In Pictures: Dramatic weight-loss stories from the UAE to inspire you

The thing that helped Farhan Ahmed Mirza get his act together was knowing the alternative. “You may be ok now, but after 30 your body [degenerates] and if you don’t take care of it, the health issues with come.” Aerobics, he explains, helped him tremendously – especially the stretching exercises.

Mishhka's nutritionist made her do Keto, IF, carb-based plans and so on. “The first week was difficult – I was never a structured eater. I would always say I’m going to give up but he motivated me and when you start seeing the weight dropping and the inch loss you want to just keep going”

Mansha Thawani lost 30kg in 6 months in Dubai. She offers practical advice to those wanting to follow in her footsteps: don’t eat post 7.30pm; drink hot water, lemon in warm water. Hungry when it’s not a mealtime? Drink apple and carrot juice or coconut water instead. Headed to a restaurant with friends? Instead of aeriated drinks, try a juice or soup. It’s healthier and with fewer calories.

George Bose says: “I don’t think you can’t eat anything in this world – just eat in moderation.”The path hasn’t been easy; portion control rarely is. “I always think [if] I get these little bouts of hunger is no pain no gain. What I tell myself is if you are getting pangs of hunger it is your body saying something is working. And I try to motivate myself – I tell myself I’m not going to die or anything. I have enough fat on my body that the body can use to burn out. That has worked,” he says.

Jaya Belani, who lost 42kg in 10 months, says she still eats her chocolates and cakes and pastries – it’s just that she eats them in tiny portions. Her half-now, half-later meal plan helped ditch those kilos.

Jasheer Arshad was curious. Very curious. He’d stumbled across a home remedy that claimed it could cure obesity. He found seven such drinks online – he tried the easiest ones and settled on those that seemed to work for him.

Salpie Kechichian read up on the diet she was embarking on and she looked up recipes. She counted her macros and weighed her food. But this isn’t the only secret to her success, she says. “If I was alone, I would probably have said I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t know why I’m plateauing, but when I reached those frustration points and yes, there were frustration points, she’d [her coach would] always give me an exit strategy,” she says.

“For [people with] PCOS, it is not easy to lose weight,” Ritu Kalia says. “So don’t stick to one diet, because when you stick to one diet your body gets immune to [the effect of] that diet and you can’t lose weight.

Karthikeyan Anbarasan decided on a calorie-deficit diet to help him. Initially it was difficult. “I did mediation or slept,” he says of dealing with mood swings that interrupted his first few weeks. “I drank a lot of water,” he says.

There’s a mental health angle to this shedding of weight as well, Chetali Sachin Patil says, calling for a shift in perspective. “Once I stopped thinking about weight loss, I started shedding weight. Earlier, I was focusing on weight loss, but when it doesn’t happen no you get very disappointed. Now I realise [being fit] is not related to weight loss. You should have a proper healthy and balanced lifestyle.”

Baljeet Singh, from Ludhiana in India’s northern state of Punjab, said he was able to lose his weight with sheer willpower, a simple nutrition plan and workout programme that he devised for himself. But the key is to remain balanced.

Pakistani expat Muhammad Irfan shed 48kg in a year without going to a gym. He gave up rice and the rotis (flat bread) he was so fond of, choosing instead to eat grilled chicken or fish and fruits. “I saw on YouTube that lemon with honey and warm water can help weight loss. I drink it to this day,” he says.

For Indian expat Prem Mishra, it was the realization that he couldn’t keep up with his two-year-old son that was devastating. The self-confessed foodie decided to change his habits – he stopped eating. For 36 hours at a time, he fasted and soon there was a change in his stamina and –of course – his weight. He lost 16kg in 100 days.

Abhishek Lakhwani dropped a stunning 31 kg in 7kg thanks to the high fat, moderate protein and low carb ketogenic diet. He says the best part of his journey has been the way perceptions have changed. “People tell me, ‘Earlier you looked like an uncle, now you look like a young boy’,” he says.

Veena Nair followed a three-point plan to get into shape. Stage one: Stop eating from restaurants and no more non-vegetarian food. Portion control and uped water intake Stage 2: Increase food intake, but keep it homemade. Stage 3: Eat everything, but be mindful of portion sizes. In one year, Nair had dropped 26kg.

30kg. 10 months. It’s possible, says Malaysian Shairulzad Bin Zakaria as long as you persevere. With short-term goals such as involvement in community runs and controlling portion sizes, the UAE-based expat dropped the kilos ‘the natural way’.

Shirley Angela D’Souza had tried every kind of diet when she stumbled across keto, but it would still take her two tries to get it right. The first was a Google version that saw her lose weight and impact her hair and skin. Working with a coach through, she saw the pounds melting away. In 5 months, the now keto-coach had said goodbye to 33kgs.

Neethu Binoi, an expat from Kerala, not only got fit, she made her lifestyle change a job as a fitness trainer. The mother-of-two believes exercise is always a priority, but motherhood comes first.

Two accidents, a sedentary job and easy access to junk food, Ranjini Radhakrishnan was 124 kilos in February 2018. Ranjini went from 124kg to 78kg with a lifestyle change.

Abdul Salu, 34, went from 97kg in July 2018 to 68kg. When asked what has this new lifestyle has changed for him, Salu says everything. “I am a new person.”

Pakistani expat Bilawal Khan's journey to well-being began with self-hate and backlash. The 24-year-old Pakistani, who has been in the UAE since he was a year old, says he used to love sweet things – sugary drinks, chocolate, and so on. Today, the sprightly 79kg part-time student, part-time working man says what’s left of his long journey is stretch marks, a wariness of junk and sugary treats, and a built-up self-confidence that’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Syed Farhan Mazhar is 34 years old. He’s in the middle of his weight-loss mission – he’s already lost 25kg and says he wants to drop another 10. He has walked, jogged and dieted his way to fitness. “When you do exercise, your mind gets active, you go into a very positive place,” he says.

Omair Baig turned his job loss into a life gain. He shed 21kg in 6 months, stopping at 88kg. Water, walking and no dinner, says he, is the key to his weight loss.

Photos from an office party are wat initially motivated Ahmed Ali to make a lifestyle change. Four months in he was 29 kilos lighter. He has kept it up - the exercise - and kept the weight off six months on. Now, he's got a new goal - taking his roommate on the same, fit trip.

Mouna El Khoury had struggled with her weight since she was 13. One year post-partum, at 104kg, she was in a bad place. "I felt depressed. I was tired, just taking my son to playground was a hassle; I couldn’t play with him…. I was lethargic, I was exhausted. I just felt I couldn’t go on." She then found Keto and lost 44 kilos in two years and has kept up her lifestyle.

Vishnu, a 30-year-old, tried intermittent fasting and exercise –including dragon boat racing - this year. It’s worked for him – he lost 15kg in 4 months. He’s stopped the eating-only-within-this-time diet, but, he says, he’s keeping it healthy.

Muhammad Umar had trouble praying because of his oversized body – he weighed 158kg, when he decided to do something about it. He went all-in into the Keto diet which helped him drop 52kg in 9 months.

Talha Majid couldn’t breathe and that’s how he knew he needed to change. The 23-year-old, who was 150kg at the time, used this mantra to reach his 60kg-down goal: “Lose 1kg at a time and do that 60 times.” Today, Majid is 94 kg - the 4kg gain he attributes to a busy schedule that pushed him to eat fast food and a bout of intense weight training

Khawar Naveed Bhatti didn’t let ligament tears stop him from getting himself fit. He went from 103kg to 76.5kg in 4 months. That’s a loss of 26.5kg. “I found that when you are on the heavier side as I was, cardio is not actually very effective. Weight training is what matters,” he says.

Hassan Abbas Hussain, a 24-year-old Pakistani, felt a distinct lack of control when he weighed 46kg. His journey, which was dotted with health scares gym maladies, has seen him shed 70kg in 14 months.

Khizer Khan’s hectic work schedule saw him go from fit to chubby; at his heaviest, the six-foot-one-inch Pakistani expat was 115kg. But all that’s changed in the past three months – he’s lost a stunning 32kg in spite of a meal plan that sees him much on food 5 times a day.

40-year-old Pritam Saathi says losing weight it easy but keeping it off is the real task. Fortunately, he’s tapped into his love for food and cooking to stay fit for the past few years. He lost 23kg in 9 months a couple of years ago – a feat he attributes to clean living.

Bhagwan Laungani, who weighed 113kg at the age of 35, suffered from chronic back pain before he lost 40kg in 10 months. Today. He says the shift has made him a much happier person.

Naazneen Khan’s wholesome approach to change – smaller meals, walking for 30 mins a day, breathing exercises – is really showing results. The first-time mum dropped 13kg in just 10 months. And she’s on the path to fitter times.

Hafs Al Gazzi, a Dubai-based teacher, went the Christian Bale way with a diet so extreme it’d make you sweat – and as a result dropped almost 40kg in six months.

Usman Jamil lost 40kg in 9 months – after a failed bout of Keto, he went on to a protein diet which he kept at along with gym training.

There’s no substitute for exercise, says 24-year-old Danish Ahmed, whose transformation came at a time for family reunion. No junk plus gym everyday left him 14kg lighter in just 3 months.

Mohammad Asif is not about to stop his exercise schedule, even when he’s travelling. It was the 101kg that got him down the fit road – it was causing him sleepless nights and numbness too. Today, 22kg down in 8 months, Asif say quick to say it’s been an amazing metamorphosis. ““At times I also get amazed at myself.”

14kg in 2 months. That’s what Ajay Chaudhary managed when quit sugar and tried out the vegetarian Keto diet. And while he’s reintroduced carbs to his meal plan, he’s keeping the discipline of cutting down food groups with him. Today the once-96kg man is down to 82kg with a plan to hit the late 70s.

Muhammad Dilshad worked his way to a 76kg drop in kilos in a year. No surgery or medication needed, he told Gulf News. But it did require a tonne of willpower. For one thing, he went on a liquid diet and he began to exercise. He says the journey has taught him about commitment and human fortitude.

When Siddharth Shinde's friends told him to lose weight, he didn't take it seriously - until he saw the numbers. His BMI was 52; the healthy range is between 18.5 and 24.9. He got charged up to drop the kilos and over 8 months went from a portly 110kg to 71kg - thanks to an exercise regimen that worked on the full body and a diet prescribed by friend.