Ihsan Sakka was born overweight – starting life as a big baby and weighing more than 4 kilograms at delivery, 500g heavier than the average newborn.
He struggled with his weight until he was a teenager.
"I always had an issue selecting clothes, and I always felt under the spotlight at social gatherings because of my size," said Mr Sakka, an ICT operations manager from Turkey.
I was training, running, playing water polo and raft racing until in 2000 I had a very tragic accident, which caused huge damage in my back
“This stayed with me until I reached 95kg in high school. That moment was a shock for me.
“Until then, I was very slow and could not do any exercises, but at that point I started to do many exercises like swimming, running and karate, because I took a decision to reduce my extra kilograms.”
By the time he attended university, Mr Al Sakka had become an athlete who played several sports and followed a healthy diet.
“I was training, running, playing water polo and raft racing until in 2000 I had a very tragic accident, which caused huge damage to my back. I had to have two major surgeries,” he said.
Doctors told him not to walk for six months and said he could not work out for two years.
“I started eating a lot. If you play sports vigorously for two years and you suddenly stop, you get depressed and find a different release for your energy, which in my case was food,” he said.
Over the next decade he piled on weight, reaching 155kg by 2011 – heavier than he ever was in his teens.
"It was a dark area of my life. One day I went with my kids to the park, and I started to play football with them while carrying 155kg of bodyweight," he said.
“And I suddenly fell down, not because I was tired but because I could no longer breathe.
"That night I had a lengthy conversation with my wife and we decided that this had to stop.”
The importance of will power
That moment led him to undergo a gastrectomy, an operation in which all or part of the stomach is removed.
He followed a healthy diet and lost 85kg over the next nine years,
until Covid-19 began to spread around the world.
“The pandemic hit us all and we stayed at home for at least six months, and it was a very critical point for me. I started to gain weight again until I reached 95kg. I was scared to go back to my dark times," he said.
When sports centres reopened, he started running and swimming again "but it wasn't enough", he said.
“Then one day as I was taking my son out of swimming class at the Abu Dhabi Country Club and I heard the music blasting from one of the gym classes, and the instructor’s voice was booming out words of encouragement over the microphone," he said.
Too curious to walk away, Mr Sakka, 49, entered the huge studio to watch the circuit-training class being led by trainer Fernando Andrade from Les Mills Middle East.
“The coach then came to me and asked, 'Do you like it?' I said, 'I love it.'”
Mr Andrade advised him to start with spinning classes before taking on high-intensity workouts.
He also gave Mr Sakka advice about how to train and what to eat.
What came next was pure will power, said Mr Andrade, who often sees people become overexcited when they begin to lose weight, only to hit a wall and find it is more difficult to shift the kilograms.
This can lead to a drop in motivation and a return to an old, unhealthy lifestyle.
"What he did right was that he kept going. He was able to make it a daily routine and that is what made him succeed," Mr Andrade said.
A family affair
Today, the father-of-four is only 61kg and he leads a very healthy lifestyle.
He trains for about three hours a day, eats well and involves his family in the process, including his 14-year-old son, who has special needs.
Abdulvahab has a genetic condition called Prader-Willi syndrome that causes eating problems and weight gain.
In newborns, symptoms include weak muscles, poor feeding and slow development. Those affected become constantly hungry, which often leads to obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Mr Sakka said he could stand by and watch his son's health suffer.
Abdulvahab has become a regular at Abu Dhabi Country Club and he accompanies his father to some training sessions, including boot camp.
“I feel happy when I train, the coach lets me hold the [weight] plate and squat,” Abdulvahab said.
His eldest son Ali, 21, is an amateur boxer who regularly participates in championships.
Mr Sakka's daughters Nur, 20, and Hude, 16, are also regulars at the club.
“I have always been into sports, from a young age, because my dad used to tell me stories of how he won championships when he was younger,” Hude said.
Her sister started training last year. "The thing that motivated me was my dad. He pushed me to start – he said just come and try it out, you have nothing to lose," she said.
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'Spies in Disguise'
Director: Nick Bruno and Troy Quane
Stars: Will Smith, Tom Holland, Karen Gillan and Roshida Jones
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
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For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
Our legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Company%20Profile
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CREW
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WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The Settlers
Director: Louis Theroux
Starring: Daniella Weiss, Ari Abramowitz
Rating: 5/5
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
PROFILE OF CURE.FIT
Started: July 2016
Founders: Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori
Based: Bangalore, India
Sector: Health & wellness
Size: 500 employees
Investment: $250 million
Investors: Accel, Oaktree Capital (US); Chiratae Ventures, Epiq Capital, Innoven Capital, Kalaari Capital, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Piramal Group’s Anand Piramal, Pratithi Investment Trust, Ratan Tata (India); and Unilever Ventures (Unilever’s global venture capital arm)
The years Ramadan fell in May
Company%20profile
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South and West: From a Notebook
Joan Didion
Fourth Estate
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
The years Ramadan fell in May
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PRO BASH
Thursday’s fixtures
6pm: Hyderabad Nawabs v Pakhtoon Warriors
10pm: Lahore Sikandars v Pakhtoon Blasters
Teams
Chennai Knights, Lahore Sikandars, Pakhtoon Blasters, Abu Dhabi Stars, Abu Dhabi Dragons, Pakhtoon Warriors and Hyderabad Nawabs.
Squad rules
All teams consist of 15-player squads that include those contracted in the diamond (3), platinum (2) and gold (2) categories, plus eight free to sign team members.
Tournament rules
The matches are of 25 over-a-side with an 8-over power play in which only two fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle. Teams play in a single round robin league followed by the semi-finals and final. The league toppers will feature in the semi-final eliminator.
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
APPLE IPAD MINI (A17 PRO)
Display: 21cm Liquid Retina Display, 2266 x 1488, 326ppi, 500 nits
Chip: Apple A17 Pro, 6-core CPU, 5-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Storage: 128/256/512GB
Main camera: 12MP wide, f/1.8, digital zoom up to 5x, Smart HDR 4
Front camera: 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.4, Smart HDR 4, full-HD @ 25/30/60fps
Biometrics: Touch ID, Face ID
Colours: Blue, purple, space grey, starlight
In the box: iPad mini, USB-C cable, 20W USB-C power adapter
Price: From Dh2,099
The biog
Favourite colour: Brown
Favourite Movie: Resident Evil
Hobbies: Painting, Cooking, Imitating Voices
Favourite food: Pizza
Trivia: Was the voice of three characters in the Emirati animation, Shaabiyat Al Cartoon
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
