Health Beyond The Hospital: The Wellness Doctor

"Females have a very different body than males, and our exercise performance is affected by our hormones,  and we can lift weights at certain times of the month better than other  times, we can do cardio at certain times of the month more than other times, we can hit PRs in lifting at certain times more than other times." - Dr. Hana Jaafar

Hello and welcome back to the luucid podcast.

In today’s episode, we dive into the powerful link between mental and physical health with Dr. Hana Jafar, a psychiatry resident and fitness advocate. Hana shares her transformative journey from inactivity to becoming a passionate promoter of exercise for mental well-being. Her unique perspective as both a medical professional and fitness enthusiast offers invaluable insights into achieving a balanced lifestyle. Join us to discover how integrating mental health and physical fitness can enhance your life.


Reach out to luucid at:
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Website luucidkw.com
Email hello@luucid.co

Reach out to luucid at:
Instagram @luucidkw
Website luucidkw.com
For guest recommendations Email hello@luucid.co

Transcript

Edited

Aziz: Hello, and thank you for joining the lucid podcast today. We have the privilege of hosting Dr. Hannah Jaffa, a psychiatry resident at the university of Toronto and a six front runner ambassador for the Middle East and the founder of hybrid training health plans. These comprehensive plans encompass aspects from nutrition and training to specialize pre and postnatal exercise regimes.

I hope you'll find our conversation enlightening and we encourage you to share your insights and takeaways from it. No, thank you. And enjoy. 

know, you wear multiple hats and you do. So very well from being a medical doctor to running your health awareness platform to creating your own virtual training programs. who was Hannah growing up in Kuwait?

Hana: so a lot of people don't know this about me, but growing up, I was actually a really inactive person. I wish I could tell everyone that I was a super athlete and I was the star of every sports team at school, but I was actually someone who hated fitness. And hated healthy food. I was much more of a reader.

I was much more of a study. I was somebody who really enjoyed just kind of like studying. I loved fashion a lot, which is something that I still do. But the whole transition from fitness hating to fitness loving actually happened late in my college years. And it's something that I've done and never looked back on.

Aziz: Well, I mean, I think the studying theme is really important for you since you're a doctor. So I'm glad that you kept doing that. But what got you into the fitness world in college? What was that turning point for you?

Hana: So I think that my journey starts off as many people's journey starts off. I hated exercise, but I wanted to lose weight and I just kind of forced myself to do it just because I thought that like that was going to help me get what I wanted. And then after I started to exercise for the wrong reasons. My mindset shifted from the wrong reasons to the right reasons.

So I stopped exercising because I wanted to lose weight and I started exercising more because I was noticing how it made me feel in terms of my mood, my confidence, my attention and all that type of thing that comes with immediate effective exercise. Plus I was really enjoying just like going to the gym, making friends, getting to know new people.

It was like a whole world outside of Um, I went to medical school and honestly, I still think that it's the thing that kept me from being stressed out during university because I do see how stressed out people that go to medical school are and I speak to them regularly about their anxiety levels and some people who even suffer from depression because of the stress that Doctor and medical students in general are just put under for so many years.

And I think that when you have an outlet that kind of lets you release that energy, whether it's with fitness or anything else that you enjoy doing, that really helps you put things into perspective and kind of realize that it's not the end of the world if you don't get a good grade on an exam, because you do have something else going for you outside of medical school.

Aziz: Phenomenal. I love that. And you know, you said something really interesting. You said, I stopped working out for the wrong reasons. You know, it's very. Difficult for me to wrap my head around the concept of working out for the wrong reasons. What does that mean to you and, and what, what should it mean, uh, to the audience?

What does that mean?

Hana: So, in my opinion, the wrong reasons would be if you exercise because you see it As a chore because you see it as something that you hate and you're doing it kind of to punish yourself, whether it's because you think that you look bad or that you don't deserve to look the way that you do. And that's why you exercise or even, for example, some people who have specific kinds of.

Eating, uh, habits where they overeat and then kind of exercise as a punishment or a way to kind of work off that food. So there are a lot of reasons why you could exercise that are not right, in my opinion, and then there are countless benefits and reasons that are right to exercise. So. It doesn't, I'm not saying that it comes easy and I'm not saying that you're going to start your first workout and be like figuring out exactly what exercises for you, but I think that so many people are just very confused as to how I integrated into my lifestyle.

And I always ask them, like, do you. Think about brushing your teeth when you wake up in the morning. I hope the answer is no, it should be something that comes naturally to you. So that's what exercise is like to me. I don't actually think like, Oh my God, I have to exercise today. It's going to be the worst hour of my day.

It's kind of like when you just wake up, you you're on autopilot, you brush your teeth, you get about your day. It's not something you put thoughts and efforts into. And that's kind of what exercise has become like for me. Okay.

Aziz: Right. And how important is it to have a support group, uh, to lean on? I mean, uh, from foes, your best friend to your husband. Um, what's, uh, what's the relationship between your support group and your success?

Hana: I think it's extremely important to have a support group. Um, first of all, because when you are working towards your career, you do have to sacrifice some aspects of your life. Like, for example, you can't hang out with your friends like every single day. And it's important for your friends to be supportive of that fact.

Um, if you're married, you won't be able to be spending all your time with your spouse and that person has to be supportive of that as well. And so I was lucky enough to have a support group that shares common interests with me. And I think that that's something that's really important. So for example, my husband loves training just as much as I do. So if he's at the gym, I'm also at the gym and we kind of, and he's a coach as well. So we just. Um, so he's very supportive and understanding of everything like he's never said like you're coaching too much or I wish you would coach less or anything like that.

Like, so that's been very, very lucky for me to have because I feel like many people don't have that same situation and it makes achieving your goals, no matter what your goals are much more difficult.

Aziz: Amazing. I love that message. 

 You know, uh, speaking of, you know, the medical world, a physician health study conducted on 19, 000 physicians in the U S showed that 40 percent of the doctors in the study were overweight and 23 percent were obese. And Edward Cregan, a professor of medical oncology at the Mayo Clinic writes about the medical profession, that if one is not psychologically, spiritually, and physically fit.

One will not go the distance in this profession. Why is it that physicians are so overweight?

Hana: Unfortunately, I have seen firsthand how unhealthy some physicians are, and it's not only in terms of weight. It's also in terms of smoking in terms of how sedentary they are. And it's a very unfortunate thing. I think it's because of lack of time. I would say that that's maybe the number one factor that that they just don't make the time for it.

And that when you're working very long hours in the hospital, it's so easy to resort to ordering Johnny Rockets for lunch instead of a healthy meal. And it's so easy to just spend the whole day just sitting down kind of like with patients not really walking around the wards that much. So I think that not having enough time is an excuse that physicians might be able to use more than People who are not physicians.

So, so I always get that excuse from the doctor is like, Oh, I wish I could train, but I don't have enough time. And I do realize that some people might actually not have enough time, but I truly believe that if you want to make time for something, you will have enough time. It's only an hour of your day, just like you make time for watching TV and you make time for sitting around on your phone.

You can make time to do a one hour workout. Okay.

Aziz: So they say I have 150 minutes of cardio I have to do over the entire week. And I feel like that's a lot less intimidating than saying I need an hour to work out.

You know, and I think that's a really good way to, I guess, make it part of your life. Are these doctors medical judgments compromised because of their unhealthy lifestyles?

Hana: So definitely, um, and it's not just because of lack of exercise, but I did two research studies that I published recently, one of which was about mental health and a lot of physicians and people who did not exercise had higher levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms than people who did exercise. But funnily enough, not the people who exercise every single day.

So not exercising at all and exercising obsessively have equal amounts. of anxiety and depressive symptoms from what we found in Kuwait. But then also, um, burnout in physicians is a really big thing and having like just being overworked, no time for vacations, 

so burnout definitely affects your judgment. It's proven to affect your ability to make decisions. It's a, it's. It's proven to affect your concentration with patients. So, so many things fall into play. And I think that like you mentioned earlier, health is not just about your body. It's about your mind, your emotions, your body, and just you as an entire person.

And if you're super fit, but then you're also burnt out mentally, that's not a healthy, uh, person overall, you know? So I think it's very important for people to just kind of take a step back. And, and I think that. That that's something that I believe the health care system in Kuwait really needs to work on, which is just allowing doctors to be human beings taking some time off because I feel like time off will always help,

Aziz: It really has. It really has. Um, so, okay, well, let me, let me put a scenario out there for you. How has the fact that Kuwait is consistently ranked as one of the most obese countries by the world health organization influenced your choice in career?

Hana: Um, I would say that. Me going into the hospital and just seeing the amount of preventable diseases that Kuwaitis have Simply because of living a very very very sedentary Poor diets. Lifestyle is something that is very shocking to me, and it should be shocking to everyone else. Our obesity rates are unacceptable, completely unacceptable and completely avoidable.

If we were to just implement a good structured approach on how to target obesity and children from school all the way to adulthood. And I think that that's something that we really need to work on because even though in school, I, for example, we used to have fitness classes, our cafeteria was filled with junk food and you can't out train a bad diet. 100 percent fact, like you cannot train for 10 hours a day and then you can in like five minutes eat away all that work that you did. So you have to focus on nutrition and then with nutrition will come good performance, good energy levels, good sleep and the ability to actually train. So I think that we have a lot to work on in terms of that aspect.

Aziz: Yeah. And let me back some of what you said with some numbers. You know, a study published last year by Frontiers in Endocrinology about obesity rates in Kuwait stated that 77 percent of adults within the study were either overweight or obese. Another study cited in Forbes stated that 74 percent of the entire population is obese.

So there's obviously a dire need for a cultural shift. Why do you think so many Kuwaitis are overweight?

Hana: I believe that the food has more to do with it than the exercise. Um, I believe that the amount of restaurants and the amount of ordering that people do on a daily basis, the types of food that they're ordering, coupled with the fact that they don't move much, is just a recipe for disaster. And I think that It's so easy to come up with excuses like I often hear people saying, well, Kuwait's too hot to walk outside in, but honestly, other than like three months in a year, it is not too hot to walk outside at night.

I've walked outside in September. I've walked outside in, uh, throughout all the months of the year. I would say the only, for example, maybe June and July are too hot to walk outside, but even those months. I've seen people straight up running and jogging in Shaheed. So if you actually want to make the effort and just push through the fact that the temperature isn't ideal, then you will get it done.

I'm moving to Canada where it's sub zero degrees, but they're not saying it's too cold for me to walk outside and therefore I'm going to become obese. No, they're still trying their best to stay active, although it's way more physically impossible. But to run outside in a blizzard than it is when it's just hot in the summer, you know, so you're never going to live in a place that's perfect temperature, perfect ideal situations.

So I think that we have plenty of indoor gyms, um, and so many options for people to sign up with, whether it's home training, whether it's training in the gym, whether now with the online training that's happening. And in addition to that, like I mentioned, the food needs to be fixed. It really does.

Aziz: Yeah, I mean, I was a really chubby boy growing up and, and, you know, I embraced a very healthy lifestyle in high school and then I carried it out, you know, throughout college and now in adulthood. And, you know, there's been a lot of awkward conversations with grandma. So I, I have two grandmas and they love to feed me, and they, again, love to smother everything in both, in both oil and butter.

They don't understand that oil and butter are the same , and they're like, Hey, don't you want to eat? And I'm like, no, grandma, I'm, I'm really good. And, and there's a lot of like heartbreaking conversations with grandma, but they need to happen.

Hana: Yeah, I think the social thing is another big aspect. So for us, eating is a social, a very, very social, uh, event, and sometimes it can be taken as a sign of disrespect if you don't finish all the food that's offered to you so you feel pressure to eat food that you're really not hungry to eat or that you don't even like.

You might also be allergic to it, but you just can't say no because you have to eat that food.

Aziz: Yeah, yeah. Have you learned to say no?

Hana: Yes, so I've learned to say no.

And on my, on my in laws are, my in laws are very healthy and my, I'm lucky to be surrounded in like a clean food environment.

Aziz: Phenomenal. Phenomenal. Um, whether it's gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, a staggering number of Kuwaiti men and women of all ages are going under the knife. Why do you think that Kuwaitis are opting for the easy way out?

Hana: I feel like they just don't have the patience. I'm sure that there are some instances where the person is so overweight to the point where they are physically incapable of exercising and that they have many comorbidities such as high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels. And so maybe doing a surgery would be the best option.

But in a lot of instances, it is unnecessary and it would not be performed. In other countries of the world. And I have actually seen a patient who came to the hospital and she was in the BMI range that was literally in the middle of being normal and being obese to the point where she could do a gastric bypass surgery.

So she was in the middle. So she could either lose the weight. Be a healthy BMI below 25 or gain enough weight to do a surgery. And she literally said to the doctor like, I will go home, gain the weight until my BMI becomes 41 and come back to you for the surgery. Like that was her response when told that she was like in, she was too thin to do gastric bypass surgery. very

Aziz: Suffering, especially specifically in our culture, where everything is handed out to you and everyone feels entitled. And so to a point, I feel like everyone in, in the culture or in the society is a product of this system that we have that says, oh, no, just stay at home and, and, you know, have an air conditioner blasting on high and just watch your Netflix and.

Keep eating your ghee, you know, and I think that's a big point is people are just not very comfortable with suffering, which it's a huge part of the human journey. Every, every human should suffer at some point. And some of that suffering should be physical. I think in my opinion, you might disagree with me, but that's just the

Hana: Agreed. And you and and it's always like I've seen this so many times you have to choose your suffering. So you can either suffer by exercising and being on a diet or you can suffer by having medical diseases, stroke, heart attacks, and all these types of, uh, diseases, or have to For example, gastric bypass done and then suffer because you're not able to eat anything and you have vitamin deficiencies for an entire year.

So you choose which suffering you want to have. And for me, at least, it's a very clear answer which one I would rather go for. But surprisingly, most people don't pick that route.

Aziz: I love that. You choose your suffering. That's a really good message. Either you do it now or you have to pay the piper later. Uh, so by the way, more women than men were obese in that study. Why do you think that more women in Kuwait are obese?

Hana: I think in Kuwait, it's because men, even if they don't necessarily go to the gym, they do have some activity in their lives. So for example, I know most guys in Kuwait, like enjoy playing football with their friends or enjoy playing squash. Tennis or some sort of physical activity. So even if they're not necessarily like gym addicts, they would still play like an occasional game of soccer or football with their friends.

So that's giving them some sort of activity in their lives and maybe helps them with that. But for women, I would say that if you're not interested in exercising, you will not move. You know, like it, it's, it's a very extreme situation for women. Like we don't have team sports that much in Kuwait. We don't really have any outside activities that we do.

So if you're sedentary, you're sedentary. Like your step count is like 1, 000 per day, you know, so it's either or.

Aziz: Okay, well, let's put women on the platform and let's talk about them for a little bit. So I read a Vice News article that had a funny opening sentence. It went, a woman of the gym. Who are they? Why are they here and what do they want? So let's answer, answer those questions. Let's start with why are they going to the gym usually? Is it for purely working out? Is it for social reasons? What's going on?

Hana: So the number one reason is to lose weight. That is the common answer that you will get in 99 percent of people who go to the gym. Eventually, there are some people who shift, as I mentioned earlier, and actually start to exercise for strength based goals, for endurance based goals, instead of just focusing on the weight loss.

And the thing is, is that when you focus on these types of goals, the weight loss will follow. It is impossible for you to, like, set yourself, for example, an endurance goal, like, I want to run my first 10K marathon. And still not lose more weight than you were when you were sedentary. So I think that people should shift away from the whole obsession with weight loss and start to think more about making themselves stronger and making themselves fitter.

And then weight loss will come with that.

Aziz: And I guess this question is also kind of related, but what do they want out of the gym experience? I mean, do they want just to go until they lose weight and then they can just never see a gym again until they gain the weight or, or what is it that they want?

Hana: So I think that there are three types of people. The first person is the person who will never go to the gym in their lives. And who look down on other people who go to the gym. They're like the naysayers, like, oh, you win your gym. Enjoy while I sit at home. So those are like the first type of people. The second type of people are the people that sign up for the gym on either New Year's. Or the summer to get the summer body. So those are the people that will usually come for one month and then disappear for the rest of the year. And those people tend to come back once they have put on some more weight. So they come back when they've gained weight, disappear when they've lost weight, come back when they've gained weight, disappear, and so on and so forth.

And then the third type, in my opinion, are the second type, but that begin to love fitness. So they come in with the same goals, which are to like lose weight, set a new, for example, New Year's resolution, but then because they start to love fitness so much and start to develop a different type of way of viewing it, they stay there consistently and just make it part of their lives.

Aziz: Phenomenal. I really like that you, you organized it in a very succinct way. I think you're right. I mean, this is what I've seen as well. And it's not only exclusive to women, you know, it goes on with men as well. So you, I've, I've been with people that are just there because of, you know, new year's resolution or they're trying to, you know, look good for the pool parties.

Right. But then I've also seen people that are, you know, get really obsessive and, you know, And I'm sensitive in a good way and they were like, okay, well, I just need to go to the gym. It's part of my life. I feel off on days that I don't go to the gym. Like that's the mentality, which is I think a good way to see it.

 Um, so, the fitness industry is often described as male dominated. Two separate studies cited in the Journal of Sports Psychology reported that male athletes attitudes towards female coaches were of a negative orientation. And in addition, this is mind blowing, female athletes preferred the possibility of having an unsuccessful male coach to that of a successful female coach.

So where do you think this gender bias is coming from?

Hana: So I would think that the gender bias is coming from a general gender bias, not just a gender bias in terms of fitness, but in general, um, sports and fitness is seen as mainly a male field. And therefore, if you are a male, you. Instinctively will know more than a female will know, and that's not right. But that's the way that some people see it.

Fortunately for me and for other coaches in Kuwait, we don't have that gender bias here just because of religious and cultural values. Most people, women prefer having a female coach. And most men, I think, if not all men would prefer to have a male coach. So usually it's the males who coach the males and the women who coach the women here.

And I actually feel like because female Kuwaiti coaches are very. Like small amount and also unique that that were celebrated a lot, and I never felt like people stood in my way because I was a female. I actually felt like they were more inclined to hire me because I was a Kuwaiti female who was also a doctor and just kind of gave off that Um, Um, Credible vibe in their opinion.

And so I, I never felt like it was something that stood in my way, but I definitely see it in terms of other people. And I have seen women both in and out of Kuwait who think that male coaches would be better than female coaches, no matter what.

Aziz: Okay. And is it this like, I guess, It'll, uh, directed, um, I guess thought about women being less competent. Is that what you're experiencing or you haven't experienced this, but is that what other female female coaches experience?

Hana: Yes, I definitely think that that's something the other female coaches experience. However, I do think that it's important for people to acknowledge the importance of female coaches. So females have a very different body than males, and our exercise performance is affected by our hormones, which cycle throughout the entire month, unlike males whose hormones more or less remain the same for their entire lives.

Females have a cycle of hormones, and we, we can lift weights at certain times of the month better than other times, we can do cardio at certain times of the month more than other times, we can hit PRs in lifting at certain times more than other times. And so, as a male, it's. No matter how much you read about that, it's kind of difficult to appreciate.

Whereas as a female, you really do appreciate those fluctuations. And that's why I feel like having a female coach who's successful and also qualified and understands what she's doing could actually help you as a female athlete. So I don't know why there's that stereotype, but I hope it starts to disappear with time.

Aziz: That's mind blowing. I honestly, and of course, of course, why would I think about this? I mean, uh, it's not, I guess a big part of my life, uh, but, uh, but yeah, I never thought about that. The, about how the hormones in the female body are cyclical to some point. And obviously that's going to affect how you PR, how you perform.

So that's really cool. That's a really cool insight. Interesting. Thank you for teaching me that. Um,

Hana: You're welcome.

Aziz: Yeah. Uh, what's been something about working in the fitness industry that is everything you thought it would be and what's been a harsh reality that shocked you?

Hana: Um, I would say that the clients are everything. I thought it would be. I love meeting new people. I love talking to people. I love broadening my circle of relationships. And that's just the type of person that I am. It doesn't really work for everyone. Um, I would say that I, the harsh reality is that there's a lack of professionalism.

In the fitness industry in Kuwait. I would say coaches aren't respected that much. I would say it's a very money hungry industry. From what I've seen, um, some coaches have to work for very, very long hours, sometimes from eight in the morning to eight o'clock at night, and they actually work more than doctors work if you think if you add up all the hours of the week.

So I would say that coaches are very underrated. Sometimes they're Just put in like think about yourself being put in a very loud music so much tactile and visual and auditory stimulation for 12 hours a day, six days a week, how that's going to affect your body. So it is something that would really tire a person out.

And I've seen that. Only from my minimal experience as a part time coach, and I always say, I don't think I could ever be a full time coach just because I know how difficult it is. And that's one of the harsh realities that people don't really see and don't really think about. So for example, if I'm doing a class, I have to give 100 percent of my energy, even if I'm not feeling great.

Whereas as a person coming to the class, you can just cancel if you don't feel good. Postpone it to another day. But when you're a coach, you have to perform all the time. Sometimes with Zumba, it's like with a huge smile on your face, with like this loud energy and just positivity. Even if you're having a bad day, you're sick, you're tired, you haven't slept well, you still have to perform.

And I think that that's something that nobody would really realize until they become a coach. Transcripts

Aziz: Brutal. And that's coming from a medical profession. That's coming from a doctor who works long hours and is always around sick, miserable, suffering people. And you're saying That coaches have even a harder time than the doctors, um, in a lot of these cases. I mean, maybe an ER doctor wouldn't, would disagree with you, but, but yeah, that's, that's insane.

Wow. Um, now that kind of makes me want to like adopt a coach and take care of them, you know, like I got,

Hana: I think that we just need to, we just need to give them a break. I have my own personal trainer and I'm always asking her, I'm like, are you training for yourself? Are you taking time off? She's always like, no. And I'm like, you need to. And I tell her like, you should really prioritize yourself because you can see in their faces, how drained they look.

They really do look very drained.

Aziz: Wow. Okay. Well, okay. So give, give your, uh, your personal trainer, give your coach a hug and ask how their day is because it seems like a lot of people take that for granted. Uh, and, and I'll, I'll stop doing that as well. So thanks for that insight. 

Hello, everyone. If you're still with us, then congratulations. You're right in the middle of an awesome interview. Now, I want to take a moment to share Lucid's mission. We are on a journey to enhance your daily quality of life by transforming the way you sleep. Here at Lucid, we'll pick the brains of top notch experts, and scout out the coolest products to boost your sleep game.

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Right? And how important is it for the personal trainer or the strength and conditioning coach to have high emotional intelligence?

Hana: I would say, uh, you have to have very high emotional intelligence just because, um, emotions are affected by sorry. Training is affected by emotions very, very often. And I think that you have to have that keen sense of sensing how a person is feeling and try and work your way around it. And I always say that when you do an, like, for example, a PT course online, they tell you about For example, oxygenation of the muscles, and they tell you about muscle fibers and they tell you about cells, but they don't tell you how to deal with people.

And so you actually have to experience coaching people to really know what it's like. You are going to get people who are frustrating. You are going to get people who have random psychological fears when it comes to things like using a band or jumping on a box that you might not actually understand why.

But you have to always be able to work around these types of emotional issues. And I think that. Sometimes people might have bad days, have good days, and I have become really good at sensing when my clients are happy and when they're not. And I'll always tell them, like, you don't look happy today. Like, is there something going on?

Do you want to talk about it? Because it is very important as well.

Aziz: And do you think that virtual training is creating a barrier for you to practice and hone your emotional intelligence with your clients?

Hana: So yeah, definitely, like, even though I am able to, um, reach out to much more people than I would face to face, I would say that there's very minimal emotional intelligence when it comes to online training.

Aziz: Okay. Yeah, I mean, this is definitely something that, uh, you know, I think we're all going through a tool toward a virtual and online world. And I worry about the, uh, The emotional intelligence of our generation, but more importantly, the future generation. Um, how have you used social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram to market yourself?

Hana: So the only social media platform that I have is Instagram. Um, I don't use Snapchat or Clubhouse or I don't know what else there is TikTok or YouTube or anything like that. I have no time, honestly, like even my Instagram account, I'm like hanging on by my nails to keep active. Um, I just feel like it's because I'm a millennial.

Maybe if I was Gen Z. As they're saying, I would be a little bit better at that. But, uh, I would say that I try to use my Instagram platform to post informational videos as much as I can. Um, I talk about a lot of things that people, uh, don't really think about and different topics that they ask me about and things like that.

And I. I feel like I prefer that over using it for like just a page to take very beautiful picturesque shots of myself and then just plaster them all over my page because I feel like that doesn't really help anyone. And although I follow a lot of coaches who are like that, I don't see a purpose in that.

So I don't do it for myself personally. I prefer to have my account be interactive. I try and respond to people. So on the same day, uh, As soon as they message me, and if I can't, then a few hours later, even though I get a lot of messages per day, but I try and like, always be present for people who have questions.

Aziz: Okay. Well, speaking of social media and speaking of Instagram on, you know, specifically, there are thousands of instant famous, good looking fit people with millions of followers on these platforms. Uh, and you just described they might look like, you know, posting amazing photos and stuff. What are some of the psychological effects of constant exposure to these beautiful fitness people?

Hana: I think that it's very negative. I think that their bodies don't even look like their bodies on Instagram, and I'm sure about that. And I think that people just need to stop, and it's just making people have a very unrealistic, um, view of what beauty should be. And I think that people are trying so hard to just kind of portray themselves as being perfect with chiseled abs.

All in all their pictures, even though in real life, they probably only look like that when they first wake up in the morning. And then as soon as they have a sip of water, their abs are gone. And so I feel like it's important to kind of portray the fact that that's not actually what people look like. Very disappointing, like, for example, I follow someone who posted a picture of something and then in the back, I could see a video that she was editing like a workout video. And then when she posted the workout video, she wrote no edits, but then we saw the picture of her editing it. One day back. So why are you saying that it wasn't edited?

Like you posted that you were editing the video. So I just feel like, and, and I just don't understand why you would say no edits, you know what I mean? Like

Aziz: Yeah.

Hana: it's just really funny. Like I just don't know why some people do what they do and I feel like it's really good to be transparent, but don't be transparent in a fake way.

Like if you actually want to post something and it's actually you and how you look like it should genuinely be that and not be an edited version that you're trying to convince people of that. That's what you look like.

Aziz: Right. I mean, do you have clients that share their body image and securities and vulnerabilities with you? Um,

Hana: So I don't know if it's because I'm interested in psychiatry, but people share their body image insecurities, their emotional insecurities. And I try and help people as much as I can in both aspects, just because I know that exercise and mental health are linked very, very closely together.

And an exercise is actually A proven antidepressant and a lot of people I do train suffer from depression and other types of psychiatric issues So I think it's very important to realize the person as a whole and realize what they're going through And I think it's very easy to become consumed in making money and business that you kind of forget about that So I had a friend who was on a nutrition plan with somebody and she paid a lot of money for the plan and she wasn't losing weight.

And then she tried to tell the nutritionist in their once a week consultation that she was paying like 300 KD for that, by the way, I'm going through this, this, this, and this, and this stress could be a reason why I'm not losing weight. And she said that her response was very like. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.

Yeah, that could be the reason why. You know, it wasn't even like a human response to what she was saying. And so I feel like it is important to make money and is important to build your business. But at the same time, it's important to truly help people. And, and your response could be the difference of making someone feel good or feel bad about themselves.

So I think it's important to really be conscious about everything that comes out of our mouths when we talk.

Aziz: That's really important is like, I think, I think doctors and with nutritionists and with all these people that are always meeting new people and advising all these people, they might also burn out. So I can also kind of play devil's advocate and understand it from their perspective, but that's the field they chose and they can't be robotic with a response like that with a person who's being very vulnerable with you.

Because. it's, it's very intimidating to go into the nutritionist's office. If you're very overweight or go into the gym for the first time, if you're very overweight, you feel like all eyes are on you, you feel judged. And those people need tenderness. Those people need kindness. And specifically the responsibility falls on the people that are there to support them like the nutritionist.

So, so I'm glad that you play that support role very well. Uh, but. There's this global movement surrounding body positivity and acceptance. And I, I see a lot of positives and I see some negatives with, with these movements. What are your thoughts on this global movement? Yeah.

Hana: think it's a great movement. I think it's great that now people are starting to hire models of all shapes and all colors, whereas before they were like stick thin and always had to have a specific look to them and that also caused the models themselves to go into have having so many mental and physical problems, and I think it's a very good step in the right direction.

I don't, however, like the fact that there are They're trying to make obesity body positive, because I think that that's not something that people should be advocating for. I feel like if somebody's obese, they, they shouldn't be saying that that's okay, because it can make a lot of people take that in the wrong way and kind of make them lean more towards obesity.

And so I feel like by shaming thin people, they kind of went in the opposite direction of like glorifying obese people, whereas both are illnesses. Being underweight or overweight and that we should strive to be somewhere in the middle and that middle can range from many different weights depending on you and your age and your height and all those different factors, but, um, being underweight has medical illnesses associated with and being overweight has medical illnesses.

So I feel like glorifying any end of the spectrum isn't something that we should be doing.

Aziz: And I think, um, the, uh, the mentality that comes with, uh, Promoting and glorifying obesity is, is harmful to a lot of people, specifically since you're seeing like people every single day with hypertension and high blood pressure and diabetes. And these are illnesses that can really kill you. Uh, how important is it to love your body throughout all the stages of the fitness transformation? I mean, you might be obese, but it's important to love yourself, right?

Hana: So I definitely think that you have to love your body. You have to love your mind as well, and you have to love your personality, but especially I feel like our body because it's external and something that people judge us on more often than our personalities, unfortunately, it's important to take it easy on yourself because even if somebody were to have Chiseled abs in their twenties, maybe 10 years or 20 years down the line that might not be the case.

And if your happiness is based around your body image or your weight, you're never really going to be happy. And I've seen this in many different fitness influencers who have posted that, like, for example, they were in a bikini competition and they were still not happy with how they looked. And, and it's important to have self confidence because focusing too much on And putting too much of your happiness to be based around your weight or how you look in the mirror can be really detrimental to your happiness overall.

And the thing is, is that it honestly never ends, like there are people who are bikini models who have like the best physique that you could ever imagine. And then they stand in a competition where some dude is like, your quad, your right quad is too big. You need to go fix your right quad or you're not going to win this competition.

So, like, what are you supposed to do? You know, like, what can we do to reach this un Impossible level of beauty standards that some people place for people in the world today.

Aziz: Yeah. Yeah. And a lot of people, a lot of people, especially in the bodybuilding world need to understand that genetics are a limiting factor. I mean, you, I mean, you might not be symmetric, your quad just might not grow as big as your other quad, you know, so you also have to accept, accept your genetic, uh, limitations.

And, and if you're trying to, I guess, remedy that with steroids, you're going to go through a path that's, that's going to be costly in the future.

Hana: Exactly.

Aziz: So how can people find their active communities?

Hana: So I feel like, um, it depends on you as a person. I know a lot of people who prefer one to one training. They don't really enjoy group class settings. I think it's very important to find something that works for you in terms of being active. I don't necessarily think that that's always a gym because I know a lot of people who enjoy, for example, ice skating or squash.

Or tennis or even table tennis. So whatever it is, that's keeping you active, do something that you truly enjoy and make friends along the way, because friends help keep you accountable, especially if they're interested in what you like to do as well.

Aziz: Uh, there are many people listening that may be out of shape, but the idea of joining a gym can be intimidating and overwhelming. Uh, they might feel out of place, like a fish out of water. They might feel judged. What is your message to them?

Hana: So I would say that everybody starts somewhere, even if you physically feel like you're going to be judged. I can promise you the most of the time. Nobody really cares. Everyone's kind of, they're just doing their own thing. Everyone's just kind of in their own, uh, zone of being suffering physically and emotionally during the workout.

So they're not really going to be focusing on the size of people around them. Nobody went into the gym in shape. I can promise you I did not go to the gym for the first time in shape. But it's kind of like a speed bump that you have to overcome in order to reach your goals. And so if you're going to go in and be in shape, out of shape for the first part of Your journey in fitness that might that will definitely not always be the case.

So you just kind of have to tough it out for the first couple of months. Go to the gym. Even if you feel like you're being judged, you're probably not. And just love, love the journey. And it will lead you to things that you didn't even know you were capable of. Okay.

Aziz: No, I know that to that. I think that exercising and living an active lifestyle is a catalyst to so many positive habits. You know, I mean, if you're exercising, you're motivated to eat, right? If we're not bloated by overeating, then you can sleep deeper. If you get enough sleep, you'll be in a better mood and more productive.

And then you get like this positive reinforcement. To get you to repeat it all over again. It's a feedback loop. So, so that's definitely, I think something that I've experienced in my life. And it's something that has enriched my life. Uh, and I would really like to share that with everyone listening and hope you can join Hannah and I, um, what's an important message that you want our audience to take away from our discussion,

Hana: I would like to highlight the fact that although I love fitness and I always advocate for it and I love healthy eating and I advocate for it, it's important not to let it consume your life. I always remind people that you're humans at the end of the day, you have friends that are going to invite you out for dinner, you might be a mother, a wife.

candidate, a business woman, whatever it is that you're doing. You have other things going on unless you're a sports

Get too carried away. And so I often see the other end of the spectrum. So I see a lot of people who are out of shape and unhealthy in the hospital. But then I also see a lot of people in the gym who are a little bit addicted to exercise and can absolutely never take a day off and obsessed with their counting calories and their steps.

And I think it's very important to realize that life is short and anything. I think the detriments, your quality of life and your social relationships and the way that you feel about yourself is not a good thing. So even if you're exercising twice a day, but you're not happy, then you're not a healthy person.

And I think that that's very important to keep in mind.

Aziz: what advice or like little tips and tricks, uh, that you can give to the audience, uh, that could improve their quality of life.

Hana: So something that I read by a very, very good athlete, he was one of the previous winners of the CrossFit Games, and now he is a father of, I think, two kids, and he's in his 40s. He said when he was in his 20s, if you asked him to rank. training, nutrition and recovery. He would have said training is number one. Nutrition is number two and recovery is number three. But now after 20 years or more of training, he says recovery is number one. Nutrition is number two and training is number three. So always give your body time to recover. You will not build muscle. If you don't recover, you will not repair muscle tissue.

If you don't recover, you won't regain your endurance. If you don't recover, definitely always give yourself at least two days off a week, if not more than that. And people who really understand training often don't train that much. And that's something that I struggle to accept as well, because I love to exercise so much.

So I can easily go for like seven days in a row. And another thing is that, as I mentioned before, you cannot out train a bad diet. So even if you love to exercise and you're hitting the gym, eating good quality food is the most important thing. It's 80 percent nutrition. 20 percent exercise. If you're exercising for one hour of a day, you burn, let's say, for example, 400 calories, you can eat a Big Mac and just destroy everything that you've done at the gym.

So you need to stay on track with your food. And as you mentioned that good quality food will also affect the way that you feel and your sleep and your energy levels. So I think that that's something that people need to keep in mind and appreciate more.

Aziz: Well, most people don't have the luxury of attending, uh, and graduating medical school. Uh, what what are some of the things that like a person like me, um, who's interested in the health world, uh, can do their part to support, uh, people around them. 

Hana: Don't bring people down for being healthy. I think that this sounds like common sense, but unfortunately, At least in Kuwait, people will often make fun of you and peer pressure you if you choose to order healthy food over unhealthy food. They will peer pressure you if you choose to go to the gym rather than doing X, Y, or Z. So, if you don't want to do it yourself, that's completely fine.

But don't bully people into not being healthy as well. Like, you want to keep your bad habits, you can keep them for yourself. But at least let someone who wants to change their life be able to do that freely.

Aziz: Yeah, I mean, that's kind of a commentary on the society itself. I mean, when you see someone else doing something that's healthy, then you feel a little bit insecure and then you want to put them down. Right. And I mean, this is something that you see everywhere in the world. It seems like this toxic behavior, uh, can be a little bit more prevalent, uh, in a smaller community.

So, I mean, we can pick on Kuwait and sure, but I think with small communities all over the world, uh, where everyone kind of knows everyone or everyone kind of feels very comfortable and close with everyone else, they'll be doing things like that. Especially since we live in a very gossipy town. People love to gossip.

Hana: Yeah, I've I've honestly learned to kind of accept it. Like, for example, if I'm at work and somebody offers me unhealthy food, I'm always like, no. And I can see the judgment in their eyes, like, oh, Hannah with her healthy lifestyle again. But I don't really care because at the end of the day, like I don't have any comorbidities from being overweight.

So I'm happy the way I am. And you can be happy the way you are. And I'm not going to shame you for eating the way that you do, but I think it's important not to shame healthy people for being healthy. And I think that, yeah, it's something that like people need to stop doing. So that's another message that I want to send out to people listening to this today.

Aziz: So stop fat shaming, but stop fit shaming too. All right. I never, I never thought I had this. Yeah, I never thought I had to ever say stop fit shaming, but here we are. Um, where can we find you on social media? What's your Instagram handle?

Hana: So you can find me at at health with dot Hannah. Yes.

Aziz: KW, correct? 

Hana: So if you want any recipes, , you want to learn more about more about what you can do to work out in Kuwait, it's at fit foodie KW.

Aziz: Beautiful. And are there any friends or communities that you'd like to plug on the show as well?

Hana: Um, I think you should follow foes. She's a, she's a holistic nutritionist with a, with a certification and her Instagram account is Wellness with F. I think there's a dot there somewhere, but I'm not sure where it is.

Aziz: We'll

Hana: have to confirm that and say,

Aziz: We'll be sure to post that as well. Anyone else in the community? Maybe your husband?

Hana: the men, you can follow him at hybridtraining.

Aziz: Uh, and, uh, and yeah, we, uh, we are so grateful to have had this conversation with you, Hannah. You are going to do amazing things. I can't wait until you come back and be another influential figure in our society here in Kuwait.

Go out there and be safe. Uh, thank you so much for Putting us in your diary and having this conversation with us.

Hana: Thank you so much for having me. This is really a pleasure, and I hope that anyone listening today learned something. And thank you. And I hope to do this again sometime soon.

Aziz: Sounds good. See you soon. 

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