Adil Ibrahim is a South African criminal lawyer who was a contestant on the first season of the e.tv reality competition The Biggest Loser South Africa, from 7 January to 14 April, 2008.
He was the second contestant to be eliminated from the show.
Show Statistics
Age
24kg
Weight at the start of the show
152.3kg
The Biggest Loser team
Red Team
Weight at the finale
140.8kg
Total weight lost
11.5kg
Total body percentage lost
7.55%
Biggest Loser Profile
This Durbanite says that he has been an academic most of his life. He was an ardent student, the geek who grew up behind his textbooks and computer screen. He later became a man with a colossal build.
Currently he is completing his MA in Criminal Law, specialising in offender profiling.
“My parents, my family and my friends are all so proud of my numerous academic achievements,” he says. “Yet there exists this painful void, this unfurnished and saddened personality that hides from the world.
“My weight is threatening to prematurely take me out. I want to live and I am ready after 23 years of excuses to declare war on my fat. I just need guidance.”
The worst diet he ever followed was one where he had to drink copious amounts of lemon juice and hot water with no bread or rice at all. “I nearly went off my head,” he says. He has also tried various and many weight loss programmes, gym and swimming. “I try to do it for a week, but feel embarrassed because of my size, so I retreat to my study.”
He describes himself as a person who loves wholeheartedly, someone who is protective, sharp-witted and with a larger-than-life sense of humour.
When he speaks, it is with a healthy sense of self-irony. He comes across as urbane, open-minded and inquisitive.
“I have a bad habit of procrastinating, not being patient enough. I know that I should be exercising, but I love lying in front of the TV watching cricket or movies,” he says. “Although watching people play cricket and not being able to participate is hurtful.”
One day he was turned away at an amusement park for a carnival ride - he was too fat. “I would love to walk through a crowd of people without being stared or giggled at. Slender and muscular people, ironically, make me feel so little.”
He gets a far-off look in his brown eyes when he says that one day…one day he will be able to buy clothes on impulse, or something he wants to look smart in, as opposed to buying bland clothes simply because it is the only thing that fits.
When it comes to food, his least favourite are carrots. He loves a sumptuous medium-rare sirloin, onion rings, mushroom sauce, cheddar melt, fries … and an ice-cold coke to round it off.
“Come to think of it, I also love braaivleis and mashed potatoes,” he says. “I tend to eat too much junk, or comfort food, like chocolates and ice-cream.
“In my Indian culture, food features in a major way,” he says. With reference to the voting process, he says that he will not curry favours with anybody and will have no qualms voting people off who are disruptive or who mess with the team’s emotions.
If he is voted off? “I will feel the dent, but I am here to rehabilitate myself and learn from the whole experience and take home the knowledge that I gain here.”