I always struggled with my weight and as I hit menopause, weight seemed to pile on even if I didnt eat anything. In fact, just looking at French fries somehow added another few kgs to my weight at the end of the month. After ballooning to 62.4kg for my 160cm frame, I realised I was carrying too much weight for me to live well. I was unhappy with how I looked and everything I wore just made people ask me if I was pregnant or when my due date was. This was a wake up call and I had to do something about it.

I always loved sports from tennis to yoga to running and throughout all the years when I played all sorts of sports and ran 6 half marathons in a year, my weight never really dropped. Looking at old photos, it seemed like no matter what I did, nothing moved the needle. I joined Virgin Active and I spent hours at the gym, thinking that the more time I spent there, the more chance I had to lose weight. I was so wrong! I even engaged a personal trainer but that didn’t help at all. I was paying him to motivate me and with or without him, it made no difference.

I started to take a hard look at what’s happening to me. I realised that when my life is skewed towards exercise as the only way to lose weight, that is not a recipe for success. I was justifying my exercise regime by eating whatever I wanted because I thought that as long as I worked hard at the gym or ran a half marathon, I could really eat whatever I wanted. I sat down and asked myself some simple questions. What is it you want? What is important to you? What is success? Is it financial or is it being happy? Very simply, I came to the conclusion that “You can’t wait till life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”

I took a step back and examined every aspect of my life and this is my personal journey to wellness. It is not scientifically based and I am not a doctor so please dont blindly follow my path. Make sure you see a health care professional before you undertake your own wellness journey. Life will always throw curve balls at you but it is how you react to it is that will make the difference. Lately, I have been morbidly watching My 600lb life on YouTube. It made me realise that a combination of weight loss, will power and sound mental health is needed to survive. In a world full of noise, pain, heartache, disasters and negativity, there are so many things I cannot influence or control so I made a conscious effort to only do things that I can control. I cut out and cut off everything else. I let go. I stopped worrying. I stopped stressing out. I stopped waking up in a panic at 3am every day. I consciously talked nicely to myself to sooth my wounded self. Whenever I face a set back and life looks bleak, I tell myself “It’s ok because it’s not the end. The fat lady has not sung yet!”.

What I had going for me was that I was always very disciplined, a simple eater and I buried any form of ego I had long ago. I stopped caring what people thought of me and that was liberating. I simplified my life. I was not interested in materialism and I made a conscious effort to buy second hand clothes whenever I could. I kept my dressing to a minimum and like Mark Zuckerberg, I just wore the same clothes over and over again. I have 7 pairs of black pants and 7 black singlet tops I wear to work.

I realised there are 3 pillars to a happy life and as long as my 3 pillars are not balanced, I will always find something lacking. I consciously worked on my 3 pillars every single day and I recognised it is a lifestyle shift with no end date. I told myself I was prepared to invest in myself for the rest of my life because if I dont care about me, who would? I made myself Number 1. I became the most important person in my life. 

Diet - I decided to only eat twice a day and not accept invitations to eat out to control what I ate. Only occasionally did I venture outside my house to eat and those were special unavoidable occasions. Everyone that wanted to eat with me I invited them to my home instead. I removed sugar and dairy from my diet and I kept carbs and meat to a minimum. My cheat day was every Sunday dinner. I started a juice cleanse every second day for half a day with 3 different juices at  8am, 10am and 12pm. For my meal, I usually ate 2 hard boiled eggs, a handful of strawberries and blueberries, half an avocado, a can of tuna and maybe some salad greens with no dressing. I did not add any seasoning to anything I ate. I would eat the same meal every day if I didnt have any guests for dinner. Luckily I am a very simple eater and I like to eat the same things every day.

Exercise -No matter where I am and how busy my day is, I try to exercise every day for at least 20 minutes. I do a combination of weights, low impact exercise, stretch and yoga, running, tennis, pickle ball and cycling. I no longer exercise for hours at a time because who has time for that? I built a gym in my home so that I dont have an excuse not to work out. I got rid of my gym membership and my personal trainer. By exercising less but consistently, it made me stronger, more toned and it finally resulted in sustainable weight loss.

Mental Health Check - I stay positive even in the most trying situations and there is always something going on. Life is not perfect so I stopped chasing and expecting perfection. I try to go to bed at a set time and wake up at a set time every day. I do things that make me happy. I ask myself this question every morning when I wake up. “What are you going to do today that excites you?” I find simple pleasures in everything I do, whether it is eating my boiled egg or walking the same route to work every morning and evening. Every year, I take time off and spend time in nature. Last year, it was Flinders Island. This year, it’s Mongolia. Some people get excited buying the latest designer wear but I get excited whenever I see a camping shop. I can talk for hours on the best hiking pack or shoes or clothes for a particular hike and all its positive and negative attributes. If I had to change careers, I would work in a camping shop. I only spend money on hiking gear. I have a room full of hiking gear. I test and sleep in all my hiking clothes to make sure they dont fail me in the middle of a mountain. I always believe half the battle is won if you are prepared. I guess that applies to everything in life.

The benefits I got from making these changes:

I still get upset but I dont get angry anymore. I am much calmer than I have ever been. I accept that everything happens for a reason and it is for the greater good.

I dont have insomnia and I sleep soundly and deeply every night.

I dont suffer from hair loss.

My eczema on my skin is gone.

I keep my weight to roughly 55kg more or less which is healthy for my frame.

I have the same amount of energy as I had in my 20s. I work 7 days a week in a physical job and I dont tire. I love my job and that is why I still go to work at Palate Sensations every day. The day I get up and dont feel like going into work is the day I need to walk away from what I started 20 years ago.

My mood is almost always positive. I forgive and forget easily and I dont hold grudges anymore.

Real change starts with belief and determination. To transform your wellness, it’s essential to commit fully and have the willpower to follow through. Without belief, the rewards of a healthier lifestyle will remain out of reach. True, lasting change happens when you consciously decide to make it a priority and stick to it because it aligns with your purpose. Wellness is a lifelong journey, so it must be sustainable. Do you trust yourself to take the leap? Are you ready to enjoy the rewards of a healthier, more vibrant life? The famous quote from the movie The Way resonated with me when Emilio Estevez's character says to his father "You dont choose a life, you live one." The choice is yours so dont wait.

All of this life style change meant that I decided to get my American Council of Exercise Personal Trainer certification so that I could train myself. I also decided to add clean eating and healthy cooking classes in Singapore to Palate Sensations’ repertoire of classes as I hope that others on the search for better health and wellness will join me on this journey.