WE ALL HAVE A STORY, HERE IS MINE

Hi, I’m Dina Sari Taji , and I’ve been helping people get healthier and feel their best since I was 23. Honestly, it’s not something I planned—it all started from my own journey and struggles with weight and health.

I wasn’t always into fitness. In fact, there was a time when I felt completely lost. In just a year, I went from 125 to 189 pounds. Life hit me hard—stress, fast food, and feeling stuck with no idea what to do next in my career. I started getting lazy, and my body wasn’t bouncing back like it did when I was a teenager. One day, I looked in the mirror and said, “That’s it.”

I was way too intimidated to step foot in a gym back then. I felt out of place and out of shape. So, I started small. At night, I’d walk around my neighborhood. I even tried running but couldn’t last more than 10 seconds—seriously! But I stuck to walking and slowly built it up. Then I started adding morning walks and cleaning up my eating habits. I also did a few simple exercises at home, and to my surprise, my body started to change.

But the biggest changes weren’t physical. I started feeling more confident, more energetic, and just better about myself. That shift inspired me to take it further and finally join a gym. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing at first—I’d just watch other people and copy their exercises. Progress was slow until one day, I worked up the nerve to ask a trainer for help. She gave me a few tips and exercises that left me so sore I could barely walk. But I loved it.

That’s when I realized there was so much to learn, and I wanted to know it all. Back then, there was no YouTube or Google, so I spent hours in the library reading everything I could about fitness and the human body. It shocked me because, in school, I hated reading. But when it came to health, I couldn’t get enough.

As I started transforming, people around me noticed. Friends would ask how I did it, and I was so excited to share everything I’d learned. I’d help them with meal plans, take them to the gym, and share all the books I was reading. Seeing their energy levels go up, their confidence grow, and their lives improve lit something in me. That’s when I knew this was more than just a physical transformation—it was about helping people change their lives.

My journey wasn’t perfect, though. Early on, I fell into the trap of overtraining and undereating, constantly worrying I’d gain the weight back. It led to struggles with eating disorders—first anorexia and then bulimia. Thankfully, those phases were short-lived, but they taught me a lot about how mental health and hormones are so connected to fitness. I’ve also dealt with injuries, like severe sciatica after overdoing it with heavy lifting. These challenges weren’t easy, but they made me stronger and, honestly, a better coach.

Now, at 40, I feel more balanced, more in tune with my body, and more connected to the people I help. My approach to coaching is all about looking at the whole person. It’s not just about workouts or eating right—it’s about your lifestyle, stress, health history, and making sure any plan fits you. I want my clients to feel energized and excited, not overwhelmed.

But there’s another side to me that I want to share—it’s something very close to my heart. I’m also an animal rescuer, especially for cats. Living in the UAE, I’ve seen so many cats abandoned, sick, or injured because of illegal breeders or just neglect. It started with me putting out food bowls for strays, but it quickly turned into rescuing, doing TNR (trap-neuter-return), and eventually creating a sanctuary with my best friend.

This year alone, we’ve rescued over 1,000 cats and now care for 450+ in a seven-bedroom villa. Half of them are recovering from illnesses like ringworm or parvo, and the rest are ready for adoption. We even built a special catio for FeLV+ cats—ones most people would give up on—so they can live happy lives tooI won’t lie—this journey is anything but easy. Caring for over 450 cats is incredibly expensive. Vet bills, food, litter, medicine—it all adds up quickly, and with no government support, we’ve had to take on cases that most would avoid because of the high costs. But this mission is bigger than just what we’re doing now.

We’ve learned so much from running our sanctuary—how to care for sick and injured cats, prevent cross-contamination, and create systems that actually work. Our dream is to take everything we’ve built, everything we’ve learned, and create a large, state-of-the-art shelter that can serve as a model for others. We want to inspire and equip people across the UAE to create similar sanctuaries, using what we’ve learned as a template to make a real, lasting difference.

This isn’t just about sustaining the cats we already have—it’s about solving the stray cat crisis in the UAE. We want to save them all and give every cat a chance at a better life. Every single bit of support we receive feeds directly into this vision. Every sign-up on my fitness app helps us get closer to building that future. It’s not just about getting fit—it’s about being part of something bigger, part of a mission that’s full of purpose and heart.

Your support truly makes a difference. Together, we can create change—not just for these animals but for the entire community. Thank you for being part of this journey. It means the world to us.