How to age well: 20kg weight loss helps Hong Kong mother and ex-teacher slip into clothes once too small – to her family’s delight
- Spurred by her wardrobe of clothes that didn’t fit, Vandana Desai embarked on a two-year fitness journey of strict dieting and ‘hard yet fun’ exercise routines
- The 48-year-old cut down on alcohol, slept earlier and restarted yoga. Her sons now praise her ‘really flat’ tummy, and her self-confidence is at an all-time high
Looking at the clothes in her wardrobe, many of them still brand new but too small for her, Vandana Desai finally realised the time had come to make a change.
The former primary-school teacher, a stay-at-home mum, had gained weight over the course of two pregnancies and developed unhealthy eating habits over the course of two decades. In October 2020, she weighed in at her heaviest: 80kg (176lbs).
“I knew that I had gained weight. I felt unhappy buying large sizes (UK 14 to 16) while shopping for clothes, and would purchase smaller sizes (UK 8 to 10) in the hope that it would inspire me to lose weight,” says the 48-year-old, whose two children are now teenagers.
“One day, I noticed that more than half my wardrobe consisted of smaller-sized dresses, which I could not fit into. I said to myself, ‘This is it! No more. I am going to get into shape.’”
Desai embarked on a two-year fitness journey, following a strict diet for three months in 2021 and again for another three months last year.
This, along with committing to regular exercise, helped her lose 20kg by July 2022, and achieve her goal weight of 60kg. Through lifestyle changes, she has since managed to keep the excess weight off.
