A FITNESS coach has revealed how he helps people lose up to 55 pounds - without sacrificing the food they love.
Guilt-free meal prep influencer Zack Chug is now empowering people to become the best version of themselves inside and out.
As a student, Zack Chug dreamed of becoming a dentist.
Now, the 23-year-old is based in Dubai and the face of guilt-free meal prepping, with his own recipe book and over 1.1 million Instagram followers.
His concept is simple: Cook from scratch to create healthy alternatives for the food you love - which may not be the most nutritious.
''A lot of the foods I put out there as guilt-free are the healthier alternatives to what you perceive as unhealthy meals,'' Zack said in an exclusive interview with The U.S. Sun.
Some popular choices are:
- Cajun Chicken Alfredo
- McDonald's Big Mac Burrito
- Creamy Tuscan Parmesan Pasta
- Loaded Chili Cheese Fries
- Double Chocolate Banana Bread
- Chicken Chow Mein
During his second year of college, amidst the coronavirus pandemic, Zack started a teeth-focused page to help his dental career.
Eventually, he start doing more fitness and lifestyle content and saw that his guilt-free food videos were receiving the most traffic.
Some of his most famous followers are rapper Ludacris and strongman Thor Bjornsson.
Zack did not always have his fit physique and dedicated lifestyle.
''I grew up overweight and enjoyed food growing up. I really became extreme and started dieting, starving myself and not eating the right amount of food in an unhealthy cycle,'' he admitted.
Now, Zack wants people to shift their mindsets from thinking of eating as a diet to approaching it as more of a sustainable lifestyle.
For the last year and a half, Zack has been obsessed with helping people feel their best inside and out through his food-based public platform.
Because he grew up overweight and didn’t have many friends, he used to walk around school listening to superhero music to motivate himself.
He is now living out his childhood dream and helping others on a global scale as the ''World's First Public Superhero.''
Recently, he flew one of his followers out from New Zealand to Dubai for a life-changing week full of volunteering, spirituality, and fitness.
He lost around 55 pounds by following the guilt-free recipes, so it was nice for him to see Zack in person and live out his routine.
''Food plays such an important role in our lives without realizing it,'' Zack said.
The duo went to a food bank and handed out 20 to 30 prepped meals from Zach's cookbook and spoke with the laborers, as well as physically trained and went jet skiing.
The pair also visited McDonald's to further endorse Zack's guilt-free eating mentality.
The follower gifted Zack a tonga from his region that was sentimental to him as a token of his appreciation for the trip.
“He came as a follower and left as a brother,” Zack said proudly.
"It really gave me the confidence to ignite the superhero and bring it to the public."
The idea to become the world's first public superhero came when he was walking on a beach in Dubai and had a "vision" about the impact being a modern-day superhero can have.
Next thing you know, he was in Hollywood and getting a suit made.
"With social media, you need to stand out in a unique way," he said.
Having his own uniform and superhero logo further pushes his narrative.
''It was the risk of my career to launch the superhero concept. I knew that my reach would go down. I wouldn't have viral videos,'' he admitted.
By wearing the superhero suit, he wants to leave behind a legacy and use it as a catalyst to create meaningful, positive change.
"It's a mix of hard work, faith, and passion for helping others," he told The U.S. Sun about his new endeavor.
So far, he is working with food banks in Dubai, with plans to head a labor camp in Dubai to distribute hygiene kits and an orphanage in Africa. He is also sorting out talks with U.S.-based charities.
"Once I released the concept, I did receive a lot of negativity and hate, and for me, that was really hard because, in all my years on social media, I've never received an ounce of negativity," he claimed.
"I was able to use that as fuel and fuel to keep going because this is what a superhero is. I'm the one getting the hits."