Weight challenge spurred Baine to help others

It was in Jane Baine’s plan to take a career break, have children and raise them. When her last born joined kindergarten, she made up her mind to find something to do.
But for the 10 years she took the break, she gained 20 kilogrammes and weighed nearly 90 kilogrammes, which was both uncomfortable and unhealthy. She was only 30 years old.
“The weight affected me in so many bad ways. I was still young but overweight. My knees were already hurting. The kilogrammes left me with low self-esteem, low energy and a body that I was not proud of,” she recounts.

Her state inspired her to find solutions to get rid of the weight. Rather than search for a good gym, she asked her husband, Gregory Baine, to partner with her in order to find a place where they would put a facility to offer services and solutions that would help people deal with challenges of weight or obesity.

Start of an adventure
The fruition of their deliberations was Sleek & Slender. It was born on January 25, 1999. It is a busy place where men and women take time off to exercise and enrol on different body remedies such as dietary regimes.
“Our bodies were not meant to sit all the time. Someone sits in office the whole day then steps into their car, sits and drives home, then sits before a television set and sleeps. The body needs exercise in order to avoid strokes and heart attacks at 35 years of age. That never used to be the case when people had to move to fetch firewood from bushes or fetch water from wells,” she explains.

Diabetes, strokes, high blood pressure, some cancers are some of the lifestyle diseases she lists, observing that children of primary school-going age are now suffering from such non-communicable diseases too.
She adds, “Doctors, ministers, teachers, market vendors all come here. Some people have been coming here since I opened in 1999. The impact has been incredible.”

The testimonies are pasted on walls of the facility, both in text and photographs. The results are real. Many have become friends among themselves and with Baine who shares messages of encouragement or jokes.

Background and beliefs
Interestingly, Baine is a teacher. She later on pursued a degree in phycology to complement her counselling abilities. She has widely read on nutrition, stress management, attitude and exercise in which she has become skilful.
“For many people, it is their attitudes that stop them from living fully. They think that when they get some money, they should drink some alcohol or drive a big car but there is so much more to life than that,” she explains.
Baine says it is important for one to educate themselves on a daily basis.

She practises what she preaches because through reading and learning new things, the wellness instructor and counsellor has built her business to cater for more than exercise and nutrition.
Some of the titles she recommends include Dale Carnegie’s How To win Friends and Influence People, Les Hewitt’s The Power Of Focus, Robin Sharma’s Who Will Cry When You Die as well as the Chicken Soup series of books.
“They are good books that inspire many people to crossroads. I read many books when I was raising my children and they are also reading some of these books,” the mother of five; one son and four girls, adds.
She counsels people on different aspects of life and implores them to read and makes recommendations of specific books to look out for, as a way of bettering themselves.

Hard work
As a businessperson, she respects the principals of hard work, honesty and integrity, which has enabled her keep a circle of clients that almost become family.
“I am now combining efforts with our son and the wife because I would like them to take Sleek & Slender to another level. This will include expanding the business, with a spa and more,” she shares about the future of the business.

Like St Augustine said, if you do not travel, you only read one page of life. Baine roots for you to travel in order to get exposed to different people and their way of life.
“I travel a lot to South Africa. I see how people are organised and keep time. I see their business ethic unlike here where you enter a shop and at times people look at you like you are an intruder.”
Baine was born to the late Mwene Mushanga, a professor of criminology and sociology, in Sheema District.

WHAT OTHERS SAY...
“When I first came to Sleek & Slender, I was shy but over the years, I have learnt how to deal with people. The first thing my boss taught me was customer care. I could not talk to clients and madam always told me to speak well to clients. Today, I am confident when speaking to clients, especially to feed well, have fruits and vegetables and less of fatty foods and also exercise,”
Rose Nayiga, fitness and nutrition instructor

“I have been coming here since October 29, 1999. I used to be size 24 and right now I am size 16. I used to weigh 98 kilogrammes but I have lost more than 20 kilogrammes all because I followed Jane’s instructions. The enthusiasm I had when I started is the same I have maintained,”
Dr Janex Kabarangira, Gynaecologist

Tomorrow, we feature Shamirah Nalubinga, a student at Islamic University in Uganda and activist for people with albinism.