Zainab Hassan
Hi! I’m Zainab. A Health Coach graduate from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, USA and a Certified Yoga Instructor (200 RYT).
I advocate the transformation of people’s lives by helping them unravel their own story, find the precursors to their health, and understand their unique bio individuality. I do this from the prospect of working on their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
MY STORY
How I Got Started
MY MEAT AND POTATOES
I was born and raised in Pakistan, a meat-loving foodie at heart, cocooned in the traditional coziness of delicious home-cooked meals that were not considered complete without the slaughter, cleaning, seasoning and cooking of an animal in it.
Cooking was so embedded in our routine life that we rarely ate out. And for a family whose pots are used daily, fast food restaurants was never one of the options. Us kids saw it as a treat that we enjoyed very rarely, a delight that I personally abused when I went to college.
I grew up with the fixed notion that a ‘proper healthy home-cooked meal’ always included the cooking of meat. Vegetables were only a side dishto add a compliment of texture, potatoes were traditionally fried; and greens mixed with cream or yogurt was considered a salad.
Fast forward to college life: The independent chapter lacking home cooked meals. I became the epitome of a college junk eater and took my freedom to satisfy my temptation with endless choices of delectable junk food seriously.
I convinced myself that I was doing fine as long as I stuck to the preconditioned notion that meat had to be the central ingredient in my choice: two fried zinger wraps, wings, and some space in my stomach for dessert was the way to go! I always knew that this system of junk eating was not good in the long run. I mean it’s not rocket science! But I brushed my doubts away and contributed my stress, tiredness, and skin issues to the wonderful chaos of academic and social life.
My self-image was in constant comparison to fit a certain image criteria in order to be accepted in the category of ‘beautiful’. This complex of ‘fitting in’ is deeply rooted in females in Pakistan and is also prevalent in the Arab region, where I live now. Aside from culture, it was also the fashion industry, social media craze, or peers that created this race to meet ‘the standards’- and they kept increasing.
Years passed, I got married. Life moved on and all seemed well in spite of my “normal” feelings of irritability and weight loss issues in the times I actually wanted to lose it. Until I started getting symptoms of severe allergies that I could not ignore, symptoms that led me to discover that I had officially damaged my intestinal wall.
I decided to be responsible and go for a medical checkup. I was going to begin to find out what was wrong with me!
My First Attempt To Transformation
Off I went to the doctor’s, who ran a bunch of blood tests on me and gave me a diagnosis of Hypothyroid, followed by a single statement:
“You cannot cure hypothyroid and will have to take medications for the rest of your life.”
I felt trapped in my fate. All my deep-rooted anxieties surfaced. I remember thinking: “So this is what it comes down to, huh!” From the age of 11 years old, I grew up watching my mother survive without a thyroid gland. Every now and then I observed her suffer the aches of arthritis, fluctuations of blood pressure, vision impairment and eczema. And then comes my father, whom as far as I can remember has been a heart patient with diabetes and blood pressure issues. And as if all of that were not enough, recently his kidneys have been acting up and he has symptoms of Vertigo.
My parents’ coping with their illnesses always challenged the harmony in my loving home. When either are unhealthy, the energy of our family would shift entirely to a fight or flight state, and it affected everyone’s overall wellbeing. This worry and feeling of dis-ease was growing in my gut as a child, a teenager, a college student, and even as a young newly-wed.
I looked at myself in the mirror at that point and this was what I saw: an irritated woman struggling to lose weight, with dry skin and hair, roller-coaster mood swings, irregular periods that arrive with severe unforgiving cramps, and chaotic hormones. I had a wonderful husband yet I was depressed for reasons beyond my understanding. I had ADHD, low blood pressure, low energy levels, and as if all the lows were not enough, I also had low self-esteem.
No. This was not me. This was the girl ignoring the ‘me’ I wanted to be.
It suddenly dawned on me: Up until that very instant, I have gone through life thinking that this is normal. Feeling unhealthy and suffering body aches and low energy is just a way that some humans went about their lives. We are victims of our genes. Right?
Second attempt to Transformation
I focused my thoughts on my maternal grandfather. After all, if it turned out that we are victims of our genes, I must have his genes too!
He was a Naturopath doctor who lived to the age of 99 without a physical complaint. The most vivid image I have is of him squatting on the floor for hours on end to devotedly grind his medicinal herbs. I remembered how he used to climb long stairs with a surprising steadiness to his breath even at the age of 90.
What made him stand out and find the secret of longevity? The answer seemed clear to me. Choice. He made a simple choice to study nature, understand its ways of healing, and prolong his life and the life of others with his discoveries.
I decided to take the choice to be healthier and do some research about the greatest formula to health. And I will be honest, I did try. I took baby steps, I tried to eat less, and I tried weight loss programs…
But you know how life gets in the way? Sure you do. It’s probably what brought you to my website to begin with. Marriage life and work stole my time and I could not stick to a disciplined nutrition plan or exercise schedule. My transformation did not unfold as fast as I first thought. I fell of the wagon again and again. Until…
Third attempt to Transformation
On October 11th, 2012, I was blessed with the gift of motherhood. Each mother has a story of that first moment they hold their firstborn. My story became my daughter’s story to tell one day, and it is of how she gave me the willpower to heal myself.
She held my gaze with her wide eyes for a long time, almost like she was asking me, “Is this you who brought me to this world? Will you stick around to take care of me?”
Now all you mothers out there, I want you to remember that first confrontation you have with your beautiful procreation. The ready answers of YES to questions that come rushing to your brain: What is my job? Isn’t it to protect her? Isn’t it to reduce her suffering? Isn’t it to be healthy physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to nourish her every single day with love?
Whoa. Talk about coming face to face with life’s profound questions!
Yes. My eyes welled with tears. This is my job. I told myself: “Zainab, there is no going back now, no falling off the wagon. Your only choice is to be healthy.”
It is from that day in October that my journey for self-healing began. And let me tell you, the journey did not take overnight. That is why I still call it my 3rd, and not yet last, attempt.
I was burning myself down with the exhaustion of new motherhood. I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid right before she was born and although I started changing after her birth, it felt like I never really begun. I was racing, yet getting to nowhere. One task of diaper change would exhaust me; a sleepless night would throw me off schedule the entire next day; I still felt lethargic and my energy levels did not improve at a time that they desperately needed the most improving!
The Ultimate Transformation
A year had passed in a blink of an eye and before I knew it, it was my daughter’s 1st birthday. I woke up that day with weary eyes and a weak hunched body, standing before my giggling daughter physically unable to accept her excited invitation to hop around with her. I felt confined in my own skin. How could I let her down this way? Never again!
Some of us take more time to find the willpower to heal or transform our lives because there are many layers contributing to our hesitance. With time and mindfulness, each unravels slowly. I had yet to unravel the emotional layer, the imprinted beliefs I had about health from watching my parents as I grew up, in order for me to see real and lasting improvement to my body and general health.
After all, it wasn’t just my thyroid symptoms I had to deal with, I had to unfix my fixed notions of what is normal, and introduce a new normal to everyone I hold dear to me. I wanted to start making good memories and to stop racing to fit into a universal misunderstanding of beauty.
I activated my grandfather’s wise and patient genes in me, and finally turned my journey into a challenging adventure of self-discovery that, this time, I would never abandon.
My Journey Through Yoga and Mindful Eating
I joined a yoga class led by a teacher who opened my mind and body to new possibilities of change from within. She set for me the foundation to explore the benefits of becoming a vegetarian. Me! The carnivore whose meat eating is embedded in her culture!
She told me to be patient and trust my body, and true to her word and my willpower, within 2 weeks my craving for meat stopped, and I felt lighter, happier and more energetic. I was fascinated.
Sometimes in life, we only need to give the tightly rolled red carpet one small kick for it to unravel and unfold down our path for us to walk on. That first kick into joining yoga taught me to look within myself. Likewise, becoming a vegetarian unraveled how fast my body thanked me for feeding it wholesome food.
My FAD Diet Cycle Maze
As I learned to listen to my body, I researched and explored more. I started abstaining from ingredients that trigger my weakest organ: my thyroid, like dairy.
From 2 years of being a vegetarian that allows herself the occasional pleasures of desserts and yogurts, I decided to become Vegan. I was impressed beyond belief to discover that within 3 months of being vegan, I had reversed my thyroid diagnosis completely! This change led me to explore additional fad diet crazes to see how I can help my body more.
I upgraded to a Raw Vegan, and then I thought to take life easier and eat fish so I became a Pescetarian. I eventually started to eat meat again because I felt my body needed the protein.
Altogether and four years later, it was safe to say I’ve tried it all! I went on a full cycle of diets only to discover that the vegan diet suits my body and it’s dynamics most. I know other people with my exact symptoms, whose bodies do not function at their best under a vegan diet.
It took me a while of following other people’s success diets to learn that one man’s food is another man’s poison. Ultimately, I need to eat what is good for me, when it is good for me, as an individual person, with my unique set of genes and strings of DNA, with my own set of standards for inner and outer beauty, and my very own story to tell. And so should you.
The Holy Grail of Balance
At the time I am writing this, my daughter is soon to be 7. I have hopped out of bed to play with her without a hint of exhaustion on every single birthday after that 1st one when I couldn’t. All because: I took the choice to rewrite my doctor’s statement, to free myself from the life-sentence of medications, and to find a comfortable balance in my approaches to stay healthy.
We are all not victims of our medical diagnoses and their medications. Nor are we victims of our lifestyles, peer pressure, our genes, and our history. The ball is always in our court to transform. There is plenty to be discovered about your individuality. Until I wrote my own recipe for health and happiness with the help of my mentors, not one ready method out there was able to help me.
I have a profound respect for that uniqueness of every person in the work I do. And I do this work because each time I hear the words: “I am diagnosed with an auto immune disease and am a victim of medication for the rest of my life”, I cringe and a chill runs down my spine.
Bio individuality is the beauty of all humans. Are you ready for this adventure with me to find out about yours? Start Here
Health Coach and Certified Yoga Instructor.
I advocate the transformation of people’s lives by helping them unravel their own story, find the precursors to their health, and understand their unique bio individuality. I do this from the prospect of working on their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health.
Through retraining your thoughts and negative beliefs, listing and prioritizing your values, working on your willpower, and transforming your body through customized exercises and nutrition plans that cater to your symptoms – transformation is inevitable.
Contact me!
It’s time to take care of your health now! All you need to do is just send us a message via the form below.