Discipline, Resilience, and Discomfort: Three Pillars of my Fitness

Editor’s note: I started following Sahil Kapoor on LinkedIn for his insights on the macroeconomy, and then, one day, read an inspiring post about his fitness transformation. I have argued for a while that more people in the corporate world should talk about the ups and downs of their fitness journeys—so more of us can learn how others are figuring out how to make fitness part of their everyday lives, and how to think about it—just like Sahil did. 

So I reached out and asked him to write for us, to share what he has learned from his journey. Sahil is an investment manager, a voracious reader, and a relentless runner. You can read more of his writings on his personal blog and follow him on Twitter or LinkedIn.

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My fitness journey has been a roller coaster ride. 

As a teen, I excelled in physique competitions and maintained a healthy lifestyle with sports, running, and clean eating. A muscular physique was the norm for me. 

However, moving to Mumbai in 2005, at the age of 21, marked the beginning of a series of challenges that would test my determination and resilience.

Over the years, I faced numerous obstacles that threatened to derail my fitness. 

Recurrent bouts of malaria after moving to Mumbai left me struggling with significant weight fluctuations. In 2008, I managed to get back on track, restarting with intense workouts and a strict diet.

Then life threw another curveball. In 2013, an ignored pinching pain revealed a large bone spur, leading to surgery and permanent damage to my left ankle. The road to recovery was challenging, as I found myself gaining weight due to dietary lapses during rehab.

I refused to give up, and it took me over a year to resume my fitness routine. For the next two years, I shifted my focus to powerlifting, gaining substantial size and knowledge about lifting and nutrition.

However, my progress was short-lived. In 2018, a severe illness brought my fitness journey to a screeching halt once again. For the next five years, I struggled with a lack of focus and discipline, watching helplessly as poor eating habits and a sedentary lifestyle transformed me into a shadow of my former self, as I found myself stuck in a cycle of regaining lost weight.

In March 2022, I weighed 122kg, having gained nearly 20 kg of pure fat from late 2019 to early 2022. Despite attempts at various exercises, my body fat soared, thanks to bad eating choices. I was desperate for recovery, especially as someone who once sported a six-pack, trained with top-tier coaches, and understood diet and recovery. 

It was during this time that a friend’s suggestion to hire a trainer proved to be a turning point. Since then, I started a transformative journey, armed with the lessons I’ve learned from my past experiences. Through discipline, resilience, and a willingness to seek discomfort, I have shed over 30 kg of fat and dramatically improved my body composition. I am active and full of energy the whole day.

The impact of this transformation extends far beyond the physical. It has helped me do well in all facets of life. 

As I reflect on my journey, three critical lessons are responsible for my transformation.

I. Discipline is the foundation of success

Most of us know the right course of action, what needs to be done, but often fail to do it. 

The key difference between a ‘doer’ and a ‘talker’ lies in self-pride. It’s not about arrogance but about knowing yourself and taking action.

Do>Say

When you take pride in yourself, external validation becomes unnecessary. Success comes when we consistently follow predetermined actions that align with our goals. 

My four major execution checklists are: read, work out, eat clean, and seek challenges every day.

I have ensured that I am disciplined about three specific aspects of my life for good health:

a) Diet

Diet is a purely personal construct. What works for me, may not work for you. You need to create a sustainable way of eating that helps you get stronger.

I follow a simple rule: No sugar, no fried food, no packaged food. 

If it comes out of a packet, I don’t eat it. My diet primarily consists of protein from eggs, poultry, cottage cheese, broccoli, leafy greens, and protein supplements. This food group makes up nearly three-quarters of my daily food intake. I make sure to eat foods which have to be chewed with a lot of effort, especially raw fruits and grilled vegetables. 

I supplement my meals with cooking butter, desi ghee, and olive oil, avoiding all other forms of oil. Most of my meals are either grilled, tossed, or boiled. When I crave fried food, I resist. The only exception is a homemade paneer pakoda made with rajgira atta and shallow-fried in olive oil or an air fryer.

b) Sleep: I have always been an early riser, but I have struggled with my sleep schedule since becoming a dad. I aim for 7 hours of sleep per day, up from my previous 6.5 hours. Adequate sleep is one of the most important regulators of mental recovery, which, in turn, accelerates physical recovery. I have used a mouth tape to regulate my breathing and this has helped improve my sleep quality.

In addition to the benefits of sleep, I also focus on stretching. I ensure that I sit on the floor for at least 60 minutes each day, doing stretches and mobilisation activities.

c) Workout: Exercise is the only elixir. It is the most important ingredient and in absence of exercise all other areas could be futile. 

I follow a straightforward routine, lifting weights three times a week, focusing on five major lifts: squats, deadlifts, bench press, standing overhead press, and curls. Other exercises serve to enhance my performance in these lifts.

For core strength and agility, I incorporate pull-ups, sit-up crunches, lunges, box step-ups, and parallel bar dips. Additionally, I run three times a week—60 minutes of Zone 2 cardio, a day of 60-minute HIIT training, and long runs on Saturdays, pushing myself to run until sunrise.

As a morning person, I perform at my best early in the day. While an early morning routine isn’t obligatory, it’s crucial to establish a sustainable schedule that can be maintained for decades or even a lifetime. In addition to my workouts, I also walk, averaging 9,500 steps per day over the last two years. In the past 6 months, I have increased this number to an average of 10,000 steps per day, including all steps taken throughout the day.

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🏋 Dropping this in your friends inbox will workout really well for us 😛

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II. Resilience, and the power of perseverance

We crave success and results, but when progress seems to stall, it’s easy to lose heart. In my relentless pursuit, I constantly remind myself of one word: relentless. Be unwavering in your goals; don’t settle for mediocrity or the easy path.

This is what I learned: Don’t waste time dwelling on setbacks. Instead, act, prepare, and rise again. Treat failure as an attempt, not a conclusion. Life is tough, and you’ll face failures and misery. Keep going despite the hardships, lack of clarity, and inevitable obstacles. Persist in doing what brings you closer to your goal. Defy those who say you can’t. 

Remember, there’s no end, no expiration date, and no comfort in completion. The journey itself is the destination. Keep pushing forward.

Your roller coaster journey is the destination.

When I was a little kid, I practised Taekwon-do. My coach was a big, burly fighter. In my first competition, I lost my very first fight. 

The reason? I was too kind and didn’t want to hurt my opponent. The next day, I returned to my dojang, and my coach asked me to fight him. The only way for me to win was to kick him just once. The fight went on for 30 minutes, and he gave me a beating that I remember to this day. In the end, I succeeded in brushing his chest with a kick, and the fight was over.

The lesson? The moral of what you do lies in the goal. Go after what you set as a goal, relentlessly. Do not stop. Even if you fail, don’t stop. The execution to reach your goal has to be sincere. Don’t abuse your own goals and dreams.

Plan and prepare what works for you. Then execute it over years and decades.

III. Seeking discomfort for transformation

In today’s society, there’s a constant push towards comfort, embedded in our social and cultural makeup. Working in the financial services industry, I’ve seen how the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement attracts many, driven by the desire for a comfortable life. They dread the routine of daily life, yearning for a cosy existence filled with Netflix, fancy cars, dinners, fine wine, and beach vacations.

This pursuit of comfort is a dangerous disease. Most aren’t even aware they’re on a self-destructive path. People continue harmful habits, like drinking and smoking, unaware or unwilling to confront the damage. Even those who are aware find the fear of change insurmountable, preferring stagnation.

We’ve become slaves to comfort, opting for quick solutions, elevators over stairs, extra minutes of sleep, and endless scrolling instead of reading. Our lives are filled with products for comfort, yet we don’t prioritise essential things like reading, exercising, or contemplation.

I personally reached this stage during the pandemic. I never aspired to retire or sought comfort consciously, but it sneaks up if you’re not vigilant. Without a disciplined regimen, you’re headed into life’s dark areas, and troubles will catch up sooner or later.

Over the course of the last two years, I have missed my workouts only twice due to hospitalisation in my family. I have run in various cities when I am travelling for work. I use the hotel gym, a public park, or even the hotel room if nothing else is available. But I don’t miss my workout. One principle I follow is to make sure to work out, especially when I am mentally unable to.

I remain a disciple of discipline. People read books but see no improvement; hit the gym yet remain unchanged; follow investing legends but never make money. The list goes on endlessly. The key difference lies in self-discipline and action. Many of us falter in taking action. Embrace only the actions that propel you toward your goal; discard the rest.

If you have any mental toughness, if you have even a fraction of self-discipline, the ability to do what you don’t want to do, if you can push through and do the things that you hate, then you don’t need any support. You are home. 

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This is it. It’s important to remember that hard work doesn’t mean that you do your work as if it were the hardest thing to do. It means to do hard things, to work on stuff that is hard, for you, and do it again and again.

My journey is a textbook case of the most important truth in fitness: there is no magic pill. There is no mental hack. No crash courses. No 10 points to follow. No motivational videos and lectures. It is pure, bare, unadulterated discipline. Go and get it done.

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🏋 Share Sahil’s tips with someone who is on their fitness journey

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