Feed The Gene (2025)

13/05/2023

Friendly reminder to learn to do things that bring you happiness! ☀️

Today I went to fagnoon with my friends and it really filled my cup☕️💙

Its so important to recharge yourself emotionally and mentally before you reach your breaking point! 🔋

25/09/2022

I’m back after not posting for 3 months lol
But I’m back with one of the simplest and easiest changes you can make today to make your meals more balanced and nutritious for:
- Weight loss 👑
- Better energy⚡️
- Better digestion🤰
….and probably more benefits!

🥩1/4 plate of protein: keeps you feeling full and satisfied and helps you maintain your lean muscle mass

🍝1/4 of starchy carbs: for energy! Carbs are really demonised but its all about having the right types and quantities, theres no reason to completely eliminate!

🥦1/2 plate of veggies: to make sure you’re getting enough fibre! Fibre is so important to keep you full while losing weight and also for healthy digestion and gut health!

I didn’t forget about fats! 🥜Healthy fats are everywhere in this meals. Everything is cooked in olive oil and theres cheese and olives on the salad. Healthy fat is important for heart health, reducing inflammation and it also helps us feel fuller for longer. 😋

If you’re looking for one change to make to your nutrition, make it this one! I promise it’s life changing 😌

27/05/2022

The cutest little juice place in Boston This mango and greens smoothie was sooooo goood guys 😋

It was exactly what I needed as a little snack in the middle of the day 🤩

But let’s talk about this smoothie in terms of weight loss:

There was lots of vitamins and minerals from the fruits, veggies and coconut water as well as lots of energizing carbs and fibre 🤩

But it was really lacking in protein and fat..which keeps us fuller for longer 🧐

So yes this smoothie looks so healthy…and to be fair it is generally healthy

But there’s a difference between generally healthy and healthy for weight loss ⚖️

The reason this wouldn’t be the best weight loss choice is because it’s on the high carb side and low in protein and fat

What this will do is elevate your blood sugar, but with no protein and fat your blood sugar will crash quickly after causing you to be hungry again and maybe even cause some sugar cravings…🥼

Can you see why this wouldn’t be helpful for someone trying to lose weight? 🤷🏻‍♀️

But I’m definitely not telling you not to have this smoothie!! But there are some small adjustment you can easily make to make this wayyy more suitable🤩

1. Split the smoothie with someone and add some nuts on the side..that would be a perfect balanced snack🥜

2. Ask to add protein powder and some seeds to the smoothie to add more protein and healthy fats to regulate blood sugar 📈

05/04/2022

RAMADAN TIP #2 - Listen to your hunger cues!!

We all know the - post fetar cannot breath cannot move food comma situation - all tooo well..but can it be avoided?? Uhhh definitely!! 💯

Generally when we’re fasting for so long, we get pretty full up really quickly, especially when we’re filling up on lots of water to rehydrate ourselves 🤰

So with that it is so so SO important to listen to you hunger cues - ramadan tip #2! 🌙

Your hunger cues are basically when your body tells you it’s hungry and when it tells you its full…

and really often we can ignore these cues: whether we think ignoring our hunger cues will make us lose weight or whether we ignore our fullness cues because we don’t want to stop eating🤷🏻‍♀️

But really this is one of the biggest mistakes I see so many people making

So, how about you try to be more mindful of and in tune with the signals your body is sending you while you’re eating to avoid that post-fetar feeling that is so uncomfortable, hard on our digestive system and honestly just unpleasant..I don’t know about you but I really can’t with that feeling haha🙈🥲

And when you’re having fetar and you start feeling your body giving you the fullness signals, think about having the last few bites and putting the food away. It sounds so simple but it can be really transformative. 🤩That way you’re really ensuring you’re not overeating and you leave the table feeling energized but not heavy. 😌

And you might be thinking, the food is so delicious how can I stop? Well, you can always eat more later - but that will be for ramadan tip #3 tomorrow!! 🥰

10/02/2022

Hands up if you have 5 nuts as a snack so you can lose weight, and you end up still hungry after your “snack” and feel like a failure who will never lose weight….🙋‍♀️ I know many people including myself have been there, but it doesn’t have to be that way!

Nuts on their own won’t keep you full unless you eat a ton of them, which isn’t advisable if you’re trying to lose weight because they’re high fat and high calorie (although they are extremely nutritious so make sure you find space for them in your diet!!) 🥜

So instead of just having a small amount and then being hungry 5 minutes later…try and make your snack more balanced:
Nuts: fat
Low fat cheese: protein
Orange: fibre & carbs

This snack will actually keep me full for a few more hours until my next meal so I can be satisfied, energized and stop thinking about food.

The sounds so much better to me than restricting by eating 5 nuts and spending the next 3 hours day-dreaming about food🙃🥴

04/11/2021

This post is to remind you that you don’t need to stop eating the foods you love to lose weight🍕

Balance is so underrated⚖️

Why do we have to be either on a starvation diet or on an endless binge….

There’s a happy medium.

This plate provided me with some carbs (pizza, black beans), fat (dressing, cheese) fibre (veggies) and protein (chicken in salad).😋

It kept me full but didn’t make me feel sick. It gave me energy and replenished my body. It made me HAPPY!! Food isn’t just about weight loss, there is so much more too it..🤩

And you know what, I ate this after the gym 😱 I know, “omg you ate this after the gym isn’t that going to RUIN everything you did”

NO NO NO, how can you possibly think your body is that simple….your body is so extremely complex…people who have boiled health down to energy in and energy out make me angry😡

You don’t need to pass on the foods you love if you really want it and are craving it, you just need to plate it in a balanced way that will make you FEEL GOOD! 😍

Eat it, enjoy it, savor it and then MOVE ON ➡️

Don’t dwell on it, don’t workout for 2 hours the next day to burn it (I promise you that won’t happen) and drop the all or nothing mentality because it’s like taking 5 steps forward and 10 steps back🙃

04/11/2021

This post is to remind you that you don’t need to stop eating the foods you love to lose weight🍕

Balance is so underrated⚖️

Why do we have to be either on a starvation diet or on an endless binge….

There’s a happy medium.

This plate provided me with some carbs (pizza, black beans), fat (dressing, cheese) fibre (veggies) and protein (chicken in salad).😋

It kept me full but didn’t make me feel sick. It gave me energy and replenished my body. It made me HAPPY!! Food isn’t just about weight loss, there is so much more too it..🤩

And you know what, I ate this after the gym 😱 I know, “omg you ate this after the gym isn’t that going to RUIN everything you did”

NO NO NO, how can you possibly think your body is that simple….your body is so extremely complex…people who have boiled health down to energy in and energy out make me angry😡

You don’t need to pass on the foods you love if you really want it and are craving it, you just need to plate it in a balanced way that will make you FEEL GOOD! 😍

Eat it, enjoy it, savor it and then MOVE ON ➡️

Don’t dwell on it, don’t workout for 2 hours the next day to burn it (I promise you that won’t happen) and drop the all or nothing mentality because it’s like taking 5 steps forward and 10 steps back🙃

11/09/2021

My yummy breakfast from today🤩

Cue the “How can you eat this? If I had even a bite of that I would gain weight!! 🤯” comments 😂

Does this sound like you?

Let me tell you how I enjoyed this french toast as a balanced and satisfying meal:

1. Dip don’t drench🥞
Instead of pouring the whole portion of maple syrup all over, just dip your cutlery in. You will end up having wayyyy less without sacrificing taste.

2. Switch whipped cream for greek yogurt🍦
Greek yogurt will add the shame creamy texture but offer much more protein which will slow down the release of the sugar and also actually keep you full

3. Be mindful 🧘‍♀️
Eat slowly and enjoy every bite. This will actually give you time to savor and enjoy the flavor and textures. It will also give you a chance to tune into you hunger signals. When you start feeling physically full, you’ve probably had enough.

I has about 1.5 halves of french toast left before I was full. If I hadn’t added the greek yogurt, I would have probably eaten the whole plate. But I would been starving about an hour later because there was nothing to slow down the release of carbs. 🙅🏻‍♀️

Pro tip: you can ask for it cooked in oil instead of butter to reduce saturated fat, and ask for extra berries but I didn’t think of that until I was writing this post 😝

I’m not saying this is the most nutritious breakfast that you should have everyday. But I am saying that you can enjoy this as part of a balanced diet without any guilt or fear.

18/08/2021

Thank you so much for having me yesterday! 🏐🥰

We had a really great conversation about:
- Why the correct nutrition is so important for exercise🏃‍♂️
- The right things to eat before to fuel your workout ⛽️and after to help with recovery💪🏼
- What the best foods to eat are to ensure we don’t feel super fatigued 😩during and after a workout
- Some common nutrition myths like eating before bed😴, detoxing🥒 and cutting out fats 🥜for weight loss and how they are just not true

The whole recording is on the all star page so if you want to learn more you can watch it there😍

13/07/2021

I know there’s a massive⬆️ increase in the number of people on crazy weight loss diets that are extremely restrictive 🤯and promise quick results in preparation for Eid

I’m here to tell you to please stop what you’re doing and read this post and reflect for a minute on what you’ve been doing, is it really the best thing for you? 🥰

Chronic and yoyo dieting that SO MANY PEOPLE are victims of may be giving you quick results on the scale, but it is completely ❌damaging your metabolism, making weight loss harder and harder ever time you retry 🔁. Also these quick weight loss results are usually water weight and rarely ever actual fat loss. 🤷🏻‍♀️

True weight loss is about habit change not a competition of how little you can eat to lose as much weight as possible in the shortest time possible….that is a recipe for disaster….🙈

“But Shams, I don’t feel comfortable with how I look on the beach, what am I supposed to do???”😔

I hear you, this is such a difficult position to be in…but crash dieting is definitely not the answer…

Some things you can do:
1. Make sure the clothes/swimsuits you’re wearing fit well and make you feel good and confident, this makes a HUGE difference 😎
2. Think about the real reason you want to make these changes, changing your body should be something you want for yourself and not for other people👀
3. Allow yourself indulgences like dessert 🎂or eating out 🍔Allowing yourself these foods changes your mindset to ensure you do not restrict and then binge ✋🏻
4. Focus on long term habit changes rather than short term crash diets like maybe exercising more 🏃🏻‍♀️or switching mindless snacking🍿 for more complete and balanced snacks that will actually keep you full.

25/05/2021

ENJOYING SUSHI FOR WEIGHT LOSS
This was my dinner last night and it was soo delicious 😍
But, it is definitely not ideal for someone looking to lose weight 🙃
There’s no reason for you to sit and watch your friends eat delicious sushi so you don’t ruin your progress😢
So here are some tips to keep in mind to enjoy sushi for weight loss:

1. ADD VEGGIES 🥦
There’s always salad or side veggies at sushi places that you can add to your meal to up the fibre content. This will fill your stomach a bit before you get into the sushi so you won’t be starving and overeat.

2. SAUCES 🤭
Try and avoid the spicy mayos and teriyaki sauce, it’s high in carbs and fat and you will already be getting plenty of that in the sushi! Stick to soy sauce (low sodium if it’s an option) with some wasabi if you like it

3. ALWAYS ORDER SASHIMI🍣
Make sure to order some sashimi to add protein and healthy fat to your meal which will keep you full along with the fibre from the veggies

4. ROLLS AT THE END 🍱
Each piece of sushi will contain about 1-2 teaspoons of rice, which can really add up when you’re not keeping count of how many you’ve had. Try and limit the rolls to a few pieces that you really enjoy and make sure you have them after the veggies and sashimi. That way, you’re stomach is full from what you’ve already eaten and you will naturally eat less of the higher carb rolls. Try and incorporate mostly cold rolls and deep avoid fried rolls as they will add additional fat and carbs

23/05/2021

Let’s talk collagen supplements! 💊
Have you taken them before? Maybe with the hope that they will make your skin look healthy and glowing? 😊

If this has been you, it’s important to understand how collagen supplements work! 🥼

Collagen is the most abundant protein in our body and it is the main building block of our skin. 🧱Collagen cannot be absorbed by the body from food so you will always see collagen sold as hydrolyzed collagen in supplement...this means the company has broken down the collagen into smaller proteins that can be absorbed by the body.🦾

But how is that protein different from protein we get in food? 🌮It’s not! ❌Our body will use it exactly the same. There is no guarantee that the protein from the collagen supplement will be used for to produce collagen in the skin.

The body will decide where the protein from the collagen supplement is needed most and that’s where it will it will go. ➡️It may be to help repair a cut you have or maybe repair muscles post-workout, not necessarily your skin!👀

These supplements are a waste of your time and money!! I used to take it religiously until I understood the science and realized there was no point! 🙅🏻‍♀️

There are other factors in nutrition that can really help keep your skin, hair and nails healthy, maybe another post about this? 🧐

13/05/2021

Happppyy happpyyy eid everyone🤩

I had this *beautiful* box of ka7k in my house and couldn’t not post a picture🥰

Just a friendly reminder that you don’t need to count how many kahkat you’ve had today🍩 my family will tell you kahk is my weaknesses 🥺🤩

Eid comes around twice a year and it falls in the 20% of enjoyment that creates balance in a healthy lifestyle ⚖️

I hope you all have a great day filled with samna and powdered sugar covered goodness 🤍

21/02/2021

I asked today if weighing yourself affects you emotionally and it broke my heart to see EVERY response I got was a firm YES.

Here’s the thing, weight fluctuates SO much during the week or even the day! It depends on what you’ve eaten, how well you’ve slept, if you’ve been to the toilet, if you’ve exercised, or if you’ve had a stressful week. And you’re putting alllll this pressure on a number that is so unstable?

I’m sure some of you are thinking - ok, this is all great but I need/want to lose weight and how exactly am I supposed to do that if I don’t weigh myself regularly?

I feel you & I got you! Instead of just weighing yourself, I would suggest a 15 minute check in session with yourself:
1. Take all your measurements, shoulder, bust, waist, hips etc.
2. Fill in a symptom diary, do you feel happier? Lighter? Energized? Confident? Emotional? Sad?
3. Evaluate what you did over the past 2 weeks. Did it work well for you? Did you feel restricted? Did you feel happy and free? Did you achieve your goals? If not, what stood in your way?
4. And if you absolutely must, Weigh yourself ONCE A WEEK ONLY. Not everyday, not every other day, not after every meal, not after every workout…

This way, you’re taking the pressure off the weight and you’re measuring SO MANY OTHER factors that also should be improving as a result of your lifestyle change. Yes, weight is an indictor of how you’re doing, but so are allll these other things that are equally as important.

Say you lose 2kg that week, but you’re sad, low energy and feel restricted. Is that a win???? Absolutely not 👎🏻 That’s no way to live...

But what if you lost 500g, lost some cms off your waist, feel light, not bloated, super happy, and feel you’ve become stronger. That’s a massive win! Way better than the above scenario

So why do you put all the pressure on your weight? Like it defines your worth and your journey? It doesn’t! At the end of the day, it’s one number...one indicator of health in a whole list of others that are equally as important.

10/02/2021

Is the amount of fat you’re eating impacting your weight loss goals?🤯

There are SO many different types of weight loss diets that we’ve seen over the years, people have tried just about everything🤷🏻‍♀️

But the reason one diet works for some but not for others is because they have different genes, which makes their body metabolize nutrients differently, which makes us all look and act completely different🕺🧞‍♀️👼🧟‍♀️

The TCF7L2 gene is one of the most reseached genes in nutrigenomics (similar to the FTO gene). It has so many links with our diet but today let’s docus on fat!🧈

This gene is actually linked to how a high or low fat diets can impact each individual’s weight loss ⚖️

If you have the TT version of this TCF7L2 gene, you are more likely to see better results on a lower-moderate fat diet. But if you have the CT or CC versions, then you will probably do better on a moderate to high fat diet.

What is a moderate-high fat diet? About 30% of you intake would be from fat sources.

The keto diet is categorized as a high fat diet, but in that case you would be having almost 75% of your intake as fat! Definitely not recommended! ❌

Feed The Gene

13/05/2023

25/09/2022

27/05/2022

05/04/2022

10/02/2022

04/11/2021

04/11/2021

11/09/2021

18/08/2021

13/07/2021

25/05/2021

23/05/2021

13/05/2021

21/02/2021

10/02/2021

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