Hey guys,

Today’s blog post is about my fitness transformation. I wanted to go into details and give you guys a glimpse into what it took to get me from my 2015 shape to my 2021 shape.

No shortcuts

For starters, my goal was to get strong. I therefore prioritised heavy lifting and eating a high protein diet in order to get strong and look fit.

My goal has always been to make my lifestyle work for me so my tips are hopefully going to translate to you in a way where you can see how hard work can actually get you results.

My training and eating

I started lifting weights in 2015, the first three months gave me the best gains because my body was still adapting to the stimulus of weights, afterwards, things became slow.

I kept training and I have to say, consistency is crucial.

Additionally, I had to start eating more. For somebody who used to undereat, eat the wrong things and just gorge on whatever tasted good, this was also part of the learning experience.

I prioritize eating high-protein meals and I try to limit my sugar and alcohol consumption.

Discipline and accountability

For starters, seeing fitness as a process and a journey was a good mindset for me to have adopted. As a fitness addict, the biggest transformational lesson to me was that of accountability.

I went from somebody who could not even track what they had for lunch to somebody who uses a journal to write down my weekly PR’s and lifts.

Adopting an accountability mindset has allowed me to take full responsibility for what goes into my body and the level and intensity of my training.

It also allows me to benchmark my progress, tweak up what is not working and find out what is.

Mindset

The interesting thing for me, on my journey, has been to learn about how flexible fitness actually is. My ultimate belief is that this process can become enjoyable to anyone.

While I am met with skepticism on this, you really should have met me before, I was quite terrified of lifting weights, I avoided the “men’s section” at the gym and I ate like crap.

I now lift heavy, I am not afraid of getting “bulky”, rather, I see the fitness physique as a flexible process, much like a canva and a paintbrush is a process.

Lifting weights can in this view be seen as as an art rather than a science. It’s emphasis on the visual certainly helps!

The value of embracing fear

My biggest aim with this blog was to transmit the message of fearlessness to you. Fearlessness is an attitude that helped me overcome my challenges, it also helped me become more comfortable in being a fit person.

Fearlessness is also about adopting the right mindset, having self-confidence and being resilient.

The perfect body will not make you happy. It can, however, strengthen your ability to tolerate hardship.

Fearlessness

Fearlessness is not about simplifying the discomfort of lifting weights. It also does not mean that a perfect body is going to be the end-all to all of the hardships that life inevitably throws in our direction.

Rather, pain and fear redirects us to our inner selves, it reveals to us the power that is waiting to be transformed into something greater.

Great self-love and personal growth is on the other side of pain, fearlessness only directs our attention towards that.

Resilience

Fitness often becomes addictive to those who have faced struggle, uncertainty or hardship. It is the first place men go after a break up, and women go to strengthen their broken self-image.

It is a haven on a deep level for pain to transmute into success.

Getting fit ultimately comes down to lifting heavy weights, being consistent, eating the right diet and having a winning mindset.

By embracing fear and the hardships inherent in life, we can become our best selves and inspire those around us to do so as well.

I hope that you enjoyed my 5 year fitness transformation story, please let me know what you thought about it in the comments section below!