BATTLE OF THE BULGE

Sahar Juma is helping the kingdom’s fatties fight the battle of the bulge by delivering healthy meals straight to their doors.

The mother-of-three, knows all too well the temptation of over-indulging during the summer holidays or popping into a fast food chain for a quick treat.

To combat cravings and to help people achieve their ideal goal weight, Sahar has launched Diet Mealz, offering healthy ready ‘meals-on-the-go’ prepared by culinary healthy-eating experts.

Sahar, who lives in Saar, said: “I felt there was a need for it here in Bahrain. I have a lot of friends that are either watching their weight or trying to eat healthily by finding the whole thing challenging. They struggle with what to eat and keeping to a diet.

“Also, some will do well at the beginning of their dieting regime but then end up piling on the pounds come holiday time.

“I’m talking from personal experience as well. I did the programme for a few months and I feel it taught me about portion control and how to make wise decisions.

“I put it to the test when I travelled because you know when you travel you want to eat everything! However, I started monitoring what I was eating. I might have a slice of cake as a treat, for example, but choose a smaller slice than usual.

“I became more aware of what I was having. I believe we should all be allowed to eat what we want as long as we do it in moderation and know what we are eating.”

The diet centre, located in Adliya, features nutritionists and chefs that take away the hassle of figuring out what to eat on a daily basis by preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner, alongside healthy snacks that are delivered to the home or workplace. 

Sahar added: “Diet Mealz makes your healthy eating targets easy to achieve. The food is delivered to you and you don’t have to think about preparing it or making it and in my opinion it teaches you how to eat properly. ”

Currently 100 members have joined Diet Mealz in the hope of losing weight, or simply maintaining their figures and some, who haven’t been eating properly, find they can put on weight in the right places if that is their goal.

This is made possible by nutritionists Kimberly Marie and Mariana Sunna’s thorough assessment of the individual in partnership with a dedicated team of chefs who cook up organic meals made with locally-grown ingredients and a programme that can be altered to suit the needs of each customer.

The dieticians work closely on helping their clients to kick-start their way to a healthier lifestyle by conducting a physical assessment in order to produce the best results, listening to them and offering tips on achieving their stated goals.
Kimberly said: “When people come in, we talk to them and ask them about their eating habits, nutrition history, whether they have dieted before and what physical activity they are engaged in right now.”

 Nutritionist Kimberley continued: “We get an idea of their usual diet before setting them up on their new programme. But before that, we conduct a physical assessment, checking height and weight. Our computers also monitor body fat and muscle mass. These results will then give us an idea on the type of lifestyle changes the customer should consider making and what can be included in his or her daily activities.

“If, for example, we notice that the customer’s muscle mass and body fat is in a bad shape, we usually advise added physical activities alongside the diet plan.

“We even check their metabolic age and give them advice on how to improve it with certain lifestyle changes such as increasing physical activity, drinking more water and avoiding fast food. There are simple steps to take.”

After the dietician hears what the member’s longed for target weight is, plus the results of the earlier analysis, the weight goal can be assessed to ensure it is a realistic one or has to be altered.

Kimberly added: “We will recommend the daily calorie intake that best suits their body. And, if they had given us an unrealistic weight goal, then we advise them on what their ideal weight should be and the realistic timeline in which to achieve it.”

Aside from the friendly aid of the dietician, the chefs make sure that customers are spoiled for choice. Chefs have prepared an extensive menu of gourmet-like meals that they are confident will tantalise the taste buds, ending the misconception that anything good, tastes bad.

Customers can feast on dishes such as grilled prawns and sautéed vegetables for dinner or a Thai green chicken curry for lunch. 

Sahar said: “We like to give members a variety of options. Maybe you want an omelette for breakfast today and a waffle tomorrow? We also try to spice up the menu by adding new dishes.

“We also recently added a vegan choice and a gluten-free alternative for those with intolerances to certain food products. Our customers come first. We want to make it easy for them to stick to their diets and receive the necessary calorie intake. We can also customise the dish. For example, if I don’t want tomatoes in my meal, I can request to have them removed.”

Once members have decided on their daily dishes, the chefs will prepare the food and package each meal in reheatable containers to be placed in a lunchbox. A driver will then deliver it to a customer’s home or office, or venue of their choice. For example, drivers are already heading out to a number of homes in Adliya by 7am to deliver breakfasts.

Sahar added: “Some customers opt for breakfast and dinner but want to eat out for lunch. Others just want lunch delivered to their office.

“I cannot stress enough how important it is for me to see customers happy. That is why we send feedback forms and call after the first three days to ensure the diet is right for them. We want to make sure they are satisfied with the portions and are avoiding temptations. We continue to follow up to make sure there aren’t any issues and if there are, we want to know what they are.

“We have plans where you can join for a week, two weeks or a month. We help people to get healthy on their own terms.”

This programme isn’t just catering towards adults; it has also benefited teens as young as 12 and 13, since its launch last November striking out to help tackle Bahrain’s well-reported obesity problems.

A study in The Lancet, an online global health journal, revealed that in 1980 around 857 million people worldwide were obese and now the figure is 2.1 billion. The greatest increase was among women in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Honduras and Bahrain. As for men, the fattest are from New Zealand, the United States, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, as reported in GulfWeekly.

Sahar said: “There is an obvious issue in Bahrain with obesity. It’s just so easy to eat fast food here. It’s available everywhere and preparing home-cooked meals takes time. Diet Mealz educates people on how to eat properly and how to avoid bad habits.

“Teens face these difficulties in particular. My son Saif, 15, tried the one-month programme and was thrilled to see results.

“It’s good to tackle these issues from a young age but it’s also never too late to get started in making healthy choices.”

The seven-day trial is priced at BD65, the 15-day meal programme costs BD125 and the 30-day meal programme is priced at BD245.

For details, visit www.dietmealz.com or contact 17227700.