It’s no secret that I’m the furthest thing away from being a male model. At the age of 49, I am officially overweight, though if I wanted to be more accurate, my BMI levels would put in the range of being “obese.”
It’s not that I am lazy. I walk more than 10,000 steps
most of the time and around two to three nights a week, I’m usually pumping
until my arms start quivering or I sprint. I am admittedly fond of the odd beer
but by and large my main vice is local coffee (served with condensed milk).
Since I discovered that my blood sugars were on the worrying side of things, I minimize
my intake of white rice.
Yet, try as I might, I can’t seem to lose the fat
around the neck and I still have a belly. So, as much it annoys the Neurotic
Angel, the sad truth is that I look like an Obese Middle-Aged man. Though,
admittedly I have improved from a decade ago when my own mother described me as
a “Gross-Looking Obese Middle-Aged Man.”
So, given that I’m an Obese Middle-Aged man trying unsuccessfully
to be a little less so, I thought I’d try something new to honour the season.
It is, as my Muslim friends would remind me, the Holy Month of Ramadan and
there is the obligatory tradition of fasting from sunrise to sundown:
OK, I’m not doing this for religious reasons so, I don’t
have to follow the timing of my Muslim friends. I wake up around 7 plus and
have a light breakfast which consist of a bowl of fruit, a bowl of oats and a
boiled egg. I go through the work day without food and try to reach home at
around 7. By 7.30, I engage in a work out, which consist of a series of Mike
Tyson Push Ups (target 50, made up of sets until failure), bench dips (up till
60), various rows (eight sets until failure) and some other pulling exercises.
On alternate nights, I walk about two kilometres and then go through around 4
rounds of 30 second sprints. Once I’m done, I head back for dinner, which
consist of vegetable broth, a single bowl of rice and some meat or fish. Then
around 10pm, I take stroll to a coffee shop for tea without milk and lime (though
they do serve it with some sugar). Occasionally, I’ll try and have a snack of
something that gives me protein.
Now, I’m not a health exert (I mean, would I be in
this state if I were?). However, I’ve noticed one or two things about this
experiment.
Firstly, it takes discipline. I have a side gig
promoting food and there are temptations to snack. However, buy and large, I’ve
managed to avoid temptation during the day and going without food for around
12-hours is something I am relatively used to.
However, what is a challenge is going without water.
There were I few days I inevitably didn’t have a chance to hydrate as I was
running around. I’ve heard that avoiding water improves the body’s capabilities
to burn fat but I’m not trying to push things. However, on the day that I went
without water, I learnt to respect the Bangladeshi construction workers who go
without food and water during the day and still manage to do their work in the
hot sun.
Secondly, I’ve noticed that I am relatively energetic
during the day and somehow tire and the appropriate moments. So, I have been getting
decent enough sleep, since I usually tire around midnight to 1am – thus I get
around six to seven hours of sleep.
The most interesting thing I’ve found is that recovery
from exercise is relatively better. I usually try and push myself till my arms
are shaking. However, whereas I used to still feel the tremble when I sat down
to eat, that feeling is gone by the time I head up for dinner.
Again, this is just an experiment to see if I can make
progress with my health. I’ll probably remain on the chubby side at the end of
the fasting month but I believe that its been a good experience and people,
especially those who are struggling with weight should try.
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