My name is Christa van de Merwe, and living a healthy lifestyle has always been a very big part of my life.

In the 1980s, I was a top athlete, and back then my whole world revolved around training, fitness, nutrition and looking after my body. After matric, I decided to study fitness, health and nutrition, because I knew that this was something I was passionate about.

From there, I became involved with one of the biggest slimming franchises in South Africa at the time.

I got married and had two beautiful children. And then, like so many women, my body changed. After having my children, I gained weight and had to face the same challenge that many of the women I would later help were facing.

Thankfully, I already had the knowledge and experience to know what I needed to do.

I went back to the basics — eating properly, exercising and making healthy choices — and I managed to lose the excess weight.

That experience made me realise even more how much I loved helping women.

Over the years, I became a Master Franchisee, where I was involved in setting up franchises, training franchisees, overseeing branches, helping with business development and making sure that high standards were maintained.

At that stage, my own branch was one of approximately 75 branches across South Africa.

Then life happened.

I went through a divorce and decided to take a year away from the industry. I thought I needed the break, but during that year I realised just how much I missed working with women.

I missed the conversations.
I missed the relationships.
I missed seeing women change — not only physically, but also in the way they felt about themselves.

I realised that this was something I wasn’t ready to walk away from.

So I decided to take everything I had learned throughout my years in the industry and create something of my own.

And that is how Slim Active was born.

I started Slim Active in 2006, and for all these years, my passion has remained the same — helping women with their weight-loss and body-shaping journeys and giving them a place where they feel comfortable, welcome and cared for.

Today, Slim Active is known particularly in Gauteng, where we have built our reputation over many years. We currently have two branches in Pretoria, offering slimming and body-contouring treatments in a beautiful, tranquil and relaxing environment.

Our treatment rooms are fully equipped and private, because I know how important it is for women to feel comfortable when they come in for treatments.

I often describe Slim Active as stylish, but still down-to-earth.

We want our clients to walk through the door and feel comfortable. There is no judgement. We understand that every woman has her own story, her own struggles and her own goals.

And I am still very hands-on.

I don’t just sit behind the business and tell my clients what to do. I actually use the treatments myself.

I regularly put myself on our specialised slimming and body-contouring machines because I believe in looking after my own body too. I want to maintain my firmness and shape, and I want to be able to honestly tell my clients about my own experiences with the treatments.

Over the years, I have had many women say to me, “I want to look like you.”

And that really means something to me.

Because I know that my body is part of the Slim Active story.

I have been through pregnancy. I have gained weight. I have lost weight. I have got older. And I have had to continue working at maintaining my body, just like every other woman.

I don’t believe that you can simply do something once and expect your body to stay that way forever.

It takes consistency.

It takes healthy eating.

It takes movement.

And sometimes, it takes a little extra help.

That is where I believe our specialised treatments can make a difference when they are combined with the right lifestyle and commitment.

My machines work. My clients’ results speak for themselves. And I use them on myself too.

After all these years, Slim Active is so much more than a business to me.

It is something I built from my own experience, my passion and my love for helping women.

I started as a young athlete who was passionate about fitness and healthy living.

I became a mother.

I experienced weight gain myself.

I worked my way through the slimming industry.

I became a Master Franchisee.

I went through a divorce.

I took a step back.

And then I started again.

That journey eventually became Slim Active.

And today, after 20 years of Slim Active and decades of experience in the industry, I am still passionate about what I do.

Because I don’t just want to help women lose centimetres or lose weight.

I want them to feel good about themselves again.

I want them to walk out of Slim Active feeling confident, cared for and proud of the woman they see in the mirror.

This is my story.
This is why Slim Active exists.
And this is the Slim Active way.