“The only person you need to be better than is….the person you were yesterday”

Why do I workout? Why do I put in the hours of pain? Why do I get myself and make sure I always have time to push past my comfort zone?

Because even if I have the worst day, literally everything goes to shit, if I go to the gym, I am 1 percent better than I was yesterday. 1 percent better in 100 days…. Equals 100 Percent. I am Asian so I am good at math. Basically, you become a whole different person physically and the most important aspect…mentally.

The one thing you can control…the one thing you have choice in every day is improving your body. You control what you put in your mouth, you control how you move your body, and how you take care of it. Your body is the reflection of your lifestyle.

When you read Part I of “My Body, My Dream” I went from fat to skinny. But I went to brutal skinny where I couldn’t even do a push up. Thus, I was actually on the reconditioning program at the Air Force Academy Freshman Year. The program was for cadets who did not meet the standards physically so they had mandatory training sessions at the gym, practicing pull ups, push ups, sit-ups, and all other aspects of the test. When I first lost thirty pounds, I thought I was going to be happy and accept my body. But like all human beings I desired more.

Ever since I was young, I watched the amazing physiques of Rocky Balboa, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z. I used to watch them, wanting to look and be strong like them. I used to hang on my uncle’s biceps, admiring his muscles.

It is crazy how the universe works though because I ended up at the most testosterone driven University in the World: The Air Force Academy. Most of the guys at the Academy worked out and were into bodybuilding and fitness. This is how I got my first start in the fitness lifestyle.

I remember taking my first pre workout, NO explode, and doing my first chest day. I fell in love with the pump, the blood flow to your muscles, the feeling of accomplishment. I loved the feeling of barely able to sit down to poop because your legs were so sore from LEG DAY. I remember my first leg day I walked with a limp for like a week. But all that pain, the soreness, it reminded me that I was changing. I was changing my life. I actually felt like I could set a goal, dictate my actions, and accomplish my goal.

However, even with all the good, it still comes with the bad. I started to categorize foods as bad and good. I started to restrict myself with certain foods. I tried everything from low card diets, paleo, and etc. Restricting myself led to binge eating and always feeling guilty. When I was younger, I was able to eat few oreos, one ice cream bar, or small bag of potato chips. Now I wanted to eat the whole bag of oreos, pint of ice cream, and the giant size potato bags…. And I did. However, I knew for me to actually change my body I had to commit to something… something that would motivate me to diet and push myself.

Few people know about this but I actually did a bodybuilding competition my junior year of college. Yup…I was in my banana hammocks, navy blue man thong, and got a spray tan everywhere….I mean everywhere. I remember waking up on the day of competition and looking at my body, lying to myself that I was ready. I got there early morning and we had to weigh in to see what division we will compete in. I remember the guy in front of me taking his clothes off…and I stared in admiration. He was competing in the same weight class as me and we weighed the same. Yet we looked so different. Below are the pictures that I NEVER showed to anyone. Not even my family.