Mariam Zaher

A 1,200 calorie diet is not a sustainable diet.

The diet that leaves you unsatisfied after meals is not a sustainable diet.
A diet that is not paced according to you but according to the dietitian is not a sustainable diet.
A diet where you’re not allowed to eat any of the foods you enjoy is not a sustainable diet.
A diet where you don’t understand why you’re eating this and not that is not a sustainable diet.
A diet that stresses you out to keep up is not a sustainable diet.
A diet that isolates you from your friends and social life is not a sustainable diet.
A diet that does not cover your nutritional needs and leaves you tired and unable to focus is not a sustainable diet.
A diet that you’re constantly obsessing over throughout your day and are unable to focus on the rest of your day because of is not a sustainable diet.
A diet you’re afraid to deviate from is not a sustainable diet.
A diet where you dread follow ups with your nutritionist is not a sustainable diet.

To me, an unsustainable diet looks like doing too much. And I know how counter-intuitive it sounds; “if you wanna lose more weight then you must do more of what makes that happen”. That statement dismisses what makes us human and the fact that our bodies have a capacity for stress and functionality. We’re not machines and we most definitely do not operate like so.

A sustainable diet accounts for the aspects that make us human and respects and works with our capacity and needs, not despite it.

Resistance training can support bone density in ways many women don’t think about in their twenties.

A lot of what determines our health and functionality in later years is being built long before we feel the consequences of aging. Bone density, muscle mass, balance, and strength don’t suddenly become relevant when we’re older. These, along with many other health status determinants are influenced by the habits we are building NOW. Invest intentionally 🧠

If you’re curious about more reasons to lift weights beyond what it can do for your physique, check my stories 📱

Structure and a lack of awareness is where I find most chronic dieters that keep hopping on and off inconvenient diet paces and going back and forth with their progress (a lot of دكتور الدايت قاللي كده)

Lack of a structure and a lack of awareness is where I find most individuals who do not yet have sufficient skill or knowledge to take any form of control over their health. And some I find are discouraged to ever try because of the first scenario.

Structure is most functional when it’s implemented in tandem with becoming aware.

This is not an argument against structure, it’s an argument for placing it where it belongs. Agency takes precedent over simplified lists of do’s and don’t when the aim is sustainable changes and maintenance of good health long term.

And agency here (the individual’s ability to self-direct) is rooted in becoming knowledgeable of 3 things:
1. Objective health practices
2. How your physiology works
3. Your subjective experience of both together

When clients LEARN the why - why you crave something, why a certain ingredient is better or worse, why your body reacts the way it does to certain foods - the structure emerges organically and stops being a “forced discipline”. (Of course discipline does play a role here but that’s a conversation for another day because I believe discipline is intertwined with many psychological variables that include appraisal of the self).

A diet does not become successful when it helps you get to a certain goal, it’s successful when it transforms the internal compass of the person dieting. (Whether you listen to the compass or not is all up to you though 🤷‍♀️🤗)

➡️ Point is: when eating becomes something disconnected from this compass because you’re told so - whether by a nutritionist, the internet, or just the general consensus - you remain agent-less; passive. And so when the imposed structure fails, for whatever reason, you find yourself failing too.

The way out is this ⬆️

Understand before you banish - a few thoughts on tackling your nutritional health with less fear and more intention 🥙

Your eating behaviors aren’t random

Changing your health habits is often less about willpower and more about understanding why these behaviors developed in the first place.

Our system is very intelligent, and it’s constantly working to keep us surviving the best way within its resources. A little compassion goes a long way when understanding the drivers behind your behaviors.

Every behavior meets a need and this is at the core of its repetitiveness. Our behaviors are information, and when you meet them with curiosity instead of criticism and shame, you begin to see how they are well-placed despite their favorable or unfavorable outcomes.

From there, change takes on an organic path because you work WITH your system, not against it.

Symptoms come before labels.

We ask you to track symptoms because the pattern gives the most insight.

👉 If you find a pattern linked to certain foods, quantities, or cooking methods, this is what you need ⬇️
(if you can’t really put your hands on a clear pattern, go to part 2)

An elimination diet can help you find the real culprits, but only with the right strategy. And the first step is always to find potential culprits, then narrow down

You might not be sensitive to every food in the same quantity or form
So first, track
1. What foods you consume before symptoms appear
2. The quantities for those foods
3. And how the food was prepared / cooked (steamed, fried, pre-soaked, etc)

Bloating isn’t always caused by the last thing you ate. Sometimes it’s your body signalling a stressed internal environment.

Part 2 of the series dives into how the state of your system can influence how you respond to food and the symptoms that show for it.

➡️ Holistic scope: addressing the state of the system is where healing begins in this case.

🧩 Food cannot be excluded and alterations to diet are usually needed to reach a baseline. But at a baseline state, where both stress and inflammation are properly managed, the same foods that might be causing you symptoms now, no longer have the same effect because the internal environment is altered

The next post I’ll share the 4R protocol for restoring gut health and part 3 of the series will explore when food IS the main culprit for symptoms. 🔜

The Grounded Wellness Method is back for Ramadan! Registrations are now open ⬇️

A deep dive through 6 interactive online sessions designed to help you:
• Build an awareness and understanding of nutrition principles
• Develop and apply these principles to reach your short-term and long-term health goals
• Learn how to filter through the noise of trends and build healthier habits across your life
• Understand how your system works as a whole to support your body

🗓 Start date: 21st of Feb
⏳ Duration: 3 weeks
⏰ Sessions will run from 8:00 PM to 9:00 PM on Tuesdays and Saturdays (schedule flexibility according to group)

🔗 Find the registration form linked in my bio