Dr. John A. King and bodybuilder Tim Johnson discuss why competitive bodybuilding looks unbalanced. King brings his own Tupperware to restaurants to track every meal, and warns that obsessing over diet damages training and relationships. Johnson says a good coach will call you a jerk when your ego gets out of hand.
A lot of people look at us and think we're not that balanced because, you know, you cart your food. Yesterday I carted my Tupperware container into a restaurant because I don't know what they put in theirs and I've got to be careful what I put in mine. Right. We're not that balanced when it comes down to it. We get really focused. But then I've found that if you get too focused on it at the sake of family and friendships and other things, it actually affects your training. So, there's This constant seesaw, wouldn't you agree?
I think it takes a special bunch of people to be friends with a bodybuilder. Because, I mean, some people— I'm fortunate again, I'm fortunate in the fact that when I go diet-wise, I don't get moody. Carbs don't bother me, a lack of carbs doesn't bother me. I don't get that way, but I know that a lot of people do. It's really difficult. It's very difficult to maintain that level-headedness. And your question came up earlier is, you know, why hire a coach? That's one good reason, because a coach can tell you you're being a jerk.
Yeah.
And I've seen coaches do that. Hey, you're a jerk. Cool it. You know, and that's the wake-up call you sometimes need because it's It's a fine line to walk between having friends that still want to talk to you after a show and not. And not having them there. Yeah, not having anybody there. Because I've seen people, I've seen people become just jerks in the gym. They become so self-centered, they think 135 pounds is 1,000 pounds and they drop it when they're deadlifting and it's all the noise and the rattle.
Not me. I just, I don't do that.
