Have you ever heard the saying “You are what you eat”? A healthy lifestyle and nutrition contribute to many aspects of one’s daily routine and habits. This can be achieved through different factors and one of them is following a balanced diet that can provide your body with the nutrition it needs, but also your mind, soul and spirit.
Your nutrition can positively or negatively affect your psychology and alter your mood. In an interview with Mostafa Nassef — the founder of Healthy Life Egypt — he takes us through his personal journey to becoming a nutritionist, tells us all about Healthy Life Egypt and shares some helpful tips that can guide you through your first steps towards a healthy lifestyle.
More than a nutritionist
Mostafa’s educational background started with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the American University in Cairo (AUC). Post-graduation, Mostafa has held several positions in accounting and finance, though soul was still hungry for more contribution to others and his passion moved towards another profession: nutrition. To be able to help others find their inner will and transform their lifestyle habits into a healthy lifestyle was his goal.
As a professional athlete, Mostafa was motivated to enter this field as he had adopted this lifestyle since his childhood.
Enlightened by a healthy lifestyle, Mostafa entered the nutrition field by acquiring a diploma in therapeutic nutrition which he also obtained from the AUC, making him a clinical nutritionist. On top of that, he has attained an ISSA fitness nutrition certificate to be able to provide others with the right plans along with the adequate exercises they must follow. However, becoming a certified nutritionist was only the start of the parallel career Mostafa was about to start.
In 2017, he launched his own business — Healthy Life Egypt — and began a journey to inspire others to live a healthy lifestyle.
Digging deeper into a healthy lifestyle
Mostafa’s vision towards nutrition focuses on two aspects of a diet: weight management and health coaching.
It begins with weight management. He believes that it is essential to understand that diet and exercise need to be balanced in order to achieve successful weight loss. He explains:
You can exercise as much as you’d like but if you are not eating healthily, you will not receive the full benefit of weight loss, and vice versa. Healthy Life Egypt can educate you on ways to incorporate healthy eating and exercise into your lifestyle and create an individualized plan to achieve your goals.
And then comes health coaching. Mostafa’s team specializes in helping people overcome unhealthy habits and eating disorders. The goal is to help you change the way you perceive food and fitness and develop a positive body image. If you struggle with an eating disorder, you should know that Healthy Life Egypt believes that anyone can recover and live a healthy, happy life.
Mostafa’s nutrition philosophy highlights the importance of not obsessing with the scale and numbers, but rather focusing on your overall physique:
I want to stress the significance of focusing on several aspects when you decide to diet. You need to pay attention to your physical performance, you need to pay attention to your mental health and your state of mind. It is of utter importance to be happy while following a diet because this is the breaking point that differentiates one another in terms of dietary continuity.
Live a healthy lifestyle and break these 5 nutrition myths
Mostafa shares some nutrition or dieting myths, as he explains five misconceptions about dieting:
1. Carbs are your enemy
Carbs are often thought of as the enemy to weight loss, and some dieticians advise against eating them. But is this fear of carbs really warranted?
Carbs are one of three macronutrients that are essential for our bodies. These macronutrients are an important source of energy, with carbohydrates being ideal for the body because they are easily digested and transformed into energy. The concern here is that some people gain weight when they eat too many carbs. The key is to choose the right carbs with the right amounts.
2. Rice, pasta, and potatoes are bad
It is important to differentiate between complex and simple carbs. Complex carbs like sweet potatoes, potatoes, oatmeal and vegetables help stabilize blood sugar levels, which is good for the body.
On the other hand, simple carbs containing sugar and flour cause blood sugar levels to spike then drop suddenly. That’s why we often feel hungry after eating sweets. This spike is dangerous for our pancreas which can lead to diabetes if overly consumed.
3. Avoid eating sugary fruits
While some fruits can be high in sugar, like grapes and figs, you can still eat them in moderation. Fruits contain fiber and are an important source of nutrients for the body.
4. Don’t eat carbs at night
There is no fear of eating carbs at night. Your body stores carbs and any excess will be used as fats. The idea is to eat enough carbs that suit your body throughout the day. For example, if you eat proteins all day, you can eat carbs at night. But if you had a large carb-based meal for lunch, then don’t eat it again for dinner.
It’s best to plan your meals carefully throughout the day.
5. A healthy diet doesn’t include carbs
One should never cut carbs out of their diet completely. Without carbohydrates, we feel tired, lethargic and weak. While the right amount of carbs depends on a person’s activity level, weight, medical history and condition, a balanced meal should include a quarter of complex carbohydrates, quarter proteins, and half vegetable.
Taking Healthy Life Egypt online
In today’s world, your digital presence and online promotion is an essential part of any business’s marketing strategy. Healthy Life Egypt is fully aware of the current trends and was able to establish a strong, professional digital presence.
Our digital presence acted as a lifesaving boat during the pandemic.
The first step he took was creating a Facebook page and an Instagram profile which later followed.
However, something seemed to be missing. As many of the business’s clients were foreigners, there was a need to establish an alternative access point for potential clients to be able to view the contact information, customer stories and view the pricing plans. The ideal scenario was creating a website that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere.
The website remains the first point of the display to those who want to research a company.
Without any tech or website building related knowledge, GoDaddy was able to provide assistance to Healthy Life Egypt. As recommended by a professional acquaintance of Mostafa, he was referred to GoDaddy to secure a domain name that fits his business. Then, when it was time for him to find someone to develop a website, he came across GoDaddy’s Website Builder, he first tried the tool then decided to go for it. He explains:
The surprise was that I managed to build the website on my own and this was something that satisfied me greatly. The fact that GoDaddy offers such a simple tool for those of us without tech knowledge is enough for startups to consider working with them.
Mostafa’s website provides him with exactly what he needs in terms of displaying information, composing pages, adding pictures, etc. Essentially, the technical hassle and financial burden of developing a website were suddenly off the charts of Healthy Life Egypt’s accounting sheets.
In addition to the domain and the website builder, Healthy Life Egypt also uses GoDaddy’s SSL certificate and marketing tool.
Final words for a healthy lifestyle
Healthy Life Egypt’s mission is to educate people on the risks that come with an unhealthy lifestyle.
It is about time we converted to a healthy lifestyle.
A healthy lifestyle infused with diet should not be used to reach a certain goal then stop. We diet in order to remain in constant, long-lived good health.
We should look at the long run and not the short significance of diet. Do not pay attribution to weekly measurements, losses and gains, but to further ahead in the future. If we keep an eye on it, we’ll be able to continue our diets.
