You may recognize fitness expert Tramell Smith from A&E’s hit show Fit to Fat to Fit, where 10 fitness gurus refrain from dieting and exercising in order to gain weight over a four-month period.
Following the weight gain, the 10 trainers are then paired with an obese client to begin a challenge to shed the pounds together.
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Smith, who is the owner of Total Nutrition and Training, opened up to BlackEnterprise.com about his experience on the show, running his own fitness business, and how his dieting tips helped to rid his mother-in-law completely of diabetes.
BlackEnterprise.com: What was it like being on Fit to Fat to Fit?
Smith: It was really a journey of empathy. Going into the show I had an idea as a personal trainer of what it’s like being overweight because I deal with so many overweight clients. But it wasn’t until I got to that point of being considerably overweight that I got an understanding of what an overweight person goes through on a day-to-day basis. So it’s been eye opening in that area because all of my life I’ve been in shape and been an athlete. So it was definitely stepping out of my shoes to be completely unhealthy and 70 pounds overweight.
Has your experience on the show changed your approach to training your clients?
My approach is still the same, but I’m less judgmental to how [my clients] are when they come to me so freshly out of shape. Going through the process myself it just reassured me that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing and I know what I’m doing.
Talk about your company Total Nutrition and Training.
Along with being a certified personal trainer and strength coach, I’m also a certified sports nutritionist. I provide workout plans, meal plans and I write articles. I recently wrote an article about diabetes and the natural way to prevent and fight diabetes. I’m just using it as a platform to share my knowledge.
Talk about how you were able to cure your mother-in-law from diabetes.
It’s type 2 that is the curable kind and essentially diet and exercise were the keys to getting her back to a healthy space. It was inclusion
of fish oils and I had her take roughly 5 grams of fish oil a day. Then six grams of vitamin C per day including supplements, and one lemon or lime per day. There is also an enzyme called Coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10) that your body makes but if you have type 2 diabetes it doesn’t make it, so I had her take CoQ10 supplements. Then with the training program that includes exercising and biking, she was off her diabetes medicine within a year. Now, three years later, she is still free of her disease.