Meet Max Lowery. A name you’ll be hearing a lot more over the coming months. Why? For starters he is fast becoming one of London’s most sought after PTs; he has also just released a bespoke set of nutritional and fitness programmes called Your Two-Meal Day that he says will help you trim down, tone up and boost your overall health; he has a book coming out in May called The Two-Meal Day (Kyle Cathie); and he’s an ex-model – this makes light work of studying his instagram account in order to find out more about him (all in the name of research).

Max began his career as a Stock Broker at the age of 19 and after four years of client entertaining, late nights, early mornings and no fitness activity whatsoever he decided it was time for a change. Once a sports scholar at school, he remembered how much he enjoyed pushing his fitness levels to the test and started training again. He then decided to take his love of sport a step further and started studying to be a PT alongside his job. As soon as he qualified he quit the city game, did a short stint in South America Travelling and became a PT full time.

“It was in South America that I got the idea for The Two Meal Day as during my time there I started eating just one or two big meals a day and at the same time I was training hard and going on 6-8 hour hikes up mountains at least once per week and I really noticed how trim I got in a matter of weeks. When I came back to London I resumed to eating normally and started to instantly feel slugglish, tired and put on weight again. So I went on a mission to find out why and came across lots of studies about intermittent fasting (IF) and how beneficial it is for our health. Not only is it said to stabilize energy levels, which it did for me, but it is also proven to increase gene and cell repair helping you to live longer.”

On the Two Meal Day, Max recommends eating big healthy meals for the two meals that you don’t skip – and to eat until you are full. “The whole point is NOT to calorie restrict in those meals at all,” he explains. And it’s not about cutting out any particular food groups, although Max says he eats around about a third less meat than he use to. Has this reduction in meat protein had an effect on his muscle building? “Not at all – my size didn’t change and I am still able to build just as much muscle now as I could when I was eating more meat. And I never drink artificial protein shakes – it’s all about eating real food for me!” Max also recommends drinking around 2-3 litres of water a day.

A Day on a Plate in the Life of Max:

“I usually break my fast with a smaller meal first around 2/3pm. Predominately vegetable based with some protein and fat to fill me up, I also eat dark chocolate quite regularly with the first meal. In the evening I have a big meal with either meat or fish and veg lots of fat and protein full of nutrients. I try to eat foods that are as nutritionally dense as possible. I have greek yoghurt with honey if I feel like something sweet after dinner.”

This plan isn’t for everyone. Especially die-hard breakfast enthusiasts (that counts us out then) although Max used to be a breakfast lover himself so never say never! He does have some interesting points on how intermittent fasting can boost your immune system and improve your overall health that we find fascinating. He’s definitely one to watch.

Find out more about Max Lowery and his programme at 2mealday.com. Always consult your doctor before going on to any fitness and nutritional programmes.

words by Sadie Reid