Recently, I was featured on 24 Hour Fitness magazine, 24Life. The segment was a transformation piece. We spoke about how I went from nearly 300 pounds, to under 200 pounds and still dropping.<\/p>\n
We covered mindset, motivation, weaknesses, and much more!<\/p>\n
24Life: Who is are you?<\/strong><\/p>\n My name is Angel Rodriguez. I live in Queens, New York, and am an Air Force veteran. By day, I provide IT support for a small non-profit, at night I am a no-nonsense group fitness instructor. I also run a fitness blog at NYCTalking.com.<\/p>\n Here is my transformation story.<\/p>\n 24Life: Tell us about your fitness journey\u2014where does it begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n Angel Rodriguez (AR):<\/strong>\u00a0Where does one start to answer a question like this? Do I talk about when I first discovered weight lifting in high school after Jamal said, \u201cHey man, you\u2019re kind of stocky!\u201d Or how I trained with the Marines for a few months prior to going to basic training? Do I talk about how amazing it felt to finally attain a six-pack after ballooning up to 220 after the military?<\/p>\n Maybe I should tell you about how I almost reached 300 pounds, was pre-diabetic, had high blood pressure and damn near had a stroke? The story of my fitness journey is long, and has many different chapters. This latest one began two years ago, and it is still being written.<\/p>\n Chapter \u201cnow\u201d begins at 38 years old, while I was unemployed, grieving the loss of my father, depressed and at a total loss as to where my life was going. I slept days, and binge-watched TV at night. While binge-watching TV, I was also binge-eating food. That\u2019s how I reached my heaviest weight ever, 280 pounds. My health was declining, and I was on the fast track to a stroke or heart attack. Several emergency room visits confirmed that, but if you know depression, you know this didn\u2019t faze me. I just continued to do it.<\/p>\n No doctor or person was going to get me to change my lifestyle. That was a given, and the world seemingly gave up on me. However, I never truly gave up on myself. Eventually, I found my way back, and that way has led me to right here, right now!<\/p>\n To read the entire interview, click here<\/a> to visit 24Life magazine!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"