For more than two decades, I built a career designing places where people could thrive. As an architect, urban planner, and business development consultant, I had the privilege of working on projects across the Middle East, Europe, Asia, and North America. My work took me from Dubai to Stockholm, London, Singapore, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, India, and beyond. I spent years helping create environments that supported how people lived, worked, gathered, traveled, and connected.
From the outside, life looked successful. My career was growing, I was constantly engaged in exciting projects, and I was fortunate to work alongside remarkable people around the world. What I didn’t realize at the time was that while I was helping design strong foundations everywhere else, I had neglected the foundation of my own health.
Like many professionals living in the Gulf, I became accustomed to operating at full speed. Long working hours, frequent travel, stress, irregular eating habits, poor food choices, and little physical activity. I ignored the small signals my body was sending because there was always another meeting to attend, another deadline to meet, or another project to deliver.
Over time, I struggled to focus during the workday and found myself canceling meetings because I simply didn’t have the energy or mental clarity to show up as my authentic self. Tasks that once felt effortless became exhausting. My confidence diminished, my body felt unfamiliar, and I gained over 28 kilograms. The hardest part wasn’t the physical symptoms; it was the feeling of slowly losing trust in my own body. For someone who had spent a lifetime solving problems, creating plans, and building solutions, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t solve this one. And this led me to go see a Gastroenterologist.
In 2021, I was informed by my gastroenterologist that all my tests were mostly okay and thorough examinations were ‘all clear,” but due to my ongoing symptoms, I may have something called “increased intestinal permeability, commonly referred to as leaky gut. I was told I needed to take care of my health and work on my diet and lifestyle.
Amera Al-Awadhi in Paris
At first, I approached the news the same way many people do. I looked for quick solutions and expected a straightforward answer. Instead, I found myself entering a world that felt overwhelming and often contradictory. There were endless opinions, conflicting advice, and more information than I knew what to do with, and my health continued to decline.
Around that time, I had a phone call with my now business partner, which changed the trajectory of my health journey, although i didnt know it at the time. It was a simple call, about life and family, but she asked me about my health. At the time, she was simply a friend, and because I lived in Dubai and she lived in Kuwait, we would catch up over coffee once in a blue moon. Our conversation during that phone call and the following conversations drifted toward health because I was searching for answers, and she had spent years helping people through her work in functional nutrition and her knowledge of the medical field. What struck me wasn’t that she offered complicated protocols or dramatic promises, quite the opposite. She focused on simple changes and stronger foundations. Better habits, greater awareness, and a deeper understanding of how to support the body rather than fight against it. She spoke about addressing root causes rather than chasing a diagnosis, and embracing consistency over perfection.
At first, I was skeptical; her solutions seemed almost too simple. But as I followed her recommendations, slowly things began to change. For the first time in years, I slept through the night and woke feeling genuinely refreshed. My digestion improved, my energy returned, and the anxiety that had become part of my daily life began to ease. The constant bloating subsided, and my ability to focus returned, and I finally started looking forward to movement again. I signed up for early morning spin classes and became more intentional about how I ate, trained, rested, and recovered. What began as small adjustments evolved into a completely different relationship with my health.
Over time, I lost the weight I had gained- 28 kilograms and more due to dietary and lifestyle changes, but the physical transformation wasn’t the most important outcome. The greatest change was that I felt like myself again. I felt stronger, clearer, and more connected to myself and my health.
and then life presented me with a lesson that would change everything….
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