiring about what I’d done.

I had effectively been in incognito mode and had suddenly out of nowhere appeared and they were impressed. So impressed that many asked me what I had done and if they could do the same with me. ShredTech was born.

ShredTech was born from that silence. But more than a fitness program, I wanted it to be an educational journey. It’s the only way that we can stay fit. If we understand the why’s. So I began to create a system for re-engineering performance at every layer of the human being: biological, psychological, and emotional.

And I realized that all my previous work, experience and certifications had led me to this point where I was at the intersection of health, tech and leadership.

Where leadership meets longevity, where science meets identity.

My journey taught me that transformation is not loud, a sprint nor slogan. It is the quiet decision to become someone you respect again.

That is what I help others do now. Not to impress anyone, but instead to help them remember who they were before success began to take control.

When I finally decided to take back control, I approached it as I had approached every challenge in business: by understanding the system.

I studied DNA-based nutrition, genetics, and metabolic health, becoming a Certified DNA Diet, Fitness, and Health Coach. I wanted to know why certain plans failed and why others worked only temporarily. The deeper I went, the clearer it became that transformation was not just about calories or workouts. It was about identity.

That is when my two worlds, science and psychology, collided.

My background and certifications in Neuro Linguistic Programming, Emotional Intelligence (EQ-i and EQ-360), and the Leadership Circle Profile gave me the lens to fully integrate the psychology behind what we do and why we do it.

Years of coaching, having studied under Tony Robbins and Cloe Madanes, trained in the Barrett Values Center methodologies, and developed leaders through Gallup Strengths had taught me how identity drives behavior.

Now I could see how it also drives biology.

So, I went quiet. Into incognito mode. No announcements. No accountability posts. Only data, discipline, and daily repetition. I went into automatic mode as everything became repetitive and boring.

And somewhere between the spreadsheets and the sweat I met myself again.

Lighter, sharper, and finally at peace with the process, I decided that day to tattoo the phoenix on my upper left arm.

Yes, I did brand myself forever.

A reminder of the day that I killed the person I was born to be,
in order to become the person I so desperately wanted to be,
but never imaged possible.

CONGRATULATIONS

First of all, congratulations on making it this far. Many people told me this was too long for the "web". But it's my story, told my way, to myself. Everyone was just invited to view it, not comment on it.

We each have our story, its ours. And its the most important one - to us.

I'm in my 50s now, and even though I was blessed to study in the UK, live in Bahrain, work in the money markets in London, work with hundreds of startups, embark in my own journey as an entrepreneur for over 2 decades, and travel the world - I find it ironic that this is my best decade yet. And in a way, I'm getting ready for the next decade to be even better yet.

Age is a number. Everything else is a choice.

-what you eat, how you exercise, what you wear, what creams you use, what supplements you take...

If you are ready to make this your best decade yet and build for the next ones to come, I'm here. Ready too.

You just have to follow simple instructions.

I've made this as simple as possible.

All based on data and science.

No bullshit.

No wasting time.

What are you waiting for?

LET'S TALK1:1 COACHING

Stay Informed

With so much misinformation online, this section brings you clarity.

It’s a curated library of insights on fat loss, mental transformation, and longevity.

All fact-checked, evidence-based, and backed by real data.

The goal is simple: to

replace confusion with science, and noise with knowledge that actually works.

knowledge is contagious_

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All the information on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute providing medical advice or professional services. The information provided should not be used for diagnosing or treating a health problem or disease, and those seeking personal medical advice should consult with a licensed physician.