I wasn’t always the happy man I am today. There have been a lot of tragic incidents in my life and I’m not hesitant to share them with people. I was born into a poor family in Chandigarh. My mother was a housewife and my father worked in a medical store. Times were so bad that the monthly income of my whole family was hardly $75.

I was frequently bullied and picked on because of the harsh financial state of my family. I felt like there was nothing good in my life and I wanted to make major changes very fast.

I decided to pay full attention to my studies as I wanted to become capable enough to support my family. Well, I guess life doesn’t let you live that easily. When I was 13 years old, my mother left me and my father alone.

Soon after that, my father fell ill and my academic performance started to decline. I started staying at home all the time for taking care of my father. I still remember how sad I used to get and how much I cried while sitting in a dark empty corner.

After that, I started living with my uncle who was a very strict man. Sometimes, he would even beat me up for no reason. And he was drunk during all of the beating sessions. He didn’t have a family of his own so I think maybe he felt under pressure by me living with him.

If only he had the experience of raising a child, he would know how to treat one. Anyways, this ain’t a rant about my uncle. I still respect him because he allowed me into his house and took care of me in the best way that he knew.

Through all this trauma, I found an ally… nope, not my camera… it was food. Yes, I thought that eating will make me happy because well, it did. I started eating a lot. I loved eating heavy foods and didn’t even care about walking or exercising.

I just wanted to eat different kinds of dishes that made me feel happy. And let me tell you, none of what I ate was healthy. I only liked eating junk food or oily street food. Burgers and Rolls were my favorites.

I remember that I even started stealing money from my uncle’s locker to eat whatever I wanted to. He was a lawyer and he earned a lot, so, he never noticed if some amount of money was missing. I obviously thought of it as a blessing at that time as before that I had to live in very harsh conditions. Plus, now I could eat all I want.

I kept living like this until I was a teenager. I kept eating a lot and junk food became a hobby for me. By that time, even I started earning due to my photography skills so I starting buying food from that money as well. I never realized the amount of harm I was inflicting upon my body. At that point, I thought that life is great and this is how you live it. Huh, what a big fool was I.

I was doing what most people call ‘stress eating’. People tend to take it lightly and think that it’s a habit that you can get rid of easily. Wrong!! Stress eating is a serious issue and it should not be taken lightly. I know how hard it was for me to get rid of that life harming habit.

It wasn’t until I looked at myself in the mirror. My fat, overweight, about to blow up self in the mirror. I felt so horrible when I realized what I was doing to myself and my body. My uncle had already passed away so there was no one left to guide me. It was on that day… the day I looked in the mirror… that I decided to change the way I live and treat myself.

I quitted eating all the junk food and joined a gym near my house. I still remember I couldn’t even run a mile on my first day, I fainted after 30 mins of workout on my second day and had no motivation to even look in the direction of the gym on the third. But, I knew I had to do this… I knew I had to be fit for the sake of my physical and mental health.

I kept going to the gym and before you know it, I lost a considerable amount of weight and became a gymaholic (a person who is addicted to the gym). Of course, I knew that too much gym will also harm my health so I went to the gym five days and took two days for rest each week while following a strict diet plan provided by my trainer.

Today, I am a successful photographer, writer, and gym freak. Also, I know which food groups must be consumed in what quantity. I’m glad that I made that decision to join a gym. And I’m so thankful to god for teaching me a much-needed lesson… Too Much Of Anything Is Bad.