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Guest: Arpit Kushwaha, PT collective certified physique and powerlifting coach, Lawyer and Nutrition coach.
Introduction
-I am a lawyer, somehow I got into this fitness stream, I’ve been obese throughout my life, once I completed my law I got into this fitness thing, I work at Fittr, I’ve been a faculty at INFS too. I’ve coached more than 250-300 people officially and 500+ people unofficially.
What was your reason to get into fitness?
-During my school time I used to be a skinny guy and I didn’t have anything related to fitness at that time, there wasn’t any motivation for it. I was preparing for engineering, my parents wanted me to get into an IIT, so after my 12th I decided that this is not something I want, so despite good scores in AIEEE, I took a drop and started preparing for CLAT, I used to eat, sleep and study, I started to put on weight.
-I wasn’t concerned about it at all at that time, I cracked CLAT, I got busy with college and stuff, then college life happened, staying awake till 3, attending long lectures early in the morning, my lifestyle was messed.
-There were moment when I realised that
I am putting on a lot of weight but I wasn’t concerned about it.
-It was my fourth year when I realised that it’s too much, we all went to a beach and everyone took off their shirt and I kind of felt ashamed to pull my shirt off and that thing hit me hard. That was the moment that made me realise that I am fat and I am not comfortable with my body.
-I went back to Ahmedabad finishing my studies, I started working out and educating myself about nutrition, I tried all the diets, I read and learned more. I came to know about Fittr.
-I got myself certified, started quantifying my nutrition.
-After some time, I got lean and got abs.
-Then I joined Fittr as a full time fitness consultant.
People won’t stop talking about your issues
-People used to call me obese and a lot of bad things.
-When I transformed myself, they called me sick, skinny and what not.
-Even though I had six pack abs, I wasn’t satisfied with my physique because everyone was telling me that I was looking skinny.
-When you’re a fitness coach, people will come to you and tell you that you’re a fitness coach and you yourself aren’t in good health.
-You can change yourself, you can’t change people.
How do you explain things to your clients?
-The toughest part is to make them understand that fitness journey is a process and it’s going to take time.
-I make them understand that, you’re not unfit and unhealthy because you wanted to, it happened because you neglected some things for a long period of time due to some unhealthy habits, you’re here not to lose fat or build muscles but to develop habits that will take you there.
-The job of coach is not to get someone fit, the job coach is to make people aware of their habits and wrongdoings, so that they can change their mindset.
-Small changes reap big results over time.
-Your body and your appearance are two different things.
More tips
-Try to understand that your body and your mind are not two different things. Your body helps you do different tasks, use it as a tool.
-Whenever you’re feeling low about how you look, about how other people perceive you, understand that you’re not your body, focus on things that you can do better.
-Different people will have different opinions of you, not just about your body, but about everything.