About Me
Who am I and what this site has to do with you and why should you care?
My name is Markku, 47 years old and I live in Naantali, Finland. If you are obese like I was and you are looking a way out, then we might have something in common.
I was 145kg (319 pounds) and lost total 75kg (165 pounds). I went from obese to athletic. If this is something that you are interested, maybe you could read my story? Let it be a motivation story for you.
You are not alone in this!
Once Upon Time Ago At 2007
I started my journey at summer 2007 when I finally snapped out of my misery. I was severly obese, I was 172cm and 145kg. My fat% was 42%.
I ate junk food everyday. I was always hungry and never fully satiated.
My breakfast was a Snickers Ice Cream bar, a full bar of Finnish chocolate and a half litre of Coca-Cola. Few hours after that I ate a big bowl of rice and mince for 4 people. And in the evening I ordered usually pizza or went to local hamburger joint. That was the diet for almost 10 years.
Back then my job was to sell prints for promotional give aways, so I was sitting in my car or at the office all the time. I didn’t exercise at all, because I hated it.
Here below you can see my starting picture from summer 2007 and how I look nowadays.
However life had something else stored for me. Everything changed at one summer morning in 2007. I woke up with my back hurting again and I was immediately so fed up with the situation. I felt really strange that morning when I finally got out of the bed.
The pain of shame reached it tipping point on that morning. Finally.
For a short flash moment, I swore to my mirror that I will change my life. I will get rid of the fat and create a new life for me. I couldn’t hide it anymore or live in shadows. I wanted different kind of life so badly.
And that I did. I went on full action mode immediately. I trashed all junk food from the apartment and felt good first time in years. The journey started for me.
Little that person knew back then, that promise would change everything. When the transformation begun, it would create a new carieer, it would create a relationship, happiness, health and new purpose in life.
After six months I had lost 30kg (see pic) and somebody at the local gym asked if I could help them also. They have seen my results and wondered what I was doing. They wanted me to help them! So I coached them few times and a light bulb went on! Coaching was so fun that I decided to became a licensed personal trainer and help others.
After one year I had lost 50kg. One year after that I became a personal trainer. I started PT business on 2009, I opened my first gym at 2010, I opened my first crossfit box at 2011, second box at 2013. I started a powerlifting gym at 2016 and bootcamp training center at 2018.
And now is 2026. I have been coaching overweight people for almost 20 years now here in Finland.
One of my habits has been blogging, which I started back in 2009. FromHeavyToHero is my first English attempt to see, if I could reach a larger audience. I have never published content in English, so this is very interesting for me.
I am just a regular dude, I have no athletic background. My simple mission is just to help you to reach your goals.
I hope you will check what this site has to offer. Maybe you could also share the site address for those who need also help? That would be awesome! Thanks.
Markku