#HeDidThat: Gabriel Chiang
While scrolling though the Instagram feed of flamboyant spornosexuals and shy god-like men of Instagram, once in a while, we see those that really put in the work in their workouts. In a new segment integrating both our Tumblr and Instagram accounts together, we bring you #HeDidThat, a collection of stories Singaporean men share about fitness and sports.
Gabriel was a happy guy. Always the centre of the attention and his weight of 120kg didn’t bother him that much. He was nonchalant when people poked fun at his weight.
Being morbidly overweight
“I guess being 120kg, I looked pretty funny, just raising my hands looked pretty damn cute. My friends just loved me for who I am, that’s why I never really wanted to lose weight because there was never a need to.”
He admits, “strangers would judge me for being fat. People would say nasty things. I do feel upset but it didn’t affect me much”.
On his start
His brother bought him a pair of running shoes. “Bishan Park was just beside my house. That’s how it got started.”
He first started gymming with a couple of friends who were hardcore gymmers, managing to learn a few tricks from them.
The transformation took seven years. The exercise regime switches often and he worked through different phases. Initially, it was all about losing the weight, beginning with a three-week goal to eat clean and workout hard and on the fourth week, working out lesser and being able to eat anything - all as a reward for the hard work.
Gabriel was lucky though, he had a mentor: Mr Paul Singh.
“[He] was my trainer and he was dedicated to help me attain my goals to reshape [my body] and pushed me hard in the gym,” jokingly, “the dungeon.”
Mr Singh didn’t belive in fancy gyms or low reps but hard work and working out smart; a philosophy that Gabriel worked with till today.
“[Mr Singh] has mentored many people in the Singaporean [bodybuilding] community, including Benjamin Broughton and Jason Chee. I was lucky [Mr Singh] decided to train me because he is very particular about his students and expects a high level of commitment from them.
Now, he hopes to be even greater than before, “I hope to build a better physique and have better fitness as the years pass and still do it when I turn 50.”
He claims by turning off shyness, one should ask the most hardworking guy in the gym for tips. “There are only a handful of cocky [people] in the gym. Majority are friendly and more than willing to spread [their] knowledge of fitness and hoping for you to spread it on to the next person.”
Work really hard and be really disciplined, he chimed. “Do not be overly obsessed. One tomato doesn’t make you healthy and [one chocolate bar] doesn’t make you fat either.”
At the end of the day, he claims that there isn’t much difference, “I feel healthier and more confident about myself. “ He joked, “finally, I could buy clothes without worrying about having the right size!”
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