Author: admin

From a young age of 7, Hazel Sim (@sim.hazel) was very self-conscious about her body. Feeling embarrassed about being in TAF (Trim & Fit) Club, she also had to endure bullying in school and even had to drop out of school twice when it became too much.

“At around 7 years old I already knew I was larger than the other girls. Put that into a girls’ school with puberty and I became self-conscious about everything and how others see me. We had mandatory TAF (Trim & Fit) Club that so often gets turned around to FAT.

“It boggled my mind how forcing kids to skip lunch and exercise would reap any positive results instead of encouraging a healthy relationship with food and exercise. That only paved the way to what I can only describe as body dysmorphia for me and I hated being in my body at one point. Self-harm, self-doubt. It felt like my self-worth was so tied with how much space I occupy.”

Her development years were really rough as she struggled with depression. When she hit her heaviest of 87kg at the age of 18, something clicked inside of her and she started to work on changing some habits.

A burnout at work pushed her to take a break and that was when she started exercising and cultivating a healthier relationship with food and her body. From spin, barre, boxing, yoga to HIIT, Hazel enjoyed a varied workout routine and also stopped unhealthy eating habits like binge eating, purging and yo-yo diets.

“Body positivity finally came after I chose to put myself first and love myself. For example, I became more mindful with my eating. I used to binge eat when something doesn’t go my way and regret it, purge or go on those yo-yo diets and the cycle continues. Now I know it’s possible to eat healthily and treat yourself while reaching your goals, include healthier habits and feel better in my own skin.”

Right now, Hazel is in a better headspace and holds so much more love for herself. Choosing to put herself first, she now knows it’s possible to eat healthily and treat yourself while reaching your goals.

lululemon Singapore has expanded their top styles to fit sizes 0-20. Shan Hui is wearing the Energy Bra High Support in Rainforest Green and the Fast and Free HR 24” Tights in Dark Olive.

Dancing was a huge part of Park Shan Hui (@lilmissshanshine), from her childhood through to her current university days.  Her size was never an issue for her, until she suffered two serious injuries due to overtraining.

“I used to be relatively trim and fit throughout my childhood to university, given my heavy involvement in dance CCAs. However, that starkly changed when I got seriously injured on two separate occasions due to overtraining with my dance crew in SMU. Since then, I unknowingly started putting on weight, given the maintenance of the size of my appetite coupled with a serious drop in physical activity,” she said.

The drop in physical activity led to a weight gain of about 20kg but Shan Hui did not pay much attention to it until Circuit Breaker happened. She saw a recent photo of herself and that hit her on how she had let herself go.

“I never noticed that I was subconsciously deeply unhappy with the reflection looking back at me in the mirror, nor did I feel the need to change, until Circuit Breaker happened. It was around that time when I stumbled across a picture of myself in Korea earlier that year (January 2020). Only then did it hit me how I had let myself go, to the extent that I was making excuses for not being able to fit into my old clothes and simply completely drowning myself in my pursuit of a higher GPA.”

Realising that she can take charge of her lifestyle, she started incorporating an active regime of yoga, Pilates, HIIT, spin and dance to lose weight. However, her weight loss pursuit soon transformed into a lifelong journey to body acceptance and self-love.

“Circuit Breaker was a really huge turning point for me. It helped me realise that while I can’t control genetics such as base metabolism, I CAN take charge of my lifestyle and incorporate acts of self love. To me, self love entails eating things that make me feel good (ie. clean and delicious) while exercising to FEEL good and STRONGER rather than for aesthetic purposes. While my journey might have began as a weight loss journey, it has transformed to one of a lifelong road to body acceptance and self love, which I’m eternally grateful for.”

Now, Shan Hui is thankful to her body for keeping her alive, helping her break through mental barriers and letting her explore so many new things and places every day. Exercise is no longer a punishment for overeating, but an activity she genuinely looks forward to!

lululemon Singapore has expanded their top styles to fit sizes 0-20. Shan Hui is wearing the Enlite Bra in Black and the Invigorate 25” tights in Black.