Spreading health consciousness for the over-weight

Remi Owadokun is a Brazilian-Nigerian certified health coach from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, New York which is the world largest nutrition school. Remi decided to become a health coach after losing 40kg in 2013. She also started the blog www.totalmakeoverprogram.com in 2014 and became popular for her style of writing, which was honest, tough and recommended for only those who were ready for change. The total makeover programme gradually evolved into an academy where she started coaching individuals virtually from the comfort of her mobile phones with clients spread across seven countries and four continents. The international best seller, her ‘Tell-it-as-it-is’ book ‘How i lost 40kg’ made it to number one on Amazons best sellers list in Canada in two categories (Weight loss and weight maintenance) and UK in diet and weight loss category. She also ranked number two in the USA in two categories –teen and young adult and number three (weight maintenance).
Remi is also the creative director for the #PhatGalSeries which is online based on true life stories. The comedy series is designed to tell the truth about fat girls and the lies they believe with the aim of spreading health consciousness. Here are excerpts from her chat with IJEOMA OPARA.

As a nutritionist, it was necessary for Remi to ensure she feels healthy, according to her, “When I was overweight, I suffered from a number of preventable illnesses like Pre-diabetes, High BP, Hormonal imbalance & migraines. For a decade I was on one medication or the other and these medications did not solve my problem. After losing weight, I went completely off medication and have had no use for them since then. I realized that most of the illnesses we treat with medicine can be prevented if we were better educated on what and how to eat. In order to better empower my tribe, I went on to become a Certified Health Coach with the biggest Nutrition School in the world.”

While commenting on the eating habit of Nigerians, she noted that although it could be quite challenging coming up with a definite answer due to the diverse people and very diverse eating habits. “I think we have a growing community of people who are health conscious and I think we can still do better. We can find healthier methods to prepare some of our traditional meals, which usually are oil and carbohydrate dense which when taken too often can have negative effects on our long-term health.”

“I had to do a lot of work on my mental reconditioning”, Remi said, while giving a peak on how she lost 40 kg in one year, “Once I was able to work on my mind, I went on to deal with eating habits and commitment to regular exercise. Mental work was the most challenging, mental toughness precedes physical fitness. So yes, you may lose weight eating well and exercising but you need mental toughness to keep it off for good and to stay healthy. This is what makes our program so successful, we focus on the inside. We know that once we can get you to master your emotions, eating right and exercising is the least of your problems.”

Speaking on her Amazon best-selling book ‘How I lost 40kg’ she noted that it tells the story of her journey as a fat girl, “my struggles, and my victories, unedited. It took me a year to write it, edit it, get cover and publish. I put my book on Amazon Kindle, eight hours later I was number two in the US and in eight days I was number 1 in the United Kingdom and Canada in three categories, (Diet, Weight Loss and Weight Management) it was an exciting experience for sure. I was not expecting so many purchases and reviews. I am grateful for the experience.

“The Phat Gal series is an online based animation designed to tell the truth about Fat girls and the lies they believe. It was based primarily on my true life experiences and those of my clients. As overweight women, we had the tendency to come to terms with the real state of things, we live in denial, we have a false sense of self and in this comedy series, I expose them. The aim is so spread Health Consciousness in a funny way and of course, serve as a wake-up call for overweight people everywhere.”

Born in Brazil, Remi had her primary and secondary education in Nigeria, briefly lived in the United States, and attended a fashion school in Milan, Italy before becoming a Health Coach. “My father is Nigerian, my mother Brazilian, I have 2 brothers, both based in South America.” How would you describe your fashion sense? “Good question, I would say conservative with a touch of shakara. (Laughs).
On her life values she said, “I value honesty, loyalty, accountability, if these three are absent in whatever I do, I will also make myself absent from the situation.”