Hello Substack! 👋🏾

Why I'm here (apart from world domination *cough)

Hey there — so cool you made it to my page!

I’m Hussein. Some friends call me Hussi, so feel free to choose.

I’m here to serve 2 purposes:

1. Make complex science practical and easy to help you live a healthier (nutrition, exercise, sleep, mental health, and many more) and more peaceful life (without chasing happiness).

2. Teach the art of online writing and how to translate scientific jargon to a language everyone understands. Whether you want to grow your following or are just curious to learn about the art — I got you!

I started posting on Threads daily in mid-January with around 1,800 followers. 2 weeks later, I launched this newsletter. Now it’s almost June, and I’ve already gained 33,000 followers and over 2,400 newsletter subscribers — which is absolute insanity.🙏

To put things into perspective: back in January, I set myself a goal to hit 10,000 followers on Threads and 1,000 newsletter subs by the end of the year. Which leads to an important question I’m still trying to figure out: What the hell is going on?!

I believe part of the answer is that I’ve never done anything in my life that I was as passionate about as this. I discovered my love for writing through a series of rather unfortunate events:

A childhood of quiet desperation

I was born in Iraq but grew up in a rural area of Germany. I had to endure a lot of racism. On top of that, there was a huge culture clash between my parents and me — which led to maaany issues in our household. So yeah, it’s fair to say my childhood wasn’t the best.

I was also a very unreflective kid until I was like 25. I repressed all my feelings and never talked about anything with anyone. Because at the time, my stupid mantra was: “Showing emotions as a man is weak.”

In my teenage years, I became depressed. And since I never dealt with it, I ended up developing a binge-eating disorder in my early 20s. 2 years later, I was morbidly obese — I had gained over 70 lbs. That made my mental health even worse and took a serious toll on my body, too. At some point, I just knew: If I don’t turn my life around, I won’t be here for much longer.

Out of desperation, I started reading books about mental & physical health, and self-development. Science-based books are often dry, dense, and way too complicated. I have a Master’s in Medical Engineering and a PhD in AI & Data Science for Health Research — so my education helped me understand things faster. I’ve read 200+ books, listened to 1,000s of hours of podcasts, and watched countless YouTube videos.

(And I’m not even counting in funny dog compilations or travel vlogs)

I took notes, tracked my progress, and started journaling. I had always underestimated the power of journaling — until I actually tried it. It was a total game changer for my health.

One day, I took some of my journal notes and turned them into some longer pieces of writing. I showed them to a few friends and posted them on Instagram — and got a lot of great feedback. So, I started doing it more regularly. That’s when I fell in love with writing.

Writing healed me. I practiced writing and started applying the concepts I had studied to turn my life around. Today, I’ve lost all the excess fat, built muscle, and got rid of every health issue I was dealing with. I’m in the best shape of my life — physically and mentally.

The “silly” guy

The feeling writing gives me is something I’ve never felt before while “working.” Probably because it finally allowed me to be myself. I like to make jokes. I like to be silly. I don’t take myself — or the world — too seriously.

But that kind of vibe isn’t exactly welcomed in academia, where I spent over 10 years. “You’re not taking your studies seriously, so why should I take you seriously?” was the undertone.

Having fun and being successful are often seen as opposites. Fortunately, I never took that to heart — I just kept doing my thing. And in the end? They were all wrong. I got my Bachelor’s. My Master’s. And last year, I finished my PhD.

I’m not saying this to brag or to be like “I showed them”. I’m saying it because I genuinely believe we don’t have to be so serious and negative all the time. You can goof around and still do great things. I don’t have many hills I’ll die on, but this? This is one of them.

What’s the point of anything if we can’t enjoy ourselves along the way? Humor is a big part of who I am. And I promise you: there will be zero newsletters without at least one silly joke. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea — and I totally respect that. But that’s me. And if you’re still here... brace yourself for some lit memes.

How my business was born

At the beginning of last year, I asked myself: How can I find a profession that truly provides value to people — while also leveraging my education (Health Research), allowing me to follow my passion (writing), and reflecting my personality (humor)?

That’s when I decided to start writing online — translating complex science into simple, actionable blueprints. Funny enough, that’s exactly what I was already doing for myself when I started tackling my binge-eating disorder and excessive body fat. Which is probably part of the reason why I grew so quickly.

I want to prove that boring and difficult topics can — in fact — be entertaining and easy to understand. And because I love writing so much — and truly believe in the immense value it provides — I’ve decided to teach the art of turning confusing academic content into engaging texts that actually get read.

Before I say goodbye, I need to confess my 2 biggest red flags (I want us to trust each other, so I need to get this off my chest):

1. I eat kiwis with the skin on.

2. I wear Birkenstocks with socks.

Now you know my biggest flaws. And if you can get past that, I’m very excited to have you on board :)

That’s it for now. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out here on Substack or on Instagram — my door (aka inbox) is always open.

Much love,

Your kiwi-with-the-skin-on-eating friend

Hussein/Hussi

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