The transformation from a Liver Donor to Fitness Influencer – Abhishek Deshmukh

What do you do after experiencing a traumatic situation in your life? Well, there are just two possibilities – you either give up or come out of it stronger than ever! There are inspirational stories of people who come out of such unimaginable circumstances that you just wonder, is he the cousin of Sylvester Stallone? These superheroes with their exceptional stories keep on inspiring people to push themselves to the next level and we have one more such story for you! Meet Abhishek Deshmukh, a 24 years old cinematographer and photographer from Mumbai. He visualizes the onscreen presence of others while working dedicatedly to change his offscreen persona. At such a young age, life gave Abhishek legit reasons to fall back but guess he was not going to settle for it. Keep reading this surreal journey of Abhishek, from a liver donor to a fitness enthusiast.

“I am a liver donor, undergone surgery in May 2016, I donated 70% of my liver to my father.”

Gympik: Tell us something about your fitness journey- when did you start and how it became an important part of you?

Abhishek: “I was always into fitness but it was not my obsession back then, it was just a part of my lifestyle. I was not regular with workout and was living a millennial life until life took a rough turn. My father was diagnosed with Liver Cirrhosis and was suggested to do a liver transplant and as doctors suggested we decided to go forward with it and I was honored to be the liver donor for my father. I got operated on 26th May 2016; it was successful but unfortunately on the 3rd day after the operation my internal stitches busted and I suffered minor heart stroke. I was taken to the operation theatre again and I survived through that. Unfortunately, my father didn’t survive the surgery and he passed away 15 days after the surgery.

After my surgery, I had to take rest for 9 months. I was not supposed to lift weights during this period. I began my workout in March 2017. I had to gain strength as I was very weak and my body was very stiff after the surgery. So, I began with my strength training and made my body flexible with a basic workout routine and lots of stretching for the initial 6 months.”

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Sep 24, 2018 at 1:13am PDT

Gympik: What is your favorite form of workout? How do you customize diet plans and workout routines?

Abhishek: Ask a gym junkie about their favorite workout and you’ll see a stud getting all excited like a kid (laughs). Abhishek continued, “Chest workout is my favorite, I like how it changes your upper body and makes all your outfits look great. My diet plans completely depend on my goals I want to achieve. Currently, I am on weight gaining program, so I am on a high carb diet with high protein, fiber and a small quantity of good fats.” Gym fellas, are you noting this down?

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Jul 20, 2018 at 1:14am PDT

Gympik: What do you think is the biggest roadblock for people to take up fitness?

Abhishek: “People come through endless numbers of roadblocks (read excuses) when it comes to adapting fitness.” says Abhishek. He adds,  “I’ve adapted fitness as my lifestyle since 2 years now, being a fitness influencer, I come across many people who want to get into fitness just because it looks amazing on their  Instagram feeds. Most people lack the dedication to keeping their workout consistent and the lack of proper guidance just pushes them back from their fitness goals.”

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on May 15, 2018 at 12:51am PDT

Gympik: Who is your fitness idol? And why?

Abhishek: “My fitness idols are all those people who are physically challenged but still do their best to stay fit and inspire people every day. Post-surgery, I was told by my doctors and people around me that I’ll never be able to workout or involve myself in a stressful physical activity. I wanted to prove them wrong and push myself beyond the limitations. I believe that if you let people change your mind and goals, you become mentally  handicapped, which eventually makes you handicapped physically; and I was not ready for that.”

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Aug 17, 2018 at 4:35am PDT

Gympik: Fitness is a lifestyle choice that you’ve made. You have already gone through a lot of challenges, what  other challenges did you face and how did you overcome them?

Abhishek: “I am a liver donor so I was  advised to keep a check on my diet as I could  have fats on my liver. There are a few challenges that I faced in terms of strength, body stiffness, and serious digestion problem. It’s true that fitness is 70% diet and 30% workout and that’s why  I had to customize my diet plan according to my recovering physical condition.” It all sounds like a cake walk until you do it, for a normal person, restricted diet can be a robust lifestyle change, but when you’re tied up with health restrictions, it’s a different level of barrier altogether.

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Sep 1, 2018 at 12:28am PDT

Gympik: What are the major priorities of your life and how is fitness helping you achieve them?

Abhishek: “I believe in the motto – Stay Fit, Be Motivated & Keep Inspiring. I want to spread awareness about organ donation and still stay  fit. Fitness helped me in creating awareness and spreading knowledge to people who have undergone any surgery or will be undergoing one. No matter how critical the surgery is, as long as you are able to follow a healthy diet and a right workout schedule , you can easily adapt a healthy lifestyle. All it needs is a willpower, dedication, and consistency to be your own hero.”

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Jun 12, 2018 at 12:52am PDT

Gympik: What keeps you motivated to stay fit? And what according to you is the best way for people to stay motivated towards fitness?

Abhishek: “I am motivated daily from the messages I receive from people telling me how much they appreciate my efforts and how I have inspired them to look at fitness in a new light. They send me their workout and transformation pictures, asking for my views. What can be more motivating than this? I also try my best to help people with diet and workout plans. I always wanted to inspire people and feel lucky to be doing that right now.“Fitness gives me confidence, it helps to ease my mind by relieving stress, makes me disciplined and focused. Your best life is right around the corner, just above your comfort level.”

Gympik: What according to you, does fitness stand for? Share a quote that  you believe in.

Abhishek: “There are a couple of quotes that I  totally believe in and it applies not just to fitness but all aspects of my   life. I truly believe, “Be like a racehorse with an eye blinder, run toward your goal, focus straight and don’t look what others are doing, run your own race.” He adds, “Don’t workout to show off, workout to be fit and people will automatically look at you. This is what I tell people who want to adapt fitness superficially just to grab attention and be in the league of  #hotdudesofinstagram. So, don’t go behind what the world wants you to be like, look within you and give your life the shape you always wanted to create for yourself.”

 

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A post shared by Abhishek Sayajirao Deshmukh (@photoboysultan) on Sep 7, 2018 at 10:23pm PDT

Gympik: Where can everyone keep up with you to learn more of your fitness mantras?

Abhishek: “Anyone can reach me on Instagram – @photoboysultan where I reply to all the messages and fitness related questions.”

This super dose of inspiration from Abhishek is all you need to overcome your hurdles that’s stopping you from achieving your fitness goals. If someone can unlock his physical strength and become a fitness influencer after an organ donation, you should not have any excuse to slack behind. In this age of social media and hashtags, where everyone wants to look good for the world to validate their existence, Abhishek stands as a hero who took the sword of obstacles in his hand and crushed it too, only to appear as a real hero! It’s never too late to start training and never too soon to greet life with open arms. We hope you’re charged enough right now to look for a gym membership if that’s the case let Gympik assist you, you know how!

Stay tuned for more such fitness heroes, until then, stay fit, stay happy! If you like this article, share it with your friends and loved ones for some heavy dose of fitness motivation! We would like to see your comments coming! If you have any questions or comments, let them flow in our comments section below!