STEVEN'S LIFESTYLE ,BLOG : HOW I LOST MY BELLY FAT IN JUST TEN WEEKS

HOW I LOST MY BELLY FAT IN TEN WEEKS

BY STEVEN SMITH

My Transformation

PICTURES SIMON BARNE

trip to India sponsored by ant-ageing centre

112 Harley Street W1G 7JQ 020 7224 16222

I WENT from this to this in just ten weeks. Here is the story of my amazing journey.

Being no stranger to the gym, and keen on fitness and healthy eating too, I have always considered myself to be fit and to have a reasonably good body.

But there was one area, no matter how hard I tried, that I just could not get results with – my stomach. I did the usual things most gym guys fall for, such as making my arms and legs as big as I could and going for what they call the ‘rugby player look’.

But when I was mistaken for a professional wrestler at a concert one evening, it dawned on me that maybe the look I had gone for was simply “fat.” Still, I closed my mind to it and just got on with my workouts, adding a bit more cardio. Even though my 34-inch waist started to creep beyond 36, I was still in denial.

The real wake-up call came when I was traveling in India with my friend, actress Denise Welch and her author husband Lincoln Townley. I was there to interview them while they where guests of the renowned Harley Street doctor, Jeya Prakash, at his anti-ageing centre in Chennai. Dr Prakash invited me to undergo the same treatments and tests at the celebrity couple – and what unfolded was life changing.

Dr Prakash is one of the world’s leading experts on anti-ageing and is well known for his cosmetic surgery on the likes of Katie Price. His Chennai practice attracts Bollywood stars and the Indian elite as well as clients from around the world, who travel there to learn how to slow the ageing process – or, in many cases, to actually reverse it.

Denise has always been open about having had work done on her eyes, but she and Lincoln were not in Chennai for cosmetic surgery, more for a general MOT on their bodies and lifestyles, after both having lost parents relatively early in life.

The chance to learn a new lifestyle and undergo intensive testing on their

picture of Denise Welch and Lincoln Townley copyright of jamie Hugheshttp://jamiehughesphotography.com

health as guests of Dr Prakash was an amazing opportunity. Once renowned as heavy-drinking partygoers, the couple had already taken their own first steps towards a healthier lifestyle and had not touched alcohol for two years. Denise had also got into shape by losing two stone with LighterLife, for whom she is a celebrity ambassador.

Staying in the delightful Taj Fisherman’s Cove, we would travel each day into the centre of town just over half an hour away to meet with a team of experts at the wellness centre, which was opened seven years ago and provides a full range of health and age management facilities.

We all took turns to see the various consultants. In my first session I saw Doctor Sharon, a clinical exercise physiologist, who weighed me and measured my height, and was quick to pronounce that I was overweight and needed to loose at least ten pounds.

Having just read an article about a body builder without an ounce of fat being told she was obese according to her BMI, I protested that muscle weighed a lot more than fat. But, yes, after undergoing further tests, including a dexa scan to check bone density and fat percentage, I discovered to my horror that while my muscle was 71% my body fat was 29% - definitely leaning towards obese.

I was horrified. To me, the word obese conjured up an image of a huge blob of a man who could barely move; the sort who would put you off your own food as you watched them stuff their faces at an ‘all you can eat for $10’ buffet in Disneyland.

But I learned that there are two types of fat – the subcutaneous fat that is close to the skin surface and relatively easy to get rid of. I was pretty free of that, but then there is the other sort - the visceral fat that surrounds the organs around the abdominal area, creating a pot belly. And this is what I had.

Picture Copyright Simon Barnes hotsnapz.blogspot.com -

I was at a loss to understand how it could have happened – after all, I eat better than most, avoiding red meat, cutting out wheat, replacing my cereal with buckwheat and swapping potatoes for rice. Whatever was going wrong with my body, I couldn’t be accused of not trying to keep fit and well.

After extensive blood tests, the problem was uncovered - my body was turning the male hormone testosterone into estrogen, the female hormone and my adrenal glands where slightly underactive, as was my thyroid.

Once again, I was horrified – and Denise and Lincoln had a laugh about me turning into a woman! But Dr Prakash assured me it was all easily fixable and, at last, it was starting to become clear why I had been unable to lose my belly fat.

The adrenal problem and underactive thyroid were sorted out by supplements that are available from any good health food store. The estrogen problem was trickier. It seemed that the testosterone supplement I had been taking for a number of years, on the advise of doctors, had been turning itself into estragon primarily due to my love of carbohydrates which, when combined with testosterone, simply turn to estrogen.

Looking back, I knew many guys at the gym who worked their socks off on weights and even did a fair amount of cardio but took testosterone, and they had huge arms, equally huge stomachs and ‘man boobs.’

I would see them eating what I thought where healthy carbs.

The first thing Dr Prakash did was to put me on an estrogen-blocker, Tamoxifen, which I was to take three times a week for the first month, then twice a week after that. This would help reduce my estrogen and within a week I noticed a difference, as my body seemed to retain less water and my stomach appeared to shrink before my eyes.

Tamoxifen is used to treat women with breast cancer but in men it blocks estrogen and reduces water gain. However, that on its own was not going to fix the problem. My diet also needed a complete overhaul.

That puzzled me, as I had always taken care to eat healthily. But Dr Prakash explained it was not so much the food but the way I was eating.

First of all, eating a load of carbs as soon as you get up is not necessarily good for you, because and hour later your body is craving even more carbs and sugar.

He suggested I start the day with an egg white omelette with some added vegetables; a full fat yogurt and small amount of fruit, avoiding the sugar fruits such as oranges and strawberries. Instead, choose pomegranate, blueberries, coconut shavings or raspberries. To drink, have green tea.

My first reaction was one of disappointment – what was the point of getting up in the morning if you could not tuck into a lovely bagel, a round of toast or big bowl of cereal? But I gave it a go although I was so tempted to bung the omelette between two delicious slices of toast! I resisted, though, and after the first week the craving for bread subsided.

Dr Prakash’s advice is to avoid anything with the words diet or low fat on it, unless it is naturally low in fat. Anything that has been processed could actually cause weight gain in the long run. I mixed pomegranate seeds with some almonds. Often I would alternate between the yogurt and half an avocado with lemon juice and black pepper.

My usual routine was to get up about six, have breakfast and then hit the gym. After that I would come home and have a snack in the form of a protein drink and some sort of carb.

By the time I went to work I was hungry again and would have a protein bar, coffee or even a sandwich. But with my new way of eating, I didn’t feel that hungry after the gym and opted for fruit instead, such as grapes, melon or pomegranate. Another alternative is almonds and a protein drink (low in sugar and carbs) mixed with water or as a treat mix with almond milk.

A couple of hours later I did not feel the usual hunger, but had room for a few macadamia nuts, and some coconut pieces, and a glass of coconut milk.

By lunchtime I was hungry, but instead of going for something high in carbs, I opted for a salad with salmon or chicken breast. Carbs are best avoided for lunch as they are the reason for the mid-afternoon slump that so many people suffer. If you want some carbs, add a small cup of brown rice or quinoa but stay away from the big bread roll or chips.

I won’t deny that this was hard at first, but Pret A Manger does a great sushi salmon salad and if you add a healthy soup, such as chicken and ginger, with a glass of water and splash of lemon, you’ll feel full and energised and ready for the rest of the day

In the afternoon, I had a few nuts and some pomegranate seeds and plenty of water. In the evening I would have chicken, tuna or salmon with a small cup of brown rice. If I was hungry before bed, then a small cup of almond milk and some cherries helped me sleep. The joy of this eating plan, though, was that I felt tired when I was supposed to be tired - at night - so sleep came naturally.

Once every two weeks, I have a ‘cheat day’ and eat whatever I want. A glass of wine or cocktail every so often won’t kill you either. Not only has the fat disappeared, but my energy levels are up and my skin looks great.

The other area of my life that had to change was my workouts. Previously my training consisted on 10 minutes cardio and 45 minutes weight training. I reckoned that, living in central London, I was walking on average a couple of miles a day and getting all the cardio I needed.

But this was not raising my heart rate – and not burning the fat. So he suggested that I switch to high Intensity interval training, HIIT. You warm up for three minutes, then sprint for 30 seconds and repeat for no more than 20 minutes a day, five times a week.

My knees are weak and sprinting or running is not really possible so Dr Prakash created a treadmill routine that worked for me: three minutes warm-up at, say, 4.5 speed and 4 on resistance then speed up to 6.5 for three minutes, back down for one minute, then up again, higher than the last time, at 7.00 for two minutes, then down again and repeat for twenty minutes.

Sometimes I do the same routine on the bike or cross trainer and it’s amazing how much sweat this simple aerobic exercise produces. Not only has my body shape changed dramatically but, at the age of 53, I was asked to join a model agency, Models of Diversity, and have now appeared in several catwalk shows and fashion house shoots.

picture copyright http://www.mobisphotos.co.uk

Here’s my typical daily menu:

Breakfast

Tea - green tea or ginger and lemon tea. Make your own with fresh lemon and peeled ginger

Omelette made with the whites of four eggs. Add vegetables of choice. Cook in a small amount of olive oil (no butter)

Fruit – a cup of fruit such as blueberry, pomegranate, coconut, grapefruit. Avoid high-sugar oranges, tangerines and strawberries.

Alternate with organic full fat yoghurt. Avoid low or zero fat yoghurt.

Snack

An hour or so later, have a snack, such as a handful of almonds, macadamia or cashew nuts, pomegranate, coconut shavings or blueberries.

Lunch

Tuna salad or chicken breast salad. If the tuna is tinned, make sure it is in spring water rather than oil. For the salad, spinach, watercress, spring onions, beetroot and celery. Use lemon as dressing or a tablespoon of Udo’s oil.

Snack

The afternoon snack can be the same as the morning. If you have worked out, have a protein drink with added water rather than milk, unless it is almond milk, or blueberry blended in almond milk.