What I’ve learned from fitness
I believe in fitness! — Social media & life
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A 66-year-old body builder trying to become the next U.S. president, while not even being born in the U.S.? Perhaps an attempt that will not be taken seriously, but at least it shows a man going for goals in his life. Where does this confidence and focus come from? Fitness. In this article, I will explain why I believe in fitness and why, four months ago, I decided to let it drastically change my life.
A quick introduction to my life: 23 years old, Art Director and digital artist for a creative studio. I’ve been practising athletics since I was five years old. I decided to try out something, to pose myself a new challenge. I wanted a stronger version of myself.
I practised the 200 and 400m dash and trained five times a week. Yes, I know people think it ridiculous to throw up after completing only one lap on the track, and yes, I asked myself quite often “Why am I doing this?”, but I couldn’t help but loving track and field.
Yet I felt it was time to do something completely different. Weight lifting, throwing dumbbells around, pulling cables down, looking at those muscles in a mirror during training… Yes, awkward initially. But the fitness journey has taught me many fascinating things that I would never have learned if I hadn’t done it.
Social media is fit!
And off I went, training. Before long, my personal trainer introduced me to supplements. Supplements, you say? Whey protein shakes, multi-vitamins, recovery shakes, weight gainers (yes, gaining weight instead of losing), creatine, … A million dollar industry! I wanted to try it all out! At least everything that was healthy and help me before, during and after my intense trainings. However, all these products are pretty expensive. But I tackled this issue quite innovatively, if you ask me. I asked for free supplements in return for me promoting the brand on social media!
So let me just repeat that for you. Free stuff! And surprisingly, I got it as well. I just introduced myself to a local nutrition and fitness shop and asked if they could help me with this new experiment I was doing. I started a blog and shared the experience with my friends and colleagues. I return, I received those sweet, free supplements. There is power in your social media profile, so why not use it to your advantage?
Writing
My worst classes in school always involved writing. I seemingly couldn’t construct normal sentences that made sense. I used to ask my friend (Thomas, me!) to check my texts before I would publish them. Now, however, I had to write and keep up a blog twice a week? That’s asking for trouble. But hey, who cares, this is about fitness anyway!
As a digital artist, I am familiar with receiving feedback and with communicating on the web. But this was different. No one, or at least not many, like to admit they love their body and do actually work out to get that sexy body. So I didn’t anticipate many like or comments on my posts. Yet I was wrong. People started to PM me instead of leaving comments and, to my surprise, many friends were in fact following my blog! What? Instead of the type of open communication I was used to, I was peddling in tête-a-tête communication. Get personal and throw yourself out there. Share and connect!
Today I do somehow like writing online and I realise I should have done a lot more of it in the past. Fitness gave me a new way of communicating!
Why do we eat?
But a post about fitness would not be complete without something on nutrition. Let me tell you something, if you think bodybuilding and fitness is hard in the gym, you’re wrong. It’s even harder outside of the gym. Heck, lifting weights is easy. Eating every two-three hours, now that’s hard. Yes –eat even if you don’t feel hungry, because that protein is essential to recover for next training.
I am now 23 and for 23 years long, I had no idea what I was eating. Strange, no? I shamefully admit I’d never checked a nutrition label before and it still feels weird saying this today.
Yet now I can tell you how many proteins I consume every day (160 grams), how many fat I need to feel happy and sexy, how many carbs I need for my pre-workout meal (80 grams),… Yes indeed, I even enjoy going to the store and finding healthy food now.
Does this seem too good to be true? — A marketer, social media expert, food specialist, athletic, sexy, confident, more focus on work, …? What’s the catch? Clothing. I couldn’t fit into a medium T-shirt anymore, I had to buy a large one. Awful, but kind of cool.
I keep a tight schedule. I combine working hard in the studio with the gym, nutrition and most especially, a lovely girlfriend. I recognised the power of a habit. Because of the gym, I know how much time I need to eat, work, train and sleep. I know what to do to be the best possible version of myself. I believe in fitness, and so should you.
(This post was edited by my friend Thomas De Moor! Check out his blog.)
