No time to be less busy
May was running multiple restaurants, working twelve to sixteen hours a day, and losing touch with any kind of work-life balance. About to turn 35, she realised she was never going to be less busy than she was right then, so there would be no better moment to start looking after her health.
A goal she never thought she’d hit
She had never had concrete fitness goals before. When she started, she jokingly said she wanted “abs”, something she genuinely never thought was attainable. The plan put in place at her initial consultation was concrete enough that she could suddenly see it was something she could actually achieve.
She has never been fitter, even now, still working twelve, fourteen, sixteen hours a day. Fitness now has a scheduled slot in her diary and takes priority, a reversal of her old habit of letting work take over everything else.
I’ve ticked off a life goal I never thought I would have, simply because I thought it was never achievable.May
A different kind of confidence
May had always been confident, but the confidence that comes from physical performance was new, and empowering in a different way.
I was always confident before but the sort of confidence that comes from physical performance has been really empowering.May
She connects it to an extreme fear of heights she’d had since she was 15. Hiking with Hong Kong Outsider, she used to get wobbly legs at the big drops. Now, dangling off the rocks, that fear is gone, replaced by faith in her own physical performance, something she thinks can be especially empowering for a woman.
When you win in a physical way it can be very emotionally encouraging and help you to accomplish all kinds of things in other parts of your life.May
Eating like a chef who notices how food feels
The biggest shift for May as a chef was understanding how food makes her feel physically, not just emotionally. Before, a great night out with friends could leave her lethargic and bloated without her ever connecting the two. Now, mindful of how she’ll feel afterwards, she thinks harder before large tasting menus about how much she really wants to eat.
There is no better time than now. We live in Hong Kong, we will never be less busy, we will never have more time for family, fitness or health. None of us is getting any younger, this is the time to do it.May
May still runs two restaurants and still works punishing hours. What’s changed is what she does with the hours in between.
Coached at ATP Personal Training Singapore
