HEALTHY IN THE BELLY
Being a Malaysian, keeping healthy has a ‘speed bump’ that comes in the form of food. Of course, it’s hard to reject our local dishes when they taste ever-so-heavenly, but it’s not impossible! Khairy practices an eating technique that he calls ‘pick-and-choose’ whereby he is able to minimize on consuming unnecessary and unhealthy carbohydrates, but doesn’t adhere to a ‘No Carbs’ policy.
“It’s a bit difficult, being in the line of work that I’m in, because you get served food that you can’t control. I think it’s essential to take some carbs as people can get a little bit bored with a “no carbs” diet; but you really have to look at the quality of the stuff that you’re taking in.”
Another great advice from the YB is to buy produce and ingredients from the ‘pasar’ and reward yourself with a healthy and delicious home-cooked meal. It’s not all dull when it comes to YB’s diet plans as he strongly is in favor of cheat days to avoid a boring life, but to do so with extreme moderation.
“Oh man…my cheat days can consist of nasi lemak, roti canai, chicken rice, KFC, gourmet burgers, ‘burger bakar’. The usual suspects,” he says with a hearty laugh. “But make sure cheat day is a cheat day, and not a cheat week!”
ONE MAN’S NEEDS
Music plays an important role in Khairy’s fitness regime—even possibly his #1 MUST-HAVE when he is out for a run, as it helps him visualize the finishing line. “Music is critical. Without music, you can get quite bored, and also it motivates you.” He also takes on the pathways with his Garmin tracking watch and Apple smartwatch to help him keep track of his fitness for the day. You’d think a man with such credibility would have found his favorite pair of running shoes and gears by now but, “I’m quite agnostic when it comes to my running shoes and gears. I wear anything from PUMA to Brooks, ASICS…good brands, basically.”
Another gift that Khairy has is that he can ride horses, so it’s only natural that he plays polo as well. “I’m trying to make the Malaysian SEA Games Polo team for 2017.” As a father to his three young boys, Khairy wants to be a part of their athletic growth as much as their lives. His eldest son Jibreil Ali, who turns 9 this year, is active in karate, swimming, soccer and badminton. “I want him to do as many sports as possible so he can be versatile and hone plenty more skills.” His second son Timor Abdullah prefers running and walking more, so he will join along. As his youngest son Raif Averroes is still young, we will just have to wait and see how his athletic father will influence and inspire him.
