‘I hated my skinny bod so ate donuts daily to look like tattooed Schwarzenegger’

2023-04-16

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A man with over 200 tattoos is pumping iron and binge eating donuts to gain muscle and weight after being insecure about his skinny body.

The bloke, who calls himself Neon Demon due to his alternative appearance, hopes to emulate a prime Arnold Schwarzenegger.

So he's trained relentlessly for the past three years.

READ MORE: 'Demon' unrecognisable in pics taken before 200 tattoos – as trolls say he 'ruined life'

As a child he admired his comic book heroes who had chiselled physiques but one of his earliest memories was his dad chucking out a bench press – saying he would only hurt himself.

Following his transformation, the lad no longer “hates” looking in the mirror as he feels less anxious and more connected with his loved ones.

Daily Star asked him whether it was true that he ate dozens of donuts a week to help with his gains.

And he laughed: “Yes it is true actually, at least four days out of the week.

“I’m gobbling up a new box of donuts and the reason for that is bulking. I really like donuts, they’re my favourite sugary treat and I am trying to load up on carbs as much as possible currently.

“I make sure to mix it with only healthy food throughout the day though. So donuts are my cheat meal of the day.

“The donuts are not a permanent staple of my diet either, I do plan on cutting at some point. I’m just enjoying the bulk while I can.”

His motivation for bulking comes from an insecurity from being skinny.

The 29-year-old, who has his eyeballs inked, was self-conscious about his appearance ever since he can remember.

Offering insight, he said: “I used to hate looking in the mirror and I’d let my inner voice tell me I wasn’t good enough, that I would never be anything.

“In the past I didn’t have a very unhealthy thought process. I was always too focused on how others perceived me instead of how I saw myself.

“You have to love yourself and be proud of what you’re doing every single day.”

Neon, who is from Florida, was raised in a conservative home where he said there was little emphasis on nutrition or fitness.

He was nine when he moved house and he remembered a full bench press with weights had been left in the shed.

“I got so excited and asked my dad if we could train together but he said I would get hurt and immediately put it on the carb to be thrown away,” he said.

“The older I got the more unsure of my future I became and I always felt very weak and not in control of what was going on around me and I was equally unsure how to change that.

“It wasn’t until I started truly working hard in the gym and pushing past my physical limits that I started to break out of those old feelings of helplessness.

“Getting stronger and levelling up in such a way at the beginning of my fitness journey was an addictive feeling and I wanted to go even further.

“Now it’s been a little over three years and with all the progress I’ve made mentally and physically, I can't even imagine falling backwards into my old ruts of complacency and mediocre life of apathy.”

Neon said that in an ideal world he would love to look like bodybuilder Noel Deyzel or “maybe emulate Scwarzenegger in his heyday”.

But rather than focus too much on the end goal aesthetic, he said his main focus was enjoying the process.

And touching on how much better he feels from lifting weights in the gym, he said: “Oh the difference is world’s apart.

“For me, I learned a lot about myself in the gym and feel as if I’m better able to connect with people and love everyone around me better now.

“When you feel weak and insecure about your own body, you’re less focused on those around you and less inclined to care about the struggles of others.

“I feel so much more open and less anxious about everything. I’m excited to wake up and hop out of bed.

“Every day is a gift to me now as opposed to before when every day just felt like the last and any menial labour or hard work I had to get done felt like a chore.”

As for what he ultimately hopes to achieve, the ink enthusiast concluded: “I've been a big comic book fan since I was a little kid, so I honestly love the aesthetic focus in bodybuilding and that’s a big part of it for me.

“But my overall goal is longevity, staying healthy and maintaining my strength and energy levels as I get older.”

You can follow his fitness journey on his Instagram page here.

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