Personal Reflection
Every birthday, he takes a moment to reflect on the progress he’s made towards his personal, health, and professional goals. Last year, on June 11, 2022, his 34th birthday, he was faced with a difficult realisation. As he stood in front of the mirror, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed with where he was at with his health. The extra weight he had gained made him feel sluggish and lethargic, and it was affecting his confidence and self-esteem.
He felt ashamed of the physical state he was in and knew he needed to make a change. The thought of another year passing by with no progress was unbearable. He knew he needed help to get back on track and achieve the healthy and fit lifestyle he had always envisioned for himself.
Being A Role Model
He felt like a hypocrite for promoting a healthy lifestyle to his patients at work every day and not following the same advice. He would tell his patients to adapt a heart-healthy lifestyle, but then he would come home and eat processed junk food, order out frequently, and not exercise. He was not consistently taking the action needed to achieve the results he desired. It was that day, while looking in the mirror, that he decided it was time for a big change.
Coincidentally, that day he saw a friend’s transformation and got inspired. He saw that this transformation was coached by Kunal, whom he had worked with before. It was the sign he needed to kickstart his journey. He decided that he needed to book a call with Kunal and start his journey to get into the best shape of his life.
His Why
He dug deep after his initial call with KMAK to discover his why. With his yo-yo dieting habits and previous transformations, he knew he needed to figure out his true why. It had to be more than just looking good on the outside or getting 6-pack abs. He needed to dig deep and think about why he was doing this. After a few reflections, his reasoning became crystal clear. It was to never feel the way he did in that mirror on his birthday. He didn’t want to ever feel ashamed or negative about his body or be a poor role model for his patients.
His reason became clear—he wanted to get into the best shape of his life to be a great role model to his patients. He wanted to prioritise his health and fitness and transform not just his body, but his life. As a doctor, he wanted to practise what he preached to his patients and learn how to maintain a healthy lifestyle year-round.
Short-lived Result to Long-term Transformation
He needed structure, guidance, and someone to hold him accountable. He always considered himself to be living somewhat of a healthy lifestyle. He’d been plant based and vegan for 10 years and had some understanding of what foods were considered healthy to consume and what foods to avoid. He exercised a few times a week, which included mostly cardio and some weightlifting (very limited exercises such as dumbbell arm curls and chest presses). Although he thought he was living a healthy lifestyle, he wasn’t seeing any sustainable results or feeling any better about his health.
He would be lethargic and have low energy most days. He’d been through transformations before with online coaching, where he attained some positive physical changes but wasn’t fully satisfied. These results were often short-lived, and he had no guidance on how to maintain them. He felt himself yo-yo dieting and going back to his old habits of not being consistent. His fitness journey has always been a roller coaster, with him losing weight for a certain event or period of time and then gaining it back when life got busy or challenging. Prior to KMAK, his other training programmes were not specifically tailored to his personal goals or lifestyle.
A Strong Mindset
Rather than aiming for a specific physique or an end point in the journey, he wanted to focus on developing the mindset and habits as his goal. This is where KMAK came in and was most useful for him. The programme truly helped him develop a growth mindset and allowed him to learn simple habits he could use to achieve his goals. He thinks this is extremely important. Many people or programmes will set a certain target weight or physique, but that is often not the best approach. Instead, the best goal to have is to develop skills and habits. Learning these habits and sticking to them is what’s going to make him successful in the long run.
Through KMAK, he learned not to chase a certain number on the scale or a certain physique. He focused on building healthy habits with his coach, which helped him navigate difficult situations in life. There will be challenges along the way, and there will be disappointments. If you don’t develop the mindset or habits to work through these, you’ll feel like quitting or being disappointed. It will also affect your motivation. So instead, he learned how to focus on developing habits and staying consistent as his goal. He focused on what kind of person he wanted to become during this transformation.
Through his coach, he was able to develop the mindset and build the habits needed to navigate any challenging situation. He was able to get into the best shape of his life despite multiple work social events, three long vacations, summer weddings, studying for board exams, and working often 60-80 hours per week. He was able to accomplish this because of the simple habits he learned from his coach. He didn’t have to compromise on living his life.
Incorporating His Social Life
The programme encouraged socialising and created a workout and nutrition plan according to his lifestyle. It gave him a new perspective and helped him develop a new mindset around health and fitness. He thought that because he was a doctor working long hours, he couldn’t achieve the fit physique he always dreamed of. He thought that because he had social events and vacations coming up, he couldn’t manage his nutrition properly and needed to delay his journey.
After going through this journey, it has convinced him that he can do all these things and still prioritise his health. He can continue to work productively while also transforming his body. Socials and holidays are a part of life, and KMAK Fitness taught him how to manage these events without putting his health goals on hold.
His Reservations
His initial reservations about KMAK had nothing to do with his trainer Kunal or the KMAK Fitness program. He’s seen their work and seen the incredible transformations, even seen some of his friends undergo the transformations. The biggest hesitation for him was whether this would work for him. He questioned whether KMAK could work with his busy work schedule and his vegan lifestyle to help him achieve his goals. He also had a lot of internal self-doubt and questions. Would he be able to stay consistent? How would he be able to fit in the hours at the gym on top of his already busy work schedule? How would he make this work when he has work-related social events that he can’t miss? He had a lot of self-doubt and self-confidence issues as well. He had negative self-talk toward his body almost daily before this journey.
His Learning Journey
Developing and sticking to simple habits helped him the most. Staying consistent with habits such as walking 10,000 steps a day, hydrating adequately, getting enough sleep, not missing workouts at the gym, consuming enough protein if he was travelling, etc., was the key to his success. The journey really pushed him outside his comfort zone, but he enjoyed every moment of it. Growth only comes from challenging oneself and stepping outside of one’s comfort zone. He was grateful to KMAK for challenging him because it allowed him to grow in ways both physically and mentally that he never imagined.
He learned how to enjoy his food without feeling guilty about it. In the past, he would have a cookie or piece of cake and feel bad about it. He would put himself down about it and try to compensate for it at the gym. After this process, he learned how to have his cake and eat it without feeling guilty. He didn’t feel bad anymore because of the habits and mindset he developed through KMAK.
Going through this journey, he learned to love himself and his body again. He learned to not be so hard on himself and take it one day at a time. He learned to rewire his brain to stay consistent with healthy habits and adapt the same lifestyle he taught his patients about. Having expert coaching and accountability from his coach on a weekly basis was extremely beneficial. When he doubted himself or had negative self-talk, Kunal redirected his mind to a positive thought and made him think about the progress he had made since starting the journey. Kunal made him think about how far he had really come whenever he doubted himself and helped him regain his confidence and self-esteem. He also quickly learned that this transformation was possible on a completely vegan diet.
The Result
In just a few short weeks, he used KMAK and was able to lose 10–15 pounds while simultaneously gaining lean muscle mass across his entire body. And by the time he had completed the programme for approximately six months, he had already lost close to 30 pounds, increased his lean muscle mass, and was in the very best shape of his entire life. This was not only the best result he had ever achieved during a fitness journey from a physical standpoint, but it was also the best result he had ever achieved from a mental standpoint.
In addition to this, he felt better than he ever had before, as well as stronger and more self-assured. He climbed back up to his previous level of self-esteem and confidence. He started appreciating his physical form and stopped condemning or judging it. He overall felt better, stronger, and happier. The only things that were necessary to make it happen were proper coaching, proper nutrition, and proper training.
The Community
Aside from the physical transformation, what he valued the most was the coaching, expertise, education, lifestyle and mindset shift, and community. Going through this journey allowed him to develop meaningful friendships and relationships within the KMAK community. Attending a KMAK workshop in Atlanta was a big turning point in his journey. Before this point, he wasn’t training as hard as he could, and he kept doubting the process. He didn’t actually believe he would get solid results until that Atlanta trip. Meeting some of the community members and people who have now become his good friends who were undergoing transformations really inspired and motivated him.
The community is one of the best parts of KMAK Fitness and what differentiates it from any other online training programme out there. After meeting some of the community members, it really shifted his perspective and mindset. It gave him so much insight from other people who had gone through this transformation. They shared their challenges and wins with each other and kept each other motivated. After the Atlanta trip, he trained harder than ever and was on a mission to get into the best shape of his life by the end of the year.
Kunal had mentioned a photoshoot to him, and he didn’t think he would ever do one until he came to Atlanta. Having a photo shoot motivated him more than ever to kick up his training and stay consistent. The photoshoot for him was the culmination of just one step in a broader journey to build and reflect on his ongoing health and fitness goals.
His Final Thoughts
He is incredibly grateful to Kunal and KMAK Fitness for allowing him to fulfil his vision and goal of prioritising his health and fitness. He feels that he is a much better role model and doctor now that he consistently practises the same heart-healthy habits he advises his patients about. KMAK Fitness not only transformed his body but also his life.
This experience, including the photo shoot, was such an empowering and affirming one. It has been the culmination of a long journey and has allowed him to work through years of insecurities and self-confidence issues. He is incredibly proud of himself, and he finally feels comfortable in his own skin. It allowed him to push himself out of his comfort zone and pursue an opportunity he never expected to have. He is forever grateful!
