In early 2020, Shiv Haria-Shah waved goodbye to breakfast. The London barrister and law firm partner had never really liked eating in the morning but, out of habit, he would grab a Bircher muesli pot from Pret on the way into work.
When the pandemic hit and he started working from home, however, Haria-Shah did a reset, thinking about ways to boost his “performance and wellbeing”. His executive coach, Kannan Paul, suggested he look into intermittent fasting. He started skipping breakfast and pushing back lunch so that no morsel entered his mouth before 2pm. He hasn’t looked back.
“I’ve found it pretty easy actually,” says Haria-Shah, 35, of his newish routine. On weekdays, he’ll consume only filter coffee, green tea and water in the morning; if he’s had a rich dinner the night before, he sometimes misses lunch too. He’s lost weight and, without the morning sugar high, is “definitely calmer”.