By Deborah Rowe

While most people struggle to lose weight and fit into smaller sizes, Berenice Seow faced the opposite.

Weighing in at 50kg for her 1.74m frame, many would look at her and think there’s nothing she needs to change about her body. In fact, most people fall prey to eating disorders because they want to be thin like Berenice.

The 26-year-old marketing executive however, became unhappy with herself and once, made a New Year’s resolution to gain weight after hearing one too many remarks about her figure.

“As I grew older, I started to get affected by other’s comments about my body. They would say things like – ‘You look like a stick’ or ‘You look like a bamboo; why don’t you hang yourself out of the window to hang your clothes?’” the ardent Liverpool Football Club fan mentioned.

It’s societal expectations like these that led to Berenice harbouring insecurities about her body, which she never had at a younger age.

However, she’s since understood and accepted that her body is just the way it is and isn’t able to grow much bigger even if she tries extremely hard.

Instead of feeling bad about her small frame, Berenice turned to yoga to get fitter and stronger, and there have been significant improvements to her strength.

Berenice goes for yoga twice a week and occasionally goes to the gym. Yoga has helped to strengthen her; for example, she normally isn’t able to replenish the heavy water tanks in the office but now when she sees that it’s empty, she will volunteer to refill it. Yoga also allows her to calm the mind, which is why she really enjoys doing it.

After chancing upon Rock The Naked Truth (RTNT), she came down for the Official Launch with a friend whom she thought needed to hear she was beautiful the way she is.

“She’s thin; she’s really thin, but she thinks she’s fat. She thinks she’s big sized and that her arms are big. So for the launch of RTNT, I brought her along and after that, she told me she will always try to embrace her own body. I think embracing your body is very important and that’s what I learnt from RTNT.”

Following her personal struggles and after hearing more from others during the RTNT launch, she hopes everyone will be able to accept and love their bodies a lot more.

“Coming from the thinner point of view, it is not about just wanting to become bigger but you really have to start loving your body. You don’t have to copy others. You don’t have to blend into what the media has to say about body image such as having to look skinny or thin. As long as you’re healthy, that’s the most important thing.”

We chat more to Berenice…

Do you still struggle with your body?

I think I still do. When I look in the mirror, I will always think “Why am I so thin? How come I can’t grow any bigger or larger?” But I think it’s just my body; it just doesn’t grow as much as I want it to. I want to tell people – you don’t have to bother about what other people think.

What does body image mean to you?

I think it’s about keeping fit, keeping healthy and having a strong mindset of what your body can do for you. Some of us really underestimate what our bodies can do for us, but actually it’s a lot stronger than what we think.

How did you feel about your own body and yourself after learning about RTNT?

I’m more confident. I’m more confident in showing people that even though I’m thin, I’m not as weak as people think I am. I am strong, mentally. Although I’m still on the journey of growing bigger and stronger, I feel I will eventually get to my end point.