Meh, Sounds too cliché? Well, fuck you!
For most folks their hobby is their passion, but my passion and hobbies are completely different. I have multiple hobbies(books, lifting weights and sex), but I have one true passion; Crypto. Well Kaushik, then why the f*** is your title ‘Lifting Weights’? Let me explain.
When most people are passionate about their hobbies and do it as “work”, they eventually lose interest and end up hating it. But, Lifting weights for me is beyond a hobby; It’s a fucking addiction. So yeah basically, this post is gonna be about my addiction.
Background
Buckle up folks! Cos I’m about to take you on one hell of an emotional ride. So, I grew up in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Went to a public school and was always the fattest kid in class. I was always referred to as the chubby boy, but as I grew up the insults started getting worse. ‘Pig, Elephant and cow’ were some of my common nicknames and this led to me being super insecure.
Unlike the schools in the west where you get counselling or report to senior officials regarding bullying, In India and especially in local schools the teachers just tell you to “deal with it”. The bullying got so bad that I had to take a break from school for 2 weeks and the only thing that could comfort, get me back on my feet was food. I started binging on junk food; had cereal, bacon for breakfast, lunch comprised of pizza and French fries and also had chips and coke throughout the day. It had to stop.
The thing about Asian parents is that they don’t do therapy. Apparently, only mental people go to therapy, but after almost 6 months of begging and constantly pesturing them, They decided to take me to a therapist. That was a turning point in my life.
The therapist Mr. Kunal, was not only a therapist but also a nutritionist. He slowly started educating me on various foods and why I had to control my calories and why I had to eat more greens, protein. After a couple of months in therapy, I slowly started gaining my confidence back and started looking inward for answers. I Always feared the weighing scale and this was probably the first time I was weighing myself in 5 years, but I knew it had to be done in order to move forward. I weighed in at a whopping 90 kgs at 30% body fat. This helped me put things into perspective and I started playing football/soccer and also started lifting weights. Slowly, I got better at football and was the vice captain of the football team. This was the greatest accomplishment in my life in high school.
Why I’m Addicted To Lifting Weights
Weight lifting saved my life. I mean like literally. Compared to my high school days I feel more confident, feel better physically and mentally and my insecurities are slowly disappearing.
I’ve been lifting weights since junior of high school and right now I’m a junior at college. So that’s about roughly 5 years. Going to the gym, is the one thing I look forward to everyday in my life. I mean, except on Sundays cos it’s rest day haha.
Lifting weights and going to the gym has taught me so much about nutrition and I keep learning everyday and that is really addictive. I’m a learning machine. I look up magazines on fitness, watch Youtube videos and get up to date information on various diets and exercise regiments and this helps me focus and stay in top of the game.
They say in crypto to not chase pumps, but I laugh when anyone says that. I live for the pump. Getting a pump is epic, it makes me feel invincible and in my opinion; the feeling is better than orgasming. Lifting weights also releases stress. As a college student who goes through so much shit and after countless hours of studying and going to classes everyday hitting the gym is the thing I look forward to every night.
Sacrifices
I had to sacrifice so much to get my dream body which by the way is a work in progress. When all my friends are partying hard on a Friday night and Saturday night and I’m at the gym doing an extra set of squats and deadlifts. I have no regrets that I didn’t join them. While, they’re drinking their lives of I’m a step closer to my goals.
Having to wake up every morning at 5 am and get my meals cooked for the day and getting ready for classes from 9-6pm is hard. While most people I know are eating Mc’donalds or some unhealthy shit I’m getting my gains. I had numerous friends who hated me or talked shit about me because I wouldn’t have dinner with em or join for drinks in the weekend. They have no idea what hard work is.
Family is everything. They support me in any way I can after they saw me go through some shit in school. The only exceptions when I make regarding food is when having dinner with the fam at a restaurant.
Lifestyle And Thoughts During Gym Time
My daily schedule looks like this. Wake up at 5 am cook for the day, attend classes and do a killer workout and repeat.
As I mentioned before, my body is a work in progress and I enjoy the journey more than the destination. I would consider myself an intermediate when it comes to training. But, when I’m at the gym I feel real good. My creative starts kick starts at the gym and my brain is filled with ideas and my future in the fitness industry. Right now I’m just an enthusiast in the field of fitness, but in the future I would definitely like to work in the fitness industry and help other students who went through the same shit I did in high school and help them gain confidence and get rid of their insecurities.
The most important life lesson by spending numerous hours at the gym: “Life comes at you real hard, and pain is necessary in order to grow.”
I would like to thank 