BODY TRANSFORMATION WITH CHANTÉ FRIEDMAN

Transitioning from one situation in life is often one of the hardest things we go through. Certain events or periods in our lives trigger the transformations that we take on in life. Most often than not these transitions happen just as the year begins until people feel comfortable to show it off and most certainly evoke inspiration to other people.

For Tété, as she is fondly known to her nephews whose real name is Chanté Friedman, the year 2019 was one of those years where she took full control of her lifestyle in as far as exercising and eating right is concerned.
STYLE had a sit down with this gorgeous looking artist by day and a doting aunt by night. We had so much fun just watching her reprimand her two little nephews who were causing a ruckus all around the yard.
Our interview started just after 2pm on Wednesday, as we had scheduled a photoshoot for this cover.

conversation

We had to quickly get on with the programme as a blanket of clouds started covering the Moneni area. Leaves started rustling and trees swayed, signalling a thunderstorm that was approaching.
Since I have known Chanté for about a year, our conversation quickly began with us reminiscing about the good times we had shared at one of the country’s biggest Festivals being the MTN BUSHFIRE.
I had worked there as the assistant communications officer and her as executive manager of the Golden lounge which is a division under sales and marketing.
As seminal as every make-up artist, so was this shoot, as I was about to learn.

I told her that she would need to do three costume changes she laughed at me and said she could not believe it because she had only prepared for one.
As both creatives, that would prove to be no challenge as we quickly brainstormed and came up with ideas for the outfits. 

Initially, the interview was about her and her make up artistry work but because I had not seen her in the longest time I had to rehash the idea to revenge because of the huge transformation she had gone through, which basically means using your body transformation journey to heal from a life changing experience you’ve gone through.

As we took the first shots of her sitting on a chair in a white blouse that has an opening on the bust and ribbons, I asked her what was the one thing that made her decide to go through with the weight loss journey.
“A year ago I fell ill with ulcers where I felt like my stomach and intestines were on fire. I went to the doctor and that’s when I realised that I needed to change my eating habits. I also started going to gym where I was doing CrossFit exercises,” she said. 
relationship

She paused before carrying on with the story and seemed very hesitant to share the rest of it. With my investigative self, I managed to get it out of her eventually.
“Well it was also partly inspired by a relationship that did not work out, however, that was not entirely it. My illness had everything to do with it,” she added.
With that said, it took a lot of work to get where I am now. Here’s what I learned over these past months, plus how I actually changed my body after years of trying and failing.
There is no secret.

This is probably what people least want to hear, but it’s also the truest. I truly thought there was some simple secret to getting my best body ever that I was missing out on.
I tried going dairy-free. I tried well-researched supplements.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. They all probably made me healthier and maybe even fitter. But the aesthetic results I wanted? They just weren’t happening.
That’s because I was missing out on the big picture. Making one big change isn’t enough.
There was no single thing that helped me change my body. Instead, it was the combination of many small diets, fitness, and lifestyle changes I made.
You can’t ignore your diet.

For years, I avoided the difficult, research-backed truth that exercise alone was not going to get me where I wanted to be. I figured, if I’m CrossFitting five times a week, I can eat whatever I want, right? Erm, wrong.
In order to lose weight, you need to be in a caloric deficit, in other words, eating less than you’re burning. While those intense workouts were burning plenty of calories, I was loading them right back up (and then some) with those four glasses of wine, cheese boards, and late-night pizza orders.
Once I started tracking my meals and controlling my calorie intake I started seeing the results I was after.

profession

Beyond her desire to lose weight, the 23-year-old is an artist and does a lot of make-up, drawing sketches and visualising her next special effects (SFX) make up project. She shared that she started doing make-up at the young age of 16 to date and she has done weddings, photoshoot, baby showers and prom nights.

On how she keeps up with the times in as far as the ever evolving profession of being a MUA is concerned, she said she does not follow trends, which is something that keeps her work relevant at all times.
“I am really all about making people feel good about themselves and beautiful as well,” she said boldly.

“As we draw closer to the Christmas holidays I am looking forward to seeing all the people I hadn’t seen all year long and ‘the one that got away’ to brag about my banging body. 
We changed into the last costume that really spoke to the topic at hand. I got her to bother her cousin and let him borrow us his boxing gloves because I had also seen a boxing sand bag hanging from a tree. That was the most bold and daring outfit change and she loved it as well.

Our shoot ended with her telling us that she would love to explore her talents in the creative writing space as well. Talk about wanting to be a jack of all trades. She is definitely a go-getter who puts her mind carefully into everything she wants to do.

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