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Abhinand Raghavan

Abhinand Raghavan

Seeing my mother suffer for 47 days on a hospital bed before breathing her last motivated me. My own health was a concern as well; COVID hit me really hard. 

 

My expectation was to lose weight for a cycling event. However, I achieved more than that. For example, I developed a newfound respect for my health and my family. I realized, what if I were so unhealthy that I was unable to provide for them? Finally, there was the fear that I would become so unhealthy that I would become a burden to everyone around me.

Here are the key stats when I started training with Coach Dan: Age – 45 years, Weight – 117 kgs, Cholesterol and blood pressure – way too high, knees always hurt, Waist – 40 inches. I needed a drink at least three times a week and that smoke almost every day to calm my nerves. Then, COVID hit me.

 

I had many ‘wake-up’ calls in the past but never heeded any of them. My unconscious belief was that nothing could happen to me. In June ’20, a colleague pushed me to join him on a bicycle ride at Al Qudra (for those in Dubai, you know). I joined him one Friday morning, not because I wanted to ride, but to make him stop asking. Every fiber of my being justified that it was okay to curl up under my blanket and go back to sleep that morning. We eventually rode, and I felt like I had climbed Mount Everest when, in fact, I rode just 22 kms on my rented bike.

 

Now:  

Weight – consistently at 86-87 kgs, Eating – I still practice intermittent fasting, Cholesterol and blood pressure – deep in the healthy zone, Resting heart rate – at my peak, it was 48 bpm. I have an occasional beer to celebrate an achievement, I ride 5 days a week, and I weight train once a week. I am not motivated anymore; this life has become a habit.



  1. Tough love – He didn’t take no for an answer.
  2. He made me believe that even a lumbering giant like me could do it.
  3. He helped me truly believe that there is no excuse for not taking care of my own health.

 

The most beneficial aspects were:  

    1. I came to realize that you are limited by your own thoughts of what you are capable of.  
    2. NOTHING is more important than your personal health.  
    3. Motivation is severely overrated; habit creation is severely underrated.  
    4. Getting up at 3:30 am every day is nothing if it is a habit.

If you want to see a better version of yourself physically, go to Coach Dan. He will kick your ass and get you into shape!