Fitness is really important and not only for workers. For a long time, I’ve always admired people who strive to improve their health and fitness lifestyle. I’ll be sincere that I’ve been hard on myself for a while. I ask myself if they have more than the same number of hours in a day to be productive and make a conscious decision to live a healthy lifestyle.

Some weeks ago, I decided to feel inspired and went ahead to interview two wonderful people on their healthy life choices. The first was Adriel Gavazza and you’ll learn more about him in this post. 

This profile is long overdue and I must mention that Adriel is a really cool person to have a chat with. He was willing to share every detail on how he has come this far in his personal journey. His story resonated with me and I instantly knew that I couldn’t wait to feature him on the blog.

Then something happened!

I wanted to share how much Adriel inspired me and so I wanted a great photograph of him to be used on the magazine cover as we’ve received a lot of great feedback regarding the magazine cover style.

Adriel was kind enough to accept to have a shoot with Allen but unfortunately, our schedules kept conflicting and for weeks we missed appointments. Shortly after, I fell seriously ill.

Now from chatting with so many people that take health and fitness seriously, I’ve realized that life encounters pushed them to make such life changing decisions and I believe that that’s where I am at this point in my life.

I don’t believe in coincidence and I’m of the opinion that everything happens for a reason. This interview with Adriel inspired me a great deal, I’ve since made decisions regarding my health after chatting with him and made, even more decisions after my health saga.

I believe it’ll inspire you too. That’s the whole purpose of this Magazine segment on this blog. Adriel is a graduate of Computer Networks and Business Administration and also has a post-graduate degree in Project Management.

“I have been working in this industry for the past 8 years, supporting and designing IT Infrastructure (both hardware and software). I am a Systems and Network Administrator, specializing in Microsoft solutions”.

I work at the headquarters of The Salvation Army. My department supports the whole of Canada (more than 400 locations across the country) and Bermuda.

On a common day, it’s really routine. My day basically consists of checking the servers that are under my responsibility. I ensure it’s operational, apply system updates, maintain systems, ensure systems are up to date and secure, and so on.

We also have a lot of projects for short and long term, which require attention every day. The same goes for managing our network infrastructure.

Sometimes all these tranquility changes and then we have to work under pressure and a lot of rush”.

In his Instagram bio, you’ll notice he has ‘IT’ listed there, and I was just curious to know how much he loves his profession and he was willing to share.

“It is certainly the dynamism of technology. Technology has always enchanted me and from a very young age, I started to study about it and fell in love with the possibilities that technology offers.”

When I asked him how he discovered his passion for health & fitness, and if there was a story, this was what he had to say:

“A few years ago, I was working, studying, and trying to keep my personal life and it was not going well. I was under too much stress and this started to affect my health.

I started to suffer from headaches and feel constant pain on my chest. After running plenty of tests, the doctors couldn’t find a reason except because of stress due to a massive daily routine.

Then, I decided to take things easy, slow down and try to change my lifestyle. So I went to the gym. I used to start and in a few months I would quit, return and quit again. I always had an excuse for quitting and it was that way for 3 years until last year.

I was no longer so stressed, I had learned to manage my time, but I was not satisfied with my weight, I was thin and wanted to gain a little weight. So with the help of a friend, I started training at the gym and I fell in love with the sport.

Today I study about the sport, I am thinking about competitions and I help other people who also want to change their lives as I am changing mine.

Now, this was the aspect that really struck something in me. For a long time, I’ve been in this situation. Somehow I’ve managed to add a few pounds because I used to be very much underweight (or so I think), and I hated it when people will tell me to eat because I do eat else I wouldn’t be alive anyway!

Adriel, so far, has taken fitness seriously, been working out regularly, and studying the sport now for one year.

If he could keep quitting and overcome that, then I believe that you and I can do so too. I’ve been trying to gain weight through exercise, I’ve noticed very little change in a few months but I would be sincere and confess that I’ve also been a big quitter.

I believe the story of Adriel, coupled with his before and after photos will truly motivate you to conquer your health & fitness dreams, especially if weight gain is your goal. I asked him how he plans his schedule knowing that he is a full-time worker and in his words:

“Well, the best way I’ve found to manage my time was to define priorities and try to fit everything in a schedule in the best effective way possible. For example, I have a coach who is responsible for my food plan and my exercises.

This is important to save time in the kitchen and even more at the gym. It also helps to prevent injuries for doing unnecessary or inappropriate exercises. So I try to take as much advantage of my time as I can”.

He also shared how he stays motivated.

“As I mentioned before I was the biggest quitter ever! (haha haha). Then, I decided to change my life, to look ahead, picture my goals and fight for it. People must set reachable goals, for example, lose/gain 5 pounds in 8 weeks. Maybe you can lose or gain more, but if you set the highest possible goal you will probably quit before because it’s going to be very hard to achieve it.

I also could say that, and maybe sounds cliché, but if you don’t find your passion, if you don’t find a way to accomplish everything you ever wanted, you won’t be able to change your life. Since you don’t know where you want to go, any road will get you nowhere. That’s my motivation.

I want something that I never had, I want to achieve the best version of myself, I look for greatness and I want to inspire others to do the same”.

Do you have cheat days? What do you do on such days?

“Of course I do. I try to follow my food plan as much as I can, but sometimes I can’t. When I have my cheat meals I try to go for sandwiches, pizza or Brazilian food”.

You guessed right, he is Brazillian! I tried a Brazillian meal some months ago and it was amazing!! Oh.. and there were lovely dancers at the restaurant too. It was like a carnival.

And he was kind enough to share some useful tips too.

“For those who just want to keep or improve their health, cardio programs are the best options in my opinion. Just 15 to 30 minutes walk will help them. I also would suggest squats, push ups, lunges and abs, 3 sets, 10 to 15 reps each.

People can start by themselves, but it’s always important to have support from a professional”.

Again, I’m so happy that Adriel was kind enough to answer these questions. This interview inspired me a great deal and I’m sure you are also motivated to take your health and fitness lifestyle seriously because nothing is impossible.

You can follow Adriel’s journey on Instagram: @adriel_gavazza.

The second inspiring person I interviewed shares a lot of tips on weight-loss including her story. Listen to the podcast interview or read the transcribed interview here. If you missed the previous interview, please check it out here. It’s got a lot of useful tips on personal style for work. Check out other inspiring interviews in the magazine category.

Are you also trying to gain weight through exercise? Share with me your fitness journey in the comment section below or if you are inspired to start one. I love it when you share your thoughts.

I can’t wait to share the next interview with you. It’s awesome jeez,  subscribe to the blog now so that you don’t miss a thing!

by Zinny
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