HealthSecrects
Adil Naeem
Adil is a practising pharmacist with over 18 years of experience as a healthcare professional on the frontline of primary care health. Adil works in Healthcare Tech, combining his clinical and operational experience with emerging technologies to push innovation in delivering digital healthcare.
Health Interests
Adil is keenly interested in his patients' health promotion and preventing long-term conditions from developing. His key areas of interest are nutrition, metabolic health, and longevity of healthspan for maintaining health for the long term.
My morning routine
I like to hydrate first thing in the morning with a lukewarm glass of warm water and a squeeze of lemon on an empty stomach. This is then followed by a 3-minute dynamic stretching routine followed by 2 x 2 minutes of a HIIT exercise routine consisting of 20 burpees and 15 box jumps.
After hydrating and showering, Adil skips breakfast and typically opts for brunch instead since he follows a 16:8 Intermittent fasting regimen.
What I like to eat
Favourite brunches
Eggs Florentine and a handful of walnuts. Sometimes this is switched up with 2 boiled eggs and black pepper and salt, or a Spanish-style omelette.
During the summer a simple bowl of plain Greek-style yoghurt with some sliced fruit or a spoon of honey.
Daily fluid intake
I avoid caffeine in the early part of the day, so he would usually have warm water sometimes with ginger and fresh mint, or lemon to flavour until after 2 pm after which allow myself a coffee or tea.
Dinner
Dinner would typically be no later than 5.30 pm. I aim to have a low-carb, high-protein meal 4 days a week, usually consisting of steamed vegetables with a roast or grilled chicken, steak, or fish as the protein source. With the remaining 3 days a week, I would have a vegetable curry that might consist of lentils, chickpeas or spinach, or a carb meal such as pasta or pizza on one of the days
What I avoid eating
I avoid fried food and unnecessary sugars such as juices or fizzy drinks. I prefer high cocoa 70% or above dark chocolate over sugary milk chocolate as an occasional treat.
My health hacks
I follow a 16:8 intermittent fasting regime. I find this helps me stay focused, ward off sugar cravings and snacks outside of my eating window, and ultimately avoid blood sugar and insulin spikes. I have found that for me personally, eating one main meal a day and a light brunch is a healthy habit that has reversed my risk of diabetes.
My weekly exercise plan
My typical gym workout done twice a week includes a five-minute warm-up walk on a stair walker machine, treadmill, or some dynamic stretches or jumping jacks.
This is followed by three sets of 10 reps of the following weight training exercises:
Deadlifts, weighted squats, bench and shoulder presses, followed by lat pull downs and weighted rowing to balance the muscles.
This is then followed up with 15 minutes of yoga-style floor stretches and exercises to warm down and avoid feeling seized up the next morning!
A key hack I found that has strengthened the muscles around my knees and prevented recurrent injuries for me personally is walking backwards slowly on a treadmill on an incline and incorporating this for 5 minutes on my warm down.
Other things I do to keep fit on other days include 5-a-side indoor football once a week and one day of circuit training for 45 minutes.
What can you find here?
