Social media shows off the good parts of our lives and little, if any, of the gritty bits. Many think that I live a good life – having a nice body, eating clean, a notable number of followers on Instagram and friends on Facebook, surrounded by beautiful ladies, and having a lot of time to train since I work in a gym. So some of them want to be like me – a reasonably public figure. What they don’t see is the work that goes into it and the struggles that come with it.
In this article, I will disclose the untold truth of a ‘fit’ person you know in your life or follow on Instagram/Facebook. I personally don’t consider myself as fit. I use the term ‘fit’ here because that is how people perceive me. I am typing from my own experience and also, on behalf of all ‘fit’ people out there who harbor similar sentiments.
I hereby declare that I am a regular human being. My daily routine is probably pretty similar to yours. I work 7-9 hours a day, have food cravings, meet up with friends, do household chores and I am an avid gamer who will sacrifice sleep for the sake of gaming, work stress and family commitment. These are the bits you don’t see, because fitness people like myself always put up inspirational posts to motivate their fans and followers. But we do have day-to-day struggles as well.
Though I cook for myself every single day, I crave for food just like you do. It takes a whole lot of disclipine to eat clean, and that takes time to cultivate. I stick to my diet because I have to maintain my body image, because of it’s what I have been working hard for, for the last 10 years. It is not something that I hate or am forced to but I know that in order to have a body like this, my diet has to be clean to a certain extent. Too many people think that I enjoy eating plain, boring food or I am very strict about my food. But just like you, I like eating mee goreng, laksa etc, and do eat them just like you do when I am out with my friends.
I also struggle with motivation in regard to training. I have stayed up late to play video games instead of training, or resting for training the next day. Does this sound familiar to you? The outside world thinks that I am forever self-motivated or naturally self-driven. In actual fact, I am not. I have to dig deep and find motivation from the people who followed me or my ‘fans’ in Facebook and Instagram.
Another misconception people have is that I am some sort of a celebrity. Having 5000 friends on Facebook and followers on Instagram doesn’t make me one. All these friends are not really friends. In actual fact, I am always alone, having only a few good friends. Those are just 5000 Facebook friends. A friend is whom I really chat with and would go the distance for. I do appreciate the Facebook friends and Instagram followers, but what’s on social media doesn’t reflect what goes on in real life.
Would you believe me if I told you sometimes I feel like giving all this up? Fact is, I always want to give everything up and lead what most people consider to be a regular, sedentary life. This is a real internal struggle I used to have back then. Maybe sometimes even now.
If you’ve ever wanted to be like me and the fitness people on Facebook/Instagram, do give it some serious thought. Because if you are currently busy in your life, you will be even busier thinking of how to inspire your fans/followers, keeping up with them and the fitness lifestyle etc. I always advise people to get a better paying job and lead a good life rather than do what I do. When people see you as an inspiration, chances are you’ll put pressure on yourself to live up to that.
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Your Fitness Coach,
Amirrudin Ong
