90 Days, 84.6kg to 72.2kg: The Ninja Creamy Turned Protein Shakes Into Ice Cream and Changed Everything

When content creator and tech reviewer Arun Maini discovered he’d be playing in the Sidemen charity football match, he had 90 days to transform from what he called “the most out of shape I’ve ever been.”

What followed wasn’t just another fitness journey.

It became an experiment testing every gadget, hack, and strategy claiming to upgrade health and performance.

The results? A drop from 84.6 kg to 72.2 kg, body fat slashed from 21% to 13.2%, and fitness levels jumping from “fair” to “excellent” on V02 max testing.

Making Weight Loss Actually Sustainable

Maini’s initial approach mirrored what many attempt: plain meat and vegetables, carrot sticks with hummus, and nothing but water after 6 p.m.

It was miserable. More importantly, it wasn’t sustainable.

What I’ve learned is you can make it easier for yourself. And you actually have to make it easier for yourself if it’s got any chance of working.

His game-changer arrived in an unexpected form: the Ninja Creami ice cream maker. Instead of chugging protein shakes in 15 seconds, he’d freeze them and transform them into full tubs of ice cream the next day.

Each 200-calorie tub took 15 minutes to eat, creating genuine satisfaction rather than rushed consumption. Simple substitutions like this made adherence dramatically easier.

The Treadmill Trick That Changed Everything

Burning 1,000 calories daily from movement was non-negotiable for Maini’s goals. Traditional cardio? Boring and unsustainable.

His solution turned exercise into entertainment.

I just gave myself one simple rule. I can play as many games as I want on my phone, on my Switch, as long as I’m doing it while getting my steps in.

He added another layer: every death in-game meant increasing treadmill speed. The gamification worked brilliantly, making time disappear during workouts.

While outdoor walks burned roughly 200 calories per hour, the consistent incline of treadmill walking doubled that to over 400 calories. Maini ranked treadmills as S-tier effectiveness.

Small Activity Additions That Actually Matter

Reaching 1,000 daily calories burned required more than structured exercise. Maini discovered how naturally activity accumulates through tiny habit changes.

• Active errands: Running to grab food instead of walking
• Post-meal movement: Keeping an indoor football nearby encouraged getting up after eating
• Passive tools: Under-desk ellipticals and wellness balls (ranked B-tier for requiring an hour to match 8 minutes of intense exercise)

Combined with an hour of focused exercise daily—treadmill, football, or weight training—these adjustments consistently pushed calorie burn past 1,000.

Sleep Optimization: Getting It Backwards

Maini initially obsessed over sleep-specific products: vibrating mats, Luminette light therapy glasses, special headbands, essential oils.

None produced measurable improvements. His sleep score averaged 76 out of 100.

The breakthrough came from reversing his thinking entirely.

I was so focused coming into this on fixing my sleep, thinking that that was the center of everything and if I fixed it, everything else in my life would fall into place that I missed how if I instead focused on the other things that great sleep was a result.

By the end of his transformation, sleep scores hit 97-100 consistently. What actually worked?

• Weight loss: Dropping below 80 kg automatically stopped snoring
• Eating well and early: No late meals calmed his body from the inside
• Improved fitness: Resting heart rate plummeted from 53 to 39 beats per minute
• Simple aids: Nasal spray for congestion, temperature-controlled bedding

Within 50 days, he’d lost more weight than in his entire previous 100-day transformation years earlier.

Volume Eating: The Real Weight Loss Secret

Early weeks meant constant hunger. Lying in bed ravenous while others ate. Nursing black coffee while friends demolished burgers.

Tired of this. I just want pancakes, waffles, and to eat until I’m full. This is hard.

Then Maini discovered volume eating—the principle that transformed everything.

He compared 400 calories of nuts to 400 calories of strawberries. The visual difference was staggering. Trail mix from health stores, marketed as nutritious, would provide laughably small portions if consumed exclusively.

High-Volume Foods That Actually Satisfy

Maini’s favorite discoveries included:

• 0% fat Greek yogurt
• Cottage cheese
• Sugar-free jelly
• Fresh fruit (the ultimate winner due to water and fiber content)

He turned 300 calories worth of three tiny chocolates into entire bowls of jelly trifle. A full box of strawberries (65 calories) replaced six cashew nuts or one chocolate square—same calories, vastly different satisfaction.

This knowledge freed him from food jealousy. When others ate restricted foods, he’d simply visit a store and choose anything from the fruit aisle guilt-free.

The Hidden Calorie Trap

Maini became hyperaware of cooking oil—the invisible calorie destroyer. One medium egg logs as 66 calories, but cooking oil adds 30 more untracked calories.

Reducing oil while maintaining taste meant consuming 40% more food for identical calories. That awareness proved crucial for accurate tracking and maximizing food volume.

Intermittent Fasting: The Acceleration Factor

Maini implemented a 6-hour eating window: last bite at 6 p.m., first bite at noon the next day. Combined with volume eating, this created his most dramatic results.

Was he hungry during morning workouts without breakfast? Absolutely. He loves breakfast and found this challenging.

But the tradeoff made psychological sense. Instead of exerting willpower throughout the entire day to avoid overeating, he concentrated it into morning hours. Once noon arrived, he could eat substantially and stay in deficit.

While you do have to exert a couple of hours of willpower to get through those mornings, there’s something nice about how that’s the only willpower needed.

Complete satiation from noon until the next morning felt easier than persistent daily restriction. He bottomed out at 75.9 kg with time still remaining—far below his expected 78 kg plateau.

Football Training and Strategic Recovery

The Sidemen charity match drove Maini’s entire transformation. Morning cone drills, rain or shine (mostly rain), became routine despite blisters and a torn shooting muscle from overtraining.

Two weeks of careful rehab taught him patience. But his best football decision? Making it social and competitive through weekly matches with friends, progressing from 5-a-side cage games to full 11-a-side official matches.

Tools That Supported Performance

Spottle water bottle: The 2-liter container with progress markers increased daily water intake by half a liter. Durability issues (broken handle) earned it B-tier ranking, but the hydration boost proved valuable.

Aerofit Elite breathing trainer: This device restricted airflow while the app guided breathing patterns, building lung strength during regular work.

I can breathe in a way that I didn’t realize I could before.

Results became noticeable during training, with significantly reduced breathlessness during intense activity.

The Final Results: Beyond Wildest Expectations

DEXA scans bookended Maini’s journey. Initially labeled “overweight” with detailed imagery confirming exactly how, his final scan revealed dramatic changes:

• Body fat: 21% to 13.2% (from average past fit to athletic)
• Visceral fat ranking: 79th percentile to 15th percentile
• V02 max: Fair to excellent
• Total weight loss: 12.4 kg (84.6 kg to 72.2 kg)

I’ve just put so much of myself into this and I can’t believe it worked.

The emotional impact surprised him. Seeing quantified proof of athletic-level body composition after three months of consistent effort brought tears.

What Actually Works: The Tier List

S-Tier (Game Changers):

• Treadmill with entertainment
• Volume eating principles
• Intermittent fasting
• Ninja Creamy for sustainable treats

B-Tier (Helpful but Not Essential):

• Under-desk ellipticals
• Wellness balls
• Spottle water bottle

Didn’t Move the Needle:

• Vibrating wood mat
• Luminette light therapy glasses
• Sleep-specific gadgets and supplements
• Essential oils

Maini’s conclusion? Focus relentlessly on basics—what you eat, when you eat, how you move—before adding complexity. Gadgets enhance solid foundations but cannot replace them.

Ninety days proved more than enough to completely transform body composition, fitness levels, and health markers. The key wasn’t motivation alone but systematically removing friction from sustainable habits while making the process genuinely enjoyable.