From pizza to prison

Filippo Cardone, 48, was a successful Chicago trader who could eat a whole pizza alone. In August 2024, he pled guilty to wire fraud in a Bitcoin scheme and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison.

Starting at rock bottom

When Cardone arrived at Tucson Federal Prison in June 2025, he weighed 278 pounds with a blood pressure of 157/117. He decided immediately that prison would be his chance to get in shape.

“Going in, I didn't know what to expect, but I did know that this would be the perfect time for me to get in shape.”

The commissary diet plan

Cardone built his diet around cheap commissary items: two ounces of shredded beef, tuna packets, protein shakes with peanut butter, and whatever fresh produce was available. Each tuna packet cost $1.95.

The eight-hour eating window

Cardone practiced extreme intermittent fasting, eating all his meals between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. only. He consumed roughly 600 calories daily and filled the rest of his time with water and workouts.

Five a.m. starts and burpees

With help from a fellow inmate trainer, Cardone started workouts at 5 a.m. daily. His routine included burpees, push-ups, bear crawls, planks, pull-ups, and lunges in Arizona heat, all designed to preserve muscle while losing fat.

The Mike Tyson challenge

One of Cardone's most intense workouts involved 2,000 push-ups, 2,000 body weight squats, 500 dips, and 2,500 crunches in a single session. He called it the Mike Tyson routine.

Improvised weights from rocks

With no access to proper gym equipment, Cardone and his trainer filled laundry bags with rocks to create makeshift weights for curls and other exercises. They also hung a rake across a dip bar for pull-ups.

Forty pounds in four months

Within four months, Cardone dropped from 278 to 238 pounds. He attributed the first 40 pounds to water weight and bloating. Six months before release, his trainer pushed him harder and his body transformed into muscle.

“The first 40 pounds are usually the easiest to lose, as that is the liquid weight from water and bloating.”

Walking out at 193 pounds

When Cardone left Tucson Federal Prison before entering a halfway house, he weighed 193 pounds. That's 85 pounds less than his starting weight and no loose skin or stretch marks.

“If I take my shirt off, you'll see I don't have any loose skin or stretch marks. I did it the right way.”

Humbled by discipline

Cardone acknowledges he could have coasted through prison given his wealth, but instead kept his head down and let daily workouts humble him. He credits the experience with changing his life.

“Before this experience, no one could tell me what I could or couldn't do, I had power and money, but every day I do a workout, it humbles me.”

Performance clubs coming next

Cardone plans to open high-end performance clubs with blood testing, saunas, hyperbaric chambers, and red-light therapy. He aims to launch five or six locations within three to five years and sell his own vitamin line.

“This journey isn't about money for me, I already have money, it's about giving back.”