A little background.
I have actually gained a lost body fat three times in my life. I stayed very lean until I was about 33 years old. I used to box as an amateur boxer until I was about 25 years old. After retiring from boxing I took up other sports and stayed really fit for the next 6 years and my body weight was pretty much the same as during my boxing career. Teen at an age of 32 I moved to London and basically stopped all fitness activities as I was preoccupied with establishing myself in life. At this time I also ate takeaways every day. In about a year I was obese. The heaviest I have ever been. It wasn’t until I was close to 40 years old that I took action. I joined an athletic club and took up competitive sports again. This and the fact that I stopped eating takeaways actually transformed my body again. Then when I reached my mid forties the weight came back again. I wasn’t obese but I was overweight and this is despite that I was running about 70 miles a week and eating home cooked food. At this time I was already qualified in nutrition and working full time as a personal trainer. The acton I decided to take was to cut down drastically on my sugar intake. Now looking back, I believe that if it weren’t for all the running, I would have probably ended up with both diabetes and non alcoholic fatty liver. My sugar intake was enormous. Lots of it actually being energy drinks and even isotonic drinks which I at the time thought would help me recover from my running. Fast forward to my mid fifties and I again put on a bit of body fat despite eating very healthy foods and doing workouts 5 or 6 times a week. The lockdown probably didn’t help me and also the fact that I had a foot injury which ruled out running for the better part of 2 years. The turning point came in 2022 when I was going to attend my daughters wedding. I had this suit in my wardrobe that I bought when I was 26 years old and I was going to wear it. Tried it on about 2 months before the wedding and the trousers were awfully tight. The plan I took was to basically only eat one meal a day. So during the day I would drink a couple of smoothies and eat only fruits then at about 3 PM one large meal then repeat. This actually worked the weight came off and on the day of the wedding the suit fitted perfectly. After the wedding I modified my new way of eating bu starting something called TRE.(Time Restricted Eating). So I started off by fasting for about 12 house every day. With time I increased this fast and I now average about 16-17 hours of fasting on most days. I have done a lot of research on TRE and there are many indications that they are various health benefits. Not only is it a really easy way of reducing body fat but it also helps your cells to recycle themselves.This is called Autophagy. Now as a result I am as lean as I was when I was in my prime and I am now 58 years old. Best thing of all TRE is so easy. I basically eat my last meal in the afternoon. When I wake up I drink black coffee and water and then I delay my breakfast until around 9 AM. This way of living has now become a habit for me and I believe that I will now stay lean forever. By Abdi-Karim Berleen/Personal trainer in Loughton.
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Reducing body fat is a very difficult task.
In fact this will never happen unless you have a strategic plan and implement this plan. There are many people who stay fit and healthy through exercise and healthy eating.This is brilliant as being healthy is probably the most important thing.They aren’t however; losing body fat. They might carry a bit of excess fat even though they are really healthy and they might even be gaining a bit more fat over the years and still be healthy. In order to lose body fat a strategic plan is needed. I am going to use the Rumble in the jungle as an analogy. This was back in 1974 when Mohammed Ali took on George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire. Ali at the time was a massive underdog. Foreman was at the time knocking out most of his opponents including Frazier who once beat Ali. Foreman was a really dangerous opponent and he possessed massive power. Ali had his strategic plan in place however, he had looked into his strengths and had figured out how he was going to conquer Foreman. Ali believed he was mentally stronger than Foreman. He was also more experienced and was probably fitter than Foreman. At the beginning of the fight Ali humiliated Foreman by hitting him with some lead backhands. In boxing conventionally you are meant to set your opponent up with your front hand then try to hit him with the back hand. Ali did the complete opposite. All this was part of his plan, Ali knew that if he could wind Foreman up this would drain him of energy. Next thing, Ali went to the ropes, the famous ropa dope and stayed there for the next 8 rounds. Foreman kept pounding Ali with punches som e which very blocked or partially blocked by Ali and all along Ali kept taunting Foreman by speaking to him. Most people thought it was only a matter of time before Ali would be knocked out as Foreman was a devastating puncher. Well, then out of nowhere Ali came off the ropes and finished Foreman with an explosive combination of punches. So without a strategic plan fat loss is not going to happen. You will need to come up with some actions and stick to them. It doesn’t have to be rocket science and there are no rights or wrongs. The most important thing is that it is something that suits you in the long run so that you can stick with the plan. By: Abdi-Karim Berleen/Personal trainer in Loughton. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
March 2024
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