Keto diet weight loss tips from a PE teacher who dropped 20kg in two years
- Physical education teacher Julien Schneider says knowing what to expect during the first few weeks on the high-fat, low-carb diet is vital
- Pairing the diet with intermittent fasting – skipping one or more meals a day – has helped him hit his goals
Hong Kong-based physical education teacher Julien Schneider was unhappy about gaining weight – more than 15kg (33lb) – in less than a year after arriving in the city in 2015 from his native France, despite doing two hours of physical activity daily.
Like many of us, the now 39-year-old had experienced the yo-yo effect since his early 20s: putting on a few extra pounds, then trying to eat less to shake them off, but finding that harder and harder. His American wife had witnessed his struggle and had been reading about the keto diet on social media. She suggested he look into it.
First, he had to overcome a cultural hurdle. “In France, getting out of the ‘regular’ diet is almost shameful. You don’t do it,” Schneider said, referring to his countrymen’s reputation for savouring their food without fretting over whether it’s good or bad for them.
Book titles such as The French Don’t Diet Plan reflect the stigma that surrounds those who do start scrutinising their dishes and counting calories.
He and his wife had tried other diets, like the Dukan protein-based diet developed by the French nutritionist of the same name.
“You eat a lot of protein but you cut everything else,” Schneider said of the diet. “To lose weight it’s very efficient, but in the long term it’s impossible [to maintain]. The problem of every diet is when you stop the diet, what do you do? The problem is to keep the weight off.”
