How a Singaporean influencer stopped fixating on being thin and became a fitness role model, body positivity ambassador, and triathlete
- As a teen, Cheryl Tay felt overweight. She developed body dysmorphia and tried everything to get skinny to be ‘more well liked and accepted’, dropping to 45kg
- Weightlifting taught her that fitness is not about how you look but how you feel. She took up triathlon and started a movement for others with eating disorders
Singaporean fitness influencer and triathlete Cheryl Tay is proud of her body and works hard to take care of it. When preparing for a race, she trains daily, following a programme her coach developed.
During her “off season”, she has fun while exercising, turning bike rides or runs with friends into social activities, and not worrying about hitting her pace.
“Fitness is a way of life for me, it’s something I enjoy and a part of my lifestyle,” says the 37-year-old former motoring and motor sports journalist, who now has more than 58,000 followers on her Instagram account, @cheryltaysg.
“You have to be motivated to keep fit for health reasons, otherwise exercising will feel like a punishment. I genuinely like working out, and over the last few years I’ve come to realise how amazing the human body is.”
It wasn’t always this way. As a teenager, family and friends made Tay feel overweight. She developed body dysmorphia, becoming fixated on her body’s perceived flaws.
She punished herself by over-exercising. At one point, for two months straight she ran 26 kilometres (16 miles) a day, then did two to three hours of kick-boxing. After those two months, she had lost 20 kilograms (44lbs).