Author: Guillermo Miguel Perez-Santalla

A businessman with a passion for sharing the good news that still exist in this world.

The Right Tools on the Path to Success

After my last melodramatic post, I feel relieved to be moving forward. One of the things that helps you to succeed in anything you do is having the right tools.

It’s apropos that I am writing this during the Christmas season. This is because of a memory of my first one as a married man.

Before I was married I did works with tools. I recall taking out the radiator out of my car and replacing it. Before that taking apart and assembling my bicycle on a regular basis. I also worked with wiring for my stereo and electrical connections. Outside these cases I was not involved in any major projects. That is unless you call a bongo board made in shop class in 8th grade a major project. In other words, I really did not have any tools of my own.

Interesting thought, I think back to all the gifts we received when we were married. I don’t recall getting a hammer, a screwdriver set or any tools for that matter. I just remember many kitchen goods and an overabundance of fancy glassware. I mean, was I real supposed to swoon over that I received expensive glass gifts of the brand Baccarat? If you ask me, a tool box loaded with all the essentials would have made a better gift.

This leads me to today’s story. We went out to get a Christmas tree for our apartment. I don’t recall if we had already bought the base or if we purchased it when we got the tree. Either way, we got the tree home somehow. Probably, used the Toyota Starlet since it was a hatchback. Upon getting home I learned that I had to give the tree a fresh cut or it would die quickly. I had never had a real tree before because I was allergic to them. I had no idea, now I was going to learn the hard way.

This is 1987, so the stores are not open after 6 PM for the most part. Tools are what I would need and I could not get a saw at 7-Eleven. I had to do the job with what I had. Guess what? It was not fun and it took me over an hour to do it with just a screwdriver and a steak knife. It apparently was later than 9 PM or surely, I would have gone to my brother’s house and borrowed tools. I was extremely unhappy with the situation but one thing I am not, is a quitter. I got it done and decided that would never happen to me again.

You are probably wondering by now why am I sharing this story? The reason is since I have invited you along on my journey to get healthy I have to point out that having the right tools is the right foot forward.

In October, I weighed 201.50 pounds. I know, a shocking admission. I was fed up and acted. I bought a stowaway treadmill for the apartment and a Bluetooth scale. I started tracking my exercise and food intake again. I joined Noom two weeks ago and got a new Fitbit Versa 2. These are not necessary, but the better the tools you have the easier it is to persist in the job at hand.

This morning I am proud to say, I weighed in at 192 pounds. My short-term goal is 185 pounds. I am a little over half way there. It is not going to be easy with Christmas, Vacation and New Year’s Eve in front of me, but I am determined and with my toolbox, I am certain that I will keep the weight off and hopefully lose some more.

I am a happy man today. I may not be at either my short or long-term goal yet. But I am getting there.

Healthy Diet ….the constant struggle

You would think that a person that wrote a book about dieting would be slim for life. Well, not me. I fell off the wagon. It didn’t happen overnight. It was a matter of years. Little by little, the struggles of a divorce and difficulties at work just piled the stress on me.

I would meet people in business and socially. They would never know how tired and hurt I was. I am a positive person but sometimes it is difficult to put a smile on your face when deep down there is serious pain. Yet, I still did it. I smiled and laughed when deep down inside me, I knew things were not right. Not at home and not in my interior life. I was a boat without a rudder.

This stress and anxiety over the years expressed itself through the seeking of pleasure in food and drink. Yes, this would give me some pleasure but in the end I pay dearly for those years of neglect and abuse of my own body.

Overweight and deceptively happy!

Here I am bloated, obese and in poor health. But do not fret! I am rising from the ashes. I have joined Noom to force me to be honest with myself. I am on the right track and with Aymee’s support lost 3 pounds in two days. Ok, its not significant yet, but persistence is the key.

Stay tuned my friends and pray for me while I battle my own weaknesses with the help of God and your prayers.

By the way, bigger clothes make you look thinner than you are…..

I’ll update you soon.

I love you all! 🙂

PS: When I say I am unhappy, I am directly talking about my weight. Actually 2020 has been a good year otherwise.

Why Black Beans Matter!

It has been quite a long time since I have blogged. It seems I did not believe I had anything worth saying. But for the first time in a long time I do have something that needs being said.

Recently, the CEO of Goya foods was attacked by the intolerant socialist for praising the President of the United States of America for creating an environment where his company was able to flourish. This is a company created by immigrants serving the immigrant Latin American community and employing them. This company gave my father, a back then recent escapee of the intolerant communist dictatorship of Cuba and destroyers of free speech, his first decent job in the USA. It was that job that enabled him to get into the food industry and have success with Progresso foods. It was that ability given to him by the hand of the company of Goya Foods that enabled him to later on also become successful and found the money transmittal company RIA ENVIA which after being sold, many years later has become RIA Financial Services.

Black beans are a staple foods of many Latin Americans. They are the food shared by the Cubans when they fought for their independence. They are the food that united Blacks, Whites and Mulatos as they fought side by side to their death against the Spaniards in their war for independence. They are the food that sustained them through hardships and freedoms hard fought for and eventually won. They are the heart of the real and recognized ending of slavery and creation of an unprejudiced independent people that are called Cuban.

Even now across the gap from the USA to the island nation of Cuba there is a love that never ends. The Cubans that make it to this free country work hard and send money back to the Island nation to support family and friends. Meanwhile, the cruel criminal dictatorship, which robs the people of their freedoms and ability to earn a good living still exists. The system has been able to continue to keep the people under their oppressive feet by the help of external funding, though now some of that is beginning to falter.

The Cubans here, both born here and recently arriving still dream for the days we can be reunited with our fellow islanders in a free Cuba. Where we can go and enjoy a real Cuba Libre with breaded steak, black beans and rice. It is a dream I always had hoped I would be able to share with my father but sadly he passed before it could come true.

My Dad

Now, in this great free country of the United States of America there are those that want to continue to try the failed experiment know as socialism, or rightly known as communism. Well, I for one will not stand for it. I will fight if needed to protect this great nation from the evil that has persecuted generations of Cubans with poverty, imprisonment and death for speaking their minds.

In search for food

I have great respect for Robert Unanue for standing his ground. I have great respect for the company which brings pride to many Latin Americans such as myself. And I say again that Black Beans Matter because they are a real symbol of our unity as a people representing freedom and love.

Covid-19 and its Effect on One Life

It has been several months since the announcement of the spread of the deadly virus Covid-19 became news. As it creeped over the borders and began making its presence know in the European continents it seemed the measures being taken in some countries had become Draconian and extremely exaggerated. I admit I thought the Italians dramatic; I thought this distancing us from people a cruel way of dealing with this issue.

Now the virus has made it to the shore of the United States of America. Living in the metropolitan area of New York City, I have become particularly effected. As an asthmatic and a person with borderline high blood pressure I am considered a high-risk candidate if I would contract the virus. I was asked to stay home until such time the risk is minimized. However, my understanding is that it will not be minimized and the measures we are putting ourselves through is only to slow the virus down so that hospitals can cope with what will be a tidal wave of illnesses. As of this moment, as the media and government paint of picture of death and gloom the numbers of death and illnesses globally, statistically speaking are not as severe.

I am now on my fourth day of quarantine from the office. The first two days were interesting getting situated. The third, I was totally overwhelmed as the markets continued their insane downward spiral and the fourth day, I am feeling isolated and trapped. But I am blessed at least for the time being.

I am blessed because our business is fairing well. I am blessed because I will still have a job coming out of the other side of this and because I will likely survive the virus.

I though, am very concerned about the collateral damage which I believe will be much greater than the actual virus. The global economy is being crushed. People are losing their small savings overnight and worse those with no savings are losing their jobs.

If I feel trapped and angry while having security, I cannot imagine the anxiety of those who are losing jobs and money. How will they feed their families if they cannot work? We have shut down restaurants, bars, movie theaters, concert halls and gyms. These are all industries that employ lower earning part of our economy. This quarantine cannot be sustained for a long period. Because we will be passing one form of suffering up for another which may in the end analysis be worse.

The world has become so averse to suffering that we go to any extreme for individualism. The concern for death of individuals over the concern of death of our society. Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mean to say that we should do nothing. I mean to say that this has got to be done with a balance. There must be controls in place to protect the system we have all worked so hard to build.

For instance, allowing the stock market to free fall since these state actions have come about is a serious misstep. Just as the government has shut down many businesses, the stock exchanges should have also been shut down. In the current scenario being played out by state governments, only the wealthy will come out the other end unscathed while the public working in the entertainment and service industries sectors will suffer greatly. This is not at all equitable.bernie

It has not been a week and I want to go back to the office.  I want to walk the streets and I want to buy a lamb gyro from the street vendor. Now I know what it would be like to live under a totalitarian socialist government. Maybe a taste of this medicine, though harsh and perhaps necessary will also serve to remind people of the importance of liberty.

All the Diets Under the Sun – Chapter 13 – Back to Where I Came From

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-cdk83-b6c683

Happy Fourth of July!

In this installment the real culprit behind dieting failures is revealed. I hope you enjoy this reading and that you stay tuned for the final two chapters.

 

Guillermo Perez

All the Diets Under the Sun Chapter 12 How Did I Lose the Weight?

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-mt6n7-b6863a

Dear Friends,

 

Only a few short chapters left in this book. I hope you are enjoying it. Feel free to reach out to me with any comments you may have.

 

Happy Fourth of July! Appreciate our independence, the elite are working hard at trying to take it away from us.