GLAMOUR Women in Charge: Lebo Dioka

More and more women are turning into convenient and fast non-invasive beauty treatments that produce maximum results with little effort. Clinical dietitian entrepreneur and owner of the Body20 Claremont studio Lebo Dioka shares with us some nutrition advice and why Cryolipolysis and other wellness treatments are the hottest beauty trend right now.

GLAMOUR: Tell us a little about your entrepreneurship journey?

Lebo: My journey began at the age of 17 when I wanted to study medicine and own a woman-centred wellness centre. Growing up in the small town of Mahikeng in the North West Province, I had never come across a wellness centre before, but had a clear idea in my mind what I wanted it to look like, which included a fitness centre, amongst other related services.

I never fulfilled my dream of studying medicine but eventually pursued BSc in Dietetics instead. After years in the corporate world, having worked for a number of multinational pharmaceutical companies, I reached a point where I wanted to be more hands-on in helping people reach their health and wellness goals.

In the pharmaceutical industry, I was working as a medical sales representative and would hear stories, from health care professionals, of how the products I sold helped their patients. The stories were always the best part of my job, but I realised that I wanted to be on that side too - be the one who's actively involved in changing people's lives.

I wanted to own a business that helped educate people to minimise the risks associated with chronic diseases of lifestyle, offering nutrition and fitness services.

I started as a partner at Body20 Claremont and subsequently bought my business partner out to become the new owner of Body20 Claremont, an EMS fitness studio is part of the Body20 network. In addition to this, I partnered with my childhood best friend to start Lipidee, a fat freezing clinic and, of course, incorporated my dietetic private practice as one of the services I offer. It recently dawned on me that I was actually creating my version of a wellness centre without even realising it!

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GLAMOUR: And why choose to go the health and wellness route?

Lebo: South Africa’s obesity rates are amongst the highest in the world. Obesity and a high waist circumference are some of the markers of metabolic syndrome, which increases the risk for heart disease, diabetes mellitus Type 2 and stroke. Healthy eating and exercise are pivotal in helping people improve their general wellbeing and fitness. In terms of exercise, we are here for the busy professional who is continuously inundated with information on nutrition and fitness but still fails to see desired results.

While often educated and driven in their own field of expertise, our average client is typically unable to follow elaborate meal plans and also lacks the motivation for the amount of time required to increase their level of fitness with conventional training methods. What attracted me to the Body20 concept was the 20 minutes of electro-muscle stimulation (EMS) sessions, only once a week, which is the equivalent of 4-6 hours of exercise at a conventional gym. Twenty minutes not only saves our clients time but with the expertise of our EMS certified personal trainers, our training also helps build lean muscle, reduce lower back pain, has a low impact on the joints, corrects muscular imbalances and is proven to increase strength and endurance in athletes too. As a team, we take into consideration our clients’ increasingly demanding jobs/businesses and/or family commitments, so we also provide wellness coaching and a nutrition service with easy-to-follow meal plans to help manage weight.

GLAMOUR: From EMS to body sculpting, what are some of the trending treatments/innovations right now?

Lebo: Let's face it - sometimes people exercise, adopt healthy eating habits and lose weight, but are still bothered by stubborn pockets of fat around a particular area e.g., abdomen, flanks ("love handles"), back fat ("bra fat"), thighs or even chest fat ("man boobs").

Liposuction is not always an option, either because of the high expense, the downtime required to recover, or because some people simply don't want to go under the knife. Hollywood celebrities have helped popularise Cryolipolysis (aka Fat Freezing), a non-invasive innovation that uses controlled cooling to target fat cells in a specific body part. These crystallised fat cells die and are then gradually and permanently eliminated from the body over weeks. Other innovative related services are Cavitation which uses low-frequency ultrasound energy to liquefy subcutaneous fat to help reduce the appearance of cellulite while tightening your skin, and Laser Lipo to help shrink fat cells during laser lipo, we place laser pads on your skin, causing warm laser beams to penetrate into your fat layer.

A cascade of events results in your fat cells releasing their contents (water, glycerol & fatty acids) and reducing them in size. All this means no needles, no downtime and no scarring. Although results will differ amongst people, this still means that finally, people have more affordable options to work on contouring their bodies.

GLAMOUR: As a registered dietician, how in your opinion has the pandemic changed or affected our diet and how we approach wellness as a whole?

Lebo: I need to first emphasise that currently, social distancing and wearing masks are the most effective ways of reducing COVID-19 infection. As a society, we have also become more aware of the adverse effects of obesity, hypertension and diabetes on the outcomes of infectious disease, like COVID-19. Improving our immunity involves a combination of physical activity, enough rest and sleep, sunlight and a nutrient-dense diet consisting of more plant-based foods high in phytonutrients, with less processed foods.

Instead of isolating nutrients, we should be aiming for a variety of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, fish, eggs and lentils, while also minimising the intake of alcohol. However, we also live in a country where food insecurity was already high even before the pandemic. The negative socio-economic effects of the pandemic have now resulted in more families affording fewer fruits and vegetables, and instead relying more on more satiating, but less healthy staples to share amongst family members. So, while many of us are aware of the impact of nutrition on COVID-19 infection outcomes, some can make the necessary long-term dietary changes while others are only just trying to survive in the short term.

GLAMOUR: In your decade-long nutrition experience, what would you say is the starting point in adopting a healthier lifestyle?

Lebo: It always starts with your mindset. As cliche as it sounds, you need to aim to be the best version of yourself instead of trying to look like someone else. You need to identify what personally drives you to reach your goals and keep focusing on that target when the going gets tough.

We have a client who just wants "not to die", and to him, this means maintaining being active. We have an inspirational couple who uses their training time as one of the ways they spend time together. We have people coming to us to prepare for a milestone birthday or an upcoming wedding. We have patients with more serious issues like treating chronic diseases or helping with the correction of muscular imbalances. While keeping these motivating goals in mind, we need to constantly remind our clients that they still need to continue working on their health and fitness goals to maintain their targets, and this requires a gradual shift in mindset.

GLAMOUR: What advice would you give to someone who is thinking of starting a health-focused business?

Lebo: You will need the right qualifications and be registered with the relevant professional boards. As healthcare professionals, we hardly learn business and marketing skills, while also restricted from advertising in certain ways that other professionals can. The restrictions are necessary for us to provide evidence-based care and not mislead the public. Understand the need to abide by the rules of your profession while also finding ways to be relevant in this information and technology-driven era, even if it means taking additional business-related courses. There are other ways to start a health-focused business, for example by providing cutting-edge solutions in the medical field for health care professionals to improve the health outcomes of their patients. As a service provider, you need to have an innate passion for helping people. Business is also not for everyone. It has been an incredibly difficult journey for me, which required resilience and creativity, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

*Connect with Lebo on Instagram @lebo_dioka

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