Living her best life means a purposeful, fulfilling existence to Tumi, a young wellness and lifestyle blogger, who has a healthy and thriving relationship with herself as well as those surrounding her.
Tumi developed a real love and interest for fitness and healthy living when she went to university and for the first time in her life found she was fully in control and responsible for taking good care of herself. “That is when I first started going to the gym regularly and learning about what a healthy lifestyle looks like,” she explains.
Tumi calls Bloemfontein home, though she attended boarding school in KZN and went on to study at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape. She studied a B.Comm, specialising in finance and economics at the University of Cape Town. Her field of study was largely influenced by her love and flair for mathematics and business-related subjects. The decision to pursue her studies in Cape Town came from a long-standing interest and love for the city.
To Tumi, wellness looks a lot like kindness these days; it is all about nourishing your body. “I think when you approach wellness from a place of wanting to genuinely care for your body, you can only thrive,” she says.
Her inspiration comes from the incredible people she daily surrounds herself with, both online and offline. According to her, we are all so lucky to live in a country that is filled with many creative minds enabling us to see the work of fellow visionaries, to be inspired by the potential future that we can create for ourselves, and to try working towards making that a reality.
Seen as a blogger, Tumi has definitely used the term quite loosely, as most of her blogging is on Instagram. Even though she has never been a huge fan of writing, she has really grown to love sharing her life’s journey through Instagram and having the opportunity to foster a health and wellness community by connecting with like-minded individuals. She really hopes the message she sends out into the world encourages others to truly invest in taking the best possible care of themselves and to learn to love and appreciate the journey.
Currently Tumi is a brand ambassador for Wazoogles Superfoods and Wellness Warehouse, loving the opportunity of representing local brands that have formed an integral part in her wellness journey and sharing them with others. Whilst she does not give any fitness classes, she has hosted a Wellness evening in Bloemfontein earlier this year. It consisted of a yoga class, food and smoothie demos, fun prizes and goodie bags. While most of her fitness routine consists of solo workouts, she also really enjoys mixing it up with a few group classes now and then for that extra push.
“In the past I was an ambassador for an F45 training gym and absolutely loved attending its functional training workouts. Some of my favourite classes are Sweat1000 classes, F45 classes and the Virgin Active grid classes – so good!” She absolutely loves to travel and hopes to see as much of the world as she can. The majority of the collaboration she takes part in are with local brands and therefore she does not do much travelling and can conduct most of it online, which, she says, is pretty awesome.
Over time Tumi has come to learn that one should really focus on cultivating habits and routines in order to be disciplined, as motivation is not always reliable. What helps her and keeps her focused, is choosing ways of movement she really enjoys and looks forward to, and by eating healthy, eye-catching foods. The majority of recipes she shares are self-developed, while others are an adaption or recreation of recipes from other creators she follows online. Her favourite thing to do, is to try and recreate healthier versions of her favourite foods. “At the moment, I am completely obsessed with chocolate chip cookies and I am completely determined to find the perfect choc chip cookie recipe.”
Tumi is consistently amazed by the opportunities that have come out of this little brand that she has created for herself. She says that hopefully the future consists of an even bigger community and the opportunity to upscale. “If there’s one thing this time has reinforced in my life, it is to be willing to be flexible and adaptable, and above all else, to be kind to yourself and others.”
TUMI’S TOP 3 TIPS FOR STAYING HEALTHY AND MINDFUL DURING THIS TIME WOULD BE TO:
• Establish a healthy routine for yourself that you know you can stick to.
• Practise gratitude and make sure you are checking in with yourself and your loved ones.
• Challenge yourself to one new healthy habit for lockdown and do your best to stick to it. Hers has been increasing her water intake.
Suanne Engelbrecht
