How Giando's Self-Care Journey Changed His Life Completely (Full Breakdown)

Watch the full podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k0wRKAoMaA

When you have known someone for years, the best conversations are the ones where you finally sit down and reflect on how far you have both come. This podcast is the first episode in a new series, and I was lucky to have my friend Giando as the first guest. We have known each other for about six years. Over that time, fitness has become a major pillar of his life, and he has changed in ways I am very proud of.

This article is a full breakdown of our conversation. We covered how he started prioritising his health, how friendship and environment shape us, what recovery and food look like for an athlete preparing for an Ironman, why community matters, and why taking care of yourself is one of the best things you can do for the people you love.

What made him start prioritising his health

I started by asking Giando what made him prioritise his health and start doing more sport and more gym work, when he already had a business and a full life.

His honest answer was the people around him. Over the years he met people, including me, who introduced him to the gym and to a more active lifestyle. Getting a little older helped as well, since everybody adds one more year every year.

He described how, when we are young, sport is just something you do: you play tennis or go swimming. Then, somewhere around 16 to 18, it fades. In your twenties, you party a lot, you make new friends, and you eat whatever you want without gaining weight. He said that changed his perspective. Today he is more careful about what he eats. That does not mean he eats less. He eats better: better ingredients, better quality, and less fast food than before. He still treats himself now and then, because, as he says, you have to.

We are who we hang out with

The conversation soon turned to friendships. I said, as I often do, that we are who we hang out with. The people you spend time with in your twenties can be very different from the ones you spend time with in your thirties. For me, health became a major factor in choosing the people close to me.

I grew up with a mother who was ill, so I spent a lot of time in hospitals. That made health a core value for me. The more I take care of myself, the more I take care of the people I love.

Giando offered a good counterpoint, and I appreciated it. He said there is beauty in being different. If everybody cared only about a healthy lifestyle, we would all be the same. He told us about a friend of ours who is also on a fitness journey, with Ironmans and ultramarathons, and who has taught him about e-commerce, something he knew nothing about. Differences teach us new things.

I agreed, and I clarified my point. Fitness does not take up half of my life. I love meeting new people in the wider circle. What I was talking about was the inner circle, the people you spend time with every week. For that circle, shared values matter to me.

The positive ripple effect on family and friends

I asked Giando whether he had seen a positive impact on the people around him since he started. The answer was a clear yes.

His family has been affected. His mother had always been fairly active. His brother has been working out for about a year. His father, over a year and a half, has lost more than 20 kilos and become more active, and his medical check-ups have improved so much that the doctors were surprised.

His friends noticed too. This summer, they saw his results and asked what he had done. Soon he was getting messages like: "I tried the kettlebell workout you suggested," or "I put more effort into my food habits." For him, it was a beautiful thing when healthy becomes the trend. Today, apps like Strava and running clubs have made being healthy cool.

My view is that fitness is the foundation of everything else. It helps you balance your life. You are more productive at work, you have more energy, and you want to spend time with friends and eat well. It also teaches you to replace small habits. Instead of saying "let's eat something outside" to my dad, I now say "let's go for a walk."

More time, more sports

We then compared his lifestyle before and after. Giando said the biggest change is time. His businesses are running well and he has a good team, so he is no longer the backbone of every day. That freedom has let him try new things.

He now cooks at home, which, as an Italian who loves food, suits him. He took up golf a couple of years ago and has grown to enjoy it. He also got into cycling. He told us his great-grandfather was a world cycling champion, with a gold medal in the early 1930s, so the bike feels like a family story. He enjoys riding in Hungary and in Italy. And he spends time with his young niece, picking her up from kindergarten and going to the park.

He also noted that he is still young and opening new businesses, but he has learned to manage his time much better.

What each sport teaches you

I shared something I strongly believe: every sport teaches you something about yourself. Boxing taught me persistence and how to deal with pressure. Lifting weights taught me consistency outside the gym, because what you do outside the gym matters more than the workout itself. Running gave me tunnel-vision focus.

Giando said that, for him, running has been the most rewarding. As a child, he would watch people running from the car and wonder why anyone would do it. Now he understands the appeal of being able to run for two hours.

We both got into running within the last year. He joked that I was one of the main reasons he started, and I said it has been a blessing for both of us.

Fitness is not a job

Something I want people to hear: fitness does not have to mean lifting weights in a gym. On social media, it often sounds like a job. In reality, it is about having fun, and it can be anything that makes your body move: running, weightlifting, combat sports, golf or tennis.

I started out inspired by movie stars and the idea of looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. But what I learned along the way mattered more. It was the consistency of showing up for yourself, and I now apply that to every area of my life.

Many of the men I work with struggle with this. They carry heavy responsibilities. They become successful, but along the way they sacrifice the most important asset they have, their health. I have coached many young entrepreneurs and successful businessmen, and most had one thing in common: they worked so hard that they put their health at risk.

It all comes down to balance. If you work and work and never enjoy the money, and then you get sick, who will enjoy it? Often people spend the following years paying for medical bills, medication, surgeries and rehab. That is why I think the topic of health is more about prevention than healing.

A story about prevention

I shared a story about one of my clients. He had a metal plate in his shoulder that needed to be removed, and he flew back to his home city to have it done. During the operation, something else went wrong inside his body, and he spent seven days in a coma. When he woke up, the doctor told him: "Thank God you went to the gym for the last six months, because otherwise you would not have survived." He made a full recovery.

That story is the reason I call myself a maniac about health. I grew up seeing how not taking care of ourselves affects the people around us. If you choose not to take care of your health and something bad happens, your loved ones have to put their lives on hold to look after you.

Giando raised a fair point here. He said everybody is allowed to live their own life, and that there is no single right or wrong answer. People go through different stages. In your twenties you may be less considerate about your health. A man may smoke for twenty years and only think about quitting once he has a child. Some choices, like skipping the sun cream for a tan, are hard to avoid completely. The major risks, such as drugs and cigarettes, can be avoided, but living in fear of everything is not living.

I agreed that it is a delicate topic. I come from Africa, and the notion of family is very strong there, as it is in Italy. What I would say is that we cannot control society, but we can control our decisions. Life builds your character, and you build yourself. You do not search for yourself.

I also shared how rupturing my tendons put a stop to everything I was doing: travelling, training and coaching. In the hospital in Italy, I realised how much I appreciated the little things. It brought me back to the importance of health.

The role of food for an endurance athlete

We talked about two hearts: the one in your chest, and the gut. Giando explained that you cannot do sport without taking care of what you eat. You can be as muscular as you like, but if there is too much fat around it, you just look like a big guy.

His goal is different. He is aiming to complete an Ironman, so he needs an endurance body, one that can eat a lot of healthy food and fuel itself. His core foods include chicken, lean beef, potatoes, rice, broccoli and asparagus, which he rotates and cooks in different ways, such as in the oven, in a pan or in an air fryer, to change the flavour.

As an Italian, he used to eat a lot of pasta and bread. Now he eats carbohydrates strategically. Before a half marathon or a marathon, he carb-loads for the whole week. He is not too strict with quantities, because he burns a lot through cycling, running, swimming, gym sessions, golf and tennis. He takes almost no days off.

He has also started using gels, isotonic drinks, electrolytes and carbohydrate bars from a friend's company that now sponsors him. On a three or four hour bike ride, you can eat as much as you like beforehand, but you will feel full and still run out of energy.

I congratulated him. Three years ago, he never thought he would be sponsored. He sees it as a small medal on the wall. He plans to do his first Ironman in June of next year, and he now has friends who run, cycle and swim with him.

The power of community

We spent a good part of the conversation on community. I told Giando that when I started working at my gym as a personal trainer, there was not a strong sense of community. So I went to the management and said we needed to do something about it. Budapest is fortunate, because the gym community is international and welcoming. You meet people from many countries, many of them young entrepreneurs.

I think the gym is a great place to meet people who work hard. If you want to meet like-minded people, go to the gym at 7 a.m. I would rather remember someone from the gym than someone from a bar. At the gym, you can start a conversation about a personal record. It also opens doors. Giando told me about meeting someone through friends in Milan, going for a ten-kilometre run an hour later, and now planning the next workout.

We also talked about limited beliefs. Many people avoid the gym because they do not want to be seen as a "gym bro". Giando admitted he had the same perception, and said that one of our friends once told him he found him annoying because of his loud laugh. We both laughed about it.

Looks, trust and non-verbal communication

Giando made an observation about business. Fitness has brought him more opportunities. He said that people who keep up with themselves often have a similar mindset. If you wake up at 7 a.m. to go to the gym, you may make a better partner than someone who sits on the couch all day. We agreed that friendship and business partnership are different things. A friend who is late for dinner is no problem. A business partner who is late for a meeting with a client overseas is.

We also talked about how much communication is non-verbal. People tend to trust someone who is dressed well, carries themselves well and looks after themselves. It is not about brands. If you wear a two-dollar shirt, you can still look like a million dollars. That said, as I mentioned, looking good does not mean someone is qualified to teach you. There are many gurus online who are not.

Why I coach the way I do

Giando praised the way I coach, and I want to share what I believe. In personal training, the client is the centre of attention, not me. My goal was always to make you feel better than when you walked into the gym. I have worked with more than 200 people in three years, and I have never had a client pay me and not show up. My aim was to make people fall in love with taking care of themselves.

There are hundreds of diets online: keto, carnivore and the rest. People get overwhelmed, like scrolling Netflix for thirty minutes without choosing a film. So when Giando first came to me, I did not give him a menu of options. I said: "This is what we are doing. See you tomorrow."

I also believe that the more you take care of yourself, the more you take care of the people you love.

Motivation, routine and recovery

We talked about motivation. For Giando, the motivation to train is feeling good. After a greasy meal he does not feel good, and he does not feel good after a day in bed. When you eat well and work out, you look good, and people see you differently. New opportunities can come from that, even a dinner where you meet the love of your life or a new best friend.

He described the feeling of going to the gym at 7 a.m. in winter: you are tired, you warm up, you get pumped, you go into the sauna, you take a little plunge, and then you step outside into the fresh air. It does not even feel cold any more.

That brought us to recovery. When I looked at his calendar, he was training five times a week. Working hard is good, but working smart is better. Many people do not think about sauna, sleep, stretching or mobility. He has now added massages, which are easy to find in Budapest, along with stretching and recovery runs at an easy pace of 5 km.

On sauna, I shared my view: it is one of the best tools for recovery. After my tendon surgery, it helped me with circulation and sweating. On cold exposure, I tend not to use a cold plunge after weightlifting, because I believe it can block muscle growth. For endurance and performance sessions, it can be a good option. Giando does a cold shower to cool down after the sauna.

The run that changed everything

I also told Giando that he is the reason I started running, and that it helped me stop smoking. I decided to join him for a half marathon in Budapest, which he was aiming to finish in about an hour and 27 minutes. I could not keep up even at a 5 km pace. That moment made me realise I could not keep up with endurance goals while smoking, so I stopped. Now I am also preparing for triathlons, and maybe one day we will do an Ironman together.

We laughed about his "crazy ideas", such as the Camino or climbing a mountain, and I joked that, coming from Africa, I have had enough of hiking. But those challenges opened my eyes. Surround yourself with people who push you out of your comfort zone.

Six years of friendship

We ended with a look back. We met about six or seven years ago at a house party. I had a huge beard at the time, I was competing in powerlifting, and I wore hoodies. We kept bumping into each other around Budapest, and we laughed about the time I joked that I was not stalking him.

Giando reminded me that six years ago he was studying medical school, and now he makes gelato. He studied for three years, and said it was good to try it, because now he does not live with the question of whether he should have done it. We both have a lot of respect for doctors and for everyone who works in medicine.

I told him I am proud of the person he has become, and that it is not easy to change. He thanked me for being a good influence in his life, and I said the same back.

What you can take from this conversation

If I had to sum up the episode in a few points, they would be these. First, the people around you shape your health, so choose them carefully. Second, fitness is not a job, so find something that makes you want to move. Third, recovery is as important as training. Fourth, community makes everything easier. And fifth, the more you take care of yourself, the more you can take care of the people you love.

Start here

Thank you to Giando for being the first guest in this series. If you enjoyed the episode, leave a comment and tell me which part stayed with you.

Get my free 30-day recomp plan here: https://azermahdi.com/

Watch the full podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8k0wRKAoMaA

Disclaimer

This article is for general information and education only. It is not medical advice, and it is not a substitute for advice, diagnosis, or treatment from a qualified doctor or other licensed healthcare professional. I am sharing my own experience and what I have seen with my coaching clients. Reading this article does not create a doctor-patient or coach-client relationship.

Bloating, low energy, brain fog, poor sleep, low libido, and constant stress can have many causes, including medical conditions. If you have any health condition, are pregnant, take medication, or have symptoms that are severe or do not go away, speak to your doctor before you change your training, nutrition, supplements, fasting, sauna or cold exposure, breathing practice, or sleep routine. Never ignore or delay professional medical advice because of something you read here. If you think you have a medical emergency, contact your local emergency services right away.

The client stories and results mentioned here are real examples, but they are not guarantees. Results vary from person to person and depend on many factors, including your health, effort, consistency, and circumstances. Supplements, calorie targets, and training programmes are mentioned only to describe what I do and what I have seen, and they are not a recommendation for you personally.

You are fully responsible for your own health decisions and for how you use this information. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Azer Mahdi disclaims liability for any loss, injury, or damage resulting from the use of, or reliance on, this article.