Mizan is a YouTube show that aims to deliver support to the public’s health. The show provides solutions and information to people with weight problems and helps them make healthier choices.
Research by the Obesity Research Center of King Abdulaziz University determined that 30.7 percent of the male population and 28.4 of the women were overweight in 2007. In other words, almost one in every three people in the Kingdom is obese.
Rakan Karkadan and Obai Albashir, the founders of Mizan, are health coaches and medical interns. Their story began four years ago when they noticed that they were the only two people among their friends who would order a salad in Chilli’s restaurant, while everybody else enjoyed their burgers.
Karkadan was obese before he began exercising and cutting down on carbs. He started having trouble going up the stairs and tying his own shoelace. “The moment my BMI got over 30, I thought it was time for a change.”
Both founders have different stories, yet they have a lot in common. They shared the same passion for wanting people to be healthy, feel better and avoid getting diabetes.
They pushed and motivated each other. When one of them became weak or lazy, the other would encourage him to continue. They supported each other, and that is how Mizan was created.
In Ramadan 2010, the two buddies tried a program to lose weight instead of gaining weight like everyone usually does in that holy month.
Luckily, their idea worked. Both of them lost about five kilos each. “We thought ‘Wow, this is amazing, we should try and involve others into this,” Karkadan said.
In 2011, when social media picked up, it was the most useful way to interact with people freely. Twitter was jammed with active people.
The two members of Mizan thought this would be their approach to reach out and spread the word.
Consequently, they wrote the program to start off Ramadan’s plan to initiate their first attempt of helping obese people.
They composed a hashtag on Twitter, inviting anyone to share their random tweets on their eating habits on a daily basis.
The end of the month came and they started calculating the results of the 43 participants who lost a total of 132 kilos. On average that would be three kilos per person.
“We didn’t coach them, we barely spoke to them, all they did was follow us on Twitter and following our steps,” said Karkadan. “All we did was to tweet what we were eating, and basically the drill and training. That was it.”
Accordingly, in Ramadan 2012, they thought of YouTube as a more convenient way to deliver their message.
They posted a video almost every week. The show is about the two members of Mizan taking up the challenge and coaching two young Saudi men who became tired of being overweight.
Eventually, the young participants adhered to their training sessions and created healthier eating habits.
The outcome was that both participants lost weight, which lead to satisfaction and self-determination even after the show had ended.
The Mizan producers went to a conference in Riyadh. They met a guy who neither one of them knew. They had never met before, and neither knew his name. He came up to them and greeted them. They soon found out this man out had lost 27 kilos since Ramadan 2012. He had just followed their tweets and implemented their tips. He had felt encouraged and motivated to lose weight and choose a healthy lifestyle by watching others who used the hashtag. Of course, he also watched their YouTube channel. The two friends could not have been happier to see how their effort and approach had helped one in so many of those who needed a small push.
Diabetes type 2, partly caused by an unhealthy lifestyle, is one of the Top-10 causes of death in the world. Karkadan considers it an irony because the community is dealing with something that is preventable.
“Our community has to start somewhere, and ‘somewhere’ starts with one’s own will first,” said Karkadan. “Mizan comes second, by sending their support, beliefs and compassion throughout the social media.”
According to Karkadan, people reached a point where diabetes, along with hypertension, is like a package deal. A person would grow up knowing they would get a bag of diabetes and hypertension pills that varies up to 16 kinds to take for the rest of their life.
The two health coaches think this is not normal, and it is not the way life should be lived when it is something controllable.
“If a person wants to make a change, they should start moving toward what they want. Otherwise, people would think you’re happy as you are, when you’re really not,” said Karkadan. “Don’t expect anyone to give you a solution if you don’t show any interest.”
Thus, if a housewife changed her food choices to healthier ones, the change would certainly apply to the whole family.
One person can make a difference.
The more we avoid processed, readymade foods, the better our health should be. Blaming restaurants for serving fatty or unhealthy food isn’t a solution; most restaurants have different choices of foods. Many lunch restaurants offer light chicken sandwiches with tomatoes, lettuce and wheat bread.
Easy tips for a healthier lifestyle
Arab News asked for steps to avoid type 2 diabetes and attain a healthy lifestyle.
1. Exercise. Half an hour of movement (walking, running, jumping, acrobatics, dancing, etc…) three to four times a week is enough. In total, it should be two to three hours a week.
2. Avoid eating high cholesterol, fatty foods, saturated fats, trans fats and additives.
3. Eat fruits and vegetables. They are rich in vitamins, mineral and antioxidants.
4. Oats and fruits in the morning will help your heart and blood vessels be healthy.
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