Three years into my weight loss journey — 24kg down, 15 to go — I can now describe my dieting history as similar to Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez’s relationship: I blow hot and cold. I’m not a serial dieter, mind you. I go to the gym a lot and I like to push myself physically. But I also like my food a lot, and have a weakness for biryanis, ice cream and deep-fried things. In that order.
But the past three years have also been tough on me personally, which has led to stress hormones undoing a lot of the hard work I put in at the gym. As a result, my weight has fluctuated wildly.
I’ve persevered and, under the current circumstances, I haven’t done too shabbily, I think. Which brings me to my current obsession: Intermittent fasting.
Ever since I came to the UAE, I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to go without food or water during Ramadan. This year, the stars aligned in such a way that I chanced upon a video by a man called Greg O’Gallagher, whose Kinobody fitness programme has a massive YouTube following. The programme, available for a price, has a pretty standard workout regimen. But the crux of it is intermittent fasting. O’Gallagher encourages followers to consume nothing but black coffee (or water) from the time they wake and eat a small meal at around 2pm, followed by a bigger meal in the evening, which is your last meal for the day. Of course, it helps that O’Gallagher is incredibly fit (his critics accuse him of using steroids) and has movie-star good looks. But of all the advantages of intermittent fasting he lists, the points that stood out to me were increased fat-burning (due to lowering of insulin levels), the ability to eat big guilt-less meals and freedom from always worrying about what to eat. If you live alone, I know you feel me on the last point.
After doing a lot of reading on the subject, I decided to give intermittent fasting a try on the first day of Ramadan this year. I’d still drink water and black coffee during the day, but I’d go to the gym in the evening, before eating anything, and then eat my first big meal at iftar time.
I’m used to skipping breakfast, mostly because I just can’t be bothered to fuss about what to eat early in the morning, so the first few hours were a breeze. By 2pm though, I was so hungry. But the fact that many of my colleagues were (religiously) fasting made it easier to convince myself I could do it. I made another black coffee and felt better.
Due to the shorter working hours, I left for the gym early. I found myself struggling a little bit with my energy levels that day but I wondered if it was all just in my head. And by the next day, I was convinced it was.
I felt lighter and better on the second day. And by the time the first cup of coffee kicked in, I was surprised by my alertness and the focus I had. And I was full of energy. Lunch time was still a bit hard but easier. And at the gym that day, I had so much energy that I even got a pat on the back from our group class instructor. That kept me going.
By the time Ramadan ended, I had pulled out a stack of clothes that I had bought when I reached my lowest weight of 85kg, from the back of the cupboard. I hadn’t been able to fit into them for a while.
But one of the biggest advantages for me was never to stress again about what to do for breakfast or lunch. That’s freedom you can’t buy right there.
Two months into intermittent fasting, I still love it. I’ve lost 5kg since I started but I’ve also been lifting a lot more than I used to. I haven’t gone back to 85kg yet but I hope to soon. And then lower.
I don’t strictly follow the Kinobody programme but have made by own little adjustments. I go to the gym six days a week and intermittent fasts for five days a week, adding lunches to my two days off. There are weekdays when I do break the fast with a small snack, but that’s all right. And I try to make my dinners protein- and greens-heavy but don’t fuss too much about calories.
I don’t know how much longer I’d do intermittent fasting but I love the way it makes me feel. And for me, that’s a legit fitness goal.
