The annual festive blow out often leaves a lingering toll on the waistline. Even if it’s not your — our — particular festival, it’s always hard to resist the enduring temptation of yuletide treats, especially when they come right after the Chanukah eight days of fried delicacies. Little wonder that January’s a time for diets and fitness plans.

But many of us Jews can testify, calorie comas — like puppies — are not just for Christmas. From carb-fuelled Friday night dinners, through all those festivals throughout the year, there`s always something to tempt the palate and hammer the diet.

So it’s gratifying to hear internet fitness guru, Yoel Levy, extol the virtues of Shabbat meals. But then as a man who could be perceived as a (sort of) haimish version of Joe Wicks, it’s the least one might expect. After all, with his spare, muscular physique and thousands of social media followers, this Cheshire-born chap — self-billed as The Jewish Fitness Coach — is clearly, ahem, proof of the lokshen pudding.

“The biggest problem with Jewish people is that we can eat too much,” he tells me, as we talk at his Hale-based home/garden office. But it’s not all bad news. Traditional foods like cholent and chicken are protein-rich, which is good. “We go into a calorie deficit when we burn more than we eat so we need to look at the amounts and types of food we eat.

Esepcially when it comes to Friday night dinner. Fill half your plate with vegetables and only a quarter with potatoes.”

Indeed a study published in 2016 which looked at the American Orthodox Jewish community found specific cultural factors may contribute to overweight and obesity. It concluded — surprise! — that caloric intake on the Sabbath is a contributing factor.

Yoel Levy

So do Jewish people require a different kind of workout?
Levy laughs: “No, but it’s better to avoid things that make you hungry, like running for hours on a machine. Better to do strength training. And it’s more enjoyable.”

So who is this young man whose mission statement is to make we Jews fitter? Diagnosed, at the age of seven with a form of dyslexia which meant he could read but found it difficult to process information, he viewed fitness as a way to take the stress out of his situation at school.

“I was a hard worker but I was so frustrated that I couldn’t get on. So l started running marathons and did HIIT workouts. It was a fantastic way to deal with the anxiety. And I loved it.”

Indeed, in 2017, Yoel was one of the youngest competitors to run the London Marathon having just turned 18.

After leaving King David High School in Manchester, he went to a sports college in Wembley where he graduated with a first class honours in accounting.

“But I loved helping other people achieve their fitness goals so I decided to invest in myself to study during my third year at university to become a personal trainer.”

At the same time he saw how the internet could help people reach sporting challenges through virtual fitness sessions and set up an online business creating events that people could sign up to and for which they would receive specially designed medals for their achievement. The idea – which won Yoel an entrepreneurial award — was that anyone, anywhere, could complete their home-based marathon or sporting event and then feel the benefit of the reward.

During lockdown, he gathered over 10,000 sign ups from across the world
“This was a real opportunity to get active. People were doing all sorts of challenges that were set for them. It really hit something.”

Now his coaching business —Live Well with Yoel — continues online but Yoel is not one for barking orders across a computer screen.

Instead he offers a scheduled training programme, via an app, which enables the participant to check in and be accountable for what they are trying to achieve. His Live Well with Yoel youtube channel a has more than 80 workouts to suit differing needs. There was even an eight day Chanukah challenge.

So where does the Jewish bit come in? “When I became an online coach I wanted to do something that could impact the community and give the best value.

“For instance, when I trained for the London marathon it was three weeks before Pesach and so I had to manage without serious carbohydrates. There are obvious challenges with our high-calorie intake on Shabbat and festivals. I just felt there was so much scope for people to take control over their fitness.

“Increasing activity is vital and being self-aware about being more active and focusing on being a bit more sensible on portion sizes. Friday night dinner is important, it’s our tradition, we just have to think of how we eat it.

“Over the weekend, people tend to eat more especially over Shabbat and we have to adapt during the week and focus on portion sizes at the weekend so we can still achieve our goal.”

I’d been expecting to work out myself, but that’s not his shtick. He wants to guide and moderate so you can arrive at your own optimised pace,
I offer a hypothetical scenario. What would he suggest for —ooooh — a woman in her early fifties, who does a largely sedentary job, hates the gym but is addicted to both chopped liver and Dairy Milk (not simultaneously)

He smiles: “You, or rather this person, should try and get in 5,000 to 10,000 steps a day.
“Factor in some strength training. You don’t need to go to the gym. Just include air squats, kneeling press-ups and use water bottles or cans to create some resistance when working the arms. The only way we can lose fat wherever we want to is by decreasing body fat percentages. Focusing on what we consume and how active we are.”

As for his own Judaism, he is clearly keenly focused on Jewish identity but it hasn’t always been so, partly because of his dyslexia. He had to learn his barmitzvah portion from memory as he struggled to read it.

But in recent years he has come to have, he says, greater interest and understanding of Judaism and of Israel. This, he feels, informs his fitness and the way he can help Jewish people.

“I know that I can help the community and across the globe. We already have clients from the UK, US and Australia so it is taking small steps.Focusing on both the physical and mental benefits of fitness. I want to help Jewish people make huge transformations. And I’m sure I can.”

You can find Yoel Levy on Instagram @thejewishfitnesscoach
Or on YouTube: Jewish Fitness Coach.