What’s Shakin’ In Nutrition
It’s all in the shake
Bryan Uohara
New Wave Nutrition
Tell us about your business.
I do a multitude of things here at New Wave Nutrition in Lihue. I do personal wellness coaching, so I help people reach their goals whether it be to lose, gain or maintain weight. I opened this club in September, but I’ve been selling Herbalife products for about a year.
How do people get started and what can they expect?
First, you fill out a health goal survey. From that I can build a plan to help you reach your goal. A lot of people want to lose weight – about 70 to 80 percent of people – but sometimes folks just want an easier way to be healthy. For $6 a day, you get a blended meal-replacement shake, tea for your beverage and aloe.
What do you do with the aloe?
You drink it. The same stuff you put on your skin, you drink it. It’s a shot. There’s an unflavored one we can put in your shake as well. Some people are apprehensive about drinking aloe, but it gives you a very light daily digestive cleanse.
Tell us more about the smoothie.
It’s a meal in a shake. You have to eat a bunch of food just to get the same amount of nutrition you get in the easy-to-make, low-calorie shake. You could do that mango, banana, that chicken thigh and that half cup of broccoli and the 6 ounces of yogurt and the half cup of beans, but that’s a lot of work – a lot of thinking involved and preparation. But if you have a meal replacement smoothie, it’s easy, you don’t have to think about it really.
Clients are catching a wave of nutrition at Bryan Uohara’s Lihue shop. Coco Zickos photos
What’s the best-selling shake?
The vanilla shake mixed with blueberries and bananas.
Can you make them at home?
Yes. Depending on the person, we sell instant packets. So if someone is on the go and they don’t really have a blender, you just add water and that’s it.
Why do you do what you do?
I want to help people reach their goals. I’ve always liked helping people, I’ve just never really had a way or a vehicle to do that.
Where are you from and what high school did attend?
I’m from Kaua’i and graduated in 1997 from Kaua’i High.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of your business?
A lot of my clientele have been middle-aged women, and a lot of times they’ve tried everything before. They’ve done the starve-themselves diet, Atkins, whatever is the fad at the time, and they always either gain the weight back or it doesn’t work to begin with. So the most rewarding part is when I get someone on for a couple of months and they get all of the results that they want and they come back to me and say “Thank you because I’ve tried everything and nothing works except for this.” And it happens a lot. But they’re doing all the work and I’m just here guiding them.
Do you think Kaua’i is really in need of a place like this?
From what I’ve heard people tell me, yes. Kaua’i needs more places like this, especially in Lihue where there are no healthy alternatives.
How do you measure success?
Through happiness.
What motivates you to get up and go to work every day?
The people.
What are your plans for the future?
I’m building a team right now. I’m to the point now where I’m pretty much at the maximum of what I can do by myself. I need more people to do exactly what I’m doing. Eventually, I want to hand this over to one of my team members and open up another club in another town and expand.
If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?
I have no idea. I feel like I would be lost.
What is your business motto or philosophy?
To bring good nutrition to the people of our community one person at a time.
New Wave Nutrition is open 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call 651-5667 for more information.
