Women of Rubies
Category

lifestyle

Category
In Interviews&profile By

MEET ALETHEA BORMAN, THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL BODYBUILDER TO REPRESENT NAMIBIA AT AN INTERNATIONAL EVENT

Legal adviser and bodybuilder, Alethea Borman succeeded in putting Namibia on the map two years ago by becoming the first professional bodybuilder from the country to win a medal at an international event.

(Photo: Informante)

Borman took part in the just-concluded Arnold Classic Africa in Johannesburg. It was in the 2016 edition of this bodybuilding and fitness contest that she got the chance of becoming the first International Federation of Bodybuilding & Fitness (IFBB) pro-elite athlete to represent Namibia. She did well with that chance by taking the second place at the competition.

38 years old and making her way to the top in professional bodybuilding, Borman is arguably Namibia’s foremost female bodybuilder. Speaking with The Namibian, she said she was inspired to go into bodybuilding because she wanted to take care of herself – and since taking part in her first bodybuilding event in 1994, she’s been hooked.

While she’s juggling her time between training and attending bodybuilding events around the world, inspiring other women to take their health seriously keeps her going. In her own words:

“I’m a legal adviser, a mother of three children, married for nearly 16 years, but I find time to look after my body. It does take a lot out of you sometimes, but we women need to take care of ourselves too.

I have been dieting since July 2017. I train two times daily from Monday to Friday, and Saturdays only once.”

(Photo: Arnold Classic Africa)

 

 

 

Credit: konbini.com

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

ARIYIKE WEEKLY: SHOULD A HUSBAND HIDE HIS FINANCES FROM HIS WIFE

In the spirit of #Davido and Chef Chioma’s #assurance, we decided to talk about disclosure of finances in Marriage. On Ariyike weekly, Nigerian Media Personality, Ariyike Akinbobola @LadyAriyike and Talent Manager, Tolu Oduntan @otunba411 talk about disclosure of finances in marriage. Today, it’s all about the Men, on another episode, we will discuss about the Women. Why do some Men hide their finances from their wives? Should a married couple disclose their finances to each other?

 

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

POPULAR PHYSICALLY CHALLENGED LIFESTYLE BLOGGER, THE DIY LADY ANNOUNCES HER PREGNANCY

Popular physically challenged Vlogger, Lizzy O, popularly known as ‘The DIY Lady’ on Instagram, has shared the amazing news of her pregnancy with fans on IG and YouTube.

 

She wrote:

“Thank you all so much for all the love you’ve shown Le Boo and I after we posted our #PregnancyAnnouncementvideo on YouTube and my blog yesterday. We’ve been excited about this blessing for months and I personally feel so #FREE to be able to share the news and showcase the goodness of God in our lives. God bless our family members and friends who have been gracious and protective of our privacy till we were ready to share with the world.

Also, shout-out to all of you people with spiritual eyes who were sending DMs and leaving comments about this glow y’all swore I had over the past months 😂😂🙈🙈 I didn’t want to join the disappearing preggo woman statistics and be MIA, so #CatFishLizzy was out in full force and I thought I was doing a great job staying in action here and there… behttt some of you saw through it all. 🙈
Gahhhh, I’m writing this and feeling all of my hormones dancing shakushaku because our baby is so loved already. ❤
***I do have plans to share about the pregnancy journey up till this point and going forward ”

Check out photos she shared

 

by
Keep Reading
In fashion&style By

DR EZINNE MERIBE: CAN WE ALL BE A SIZE 6?

The first season of Beyond A Dress Size podcast explores the most important component of life beyond a dress size which is . . . .our bodies. Too often, we tend to treat our bodies as if it were something that needed fixing so we can finally live our lives freely *no thanks to the messages we receive from society and the media*. What we fail to realize is that we are our bodies and whatever messages we send to our bodies permeates every other aspect of our lives especially our self-esteem as women.

We also dig deep into body diversity – the concept that different bodies of this world come in different shapes and size, the appreciation of our bodies and that of others and how we can approach our bodies and that of others with kindness and compassion.

Hosted by Dr. Ezinne Meribe of Zinnyslifestyle, Beyond a Dress Size podcast creates stimulating conversations with the sole purpose of empowering women to OWN and LOVE their bodies and LIVE in it fabulously.

In this episode, our guest is Dr. Nneka Chima who is also a physician and Public Health expert. The conversation sheds more light on why it is more important that people of all sizes pursue health and not weight loss or fad diets. Most importantly, “people in bigger bodies are not unhealthy, lazy, unworthy of love and belonging or less smart. Let’s pursue and promote health for people of all sizes. We can’t all be a size 6 but we can all be healthy”.

The goal is to throw more light on what other health indicators we should all pursue and realize that health is not defined by the number on the scale.

Listen below.
Embed code: <iframe src=”https://anchor.fm/zinnyslifestyle/embed/episodes/Can-We-All-Be-A-Size-6-e1ep9r” height=”102px” width=”400px” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”></iframe>

URL: https://anchor.fm/zinnyslifestyle/episodes/Can-We-All-Be-A-Size-6-e1ep9r

Thank you for Listening!

To share your thoughts:
• Leave a note in the comment section below.
• Start a conversation on your social media pages with the hashtag #BeyondaDressSize
• Share this on your social media pages.
• Head over to www.zinnyslifestyle.com/size6 to download our favourite images and get the resources mentioned in this episode.

To help out the show:
• Leave an honest review on iTunes and Anchor
• Your ratings and reviews really help and I will read each one.
• Subscribe on Anchor and iTunes.

Special thanks to Dr. Nneka Chima for joining me this week. Can’t wait to share my next guest with you.

 

 

SHORT BIO
Dr. Ezinne Meribe is the host of Beyond A Dress Size podcast; a podcast series that creates stimulating conversations to pull down misconceptions on nutrition, weight loss, health and body diversity while empowering women to live life beyond the numbers on the dress label, scale or tape.
She is the Lead Wellness Coach/Founder at Zinnyslifestyle, where she leverages her professional qualifications and personal experience to teach women how to OWN & LOVE their bodies and LIVE in it fabulously; having successfully won the struggle with being overweight and loving her body. A UK certified Wellness Professional with a Bachelors in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS), she completed her postgraduate training in Public Health at Kumamoto University, Japan. As a Medical Doctor and Public Health Specialist, she continues to promote preventive medicine as the number one way to combat the severe health system constraints in developing countries.

She runs a refreshing Facebook community of over 14,000 women – Healthy Yummy Mummies; where mums can lean on each other while exploring through what a healthy lifestyle means for them and their families. She understands the influence mums have on the community because when you positively influence one woman’s lifestyle, you influence her children, her husband, her siblings and of course her parents.

You can connect with her on
Instagram @zinnyslifestyle
Facebook @zinnyslifestyle
Read more on Medium @ezinnemeribe
Or send an email to info@zinnyslifestyle.com

About Mo’ Sibyl
Mo! hails from Lagos (yes, we still exist) and has come to fall in love with the Korean culture – politics, drama, language, food, economic development (pre and post the Korean war). Mo! also loves to writ(h)e and have meaningful conversations with people with diverse opinions.

She speaks 4.25 languages (Yorùbá, English, Korean, Pig Latin, and 0.25 French), has visited a few countries, and is excited to explore more. She’s also a cultural nomad who resides in Oklahoma City where she works, does Toastmasters (an organization dedicated to communication and leadership development), raises her imaginary quokka, and volunteers with Korean international students.

Mo! is extremely curious, needs to learn something new every day, and hopes to infuse that insatiable thirst for diverse knowledge into BN readers. Mo! hosts the weekly podcast – The More Sibyl Podcast (www.mosibyl.com) – a podcast on culture and cultural nomads.

Mo! holds a B.Pharm (Hons.) from the University of Lagos and a Ph.D. in Health Economics and Outcomes Research from the University of Texas at Austin. She currently works as an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma.

Mo! also writ(h)es here: https://medium.com/@Mosibyl

Follow Mo! on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook as @Mosibyl. Email Mo! on talktomo@mosibyl.com

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

OAP TOOLZ OPENS UP ON THE LOSS OF HER BABY

Toolz, in an interview with Genevieve Magazine, said that it was a painful experience for her.

Speaking, she said that she finds hard to talk about the loss of her baby.

According to LIB, Toolz lost her baby sometime in 2017.

Also speaking on the marriage, she said “I’m a die-hard romantic, so I did think marriage was going to be like a Disney movie….no arguments, birds singing every morning.

To be honest It’s not quite like that, but I’m very happy. I think what I love most about being married is being part of this team.

“It’s amazing knowing that whatever I’m going through good/bad – someone will always be there with me to hold my hand or cheer me on,” BellaNaija reports.

Full interview is on Genevieve Magazine.

by
Keep Reading
In Career Gems By

THERE IS A VILLAGE IN NIGERIA WHERE YOUNG GIRLS ARE USED AS MODE OF PAYMENT AND FOR DEBT SETTLEMENT

Channels TV reported that ‘Money Marriage’ is an age-long tradition of the Becheve tribe of Obanliku in Cross River State, as almost all family in the community are involved in it.

The girls are reportedly called ‘Money Woman’ or ‘Money Wife’ and are sometimes sold out even before they were born.

The Money Marriage culture does not in any way favor the money woman or wife. The moment a man shows interest in a girl, her immediate family and other relatives are free to visit the man and collect things from him.

“Anything offered them during their visit is given monetary value and recorded by their in-law (the man who is marrying the girl). If the mother is the greedy type, she’ll often visit her ‘in-law’ to get stuff,” Channels TV reported.

Where the man has made full payment, the girl is given out in marriage.

Aji Patience, a girl whose sister was sold at four years old said, she was given out for N2, 000.

Unfortunately, when the husband dies, his next-of-kin marries the girl and if she dies without giving birth to children, her parents are mandated to bring a replacement.

Victoria Tabang is a victim of this. After the death of her husband, she was expected to remain with his people.

“Even when I went to my people, they drove me away, saying I now belong elsewhere,” she told Channels TV.

Money women or wives are sold for as low as N10,000, few goats and pigs, tubers of yam, depending on the man’s bargain power. They are also not allowed to be educated.

“Money that the man give in my head (sic) was not much. It was N20,000 and one goat,” a money wife said.

Once a girl is sold out for Money Marriage, she is considered dead by her immediate family and warned never to return irrespective of how she is treated by her husband or his relatives.

 

 

Credit: woman.ng, Channels TV

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

ONE WOMAN IS MURDERED EVERY 4 HOURS IN SOUTH AFRICA -REPORT

According to Africa Check, a total of 14,333 murders were committed in South Africa between April and December 2016. 1,713 of those murders were women, meaning that a woman was murdered every four hours in South Africa. 57.1% of these women are killed by their partners – boyfriends, fiances, husbands – according to the South African Medical Research Council’s Gender and Health Research Unit. So, one woman is murdered every eight hours by an intimate partner.

Not to be dramatic, but this means that women are an endangered specie in South Africa. South Africa’s femicide rate is five times higher than the global rate, according to stats from the World Health Organization’s Violence and Injury Prevention Programme. The global femicide rate in 2015 was 2.4 per 100,000 women. South Africa’s rate for the same year was 9.6 per 100,000 women, meaning that femicide in South Africa is four times that of the global average.

In South Africa, gender-based violence is an everyday reality, and even when justice is done in courtrooms as in the case of Sandile Mantsoe, women still live in constant fear. Across Africa, and the world, women live in fear. Walking down the road, going to work, at work, at conferences, at restaurants, women are in a constant state of alert because the danger is everywhere – mostly from men.

 

This is a call for women all over the world to stay woke. The society can do only little or nothing to protect you. It is sad but it is what it is. Once you notice signs of abuse in your partner, run as fast as your legs can carry you (that should be faraway) Do not try to make excuses for an abusive partner. Be street smart too. If you notice someone stalking you, report to the authorities right away.

 

Reports source: konbini.com

Image credit: face2face Africa

 

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

MEDIA PERSONALITY, TOOLZ LAUNCHES BRAND FOR PLUS SIZED WOMEN

Media personality, Tolu Oniru popularly known as Toolz has launched an inspirational brand for plus-size women, called “Sablier”
Sablier is a brand that represents confidence, female empowerment, and self-expression, especially among plus-size women. It is set to drive a message that promotes inclusivity and change the stereotypical perception of plus-size women.
She wrote:
 
“As a plus-size and curvy girl, you tend to feel out of place – my body type wasn’t the hot thing back then. I just didn’t fit in. I became very self-conscious – I thought my hips were too wide… my bum was too big, and I was on the short side.

 

As a teenager, you are dealing with a lot, especially when it comes to self-identity and accepting yourself. And you often get confused about what beautiful is. My self-consciousness got so bad at one point that I had to cover up all the time.

In the middle of summer, I would wear a light coat to cover up my hips, and people thought I was weird. Clothes shopping was a bit of nightmare, not to talk of shopping for lingerie. Most of the lingerie in plus sizes were quite unattractive; boring styles and colours with super thick straps. Sadly, inclusivity wasn’t such a big thing when I was growing up, you were basically stuck with what was available.

Later in life, I began to notice and research curvy/plus size models like Tabria Majors, Candice Huffine, Anita Marshall and Ashley Graham – her confidence is incredible! In an industry that is notoriously discriminating about anyone above a size 8, seeing this beautiful and curvy ladies flourish was magical. I was extremely inspired to say the least.

Being in the public eye also had a big impact on my ‘acceptance journey’.

 

 I have been bashed and shamed about my body on so many occasions, I can’t even count. The first few times it happened, I was very hurt, because there was always so much venom behind the attacks, and I would be at home in tears thinking what did I do to anyone to warrant this? Unfortunately, this comes with being in the public eye, and I soon managed to get a thick skin.

On the positive side, as I got more popular I began getting messages from women who admired me for being one of a few plus size women in the public eye. I would get messages from young women who had contemplated suicide because they looked different, and they were being bullied for that. They would write and say how seeing pictures of me boosted their confidence – making them accept themselves and their bodies. These comments made me realize that my presence and visibility in the industry was having a positive impact on at least a few people.

My experience strengthened me and gave me a voice – one which I have decided to use in empowering and boosting the confidence of plus-size women like me – those who are currently in a physical and psychological battle to accept their own bodies.

I am Tolu Oniru-Demuren. You probably call me ‘Toolz’.

Welcome to this journey with me.”

 

 

Credit: fabwoman.ng

by
Keep Reading
In lifestyle By

FOUR BEST FRIENDS TURN THEIR PASSION FOR CHOCOLATE INTO A BUSINESS

Four best friends who have known each other since childhood and also share a love of chocolate, has decided to start a company called Kakawa Chocolates in Mozambique.

Kakawa Chocolates makes beautiful handcrafted chocolates bonbons with both local and foreign flavors.

The four friends are a team of 3 doctors and 1 architect but decided to start their company in 2017, after they all had completed their college degrees.

Screen Shot 2018-05-06 at 8.55.07 AM.jpg
Screen Shot 2018-05-06 at 9.07.22 AM.jpg
While talking about their future plans and goals, they revealed that they are opening their first physical store soon. They also plan to expand their products to the rest of the country and to the world in the nearest future.
Credit: lionessofafrica.com

 

by
Keep Reading
In Career Gems By

NAFDAC RAIDS FOUR PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES EXPOSED IN BBC’S DOCUMENTARY ON CODEINE SYRUP ABUSE

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raided the four pharmaceutical companies exposed in a documentary – Sweet Sweet Codeine, recently released by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

This was made known by the NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, BBC reports.

The documentary drew attention to the effects of the drug on youths and how some officials of pharmaceutical companies distribute the drug to dealers on the street.

Adeyeye said:

“Our inspection and enforcement teams are in the premises of the four pharmaceutical companies that were shown in the [BBC] video.

“Our officials are there putting things on hold, and everything is being documented. When completed, we will prepare our report and then we will take appropriate action.

“If products that are fake or substandard are discovered, such products will be seized and destroyed.

“These companies that were caught, from our records, have a limited amount of codeine, but from what the documentary showed there is indication that the production is more than the quantity that was approved. So the question can be asked, was there smuggling involved?”

Following the startling revelation in the documentary, the Federal Government of Nigeria announced a ban on the use of codeine as an active agent in the production of cough syrup.

Emzor pharmaceutical company has since suspended the production of Codeine cough syrup.

One of the company’s officials was also seen in the BBC documentary, selling the cough syrup to undercover journalists.

Emzor on Monday, April 30, 2018, issued a statement saying that it has launched a full-scale internal investigation into the breach of the codeine distribution.

The company also said the official in the video has been dismissed, adding that his conduct is illegal and against Emzor’s policy.

The Ministry of Health said that the decision to ban codeine by the Federal Government is not based on a documentary by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Source: Pulse News

by
Keep Reading

©2025. WomenofRubies. All Rights Reserved.