Three years ago, I moved to Bangalore. At that time, I didn’t have an active lifestyle. I was more of a foodie and regularly ordered food through Zomato and Swiggy, sometimes even three times a day.
For the first year, I didn’t pay much attention to my lifestyle. Gradually, I started gaining weight, and eventually, I realized that my increasing weight was beginning to affect my health and overall lifestyle.
That was the point when I decided that something had to change.
The Beginning: Joining Cult
In January 2024, as part of my New Year’s resolution, I took a Cult Elite subscription.
The photo below was taken on my very first day at the gym. I still remember how different everything felt at that time. I was not familiar with proper training, exercise techniques, or how to structure a workout.
For the first three months, I mainly focused on gym workouts. I also spent a lot of time learning about exercises, training techniques, and proper form through YouTube.
Then I discovered something that completely changed my approach to fitness: group workouts.
Discovering Group Workouts
Cult offered a variety of group workout formats, including:
- Strength+
- HRX Workout
- Boxing
- Burn
- Dance workouts
I started with Strength workouts.
One of the biggest advantages for me was the trainers. They were patient enough to explain the exercises, correct my form, and help me understand how to perform movements properly.
This was my first group workout experience.
Over the next eight months, I consistently attended HRX and Strength workouts.
The results started showing.
I lost around 8 kg during this phase.
However, there was still one major problem, I hadn’t figured out my diet.
Realizing That Exercise Alone Wasn’t Enough
Although I was exercising regularly, my diet wasn’t as structured as it needed to be.
I eventually realized an important lesson:
You can’t out-train a poor diet.
So, I decided to take my nutrition more seriously and joined the Cult Transform plan.
I was assigned a coach, Ruchita, who helped me understand how to structure my diet and make changes based on my progress.
The process involved regularly tracking different aspects of my lifestyle and progress. Every week, I had to share my BMI and food details, while body measurements were updated regularly.
Based on my progress, the diet plan was modified accordingly.
Changing My Relationship With Food
Initially, the focus was on removing packaged and highly processed foods from my diet.
Then came another challenge: controlling my cravings, especially for sweets and packaged snacks.
Instead of trying to completely change everything overnight, I gradually developed better eating habits.
One of the concepts I started following was the Cult Plate, which follows a simple approach:
- 50%: Fibre-rich foods
- 25%: Protein
- 25%: Carbohydrates
Initially, I struggled with getting enough fibre into my meals.
It took time to adjust, but after a few months, I became much more comfortable with the new eating pattern.
The biggest change wasn’t just losing weight, it was learning how to make better food choices consistently.
Understanding Supplements and Nutrition
As I became more serious about fitness, I also started taking some supplements regularly, including:
- Whey protein
- Multivitamins
- Fish oil
However, I didn’t want to blindly take supplements without understanding what my body actually needed.
So, I decided to get my first comprehensive blood test.
My First Blood Test
The results showed that I was deficient in Vitamin D, Vitamin B9, and Vitamin B12.
Based on the results, I started taking Vitamin D and a Vitamin B-complex supplement.
After around six months, I repeated the blood test.
This time, my Vitamin D level had improved to 45, while my Vitamin B9 and B12 levels were also in the optimal range.
For me, this was an important reminder that fitness isn’t only about how you look in the mirror.
Training, nutrition, recovery, and overall health all matter.
My First Fitness Championship
By this point, my fitness journey had gone far beyond simply trying to lose weight.
I wanted to challenge myself.
In 2025, I participated in the Cult Unbound Championship.
I completed the challenge in approximately 90 minutes.
It was a completely different experience from where I had started. The person who had once spent most of his time sitting, ordering food, and living an inactive lifestyle was now participating in a fitness championship.
That moment made me realize just how much I had changed.
From 90 kg to 70 kg
What started as a New Year’s resolution eventually became a complete lifestyle transformation.
Over approximately 2.5 years, I went from 90 kg to 70 kg.
But the 20 kg weight loss is only one part of the story.
The bigger transformation was in my discipline, eating habits, fitness level, confidence, and mindset.
And the journey didn’t stop at weight loss.
I went on to explore different forms of fitness, participate in fitness events, and push myself beyond what I thought was possible.
This is only Part I of my journey.
In Part II, I’ll share what happened after reaching this stage, the fitness events I participated in, the challenges I faced, and how my goals evolved from simply losing weight to becoming fitter and stronger.
To be continued…
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