The Journey of Becoming a Mentor

By Yussef Obeid

It has been several years now since I took the Hippocrates Lifestyle online program and up to this day, I am still reviewing it time after time to learn new things that might have not been fully understood or strengthen knowledge for my own practice as well as to be ready for conferences, classes and conversations with clients. It is amazing how I keep learning from it and applying that knowledge especially now that I have decided to go fully raw in my nutrition.

 

I took the online program because I was very interested in deepening my knowledge in nutrition but in a very specific manner, plant-based nutrition.

When I saw the Hippocrates offer, it was very well emphasized that this was going to be taken to a higher degree of knowledge into something I haven’t even considered as possible! Raw vegan organic plant-based nutrition. That immediately hit me as it clicked to me that there was going to be a lot of information way deeper that what I had expected.

The online program exceeded my expectations by far.

 

Going through the program and finishing it definitely had an impact in my whole life, personal as well as professional.

 

At first, the impact was in coming in with a clean and open mindset, willing to learn new things and challenge my old beliefs, knowledge and actions. That was very thrilling and exciting for me, it was like discovering a whole new world opening up with new options and possibilities. I felt the impact, mentally speaking, as a trigger for my own motivation, as a daily challenge to put in the time to learn and implement little by little my newly acquired knowledge.

 

At the physical level, the impact was very dramatic as within a few days of implementing sprouts for the first time in my life and gearing more forwards raw food I saw positive changes in my digestion and my overall energy. I have been training for the past 20 years and I noticed more power and strength in my training sessions as well as a faster recovery rate. These changes happened very early, within the first weeks.

 

At the emotional level it impacted me very deeply because I knew, right away, that this lifestyle change will help me not only in my own journey but I knew it would give me a set of new tools and knowledge to help others. Just as now, I was intrigued and hungry for more, I felt I found my path and purpose, and that this new approach for me would have very positive reactions in the future. I felt happy, passionate and energized.

 

At the spiritual level it opened up a new world for me, a world of self-responsibility that relied heavily on me trying to learn more about me, trying to become a better person and that directed me into meditation and breathwork practice and it has helped me take big leaps in other aspects of my life as I have become a more secure person and with a sense of joy sharing my knowledge and experiences with the end goal of helping others.

 

My family, especially my mom, had an extremely positive impact on her health when I started showing her raw nutrition. She has Lyme disease and there was a point where she couldn't even open a door from the pain in her joints and by adopting this lifestyle little by little, now she is able to have a completely normal life! This increased my faith in my new knowledge and actions.

 

Also, one of the biggest impacts in my life was becoming a Hippocrates Lifestyle Coach. I felt it was in the professional area.

It completely set me apart from other coaches or mentors. It was amazing and very empowering seeing how clients trust so much Hippocrates through their amazing healing stories that it opened up my path with a new niche of market, being able to work at the same time with a wider range of people. My market expanded, as well as business. I am recognized in my region as the guy that eats sprouts and grass, the ¨strong vegan¨ and people have me in their minds as a person with a very specific knowledge provided by the world-renowned Institute.

 

My beliefs related to food are still changing and I am still implementing new information into my diet now a fully raw diet. After many years of thinking about it, a few weeks ago I decided to go fully raw and immerse myself in that new area.

When I joined the program, I was already a vegan and I had an open mind to learn more about plant-based nutrition so that wasn't a challenge or required a shift in my belief forwards that but more than change, it was actually doing things for the first time, like the sprouts and grasses which I did not even had a clue about those concepts and now they are my everyday food!

I am still changing my beliefs towards the old sets and recommendations of things like protein and carbs and focusing more on the health, vitality and overall well-being effects rather than just on the body composition effects, which I have also seen amazing changes.

 

I have realized that most people are ok with being sick all the time. This is something I can´t afford nor willing to accept. I see how a lot of our clients suffer in several degrees of their health and it is all related to their lifestyle, specially with their nutrition. I haven't seen a doctor in years, at least 7 years and I feel stronger than ever. I have been working with people regarding their fitness and nutrition for 15 years now and I see how most people see fitness and health as an extra expense rather than the best way to actually save money, time and bad experiences. A lot of clients at first come up with the excuse that being vegan is very expensive and they don't realize how much they spend every time they get sick or for example how much money they lose when they can´t go to work or even most people are not even able to complete a full month of training without having some sort of health setbacks pushing them off the wagon very easily.

Living an unhealthy lifestyle seems to be the normality for most and they see those expenses normal but it's very *expensive* for them to invest in coaching, knowledge or just better-quality foods.

 

Long time ago I got sick of being sick and vulnerable and I am sure that the nutrition and lifestyle changes I have made due to my path in Hippocrates have set me on a path of better health through consciousness and understanding as much as I can every day. I rather invest my money in staying healthy and prevention rather than wait for trouble.

 

This process since I started with Hippocrates has been a journey of learning, applying, analyzing and adjusting. It has taken me some steps to be able to actually live it and definitely one of the steps I took was in growing my own sprouts and wheatgrass. Taking this step activated other sequences related to the lifestyle supporting my journey and now that I am about to join the Culinary Course, I guess another huge step for me is coming because I have never actually *prepared* my food, but rather just put it on the plate and eat it so this will take me a step further not only for my daily nutrition but it will be also a powerful tool to help clients with their meal prep.

 

I have had success in different areas of my life coming from following a living foods diet like better hair than ever in my life, body composition, energy and every day well-being but probably two of the greatest moments of joy and success I have experienced are actually when other people join the lifestyle and are motivated from my experience and also, I would consider a great success not getting sick in years, even with the pandemic crisis going on. I definitely count just feeling good and being active every day as a major success in my everyday life.

 

If we don’t take care of our health through lifestyle and prevention, we are more exposed to anything that life throws at us, we become more vulnerable.

Being sick, on any ailment or disease, means more resources needed to overcome that. Money, time, energy, etc and when you get sick, you become an extra bag to carry for the people close to you, for example, if I get sick and can't show up to work, my whole team will be affected and if it is something serious, I will put my family and loved ones in stress and anxiety due to my health conditions and that is something I would like to avoid as much as I can.

 

The health system looks broken to me. I don´t trust the conventional healthcare system as it actually relies on people being sick to thrive, at least financially speaking. In my past, when I attended to a doctor the answers and protocols were pretty much the same, ¨ok take these pills and in a few days you will feel better¨, never actually addressing the root of the problem.

The global healthcare system is deteriorating day by day and is a service that won´t be available for much longer, leaving millions of people without any care at all unless we take that responsibility and share our experience with others so they can hop on and avoid dealing with the conventional healthcare system unless there's really no other way out.

 

I believe the steps needed to improve my contribution to the health of the planet is to keep on the job I have been doing for the past years in living and sharing the lifestyle, coaching clients and spreading the word to whoever might be interested. I am really excited at the moment because I believe that learning culinary skills will give me a huge tool to further expand the message and reach more people through making their everyday meals not only healthier but more appealing and attractive. This would make transitions much easier and fun!

 

Social media was a good platform for me to share the message but due to my direct work and communication for the past years, most people see me as only focused on nutrition and body composition when in fact these days my main priority is health and everyday well-being. Long gone are the days where my only goal was to be very muscular and lose as much fat as possible. Through my own skin and experience I have experienced the ups and downs for it and I believe it is not in my best interest to keep pushing on that area but rather use that as a key to get to more people and spread the real message of health, vitality and self-respect and responsibility. Once again, I believe the culinary course will be a huge chance for me to reconnect with my audience through a different perspective, sharing meals and healthy living food, rather than just diets, and counting calories and macros. I am not regretting anything because all my journey has led to where I am now, and I am very happy and grateful for what I have achieved, but I know there is a higher purpose and a chance to actually help thousands of people achieve better health and positive emotions in their lives through lifestyle changes.

 

The practices that have made the biggest difference for me to live my best life would be definitely approaching every day and every thought and every decision with full responsibility. I practice my own mental self-talk and realize every day that in order to become a better version of me I have to be involved in constant education and practice of that knowledge. Physical training (exercise) has been for me an automatic almost unconscious practice that has helped me to stay focused and have a purpose. Studying and training are two things that cover most of my life and I am very grateful I am able to do that for a living.

 

I exercise every day, this is part of my everyday routine. If it is not a formal workout, I still would walk a lot or stretch or stay active somehow. I have built a business around that and exercise is a main pathway for me to first reach people and then get them into the nutrition changes. I have taken my exercise and fitness to compete level and it is engraved now in my system to stay active and exercise for the rest of my life, not only promoting body composition which has been a huge thing now on social media and it actually helps me reach to more people but also promoting everyday health and vitality. Most of my training is bodyweight training, minimum equipment needed in order to stay consistent regardless of where I am living or if I travel or time restraints we all might have.

 

My plan as a mentor involves several strategies. First of all, I have been preparing myself to become the best version of myself that I can, practicing what I preach and speaking not only through knowledge and study, but also from self-experience. I am working on developing online courses and programs to expand my reach and my message to people mainly in the Spanish speaking world as there is less information on this matter in Spanish than in English. I am putting more work towards social media engagement in order to reach more people interested in what I do and once again, I believe that getting myself into the raw vegan culinary world will open up a lot of doors for me and it will be a new way to interact with my audience. Well-presented dishes will have a major impact in my mentor path because I have realized that most people need that, instead of just nutrition advice like how many grams of protein they need or their calories recommendations. Creating high quality content and constantly hosting public talks or conferences will be a major part of my life now because it is a great way to connect with people. Last but not least, I would love to keep learning, studying and preparing myself as much as I can through continuing education as a coach and mentor to deepen my skills so I can provide much more meaningful service that creates positive changes in thousands of people.

Thank you Hippocrates for changing my life in every aspect and for giving me HOPE.