Keto Success Stories: Tony F. Does It the Keto Way

Fresh N Lean is the nation’s largest organic meal delivery service. Our tasty, chef-prepared cuisine is always fresh and never frozen, and we offer five convenient meal plans: Protein+, Keto, Paleo, Standard Vegan and Low-Carb Vegan. Choose Fresh N Lean for affordable nutrition, delivered to your doorstep. 

If you have a stressful job, working under all that pressure can eventually take a toll on your health. 

That’s what happened to Tony F. For years, he worked in the hectic IT world, in a job that required him to be on call almost 24/7. As a result, he couldn’t put as much time and care into his health and diet as he would have liked. Over time, he found himself facing a problem many of us have wrestled with: unwanted weight gain. His weight eventually topped out at over 380 pounds, and he developed related ankle problems.

Tony F. is now retired. After trying out a couple of other meal delivery companies, he discovered Fresh N Lean. And after just a few months on our meal plan, he noticed tangible results. 

He posted a brief account of his story in his testimonial on our Fresh N Lean reviews page. His was one of the most inspiring keto success stories we’ve encountered. We reached out to him for more details regarding his health and weight loss journey on a ketogenic diet.  

Thanks for being part of the Fresh N Lean family, Tony. How long have you been with our service? 

I’ve been with Fresh N Lean for about four months. 

In your testimonial on our Fresh N Lean reviews page, you said you’re on the Keto meal plan. Why did you choose this plan? Were you inspired by the many keto success stories out there? 

Unfortunately, over the years, I’ve found more weight than I’ve lost. However, when I’ve lost weight, it’s been on a low-carb diet. Unfortunately, that still didn’t help me with portion control and the challenges of eating a monotonous diet — which led to me straying from a healthy lifestyle.

The Fresh N Lean plan ticked all the boxes: It provided me with a low-carb diet, helped me with portion control, and provided a variety of meals to keep my meals interesting! Oh, and I can’t forget to mention how you use almost all organic and non-GMO components. Healthy eating has never been easier. 

In your Fresh N Lean testimonial, you said that after subscribing to other meal delivery companies, ours was the best fit. What sets Fresh N Lean apart? 

First, and most importantly, the food is delicious. You would think that many of the meals were coming straight from a high-end restaurant. The chef that came up with the Turmeric-Coconut Salmon should get an award. And all the meals can be ready in under 3 minutes.

Second, the Keto plan provides you with low-carb-but-delicious meals. I’ve also found the sodium content better with Fresh N Lean. The other meal service had a very high salt content in their meals. 

Additionally, the variety with Fresh N Lean’s meal plan is excellent. Salmon, cod, beef, bison, chicken, roast turkey and more — with a good selection of vegetables. The other meal plan didn’t come close to the variety (nor the taste!).

Finally, your vacuum-sealed packaging keeps the food much fresher and allows it to be easily stored in the freezer should I have any meals remaining for the week when the new shipment arrives. 

Our meal delivery service gives our customers flexibility to switch plans. Have you stuck exclusively to Keto? Or have you experimented? 

I’ve stuck with the Keto plan and have no plans to change. Why mess with success? 

Are you using Fresh N Lean for all your meals, or are you supplementing with food from your kitchen? Would you mind describing a typical day of meals? 

I use Fresh N Lean for the core of all my meals and then supplement other foods to round the meal out. I eat two meals per day, and I do intermittent fasting for 16-18 hours.

I’ve never been a big breakfast person, so I start lunch at around 2 pm and eat dinner between 7-8 pm. I keep my calories to 2,000 per day, net carbs to about 25 grams, and my total carbs to around 50 grams. I’m not super religious on any of those amounts, but I achieve those most of the time. 

Fresh N Lean meals form the backbone of my lunch and dinner. For example, I’ll usually have one of your meals for lunch and supplement the meal with some low-carb additions. I’ll add things like some keto egg salad, maybe some high-fat low-carb cheese, nuts (usually a pecan and pumpkin seed mix) or nut butter (pecan, macadamia, or Nuttzo butter), and low-carb crackers.

Some days, I won’t worry about supplementation and just eat two of your meals. Since most of your meals are between 400-500 calories with low carbs, that’s easily done. 

Have you used other keto success stories as inspiration for setting health goals regarding your keto transformation? 

My goal is to lose 1 to 1.5 pounds per week on average. It’s good not having to worry about making my meals from scratch and not having to figure out what to buy and where to buy it.

Knowing that I’ll have a ready supply of delicious meals helping me meet my goals allows me to look at this as resetting myself to a healthy lifestyle and not a “diet.” For me, with all the weight I want to lose, this is a marathon and not a sprint. 

Do you think your current diet has changed the way you feel physically and mentally? 

Definitely — I don’t feel as sluggish, and I feel more alert. Also, the weight I’ve lost so far has helped me with pain in my ankles and feet. 

What are the most significant benefits of having your meals delivered? 

Literally, at my fingertips, I’m getting healthy, nutritious, and delicious meals with unmatched convenience every week.

I don’t have to worry about grocery shopping except for the incidentals I want. I don’t have to spend hours in the kitchen trying to produce keto-type meals. It makes sticking to a keto lifestyle very convenient. And all at a good price. What’s not to like? 

You said you’ve been in a stressful line of work over the years, and it prevented you from prioritizing your health. What kind of work did you do, and how did it impact your health? 

I’ve been in the wonderful world of IT for my 42-year career. I graduated college with a degree in computer science, started working as a systems programmer trainee, and ended as an IT executive running major technical divisions and data centers.

And I was on-call 24/7 for all of those years — I worked a lot of long hours and weekends if there were problems. If you’re in this field long enough, you realize that we don’t run the computers – they run us! I enjoyed it all, but I’m not good at a work-life balance. So for me, it was more of a work-work balance.  

You’re now retired. Was retirement the main factor that caused you to begin focusing more on your health? 

Yes. I had to do something to improve my health. My body, especially my ankles and feet, were telling me I had to do something. 

In your testimonial on our Fresh N Lean reviews page, you said you’d lost weight since starting with our meal delivery service. Please discuss your weight loss journey.

I’ve lost 60 pounds. If I keep up the good work, I should hit my goal weight in the year 2345. Ha! That should indicate how much weight I put on and how much I need to lose. I also think I was born with a double-dose of the genes that predispose you to gain weight! So losing weight was always a challenge for me, but Fresh N Lean has dramatically reduced that challenge.

And since I’m far from perfect (to which my wife will attest), I’ll go off the wagon now and then. But with a ready supply of healthy Fresh N Lean meals in the refrigerator, I can jump back on the wagon the next day. The biggest thing I miss is bread. I try to stay away from it, even though there are good low-carb substitutes these days.  

Has exercise been a big part of your keto success story? How much exercise do you typically aim to get in a week? 

I had gotten out of the habit of exercising. I stopped when the gym closed because of the pandemic. So, starting a couple of months ago, I began to create a routine here at the house. 

I try to do three to four light sessions a week for about 45 minutes per session. I use resistance bands and some light dumbbells. YouTube has some great low-impact and beginner routines and even chair workout routines for those days when my ankles or feet don’t feel up to it. I’ve also started trying Apple’s Fitness+ since they have routines for beginners and seniors. 

However, almost all of my weight loss has come from the diet. Therefore, I look at any exercise I do as more of a mobility play than a weight-loss mechanism.  

You said your current journey with Fresh N Lean is no longer a “diet” but a health choice. Can you talk a bit about what that means to you? 

When I think of a diet, I think of “I’m going to lose weight starting on this date and ending on that date.” Diets aren’t necessarily healthy if you’re eating highly processed foods loaded with additives or chemicals.

And most people, when they think of diets, think of taking protein supplements or various powders or “fat-burning” pills. Those things don’t work or only work in the short term — it’s not sustainable. I’ve been there and done that too many times.

Finally, when you finish the diet, you haven’t learned anything. Not how to eat properly, or how to eat clean, or how to watch your portions.

Fresh N Lean helps me with all of those items. I can honestly say that with Fresh N Lean, I’ve never eaten healthier. 

Does your experience with meal delivery impact the choices you make when you’re cooking for yourself or eating out at restaurants? 

I don’t do a lot of cooking for myself — hence the 14-meal Keto plan! However, Fresh N Lean meals are good training wheels for eating at restaurants. The Fresh N Lean meals have helped train me to pick the right foods and portions when I’m eating out. So even when in a restaurant, Fresh N Lean helps me achieve my nutritional goals. I just try to mimic what you send me.  

Do you have advice for readers who’ve been inspired by your testimonial and other Fresh N Lean keto success stories?

It’s never too late to try and put yourself on a healthier path. I just turned 66. With many diet failures behind me over the years, I look at the past as the past. Look to the future. I needed a service that allowed me to work on being healthier while eating healthy organic whole foods — without having the experience consume my life. Fresh N Lean does that.  

Next steps

The ketogenic lifestyle is more than just a weight loss program. It can help with lowering your blood pressure and normalizing your blood sugar.

Undoubtedly, the keto way offers profound benefits for health and wellness. You can read more Fresh N Lean keto success stories by visiting our testimonials page. 

Sometimes a lifestyle change can change your life. Do you want to enjoy the same delicious cuisine that helped Tony F. get his health on track and become a keto diet success story? If so, join our keto community. Subscribe to Fresh N Lean’s Keto meal plan to get these meals delivered to your door.