I’M KICKING OBESITY’S ASS!
Do you want to know how I feel RIGHT NOW?
My idea of freedom has been elevated, expanded and has completely evolved into something I never expected. In other words, I thought debt freedom was total freedom but I’m blown away by the ultimate freedom I’m beginning to explore.
If you thought I was some kind of freak before (about debt), now you’re going to think I’m a raging lunatic because the freedom I see before me has opened my eyes and has my undivided attention.
In My World
If you have debt and are not trying to annihilate it — YOU ARE CLINICALLY INSANE!
And…
If you are not doing everything in your power to be as healthy as possible (and don’t under-estimate yourselves either!) — YOU ARE IN FACT, in my humble opinion, CLINICALLY INSANE!! And I mean it too!
Nothing to fear though. I’ve been clinically insane for years but a complete transformation is on the horizon.
[ Take this health assessment and check out my NEW BLOG — Optimal Health PRO! ]
And here’s something else to think about. You can have all the money in the world, but if you are unhealthy and/or dead what good is it?
Some of you might be thinking “I could pay to have surgery”.
If you know my views on bankruptcy for people who aren’t bankrupt you won’t be surprised by my views on bariatric surgery for people who aren’t actually knocking on death’s door.
Now back to the YOU possibly being clinically insane part.
In the Book of Brad, you are clinically insane if you:
A.) Have debt (and are not doing everything you can to destroy it forever) AND
B.) Are taking your health for granted by not doing everything you can to be as healthy as possible. (what you can control)
Why Do I Feel That Way?
It’s really quite simple.
Debt greatly reduces your ability to:
Create the financial environment that enables you to:
- save for emergencies
- prepare for your children’s college
- retire with dignity
- give and be charitable
- build wealth for generations to come, and
- anything else you could possibly want for yourself that you don’t have right now.
The more debt you have the more crippled you become. The risk of dying a financial death is imminent.
And if you are taking your health for granted you are literally robbing yourself of precious life — and much like compound interest — the effects of your obesogenic lifestyle quickly add up over time.
You are killing yourself in two ways. I know because I’ve been doing it to myself for years!
Whether it’s financially or physically, you are preventing yourself from being an independent, self-sufficient and passionate self-starter. That is a pretty big blow to the dreams we dreamt growing up about what our lives would look like isn’t it?
I certainly didn’t dream of morbid obesity or financial slavery did you?
The great news is that you can change direction and follow a different path starting from where you are right now. It doesn’t matter where that is.
You saw what we did to our debt right? 
We got serious. We became focused. We did everything we could!
And we paid off $26,000 in 20 months and had $2,000 in our baby emergency fund most of that time.
The freedom we have been able to experience since becoming debt free is better than we could have ever imagined. It changed our lives forever!
But our journey to freedom wasn’t over. We had successfully removed all of the obstacles to freedom caused by debt, but we still had a much bigger hurdle to overcome in terms of our health.
We were our biggest obstacle.
I’ve lived the last 10+ years of my life taking my health (and my life) for granted.
It has been a really hard road but I’m finally thriving.
What happened?
We got serious. We became focused. We’re doing everything we can!
After years of weight loss failure — commonly referred to as “yo-yo dieting” — we became sick and tired of being sick and tired. Literally!
My wife and I decided that it was time to get serious!
True story….
That happened at the kitchen table on April 15th 2012.
Since then I’ve lost 63.5 pounds and I feel better than I have in a very long time! I’ve successful gone from 303.5 pounds to 240 pounds and my BMI (not a complete indicator of health but a good start) has dropped to 31.7 down from 40. My wife has lost over 40 pounds since April and is smaller than she was before we got married.
Guess what someone who has become debt free and understands the power of optimal health does after starting a printing company one year prior? (Bloggers: Enjoy your totes, pens and notebooks at FinCon. I’ll see you there!)
He becomes a Certified Health Coach and turns his passion for helping people get healthy into a fulfilling and rewarding vocation!
I’m living the life I want and it all started with debt freedom!
Achieving Optimal Health will provide a lifetime of benefits to empower me further.
I can now go through life with my sword (to ward off evil debt pushers) and my shield (my optimal health keeping me strong) —both of which are giving me the power to take my life in the direction I want it to go.
I’m not a slave to any lenders nor am I slave to my old unhealthy ways.
And that, is why I consider Debt Freedom and Optimal Health to be Ultimate Freedom.
The beauty of it all is that you can achieve it too.
ULTIMATE FREEDOM CAN BE YOURS!
Start where you are and believe that you can do it because you can.
You can have Ultimate Freedom.
The question is do you want it?
Brad, what a transformation, wow! Good for you, good for you. Keep it up!
Thank you Veronica! I feel amazing, energetic, alive and so full of passion to help others who have struggled with obesity as I have. 😀
Once I hit my goal weight I’ll be transforming even more. That will be the super fun part — muscle building. I want to be in the best shape I possibly can. I was recently diagnosed with PKD (Polycistic Kidney Disease) so it’s important for me to do all that I can to give myself the biggest advantage. 😀
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts.
Have you heard or tried Crossfit? I’ve heard of some amazing results from that program.
I have. I’m a big fan of Beachbody home workouts and can’t wait to hit my goal so I can finally complete P90X, Insanity, Turbo Fire and more. LOL
I’ve been getting into running lately and am surprised by how much I’m enjoying it. 🙂
I heard p90x does wonders too. I tried it for just a little bit and couldn’t do it 🙁
Yeah it’s definitely tough but a great challenge. I tried to complete it twice when I was 60 pounds heavier but I injured my weak ankle twice. (60 pounds is a lot!)
The thing about P90X is that you just have to do what you can. I used to stop a lot after like 20 seconds because it was just so hard, but it’s become so much easier. I just did Plyometrics and the back of my legs are on fire. LOL
Way to reach your goals and then use that motivation to help others! It’s so great to hear about all the progress you’re making on all fronts – so inspirational!
Thank you Shannon! It’s been great and I look forward to the day I can say I defeated Obesity and Debt!
One down one to go and I’m working hard to make it happen just like I did with our debt. 🙂
That’s the perfect attitude to have! Reminds me of this quote: “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins… not through strength but through persistence.”
What a great quote! That quote made me think of a book I’m reading called the path of least resistance. 😀
Interesting, I may have to check that out…
As always, sincerely motivating! I have to be honest with you, when I first read “Clinically Insane” I thought it was a bit over the top…..then I started thinking about it. Comparing what my stress level was before Vonnie and I really started communicating (which took another HUGE leap forward very recently BTW) about our finances and now, it just seems completely crazy that I maintained that lifestyle and perspective for 13 years. Things are so much easier and we’re so much happier now!
Dude, I was clinically INSANE! LOL.
Well I was purposefully playful and edgy but I did make sure to add the disclaimer “In My World” and “the Book of Brad”. And of course you know I like to be a little “in your face” about this debt stuff.
Yeah it does border clinical insanity to keep going through life struggling financially, constantly stressed out with the strain it puts on the marriage and the family.
the fact is that there are lots of things we do every day that don’t make sense but we do them anyway. And then there’s the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. I think a lot of people fall into that category. I did it for years with losing weight so I’m a part of the problem, well, until I decided to change it that is. 😀
but there is probably something I do that someone else somewhere could call me insane for. Like not having credit cards, buying a house without a mortgage, not partaking in the credit score game etc. LOL
Plus remember in order to NOT be clinically insane you have to be doing NOTHING at all to eliminate your debt. A little easier (even not in “my world” that’s pretty insane) to make the classification that way. LOL
Great motivation! I totally agree with you. Staying in debt will definitely affect your health. It does not only limit your emergency savings and health insurance but also adds stress thinking about how to pay for your debt or how to hide from the collections agent.
Thanks Manette! Exactly, we used to be so stressed out about bills and we fought a lot too. Why put your marriage through that if you don’t have to? Now my wife and I have time to work on other more important issues to strengthen our marriage instead of wasting all of that time and energy on something that is completely preventable. 🙂
You look fabulous! And your son is a little cutie-pie. 🙂
Aww, thank you Petunia! 😀
I love that little boy! He’s so smart and I love that I can be a better example to him in two ways now. I’m still imperfect but at least i can be an example to my kids in two very important parts of life — health and finances.
To conquer $26K of debt and over 100 pounds of obesity in 5 years is not bad, eh? 😀
It’s amazing. I stetard reading your blog posts from the beginning. I remember that you began with needing to pay $5,000/month to reach your goal, and not having enough extra cash to pay that much – now your total remaining is less than that, and with extra days to spare!The debt vs. max out retirement is a tough argument. You’ve shown that taking a really aggressive approach with debt can make a huge dent in your total owed. However, you can never go back in time and maximize those retirement accounts later. I’d maybe take a look at some calculations for how much you’ll have to sock away from retirement if you wait, and whether starting to max the account out a year or so from now, rather than starting to max it out this year, will really prevent you from having a comfortable retirement.
What a transformation! You look so healthy now. I personally am someone who runs daily and only eats clean, so I get where you are coming from, health wise. Financial wise, I am not, nor have never been in debt, so I am slacking in knowledge, but winning my my lack of debt.
I feel great Cassi! I still have about 50 pounds to lose but I am more confident than ever that I’ll continue to reach my goals and then keep it off once I hit my goal weight. It feel’s so wonderful and I feel so alive.
I got my life back! 😀
Brad, way to go on this! You’ve lost a lot of weight! Wow!
I’m starting to gain a little weight, so your encouragement to keep the weight off is well-received. Take care!
Thank you John! I feel terrific and my life has changed so much. It’s crazy how something can control us and dictate how we live our lives. Debt and obesity has a death grip on America and I’m so glad I have taken full control of these two destructive forces. I love it! 😀
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts! See you at FinCon?
You look awesome Brad! Congratulations!!!! I’m looking forward to seeing you at FinCon12! Yaaaaay!
Crystal it’s almost hard to put into words how much our lives have changed. We seriously feel like we have lived the last 10+ years of our lives in a prison — a prison that where we are the warden. LOL
we are going to have SO MUCH FUN at FinCon12! I can’t wait and I can hardly believe it’s here already! This year is flying by! See you on Thursday!
I’ll be arriving around 9:30!! 😀 Woohoo!