'Doctors said I'd die before 40 if I carried on my lifestyle – then I lost 37kg in five months'

Former Premier League star Mido once claimed he was told that he would die before he was 40 unless he dramatically altered his lifestyle.

The Egyptian striker turned out for several clubs in his time in England between 2006 and 2013. From Tottenham Hotspur, Middlesbrough, Wigan, West Ham United and Barnsley, the now 41-year-old made a name for himself after scoring several eye-catching goals.

However, Mido called time on his career at 30 years old after struggling to settle at a club. Despite training frequently, since he broke into the game in 1990 with Giza based team Zamalek SC, and eating like an athlete, the ex-Ajax forward struggled with his weight to the point that he found himself in dire trouble at just 34.

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Speaking about his weight-loss journey, and how he transformed his life, the former Egypt international revealed how he found it challenging to even walk and was looking at a life with diabetes. Opening up to The Guardian in 2018, he disclosed the extent of the danger he we faced in due to his spiralling cholesterol levels.

“I was 150kg and I reached a point where I couldn’t walk 30 yards,” Mido said. “If I did, I started to feel pain in my back, my joints and my knees. I remember I was getting off my boat in Egypt five months ago – this day is the turning point in my life – and I was walking off on to an island. I had three friends with me and it was 300 yards to the end of the island.

"The sand was a bit heavy and it was a bit sunny and I said to them: ‘I cannot walk.’ I had to sit for 30 minutes. I was only 34. That was the moment the switch flicked."

Mido then discussed the devastating news he received about the state of his health and what he would have to do in order to survive. A diet that consisted of fried food, salt and an overload of carbs had left the ex-Roma star facing a premature end.

“Two days later I saw the doctor. He asked me to do blood tests. When I had the results and the doctor started to talk to me, I knew I had to change," he said. "He told me that my cholesterol is 320 and that the top of the average is 200. He said I was on the edge of being diabetic. And, to be honest, the doctor told me that if I continue with my lifestyle, there is a more than an 80% chance that I’ll die before I am 40. He told me: ‘You will die.'"

Mido heeded his doctor's words and stormed into action. In just five months, Mido lost a remarkable 37kg (5.8 stone) in five months.

“I’ve totally transformed my lifestyle,” he said in 2018. “I don’t eat any bad carbs. I don’t eat anything fried at all. And I don’t eat any red meat. I have no salt or sugar."

As well as switching to a strict diet he also disclosed how he kept active. Despite earning his living in one of the most demanding football leagues on the planet where he would go to extremes in order to keep fit, Mido insisted that simple exercise enabled him to complement his new lifestyle.

"I do general training – swimming, playing squash, playing football, some easy weightlifting," he added. "But if I’m putting it in a percentage, it’s 70% what you eat and 30% workouts. If you want to lose weight, it’s what you put in your mouth.”