Macca-loving Aussie lose 50kg naturally thanks to 'Subway' diet
Standing at 1.8m tall, Joseph Daoud lifts the scales weighing 130kg.
The 18-year-old, from Sydney, fell into a vicious cycle of eating McDonald’s up to four times a day, subsisting on sugary snacks, smoking a pack of cigarettes every day and washing it all down with six cups of coffee.
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He said he developed a “toxic relationship” with food – causing his weight to spiral out of control for years.
“My lifestyle is absolutely terrible,” the mortgage broker, now 31, told 7Life.
“I would wake up, go to a friend’s house, hit, smoke, drink coffee, smoke some more, eat some kind of drive-thru fast food, usually three to four times a day, go to TAFE. .. Rinse and repeat.”
In his first attempt to lose weight, the young man worked out at the gym for a week – but he never returned despite paying for a two-year membership.
But determined to get on top of his weight once and for all, Joseph dramatically lost 50kg naturally after a strict fitness and diet regime.
For six months straight, she ate four Weet-Bix with skim milk, two six-inch subways with no sauce and fruit in between.
“I don’t know where I got this dedication from,” he said.
“I have absolutely no idea how I hold my sandwich without sauce – I eat it every day. But I really like how I look in size 34 jeans. It’s a big deal when you’ve been wearing size 44 pants for so long and then come down to this. ”
Toxic relationship with food
Prior to his amazing body transformation, Joseph lived off an unhealthy diet consisting of chips, chocolate, hot chips, chicken nuggets and burgers.
“I developed a toxic relationship with food,” he explains.
“I depend on comfort foods and other fast dopamine like pokies, cigarettes and alcohol. I didn’t grow up with a lot of confidence and I was mentally crushed.”
At his toughest times, he struggled with his confidence.
“I lived most of my life thinking that I wasn’t good enough or worthy to be healthy – physically and mentally,” says Joseph.
“I thought I was cursed for being forced to be fat.”
After returning from a family trip overseas, she knew that she needed to overcome her bad eating habits to become healthy.
“I jumped on the scales and I remember it read 121kg,” recalls Joseph.
“This is the first time I have lost weight in my life.”
The rest is history
She believes her weight changed during her vacation because she was “physically forced to stay away” from her favorite fast food chains – including McDonald’s, Hungry Jack’s and Oporto.
But despite the light bulb moment, he hopped into his car and drove “straight over to McDonald’s”.
“At that point I literally sat there for a moment and thought, ‘Come on, you’ve already lost this much, let’s see how much more you can lose’,” he said.
“And the rest is history.”
Joseph returned to the gym with one of his friends this time.
“I was really scared,” he recalls.
“Once I started to get a little more confident, I didn’t need a gym buddy anymore and started doing it myself.
“Then it becomes an addiction.”
After he fell below the three-point mark, Joseph began to “slide towards” his dream goal of being under 90kg.
“That’s when the real addiction begins,” he says.
“Every minute I could find, I would work out. I thought, ‘I don’t have to be anywhere until 4pm, cool, I’m going to go to the gym and do a quick cardio session’.
“Is that unhealthy? Possible. But am I addicted to the success of losing weight.”
Body dysmorphia
Joseph slimmed down to 79kg but his dramatic weight loss caused body dysmorphia.
According to Australia’s Health Direct, body dysmorphic disorder is a mental health condition in which a person obsessively worries about defects or defects in their body – leading to suffering and repetitive behaviors.
“I’m 182cm, so going from 130kg to 79kg was a big change, and caused me to suffer from severe body dysmorphia. I was too skinny and obsessed with what was on the scales,” said Joseph.
“This massive weight shift caused my body to store more fat around my face, love hilt, and thighs because I wasn’t eating the right macronutrients or exercising properly.
“It was mentally playing with my head, because I always wondered why I was losing weight but not physically.”
Messy mind
To overcome mental inhibition and body dysmorphia, Joseph adopted a strict meditation regimen to manage his expectations and calm his body and mind.
“Some people may find this a joke, but without meditation, I can’t be constantly clear about what I want to achieve. With the amount of stimulus we receive, we need to declare our brains,” he said.
After finding inner peace through meditation, Joseph says he now feels happier and healthier than ever before.
His diet now consists of macronutrients – protein, carbohydrates and fat.
Every morning, he eats two breakfasts. The first includes four Weet-Bix and a protein shake with a tablespoon of peanut butter while the second consists of an egg wrap.
The same goes for lunch. He usually eats fish with white rice for his first lunch, followed by a dish of salmon or chicken.
One cheat meal per night
For dinner, Joseph indulged himself with one “cheat meal” every night.
“When I worked in finance, we always went out for dinner,” he says.
“My breakfast and lunch allow me to take in most of my protein and healthy fats throughout the day.”
“I allow myself one cheat meal per night. However, if I am preparing for a basketball competition or a bodybuilding contest, I will usually remove these cheat foods and replace them with something healthier.”
‘Little pleasures in life’
Joseph’s approach to changing his life didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy the little pleasures in life.
Some days he’s running ultra-marathons while others he’s polishing the whole cake for himself.
“I’m an all-or-nothing type of person – life is all about balance, you need to have fun and celebrate your accomplishments to remember how hard you worked to achieve them,” she says.
Her workouts include a variety of cardio, yoga, and weight lifting.
“Time is everything to me,” he said.
“My workout routine now includes six sessions of cardio per week or an exercise bike at home, three sessions of yoga to keep my joints and ligaments healthy and four sessions of weights per week to ensure that I can maintain my muscles.
“I prefer to train in the morning because if I do it well and early it gives me more freedom to do what I want throughout the day.”
Joseph had a whole new outlook on life and his self-worth after he managed to keep the weight off while running his mortgage brokerage firm, It’s Simple Finance.
“I feel that I have taken ownership of everything,” he said.
“Everything is my personal responsibility, be it my health, my business or my social life. By continuing to seek that improvement, I have found more satisfaction and happiness in my own life.”
Not under food control
For those looking to lose weight, Joseph stresses the importance of breaking patterns and reminding yourself why you want to change in the first place.
“To achieve what you want, you need to find a way to break your own pattern,” he says.
“I was lucky, because family trips abroad forced me to break my pattern. I lost about 9kg because I don’t have access to fast food. It must have been the first time in my life that I felt liberated and not under the control of food.
“Also having an accountability partner drag you to the gym for four weeks straight is one of my favorites.”
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