Dubai

Dubai resident loses weight to skydive

Nermeen Nagy with family. - Supplied Photo

It was skydiving, not skinny models or toned athletes that inspired Dubai resident Nermeen Nagy to lose weight. A few skydiving photos were enough to change her life for the better.

A micro-inch, a tuck here and there, the world through the vines of natural and superficial coexists.

Losing weight is no child’s play, but everyone seems to be routing for it. In a city where most people are well groomed, it is only natural for other dwellers to feel the pressure of being able to fit in. But it takes more motivation than only being surrounded by the fit, well-maintained kind.

A day in the life of Nagy would have her eat small meals every couple of hours.  Breakfast 2 boiled eggs,1 slice brown bread, toasted Black coffee or tea with low fat milk 4 hours later 1 apple or orange Lunch Half-a-palm of grilled chicken, beef or salmon Bowl of salad, with lemon and olive oil dressing Dinner (any one) 1 cereal bar Bowl of yogurt 1 big apple or orange Bowl of cereal mixed with yogurt and honey Repeat lunch

For one such resident, a friend’s photo of skydiving struck a ‘Eureka’ moment, which led to the decision to shed those extra pounds, and eventually succeed.

Nermeen Nagy, wife, mother of two, and physician in Dubai says she has always wanted to lose weight (like many of us), but she needed another target, something more inspiring.

Nagy recalls in a low voice, “Being overweight used to leave me feeling very depressed. In a group of women I would often feel left out because they also have children, but managed to maintain their physique.”

A size 18 before, Nagy says she has a tough time getting by in the city of glamour and glitz.

Pointing out she was always a small size, but after her first pregnancy she put on about 27kg, and after the second, she gained another 13kg. Soon she was 20kg overweight at 86kg and could not lose the weight.

After deciding to get rid of the weight, now a size 12, she delightfully cites, “Wherever I go, all eyes are on me, people keep telling me you look great, you look smaller. I feel proud now. I have had to change my entire wardrobe, give away my old trousers, and buy new clothes and shoes too. It has brought about a big change in my life.”

What did the trick?

One day while surfing Facebook, Nagy stumbled upon pictures of a friend who went skydiving. She wondered why she couldn’t try it too. She was instantly inspired by the photos; she had found her second target, she would skydive.

Nagy recalls, “I saw my friend’s skydiving pictures and made up my mind that I wanted to skydive too. I live right next to Skydive Dubai, and see divers very often from my window, but never really made it because I was overweight.”

She says she was shocked to find out that she couldn’t go skydiving because of being overweight. Skydive Dubai requires enthusiasts to have fall in a certain BMI range, where the count for men is 30, and for women is 27.5. But Nagy says she was 33.5. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight.

Six months to destination Skydive

She scripted herself a diet and exercise routine. As a physician she says, “I understand nutrition and how carbohydrates, fats and water help in metabolism. I surfed through YouTube and the web, on how to diet, how to exercise, what to eat and what to avoid.”

She discovered a lot while living and eating healthy

1.     When you feel hungry, it’s mostly thirst. Drink two glasses of water instead.

2.    In a day try and consume at least 8 glasses of water.

3.    Yogurt helps a great deal in metabolism.

4.    You can lose about 80 per cent of unwanted fat while sleeping.

Certain of her tips she asserts, “Believe me it’s not all talk, I’ve tried it and it works.”

While dieting balances the intake of fats and carbohydrates, exercise burns existing fat, and tones muscles.

Nagy claims she exercises twice a week, focusing on cardio for about 45 minutes. Now she has started taking tennis lessons too. “You have to make the time”, she stresses.

Although now she does have an open meal once a week, she refrains from her favourite bakery products, candies and sweets, as she feels those can make her gain 2kg in the same day.

All’s well that ends well

Nagy says, “The bulk of the weight was lost in six months, when I shed about 10kg. But overall I lost 17kg since in the last year.”

When she found out that Tim Horton’s was giving away free skydiving passes on the day they were launching their new Dark Roast blend, Nagy says she asked her family and friends to join her at the show at Skydive Dubai. After being the first to complete a few tasks of run+eat a muffin+push ups+consume half a cup of iced cappuccino, a teary eyed Nagy won herself the opportunity to skydive.

While she says getting in shape was her purpose, skydiving became her motivational target. She still has to lose about 4kg to reach her ideal weight.

When asked what her new target is, she says, “I do not have a number set to lose weight. I’m getting used to eating this way. I will maintain this healthy lifestyle, and increase my activity by playing tennis, and toning muscles to stay fit. In the long run, I might gain weight, but I will lose fat.”

Nermeen Nagy is one among us, who had the same attitude towards losing weight. All it took was a friend’s skydiving picture that changed her life. What’s the inspiration you’re on the hunt for?


This post first appeared on khaleejtimes.com, well, because I'm their Web Journalist