A scrawny skinny teenager with “no confidence” transformed himself into a shredded bodybuilder in just three years, saying he wanted to make a change after years of bullying and isolation took a toll.
Iliya Tsikov, 22, from Bulgaria, fell in love with weight-training at the age of 16, and now sports a ripped physique and a killer six-pack, posting pictures of his body on his Instagram account, @itfitness_ which boasts 36.2K followers.
One picture shows his epic three-year transformation from a skinny teenager into a muscular fitness model – but he revealed how life wasn’t so easy for him growing up.
Iliya moved to the UK with his family at the age of 12, explaining how they struggled to make ends meet when they first migrated.
To make some extra cash, Iliya would sell sandwiches to his friends and store the money in a shoe box under his bed in case his family would need the funds in the future.
As a result, Iliya would eat only 1-2 meals a day, causing him to lose weight drastically, which took a toll on his mind and body.
He said: “I was eating probably 1-2 times a day. My takeaway for school was sandwiches that my mom was making and actually instead of eating them, I would sell them to the kids in school.
“I would come back home every day with £5 and pretend like nothing have happened.
“I stored all my cash in a shoe box under my bed with the thoughts that one day I might need them since I saw how my family was struggling when we moved to the UK.
“Eventually my parents found out, but they were not mad about it, so they put my cash into a saving account that I can use in the future when I need it.”
Due to his small frame, Iliya faced criticism and bullying in school from his peers and struggled with self-esteem issues growing up.
The 22-year-old spoke about how he “hated himself” so much he would purposely isolate himself from the real-world, playing video games in his room for hours and not seeing an inch of daylight.
Iliya, who was an avid footballer growing up, joined the Portsmouth junior team but was rejected after a month trial, which completely crushed his self-esteem.
Instead of letting his circumstances bring him down, he used it as fuel to better himself and started working out regularly.
Iliya used outdoor calisthenics equipment to perform bodyweight exercises regularly after school, adhering to a strict routine.
After 3 months, he started seeing changes in his body and became even more motivated to continue his fitness journey.
He then joined a gym and began incorporating weight training, and just three years later, he developed a shredded six-pack and ripped physique.
Iliya, who works in social media marketing, said: “The first step I took was starting being honest with myself about how I look and feel. I was a skinny teenager, who had no confidence, no self-esteem, no friends, far from having any girlfriend – nothing.
“I was the stereotype who would come back home from school and play video games to isolate myself from the real world around me, which I hated because I hated myself.
“After I started being honest with myself, I made a commitment that I will no longer be the victim in school who they used to make fun off and I will no longer be bullied.
“I used that anger as a fuel to take action and I went out and started doing any body exercises.
“I found a place that had calisthenics equipment and I started working out.
“The moment I started working out was the moment I started feeling hope in myself that I can change the way I look at things.
“Fast-forward 3 months of hard work and dedication, I started feeling good about myself! My appetite grew and I started building weight.
“The changes of my body motivated me and I joined the gym!”
Iliya now trains 5-6 times a week, focusing on eating calorie dense food and performs high rep and high intensity workouts.
He makes sure he eats at least 2500 – 3000 calories a day, and now rests at an astonishing 11% body fat.
Speaking about his fitness journey, Iliya said: The positives of being fit are countless.
“A lot of people think that going to the gym is just about being fit, but it’s more than that.
“It’s the character that you become. You become a better version of yourself, you change your mindset and your work ethic from the gym transitions to everything.
“When you thought that all the physiques at the beginning were impossible and now you’re having one, you’re starting to feel that anything impossible is possible.
“The limitations we set ourselves are the only limitations – there are no limitations to our success.”
Iliya hopes to use his online platforms to inspire others to begin their own fitness journeys no matter what their circumstances, and to make a positive impact in any way he can.
He said: “A lot of people got into fitness due to my transformation photo and few of them also said that it has changed their life which is where it touched me big.
“When you change your life, you feel really good about yourself, but when you actually change someone else’s this is when you start to realise how much you appreciate everything you’ve done for yourself
because you are leaving a positive impact behind.
“This is why now I opened my own YouTube channel because my goal from now on is to help as many people as I can who are in the same position, I was years ago.
He added: “My goal in life is to help people change their body and not just their body, but their mentality
– mentally, physically, emotionally and to just better people.
“We all have the potential to be so much more and so many people are scared to take that step forward, so I want to encourage people, I want to motivate them and inspire them to go after what they want, no
matter if it’s to lose weight or just getting that degree, whatever it is.
“I just want to inspire them and help them out.”
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