Have you ever been conscious of your appearance just because the person standing next to you is in considerably better shape?
Have you ever just quit eating altogether, because you hated looking at your body in the mirror and it gave you an inferiority complex?
Have you ever been depressed just because your skinny friends are having Cheese burgers and fries and you’ve restricted yourself to green tea and salad?
Do you know why you might not be losing weight while they eat more than you possibly ever could?
The answer is simple: a lack of understanding.
This lack of understanding is overall spread out to the lack of you understanding your body, the lack of you understanding your mind, the lack of you understanding how your organs function, and so on.
Certified Pakistani Fitness Coaches Adnan Farooq and Nosheen Shafi are here to put an end to your questions regarding this underrated yet MOST important topic: Why we are unable to lose weight even after a healthy diet and exercise.
Read on to find out:
DP: Please help us first understand what your ‘Fast Metabolism Program’ is all about.
Adnan: The metabolism program is based on the simple premise that you don’t have to exercise excessively and diet like crazy to lose weight, and to follow a plan of action which you are able to sustain even long after it’s over.
DP: Nosheen, we want to ask you this question. Can you tell us about the difference in male and female fat loss? We also want to know about the ‘Learning Hormones’ program you are offering.
Nosheen: Female fat loss, firstly, is different from male fat loss. It’s a shame that over here in Pakistan, people train everyone the same way, whether it’s a male or a female. They don’t even look at the kind of exercises an individual is able to perform, or whether someone has had an injury or has any internal issues. We are not asked these questions here, and which is the basic reason for this program of ours. We are going to TEACH our clients and INFORM them about the different kinds of hormones that affect our health and how they affect WEIGHT, most importantly.
Adnan: Hormones have A LOT to do with fat loss, I believe and it’s a fact. Temporary weight loss can be achieved through all those high intensity workout plans being offered, but if you’re not sustaining it, it’s of no use to you and the fat will come back sooner or later.
DP: Tell us about the ‘Fast Metabolism Program’ workout. How long is it?
Adnan: It’s a 40 minutes workout session (if you extend it to the maximum), and if you tell me you don’t have 120 minutes per week to contribute to your mental and physical health, then you are not doing too great in life, my friend.
Nosheen: We work with just your own body weight, that’s the best part. There’s no use of machines, just your brains and your body is needed!
DP: Tell us more about the FMP (Fast Metabolism Program). Does it come with written material?
Adnan: Absolutely yes! We have a document for those people who would be joining our program, so that they can record their progress. We have a ‘quote bible’ included in it too, that we go over everytime a class finishes.
DP: How long is the FM Program?
Adnan: It will last 6 weeks, and starts on 25th October, 2016. We have two batches, one is the morning batch and one’s the evening batch. It’s a one hour class if you stretch it.
Nosheen: Three days a week; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
DP: Does physical appearance matter more than your inner self?
Adnan: I’m going to be honest about it. We all want to be noticed, nobody wants to be invisible. If you look good, you feel great and you get noticed. It’s as simple as that. Besides, who wants to look unhealthy and feel bad? The happy and positive people we see around us all have one thing in common: positivity and love for themselves.
DP: Tell us about this ‘dieting before shadi’ craze. Has it happened to people that come to your fitness club?
Adnan: Girls have come upto us and literally told us that they stopped eating, just because they were getting married! This is the worst way to ward off fat, in fact it becomes more stubborn and stays. In their minds, they’re thinking that they will cover everything with MAKEUP! But that’s the wrong approach to it, and five years from now they won’t be feeling too good internally, especially with the kind of responsibilities marriage brings.
DP: Does ‘starving to lose weight’ make you have mood swings?
You’re edgy because you haven’t eaten anything, and you’re hungry. Sometimes, my clients even have severe migraines due to the diet they have when they want to lose excessive weight. To be honest, they feel like shit inside and it’s sad to see them putting so much WRONG effort into something they want so bad.
DP: You mentioned the ‘PASOORI SYNDROME’ during the conversation. What’s that?!
Adnan: (laughing) In Pakistan, we want everything to be done as soon as possible. ‘BUS JALDI JALDI HOJAYE SUB KUCH!’ I tell my clients to RELAX, and just not worry and stress themselves out. Little do they know, stress is one of the biggest enemies of weight loss, and I will explain WHY, further.
DP: Let’s talk about mental health then. Is it an issue related to fitness; does it affect your body in any way?
Adnan: Nobody wants to talk about stress. They don’t even know how DAMAGING stress is to your overall health. Mental and physical health should both be balanced, only then you can achieve your targets regarding your physique and wellness.
Nosheen: Women walk into our office and I talk to them about depression and stress, and they don’t even want to listen to that. They skip it, like it doesn’t even affect them. I can see through them and they’re too naïve and don’t even have a clue that they’re going through a lot of stress and depression. We don’t have a lot of awareness about mental diseases in our society, and they are generally looked down upon, which is why people avoid talking about them.
DP: There’s a myth about the ‘eat small meals throughout the day’ diet plan. How true is it?
Adnan: Our bodies are all used to three meals a day, and now people have proposed five meals, even six meals a day. Tell me, is adding snacks into our meals is, in any way, healthy? NO! Breaking down your ‘snacks’ isn’t going to help you in ANYTHING, if you have some problem in your body that you’re not addressing, you will not lose weight no matter how hard you try.
Nosheen: If you’re constantly eating to avoid hunger, it’s not going to help you lose weight. We are going to work with hormones, and every hormone has a week assigned to it in our program. There’s the growth hormone, estrogen, insulin, leptin, cortisol, thyroid. PEOPLE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THEM. I really couldn’t stress enough that a diet plan only works once you know the NEED of your body. Everyone has a different body frame and inner health system.
Right now, people don’t even know what Gluten intolerance or Lactose intolerance is! All of this needs to be taught to them in order to fully know their bodies.
DP: Are both of you certified trainers? What do you have to say about the rest?
Adnan: Yes, we both are certified trainers, and professionals in our fitness industry. I’m a health & fitness specialist by the American College of Sports Medicine, and I have a diploma in Sports Psychology. I’m also a certified fitness trainer by the International Sports Sciences Association, and a certified TRX, Kettlebel and Bosu trainer. I’m not boasting, but I’m also the soul agent for TRX, San Francisco. You can check it on their website. Nosheen is a certified trainer as well.
DP: Tell us about your experiences abroad, and how you have planned to bring that energy here in Pakistan.
Adnan: We travel a lot, and it’s an investment on ourselves, because we’re learning new things. We travel for fitness, ofcourse, and see whatever is happening abroad in the fitness circle, and ask them to keep us in the loop always. We want to bridge the gap between the fitness industry here and abroad.
Nosheen: I think there’s A LOT of improvement needed, because we can’t just copy each other and think that’s enough. Most of the people working here in the average gyms don’t even have proper qualifications, but they have machines and people who go through a couple of videos and workshops and that’s that. Certification should be checked before letting anyone train you!
DP: Talk about mental health a little. Are your clients comfortable sharing things with you?
Adnan: We are not just their trainers, we are their healers too, in all honesty. For starters, a troubled mind cannot work out and it’s not a good start AT ALL. Even in all our social media forums, we always talk about the increase in stress levels and it’s relationship with weight gain. They LOVE each other a lot!
DP: How do you propose to manage the stress levels we experience today?
Adnan: Dekhein jee, it would be highly unrealistic to say that anyone is spared of stress, in the kind of lives we live today.
A quote from a book I love, ‘The seven habits of highly effective people’, states that ‘one cannot control circumstances, but one can control the reaction to those circumstances.’
Nosheen: Women come to us and tell us about their problems, they open up to us and even tell us that we’re more like counselors than fitness trainers. Younger women discuss their school issues and their mothers discuss their marriage problems, lack of understanding between partners, and so on and so forth. There are multiple stress-creating issues they are dealing with at the same time, and it’s not even their fault. It’s just the society we live in.
DP: What about society is so negative that it is weighing women and young girls down?
Adnan: Society has become too opinionated. You cannot just leave a person alone! Someone is too fat for you, or someone is too skinny for you. Everyone has gotten their own individual journey, for God’s sake. Live and let live! If you have an opinion, you don’t have to necessarily voice it.
Nosheen: Even if you look nice, people will always criticize and say something like ‘you’ve gained weight on your belly’ or ‘your hair looked nicer yesterday’. But the worst kind of criticism is one which comes from WITHIN the household, because it leaves a mark on you forever. Most of the girls that come upto me for healing tell me that their own fathers and mothers are body shaming them, and it’s a tragedy. They need to be educated about these things so they can help their daughters and even change the society’s way of thinking once and for all.
DP: How do you plan to motivate others?
Adnan: We have a ‘CORE FOREVER LEAN PROGRAM’ on Facebook where we upload a lot of free content and videos for people who want to know more about fitness and healthy lifestyles.
DP: Any advice for people who are planning to become fit and healthy, or are on their journey?
Adnan: Learn to control your thoughts, because without the mental being, the physical being will not be functioning too well.
DP: How did you two meet? Tell us your story.
Adnan: (laughs) We met through the fitness industry, liked each other and connected well. We have been married for a year now, and Alhamdulilah life is great!
Nosheen: We have three kids: Zainab aged seven, Eshaan aged 8 and Aahil is 5 years old. The younger one is the most motivated to work out and is a proper fitness freak! He’s really inspired by Adnan (laughs). He’s always telling me ‘check my muscles!’ It’s cute.
DP: What do you have to say about the way in which models/actors lose weight? Is it the correct approach?
Adnan: I think certain improvements need to be made, because they just diet and that’s it. The goal is not to look like a zombie and have internal problems, the goal is to eat well and eat good fats even.
Nosheen: Most models and the media industry in general are doing drugs to keep the weight off, and that’s going to bite them later. You can see that they’re slim, but their skin is loose and saggy. That’s when you don’t have any muscles.
DP: Any people joining the program that we may know of?
Adnan: Hadiqa Qiani and Aamir Mazhar have joined our program. We are looking forward to having more people!
DP: Do you have any word of advice for addicts?
Adnan: One should think of the REASON why a person is an addict in the first place. Why is a person drinking; why does he feel the need to smoke after having an anxiety attack? It’s when the mind is working out of fear and insecurity. People come up to me and tell me to give them a ‘detox juice’, and I tell them, “If you keep your kitchen dirty for a week and ask me to clean it the very last day every week, chances are that there’s going to be a lot of rotting that I won’t be able to get rid of.” Take care of your body is all I can say.
DP: Your message to fitness freaks?
Adnan: EVERYDAY SHOULD BE DETOX DAY! I want to spread the message of peace and positivity to the world, because there is already too much misery being sold by the media and especially the news channels. STOP BLAMING YOURSELF for not being able to lose weight, and come to us so we can explain to you WHY you aren’t losing weight like you should. If you need a solution, you need to step back and go to the root of the problem.
WE ABSOLUTELY LOVED TALKING TO THIS FITNESS+POWER COUPLE!! Book your place in the Fast Metabolism Program if you really want to have all the answers to EACH AND EVERY QUESTION you’ve ever had regarding your health. GOOD LUCK!
