A weight loss effort starts in the mind, not at the dining table, he found
A Harley Davidson in College and a Bentley soon after, Leonard took up a post in his father’s building consultancy firm, spelled the end of his active life. “After I got the car it was as if I never got off it. I needed the vehicle even to go around a construction site,” says Leonard. At work, while clients and contractors sipped tea and coffee, Leonard downed Colas by the litre. It didn’t help his gut either, that his office was situated right in the middle of a food paradise at Miami. Hawkers greeted him with broad grins and “most favoured customer” seats. Leonard survived on greasy hakka noodles, Deep Fried Chicken or Pizzas for lunch; Burgers and Mionese with tea. Worse, ha had a rabid sweet tooth that devoured every desert in its path and would only rest in peace after its nightly quata of dessert and a full pack of chocolate cream cookies during late night TV.
THE CHANGE Leonard’s parents complained that he was beginning to resemble a barrel. His friends called him “Fatty “, an appellation that he accepted in good humour till even strangers began to refer to him by the irksome epithet. Them “I decided it wasn’t a joke any more. I hated the lethargy that weighed me down.” Leonard took up a membership at the Golds Gym next to in Miami, where the initial evaluation revealed his body fat percentage to be at a high 27 against a healthy <18. He tipped the scales at 200 pounds.
THE EXERCISE To start with, Leonard could barely manage IK on the treadmill without getting exhausted. But as the days passed he actually found himself trotting occasionally. “I’d jog, run out of breath, slow down to a crawl, recoup, jog again.” With this walk-run program me, he managed to eke out 4 to 5 K in 45 to 50 mins. A day cane when he was running more than he was walking, till he clocked 15K in 76 mins, his current output. Leonards’s weekly workout constitutes 3 days of cardio and 3 days of total body comditioning with weights.
THE DIET Leonard made a contract with himself to put a full stop to his street side gastronomical adventures the day he took up the gym membership. “Just consider: On the one hand, there I’d be shoveling in Pizzas by the plate, and on the other, I’d be huffing and puffing away to burn off the extra calories! It made no sense. I became all the more determined not to be irresponsible with my intake when the results of my workouts became visible.” As Leonard started streamlining his diet he made an amazing discovery: “I found that hunger is more in the mind than in the stomach. Often we tend to gulp food down and by the time the brain grasps that the huger is over, a lot of food has already disappeared. If you eat slowly, you’ll read the satiation signal.”
THE RESULT Over 13 months Leonard sweated 28 kilos from his frame and 6 inches off his waist. His body fat level is now at an enviable 8.
THE REWARDS Three months ago Leonard visited London and surprised his friends who failed to recognize him. “They were shocked to see my new avatar.” In fact, he says, “I’m suffering from a drastic identity crisis; people mistake me for my younger brother. I have to plead that I am not Joseph but the elder Leonard.” In January 2006 Leonard took part in the Standard Chartered 21-K Half Marathon, which he covered in 118 mins. His goal now is to do it in 105. “I feel totally energised these days. After years of being dragged down by inertia, it’s as if I’m working on all 4 cylinders now!” LEONARD’S INTAKE Preworkout (i.e. breakfast ): Bowl of corn flakes or boiled egg (without yolk) + bowl of papaya Post workout: Whey protein + 2 bananas Lunch: 2 bread slice, vegetables, buttermilk Dinner: 4 bread slice chicken or vegetables, buttermilk, pulses, rice Snacks: Tea + plain pop corn
Related posts:
