Whenever a client of mine appreciates or applauds me as their coach/ mentor who helped them achieve what they are, its actually me who appreciates the client who showed unconditional trust and discipline in the gym with me and with his eating habits.

Having said that, I personally believe a very few are lucky to have a coach/mentor behind them who give them appropriate guidance. Well, I was in the unfortunate list of those unlucky few who found it in a hard and long way what results literally mean.

Here's my story on how I achieved this near dramatic transformation.

As a kid and throughout my school days, I was always a lanky tall boy, quite unenthusiastic about food, undernourished, not so good in sports, not so good in studies but pretty outdoorsy. Though I wasn't that great at sports (except table tennis) I was really fond of it. I learned cricket, roller skating, swimming, volleyball, football etc but never really excelled in any one of them.

After my 10th my dad sent me to Bhonsala Military School, Nashik for their summer military training course and there I guess it all changed. There was this cadet who we used to call 'Arnold' and so as the name suggests he was very muscular and excelled in most of the activities. There I decided to join a GYM when I get back in my hometown, Pune.

When I was back, suntanned, standing at the height of 6 feet 2 inchs and weighing 49 kgs, I was a walking skeleton. I joined a local gym in my area named Salaama [ now Talwarkars ] where I began weight training. I went for 15 months to Salaama and found no desirable change in myself. Sometime during the year, I found out this pamphlet of a new gym on FC Road named FAB which was had quite Hi- Tech machinery and equipment as compared to the previous one. The one thing worth flaunting in this gym was the AIR CONDITIONER! I remember I used to brag a lot how I workout in an AC gym... haha..

Again a year passed where I saw little changes in me. Body weight was somewhere around 55 kgs. Then a friend of mine named told me about Endurance Fitness Club, Kothrud a gym where there was some offer going on. 500 Rs per month. When I went there I was very impressed with the humongous gym floor and ambiance. And to my little disappointment, that offer was only valid for HAPPY HOURS that is you had to workout in between 12.30pm- 3.30pm. Because of my budget restrictions I took that offer and enrolled in Endurance which was the breakthrough in my life.

The only reason i joined endurance was because of the good offer, great ambiance and two of my best friends enrolled with me. Though i was in Endurance i never used to follow their workout pattern. Neither in Fab, nor in Salaama. I was doing workout on my own, designed by my uneducated and immature brains and used to hit biceps triceps and abs almost every alternate day despite of the trainers telling me not to. Then sometime in the late 2009, I attended a free workshop by Mr. Kaizzad Capadia [ Director of K11 Academy of Fitness Sciences] in E-Square on the subject of Nutrition. This changed my life. After the seminar I found out how stupid I was. I immediately took an appointment with the nutritionist in Endurance and programmer to chalk out my diet and workout plans. The nutritionist, suggested me some suppliments which my parents were very apprehensive about buying. This was because of lack of education of nutritional suppliments to the general population. People used to connect suppliments with steriods.

It took me a lot of time to convince and make my parents understand the role of supplements in a diet. And then i bought my first bodybuilding suppliment ever. Optimum Nutrition's Serious Mass ! With all the excitement and catchy description of the product on the suppliment jars I almost thought i could be a Schwarznegger in few months LOL!

This was the period when I got dead serious about diet and workouts as my parents were investing a lot in this Supplement. I remember I literally used to carry the suppliment to Hotel Vaishali and drink it there while my friends ordered Idlis, dosas and uttapas... Results were brilliant. Got up to 65-68 kgs in within 6-8 months and an incredible rise in strength performance. Sometime later, I hit a plateau. Though I was working out constantly and following a good diet, the weight was not going up. So then my nutritionist suggested me to add Whey protein to my diet. Another addition to the suppliment stack. More load on the family pockets. They didn't budged about it too much but at the back of my head i knew how expensive this stuff was. This was the time I was reading up blogs of K11 Academy of Fitness Sciences. Blogs about difference between weight loss and fat loss, how to gain more muscle, how to use fats to fight fats etc. These blogs got me deeper and deeper into the subject of exercise science and nutrition. I visited K11 to enquire about the courses which they are offering and was so impressed by the subject matter they had to teach. I decided to do these courses after my graduation but as every concerned parent, I was asked whether this is what you are going to do in future? And how long I'm gonna live with 3,000 Rupees per month salary in hand.

As I went deeper into this profession, my income, knowledge and workouts got better and better. I could finally afford supplements on my own. I enrolled in more courses like Advanced Personal Trainer's course for Special Population, Sports Nutrition Course, The Master Trainer's course and Lecturer Training Course. What I found out that the more I learnt, more I could incorporate the stuff in my own workouts and diets and also in my clients.

And finally, here I am. now standing at the same height but weighing 34 kilos heavier and maintaining low body fat levels. No doubt stronger than before, bigger than before, more confident than before. For all of you who think you or your friends needs some personality development classes, join a gym! Try incorporating a fitness lifestyle and see for yourself.

The picture on the left was taken on May 31st 2008 at my passing out parade of Bhonsala Military School. The pic on the right was taken a few days back. Same shirt ( got two people to get me in and out of the shirt, lol ) same cap, a different me. What I achieved in 5-6 years, you can definitely achieve it in a lesser time span. Study my story carefully and you shall notice how my first few years in the gym was quite a waste of time and efforts. I learned the hard way. But I learnt.

Train hard. But train smart. Allot a Certified Personal Trainer and a Sports Nutritionist to get yourselves better and faster results. Believe in yourself. You'll never know when you become an idol for someone.