I’m conscious of what I eat – Uwamahoro

Natasha Uwamahoro is the former Miss SFB (School of Finance and Banking) and was first runners-up in last years Miss Rwanda beauty pageant. She is also a model and holds a day job at a marketing firm. Collins Mwai sat her down to dig into how secrets to glowing figure. How do you manage to stay slim?I jog and swim, though I don’t do it often. When I do it, I do it well. I jog for an hour and walk for two hours. I can also swim for hours. I am not so much into sports but I am always active running errands at work. Being active serves as an exercise for me. I wish I would have time to go to the gym. Gym is good because you can use to work on specific body parts. If you want to work on your arms, you can concentrate on that specific area. You could swim for hours? Does it do much to enable you maintain your size?It actually does. Swimming engages your whole body and also keeps you flexible and increases your endurance.Models are known to starve themselves ruthlessly to maintain their size, do you?It isn’t actually starving, but dieting. Starving is not a good idea, we are just conscious of what we eat. I stay away from fatty foods, sugary foods and some types of alcohol. Keeping my size doesn’t mean starving myself. I also like vegetables, they are healthy and do not deposit calories in your body and they are nutritious. You can eat as much as you like without fear of calories. As long as foods don’t contain excessive sugars and fats and it is natural, I don’t mind it. I just avoid artificial foods and excessively fatty foods. Do you have a vegetable garden? What‘s growing in it?I have one. Despite my tight schedule, I am growing, lettuce, eggplants, tree tomatoes and carrots. I also buy some veggies from the market. Most models are anorexic–a psychological disorder characterised by somatic delusions that you are too fat despite being emaciated–are you?No, I am not. I actually like to snack often. I like biscuits and sweets. During my free time, I like to watch movies and while at it, I snack heavily. I also eat fries, pizza, burgers, though I don’t do it habitually. I am afraid to eat since my daily activities help me burn the calories I take in from constant snacking. I have always been small since I was young; I have actually been slimmer. What’s a model drink of choice?Personally, I don’t drink alcohol, but some alcohol types like beer are known to load the body with calories. Wine goes well with some meals. I also don’t smoke, too. You talked of being busy, how do you beat fatigue; energy drinks?I don’t take energy drinks, as for caffeine intake, it’s a once in a while thing. I beat fatigue by making sure I have all my meals at the right time and in the right quantity. I also take a lot of water when I feel exhausted. Water is good in rejuvenating body system, in a day I take about one-and-a-half litres. The trick to be able to drink a lot of water as recommended is by taking it at spaced intervals. A good way would be to take some in the morning, midday and evening. I would also advise people not to try and work through their fatigue. If you feel exhausted, take a rest rather than work through the fatigue or seek stimulation from energy drinks, short rests are very effective.To avoid exhaustion and fatigue I also take my sleep seriously. I sleep not less than seven hours a nightAs a model, a fair skin guarantees you a job, do you use creams to make yours glow?I am not good with make-up. I only use lip gloss. I am all natural, I only use body lotion. Creams are not good for models, you should be comfortable with your skin colour, the more you try changing it the easy it is to mess it. Advice to any one who would like to be your size?I would advice them to consult a nutritionist on the proper ways of losing weight and dieting before getting on a programme. One might get on a programme with the hope of losing weight and end up wasting efforts. Consulting a professional puts you in a better place to get to the size you’d like. I would also advice them to avoid being extreme, don’t be too slim or too big, both are not healthy. Lastly, ensure that you can burn most of what you take in or else it will end up giving you an undesired size. Maintaining a slim figure doesn’t mean that you should be anorexic.