How I Lost 22 lbs (10 kg) in Italy - With the Help of a Local Bar

I did not plan on losing weight, and there was no punishing bootcamp or frantic fitness regime. I carried overweight for many years and I was under the impression it would stay like that since it was so hard to get rid of.

The "secret" turned out to be wonderfully boring and profoundly peaceful. It was simply me and Sid (my daughter's Italian Greyhound, the travel size of greyhounds), walking 10 to 12 kilometers every single day. And it all began as so many other things in Italy - with coffee.

However, we did not start with 10 km; that was something that peacefully evolved, silently, by extending the route little by little every week. We walked along the Arno river, over the ancient cobblestones of the Oltrarno, and up into the cypress-lined hills surrounding the city. Little by little we extended the route, mostly out of curiosity of where a narrow alley led.

And I got stronger.

Paired with a clean, Keto-focused lifestyle, my body got energized and it simply began to let go of what it no longer needed to carry. It wasn’t a struggle; I was finally giving my body the slow, unhurried rhythm it required to heal.

Also, in the Keto way of eating, the craving for sweets goes silent, making it possible to navigate ancient streets filled with the scent of slow-cooked food, freshly baked pastries, and mountains of gelato. I still see it all, I feel it, and I indulge it in my soul - but with Keto I get the power to choose and to see the difference between living in Florence and a vacation in Florence. When my husband arrives for vacation, we enjoy it all. The rest of the time I fuel myself with all the Keto-friendly fresh food Florence's lovely markets offer on a daily basis.

A massive part of my weight loss journey actually took place at one of the most genuine bars in Florence. Every day, after working in the mornings, Sid and I have lunch at home and then put on our walking gear and head down to Gusta Bar at Via Maggio in the Oltrarno area (cross the river at Ponte Vecchio or Ponte Santa Trinita) for an energizing caffè macchiato.

But I never take it to go, I always have my coffee "al bar" - standing at the counter. The Italian coffee culture is best enjoyed right there, because this is where Italian life truly takes place. Asking for a takeaway would completely ruin the magic. You pay for the coffee, you order it, you get it served, and you drink it standing at the counter among the other guests. It arrives perfectly tempered and ready to drink. It is a mesmerizing experience - first it goes to your head, then straight to your heart and soul.

This short ritual lasts just a couple of minutes, but it is truly living the ambient Italian lifestyle. At first, you are just another customer. But day by day, as you keep coming back, the smiles become familiar. Suddenly you find yourself doing small chit-chat about all and nothing with the staff and customers, especially when you have a travel-size dog in your arms. It is that everyday social glue that grows into the loveliness of someone truly recognizing you, and you recognizing them. Sid was the main catalyst for this - dogs do something to the Italian people, and an Italian Greyhound is the ultimate social passport where you all become just humans loving dogs.

So, there I was, standing at the counter every day, smelling their lovely paninis made to order, and their famous pizzas from Gusta Pizza across the street, looking at the wonderful Tiramisù in the glass cupboard right next to my coffee. But I just indulged by looking and smelling, knowing the day would come when I would truly enjoy it. And I did. When my husband came to visit in April, we had those lovely pizzas, and I finally ate that wonderful Tiramisù.

The lovely staff at Gusta Bar became like family during this solo season, and those daily coffees fueled the walks that transformed my health.

Eventually, Sid and I built up our stamina until that post-coffee walk became a spectacular 10 to 12-kilometer daily loop. From Gusta Bar, we cross Piazza Santo Spirito to enjoy the true Italian ambiance, then head down to Porta Romana and through the park. We walk up the cypress lined serpentine road to the San Miniato Church, and up behind it to take in the vast views of the mesmerizing olive grove landscape.

From there, we continue to Piazzale Michelangelo, take a round down through the Rose Garden to drink from the fresh water fountain (they are conveniently placed all over Florence so you can easily hydrate), and then wander back along the beautiful and serene Via San Leonardo. Passing Forte Belvedere and Giardino Bardini, we finally emerge back into the city at Piazza Santa Felicita.

And then suddenly on a day in May I was 22 lbs (10 kg) lighter. The irony of losing it while becoming a regular at an Italian bar is simply hilarious.

During these daily walks when both Sid and I truly live Florence, I have realized a fundamental truth that applies just as much to midlife entrepreneurship as it does to our physical health: You do not build a body, or a business, by overthinking it. You build it through quiet, consistent action over time.

For years, I had been burdened under my professional life, however free it was. In the agency world, we wore our stress and our massive, complex technical setups like badges of honor. But just as my body began to shed its protective layers on those long Florentine walks, my professional life was shedding its heavy machinery.

I decided to off-board most of my clients and I simply started taking the daily steps to reconstruct my workflow. I traded the stressful agency model for a light, agile SaaS (Software as a Service) infrastructure administration, meaning I upgraded my ’90s PC skills - not as a web designer but as a midlife woman stepping into a new era of possibilities. 

I left my comfort zone of what I knew and was good at, and learned to build automated delivery systems that decoupled my income from my hours. I built the same quiet engine that runs the digital economic infrastructure of the world, only in a smaller size but with the same ability to grow.