Finally, I shed some weight and achieved one of my 2020 resolution of weight <50kg.

Losing weight has been in my mind for more than a decade and in my resolution for many years. Somehow, I couldn’t achieve it or probably I didn’t take it seriously or take action to achieve it.

I signed up for gym membership and went for Bodyjam, Body Combat and Body Balance classes and Group Training. After classes, I was always hungry and had dinner past 9pm. I used to think since I’ve worked out so hard, burnt lots of calories and sweat so much, it’s alright for me to eat.

My weight kept on increasing and when I saw this photo that I took in June 2019 in Lucerne, a very beautiful place, I felt worried. I noticed I looked so bloated and put on a lot of weight.

After 2 weeks in Lyon, a city of gastronomy and Switzerland, I really put on a lot of weight, hitting 60kg. My family told me the same thing and asked me to watch out on my diet and weight. My favourite breakfast were nasi lemak and fried meehoon that I used to pack on the way to work, with a cup of coffee with creamer.

My sister invited me to the Nutrition Club and I decided to join the wellness program. I have a personal weight management coach to guide me through the program. I have a better understanding of the value of good nutrition, healthy eating habit and active lifestyle. She also guided me how and what to eat before hitting gym and after classes to replenish lost muscles.

With coach Catherine Chua and my sister, Catherine Koh. The 2 sweet ladies and supportive coaches.

My biggest takeaway from this coaching is, not only we have to know our body weight, we should be aware of the composition of our body. What’s the fat %, muscle %, water %, visceral fat rating and body age. I was so worried then as my metabolic age was older than my age.

With the patient and knowledgeable coach, Natalia Lai.

This is my weight progress tracked from Fitness First boditrax from the day I started weighing myself till the last reading just before MCO.

Snap from 18 May 2019 to 9 Mar 2020

The 12 months development. Didn’t lose much weight in Dec 2019 and Jan 2020 due to Christmas and Chinese New Year celebrations with lots of gatherings and feast. I told myself to enjoy the process, don’t stress out, I don’t have deadline to meet and to have cheat days as and when I like. This is to ensure sustainability.

Finally, on the last Saturday after 2.5 months since the last time I went to the Nutrition Club due to MCO, I could go back and get my body composition analysis done. I lost 12kg, dropped body fat % and visceral fat layers, increased muscles % and water % and my metabolic age is younger by 19 years!

Funny encounter during this journey:

• At security registration to sister’s house, the security guard looked at my driving license and asked me “Dulu gambar Mam gemuk. Sekarang kurus. Ada gambar lain? And he is not the first one who commented that.
• A friend when he saw me told me “Wah, you lost weight. I thought you used photo filter on your photos to look slimmer on Instagram”.
• When I did presentation at office Townhall, rather than paying attention on my slides, my colleagues whispered “Sawleng lost a lot of weight”.

I lost my double chin and round, chubby face. It is so good to feel lighter, healthier and more energetic. It boosts our confidence too.

During this MCO, I cleared my wardrobe based on KonMari method, segregating piles of clothes to be given away, to dispose and asked my Mom to alter for those clothes that bring joy to me. I cleared more than half of my wardrobe, I couldn’t wear most of them.

I recently bought the following Yellow and Pink size S camisoles from Uniqlo. I used to wear Size L AIRism camisole but now I am wearing size S, down 2 sizes. Happiness.

Top: Yellow and Pink new Uniqlo camisole size S Bottom: Black and White old Uniqlo camisole size L

I am just happy to live healthier, losing fat and gaining muscles. Looking good is the bonus.