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
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.
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.
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.
Dinner
Chicken or turkey breast with a small
portion of brown rice; steamed broccoli with added ginger if desired, or
lightly stir fried vegetables.
It is important not to eat after seven
in the evening but if you want you can have some cherries before sleep with a
small cup of warm almond milk.
Drink at least a litre of water a
day.
Copyright Steven Smith
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