Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Debbie Soon

Life goes beyond the digits on the scale and your body is capable of so much more. Yahoo’s #Fitspo of the Week series is dedicated to inspirational men and women in Singapore leading healthy and active lifestyles. Have someone to recommend? Hit Cheryl up on Instagram or Facebook.

Name: Debbie Soon (@soondiggity)

Age: 30

Height: 1.67m

Weight: 60kg

Occupation: Chief of Staff at ONE Championship

Status: Single

Diet: IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros)/Flexible dieting – I don’t cut anything out of my diet but I track what I eat almost daily to hit my target macros, which are generally high protein, high carb and low fat.

Training: Five days of bodybuilding training (three lower-body days and two upper-body days), 10,000 steps per day and the occasional low intensity steady state (LISS) cardio.

Q: What kind of sports did you do when you were a kid?

I always enjoyed ball sports from good ol’ Captain’s Ball to netball, and eventually playing soccer in high school.

And then you became a cheerleader.

Yeah I joined my university cheerleading squad when I moved abroad for college. I was a base, and enjoyed throwing and catching flyers and building crazy pyramids.

Was there any pressure on you to be of a certain size then?

Thankfully my teammates were the most amazing and accepting group of women I’ve ever had the chance of hanging out with. We trained hard, played hard, and there was never any mean girl or body-shaming behaviour, so the answer is no!

When did you start lifting weights?

I started lifting weights about five years ago when I started developing a deeper interest in fitness. An ex of mine introduced me to the concept then and I started reading more books about it, and overcame my hesitation or fear of being in the free weights section in the gym.

Since then, I’ve taken my education a step further and have a CrossFit Level 1 certificate and am also a National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

You co-founded a spinning studio a few years ago. What led you to do it and what happened after?

Spinning embodies my two biggest passions in life – fitness and music. I am somewhat proud to say that opening 7Cycle in 2015 marked the early days of boutique fitness in Singapore (outside of yoga). I wanted to create an environment where people could get fit while having fun, as well as be inspired by the art of music and rhythm, and even more so the community around them.

Even though I’m not longer part of the boutique fitness studio scene, many of my previous instructors have gone on to become studio owner themselves (check out WeBarre and Boom), and/or are still instructors in places like Anthem. If you are ever at these studios, I can promise you you are in good hands.

You’re into bodybuilding now. What got you into it? Are there plans to compete one day?

After wrapping up 7Cycle, I really got into CrossFit and took part in the CrossFit Opens for three years in a row. It was a truly inspiring fitness journey for me, from not being able to do a single pull-up to becoming the 20th fittest woman in Singapore.

While CrossFit still has a special place in my heart, I wanted to take on a different challenge in bodybuilding where to a large extent your efforts outside the gym (from diet to sleep to lifestyle) matter more than those in the gym. I definitely intend to compete one day but for now I am focused on improving myself daily and keeping a positive attitude in the gym in spite of everything that is going on at work.

You travel lot for work, how do you get your workouts in when you’re away?

It’s not always easy but I look for gyms near or in the hotel I’m staying. I also try to stay active and on my feet as much as possible to manage my daily caloric expenditure. I also continue to track my meals or at least eat intuitively such that I don't completely let myself go while travelling.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

I felt the least confident about myself when I first moved overseas. As Westernised as I thought I was, there was a huge cultural shock and I was completely self-conscious about my accent, my appearance, how I was perceived by others and how I should behave.

Honestly I think I only managed to overcome that with time and slowly figuring out who I was and learning to be comfortable in my own skin. I was also lucky to find a supportive group of friends who were warm and welcoming and showed me it was okay to be myself around them.

What are your fitness goals now?

To continue working on my bodybuilding goals. I love bodybuilding as it is a long, patient process that rewards hard work and consistency. My weakness remains my hamstrings, so I am continuing to work on that while also building up my glutes. I hope to eventually be able to compete one day, but till then I’m focused on building muscle and developing a well-rounded physique.