5.5 Weeks Out- Thoughts on Passion and Bodybuilding Vs. Healthy Lifestyle

I have been prepping for this upcoming show for 25 weeks.  25 weeks I have endured countless hours of cardio, dietary restrictions of 1000kcals a day and lifting sessions that last 2+ hours that beat the shit out of my body. Everyday though, I crave it.  I crave the routine, I crave the pain and I push my body to endure every imaginable obstacle possible.

Its hard to explain what passion is if you have never really experienced it.  People always tell me I am crazy or that I have no life because I spend all my countless free time in the gym.  But it's not work to me, its what I love to do. It drives me to be a better person, keeps me motivated and always pushes me to become better than I was the day before.

Bodybuilding is a lifestyle, it is so much more than casually lifting in the gym.  To be a bodybuilder you have to be willing to give up everything and everyone to get to your end goal.  Those who that support you will stick around and those who do not will leave.  One of my pet peeves is people who call themselves bodybuilders who have never truly committed to the sport or lifestyle.

Eating right and lifting does not make you a bodybuilder. Bodybuilding is so so so much more: Sacrificing daily life, friendships, relationships, painfully swallowing the dry chicken or fish, getting discouraged day by day as you only see the subtle changes your body makes, prepping and bringing your food everywhere, spending thousands of dollars on food and supplements a month, waking up earlier than the world to get that fasted cardio in and ending the day with your HIIT training or PM cardio, getting 8 hours of sleep in between life and still trying to function as a normal human...that's the lifestyle for a bodybuilder. If you are willing to do that, then you can rightfully call yourself a bodybuilder.