Alex Gede came from a family that struggled with health and weight issues. He could see the problems his aunts, uncles, and others were having-mobility problems and diabetes-and he was afraid. So he stopped eating.
Gede tells Men's Health that he would have an apple for breakfast and a small dinner, but nothing more. He was bullied as a kid, with his mockers calling him bones and sticks.He grew up to be 63, but weighed only 132 pounds. He possessed little self-confidence and mostly tried to hide, to not be noticed.
Today, after packing on almost 70 pounds of muscle and winning Mr. Ideal Nigeria, its hard not to notice Gede.
His transformation began when he paid a visit to his former job.
That day, Gede walked into the bank where he had once worked sporting street clothes, which were a departure from what he had worn as an employee. A former colleague noticed him from the other end of the hall and noticed that Gede looked different. Wow! I never knew you were this skinny! Gede recalls hearing the friend exclaim.
Everyone turned back and looked at me, he says. I was so embarrassed that I decided to do something about it. In August of that year, Gede began training.
I was too shy and weak to go to the gym, he says. So I turned my spare room into a gym, buying a pair of dumbbells, a bench, and so on. Gede trained five days a week, waking up each morning to 100 pushups. After a year of training, he added a few pounds, outgrew his equipment, and gained confidence, so he joined a gym.
That's when he really committed to his workouts. He would go to work, spend time with his family, and then lift at 10 p.m. He trained based on what knowledge he had, switching muscle groups each day: chest and shoulders, back and abs, biceps and triceps, legs, and calves and weak points. Gede didnt have a personal trainer, so he became one, using his body to study and test his knowledge. Staying motivated was not easy, he says. But anytime I looked at the mirror, I saw a skinny person and that made me carry on.
Gedes dietary change was even harder. His body wasnt used to consuming so much food, so he struggled to keep it down and often found himself sick. He went to the hospital during one episode and was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, caused by wheat and dairy. He took on what he calls his own version of the caveman diet, consisting of chicken, meats, brown rice, potatoes, fruits and vegetables. No baked goods, and no processed foods. He drank lots of water and started consuming 2,500 per day. Over time, that turned into 3,500.
Though his first year was difficult, by the time August rolled back around, people were noticing. I was over the moon and even more motivated, Gede says. He had put on close to 12 pounds of muscle. By the end of the second year, he had packed on 22 pounds.
Gede took to the fitness contest stage with his newfound confidence, and after one competition, a photographer approached him to model. Later, Gede would win the Mr. Ideal Nigeria contest and represented the country in Mr. Africa International, where he came in second. He now weighs about 200 pounds, and he's looking to add on a few more. He hopes to model full-time and work as a YouTuber.
Most people want a quick fix, Gede says. There is no quick fix. When you start, you need to give your body time to adjust. If you stop before your body adjusts, then you will not see any results. You need to keep on. When your body is fully adjusted, the results will start flooding in.
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