Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Kelly Loh: 'I decided to do an overhaul on my fitness as it was now or never'
Be inspired by the success stories of fitness influencers, celebrities, models, trainers and everyday movers in Singapore
Cheryl Tay
·Contributor
Sun, 17 March 2024 at 5:00 pm GMT-7
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week Kelly Loh is a financial analyst. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more! Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook!
Name: Kelly Loh (@redmap30)
Age: 46
Height: 1.63m
Weight: 53kg
Occupation: Financial Analyst
Status: Attached
Food: I eat the same thing Monday to Friday as it's easier to manage the portion control, which is chicken and white rice (200g of protein and 80g of carbs) for lunch and dinner. Breakfast is a protein shake and black coffee and at times, a slice of bread. At weekends, there would be social appointments and I would eat whatever is offered and make sure I take more protein. I won’t say no to the occasional burger.
Exercise: In a week, I do strength training once to twice with a personal trainer (PT), and once on my own. I make sure I clock 10,000 steps daily on the treadmill (between run and walk) and I spin three to four times a week. I'm exercising practically every day.
Kelly played tennis during her school days. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
Q: When you were younger, were you active in sports?
A: I was in the tennis school team for a couple of years and I have always been active but life got in the way and I wanted to try different activities in school. Then I went away to school in Melbourne for a couple of years and fitness was not on my mind. Rave parties were more my thing during my school days as it's more fun, that's for sure!When I came back to Singapore and started work in my 20s, I was mostly sedentary and it really got to me. My weight was creeping up. I tried going for classes like Body Pump in the big gyms and I was successful for a few months, then work got hectic and I stopped. Fitness was not my priority then. I viewed it more as an "I need to do it but if I don’t have time, it's okay" kind of thing.
I also had anaemia which I didn’t know till I was in my 30s, so exercise was more of a chore.
You had some health issues in 2021.
Before my health scare, I cycled leisurely and at that time, I thought that was enough. Then I had a few serious health scares that made me take my diet and fitness very seriously. Being told I was sick then really shocked my world. My medical conditions did not show any symptoms and I was taken aback when I found out about it. The only good thing that came out of it was that I didn’t have to go for long-term treatment.After my surgery, I vowed to turn my life around. I took fitness very seriously and it really changed my perspective in the way I view life and food. My health scare didn’t require me to go for treatment (thankfully) but I had to take steps to make sure I didn’t reach a point of needing treatment. So I changed my relationship with food and exercise. The only way out of this was to know your nutrition and live a healthier life through exercise.
After medical issues in 2021, Kelly began to take her fitness very seriously. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
I went on a six-month transformation programme and I worked with my PT three to four times a week, did cardio three times a week, tracked what I ate with an app and watched my calorie intake. I also learnt this thing called consistency. Work is still hectic and hours are even longer at work. They always say eat the ugliest frog first, thus what I do is to exercise before work. Being a morning person helps and I get my workouts done before work.
Another thing I like to do now is “fit-cations”. It was always just vacations for me but now when I am on holiday, I would make sure I go for fitness classes in the place I’m at or do my daily strength training. For example, in Hong Kong, I did a hike at Dragon’s Back and cycled in Sha Tin. I went to Chiang Mai for a proper fit-cation where I did trail running and boot camps for three days, then a vacation for four days. I would say it’s really the best of both worlds.
You are a pretty active runner, both road and trail. When did you start your running journey?
I was previously anaemic and running took half my life away before my surgery. I couldn’t even climb up a flight of stairs before I started to pant. Running is a recent thing, I used to walk as part of the 10,000 steps I have to do daily, but it took so long, so I decided to run instead.Kelly is now an active runner, and has done a couple of 10km races. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
Running gives a sense of freedom, and now I don’t run like I did in the past, when I would pant like a dog. My goals for running are more time-based now. I'm not a fast runner, I'm just thankful every day that I'm able to do cardio and it's really liberating.
Any memorable races?
I have done a couple of 10km runs but never a half-marathon in Singapore. The Great Eastern Women’s Run was my first official half-marathon after my transformation. I was nervous about it as it was a test of my stamina and my endurance, but my partner and I started and ended the race together encouraging each other, so that was great.When did you feel the least confident about yourself?
When I was diagnosed, I had many "whys". Why is this happening to me? Why am I different? Would I get better? I lost 5kg from the surgery but put it back on pretty quickly after a few months. I was quite sure I didn’t want to go back to the way I was. I wanted to look healthy and glowing with the second chance at life I was given.I actually did a gym tour in one day and visited four gyms that specialise in transformation programmes before deciding on my current gym. I decided to do an overhaul on my fitness, as it was now or never. I went for the one that provided me accountability and the team journeyed with me every step of the way and guided me on nutrition.
It turned out to be one of the best things I ever did for myself. I now know what to do in the gym when facing machines and am not a noob anymore.
Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Kelly Loh. (PHOTO: Cheryl Tay)
