From Charity Nwakaudu, Abuja
Celebrity fitness trainer, Sandra Okeke, often known as Sofit speaks about her life and career.
Can you share more about yourself, When and how you started your fitness career?
I grew up in Atlanta but moved back to Nigeria with my family when I was 15. I finished secondary school and University here, it was close to my final year in Uni when I started going to the gym. I went with a friend one random day and I just picked it up from there. I loved training, and I also loved being on camera so it was natural for me to record myself working out but it was my friend that pushed me to actually post my workouts
on Instagram and YouTube. I’m such an over-thinker so, I was hesitant because I didn’t think anyone would be interested in my videos let alone me. Fitness wasn’t popular, and I didn’t see anyone else doing it especially other girls. The top female fitness influencers that I saw on Instagram were all abroad. Even the few Nigerian ones. None lived here. So my friend said to me and I’ll never forget, You can be the first. You can motivate other women in Nigeria to take up fitness. I became very passionate about becoming who I wanted to see in the fitness space. From posting my daily workouts online regularly people began asking me for workout advice, nutrition tips- everything. I was like, Wow! I can take advantage of this. So I decided to monetize that and create plans. I sold meal and workout plans to people and this led to the development of my own fitness brand, SOFIT which is short for Sandra Okeke Fitness. From there I hosted 4 Week fitness challenges on WhatsApp which became VERY popular and it just grew and grew and so did my social media. Now, my programs are sold exclusively on my website Sandraokekefit.com and my App Sofitapp.co! I have my own line of workout accessories as well and I’ve been able to work with so many brands.
What is your motivation and the secret to achieving this physique?
There is no secret. I’ve documented my fitness journey since day one. It’s been 5 years and you can see the progress.
Do you follow any special diet to achieve your flat tummy?
I don’t promote diets. Yes, I have meal plans but i don’t tell people to not eat carbs for a week or to only drink smoothies for weight loss, no. I promote sustainable nutrition. I eat what I feel like eating in moderation. If I want rice and stew I’ll eat it, if I want swallow I’ll eat that. Everything for me is in moderation but i also eat my vegetables and get my protein in and I only drink water, always. Juices and sodas are a no no for me. But I eat almost everything else. I think people want to believe so badly that there’s a special type of food that gives you a flat tummy and there isn’t. It’s a culmination of everything. Just eat foods in moderation, limit your beverages to just water,don’t drink your calories. Limit snacking in between meals and try not to eat junk always.
How difficult has it been doing what you do in Nigeria because fitness isn’t really a career path that
most women or young ladies go into?
Right. It’s had its ups and downs. Firstly I believe what I have to my advantage is just that, being in Nigeria where, I lift weights and i try to eat as well as I can at least 75-80% of the time. That’s it. It’s taken a lot of discipline and cutting certain things out of my diet that I know aren’t good for my results like not drinking juices, fizzy drinks, alcohol, not eating junk food too often but once in a while. As for motivation, I am not always motivated. Being passionate about what I do is my only source of motivation. You need to love what you do then it becomes a habit. Habits lead to consistency which builds discipline and discipline gets you through very tough days where you lack motivation. I cannot just sit around; I need to do something that makes me feel happy and being in the gym makes me happy. It’s my therapy. It’s my time.
How often do you work out a week?
I work out at least 5 times a week. I’ll make it 6 because on my rest days i usually film content so I’m kind of still in the gym. My workout routine involves training legs three times a week and upper body twice weekly. I do my Abs and cardio at least 3 times weekly. My content revolves around the same type of training routine i do, not many women are heavily into fitness especially at the level that I’m doing it. If I lived in the USA or the UK where the fitness industry is over saturated and there’s thousands of others doing it, I’d probably drown in the wave. Then again, it’s a double edged sword because being a female in Nigeria is tough. It’s tough enough that our society often times don’t cater to women we then have Fitness which is a male dominated industry so I’ve had to work extra hard to show that It’s not just for the guys and that women can compete at the same level and still be very feminine. Most times I feel like I have to fight to be seen, valued or heard but at the end of the day, my work speaks for itself so, I don’t need to talk too much.
What would you say is your biggest achievement?
There’s so many, I don’t think I have just one. My biggest achievement is SOFIT. My business, my company. Just the art of building my own business and being able to inspire and lead. It’s such a humbling feeling to receive thousands of messages from people you’ve never met, telling you their stories and how much you’ve changed their lives and impacted them positively. I can’t believe that just being me and doing what I love inspires so many. I’ve always wanted to be somebody and I’ve been able to be that to so many people. It’s the best feeling.
What are some advices you would give to people who want to start up a fitness brand or career, especially women?
Be a leader. Be honest. Most times honest people don’t have the most friends but you have integrity and people will always respect someone with integrity and that’s something money can’t buy. Also understand your own competition is yourself! Don’t spend time worrying about whose grass is greener, invest that energy into watering your own garden. Lastly, don’t worry about what other people think about you or say about you, people will always talk just focus on your goals and work hard towards them they’ll catch on one day.
So What are your future goals? And where do you see your brand going?
To rule the world!! The fitness world that is. I’m trying to be the Rihanna of fitness. Creating my own empire. I’ve only scratched the surface. SOFIT is definitely something you should watch out for.