When it comes to taking weight loss and fitness advice from celebrities, usually the focus will be on those renowned for their fitness.
It might be from a personal trainer or a star of track and field who understands nutrition and calorie consumption from years of honing their body for competition.
You might even be tempted to listen to a Hollywood star who has transformed for a role. However, it is unusual for someone to come from a world where physical fitness is not a prerequisite and be a role model for a generation of people looking to lose weight.
That is precisely what Daniel Negreanu has managed, a star of the poker world thought by Celebritynetworth.com to be worth around $60m.
The 46-year-old is a big name in the world of poker, having won six bracelets at the World Series of Poker, described by Poker.org as the most prestigious event in the world. He has made the final table on 45 occasions and amassed 148 different money finishes.
He is a behemoth of the poker world, but that would not necessarily lead directly to being seen as a fitness guru. After all, poker is a sport in which much pressure is applied to personality rather than physically testing your body.
That has not stopped Negreanu from becoming something of a driving force behind vegan diets and body shape. He took to the social media platform Twitter last summer to highlight his impressive fitness regime, in which he dropped from 176lbs to 138lbs.
He claims that he is entirely vegan but could bulk back up to 165lbs on the same diet. His message was simple: whatever your aim, being a vegan was not something that should hinder you.
Negreanu has been vegan since the year 2000, which initially came about through health worries. However, since he told Peta.org, his motivation has changed to encompass veganism's ethical and environmental issues.
“My diet's now as good as it's ever been, and although my veganism started absolutely about health, it's also become about the environment and animal cruelty,” he said. “The way animals are treated, and the conditions are atrocious. They're force-fed steroids; the chickens are de-beaked. You end up eating sick, diseased chickens. It's like a holocaust on animals.”
A vegan diet can certainly be used as part of a healthy regime to help you control your weight, but on his website, Negreanu explains it isn't all about a strict diet but diversifying depending on your requirements. He claims: “What seems to have been proven is that different body and blood types do best on different diets. So what works for one person isn't necessarily the ideal diet for another.”
Finding the proper diet for you is a challenge, and it would certainly pay to consult an expert, as Negreanu has in his drive for a fitter, more active lifestyle. In addition, when it comes to exercise, he focuses on the benefits to your mindset rather than to your weight, something championed by Steven Covey in his book The 8th Habit.
“You don't need to spend 4-6 hours a day in the gym to be healthy,” adds Negreanu, advice that many will receive well. “It takes 2 minutes to do ten burpees and another 30 seconds to do 20 pushups. Do that once a day, and you will likely find time to do more as you crave the high you feel after exercising. That mini routine isn't easy, by the way! Ten burpees will get your heart rate up there in a hurry!”
Even though Negreanu's career involves many sitting at a table, much like a typical white-collar employee, he can live a healthy lifestyle at a body weight he chooses through a vegan diet and a planned but manageable exercise regime. That should inspire you, whatever industry you work in.
