Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Olivia Haettmark
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: Olivia Haettmark (@olive_on_wheels)
Age: 26
Height: 1.63m
Weight: 58kg
Occupation: Interior Designer
Status: Attached
Food: No diet plan, I generally eat three times a day and top up with snacks when I'm hungry.
Breakfast: After a ride I'll have a pastry or more often than not I start my day off with a yogurt bowl containing oats, raspberries, chia seeds, nuts, almond butter and coconut flakes.
Lunch: Leftovers from the night before or a sandwich.
Dinner: I cook a lot of pastas, creamy or tomato-based but also eat out at hawkers and pizzerias.
Don't eat: Any seafood and generally not a fan of the fast food chains.
Drink: Water and a bucket load of coffee.
On days where I ride, generally my intake will double.
Exercise: I cycle three to five times a week.
Q: When you were younger, were you active in sports?
A: I loved my dance classes which I started around 10 years old. I loved gym classes but I never competed in any sports.
What sports did you get into as you got older?
I danced until I was 17 years old and after that I was mainly at the gym and doing some sporadic running. At university I would run quite often to clear my head, but I was never any good at it.
How did you get into cycling?
I got into cycling during the COVID-19 circuit breaker, like a lot of people did. It was difficult to find a bike so I was watching Global Cycling Network videos, excitedly waiting for the bike to arrive, so when it did I went all guns blazing.
At the time I was living at the Sail across from Marina Bay Sands and had the perfect car-free access to the East Coast Park connector. That first week I raked up a good 200 kilometres. I was hooked.
Realising some friends had just purchased their bikes as well, we set off exploring Singapore and all the hidden gems around the island.
What do you like about cycling?
It's the social aspect more than anything for me. You can ride with someone for hours without saying a word or you can chat continuously for hours on end.
It's an amazing sport because you can do it in a group of people with completely different physical abilities and all enjoy the workout.
When you were younger, did you experience any incidents that made you feel insecure about yourself?
I have very adventurous parents but for some reason I was always very careful and scared of anything new. Maybe it was all the moving around to different countries as a child. I believe getting into a sport like road cycling has triggered that want for adrenaline. I have started to push myself to be braver and question the invisible boundaries that I had grown up with.
When did you feel the least confident about yourself?
To be honest I believe my most insecure moments are when I start to overthink social situations. Growing up in different cultures, the social norms changed several times. As a teen I struggled to understand who I was, and played into my stereotype when that was far from reality.
I believe it takes time to understand ourselves and accept that there are people who will simply not appreciate who you are or what you stand for and that's okay.
Did you ever struggle with your body?
I have fluctuated in weight my whole life but it was never a problem. My parents shared a wholesome view on health and so I grew up understanding that food and exercise are how we fuel, energise and use our bodies. Seeing the two of them comfortable and also confident in their own skin helped me build a strong body image.
That is not to say that when my weight was at its most I didn't feel self-conscious, Of course I did, but I always knew what the cause was, mainly my over-eating, and made conscious efforts to make healthier choices.
Are you satisfied with your body now?
Yes I can happily say I am. Partly due to the way I was raised but also educating myself on what nutrition and energy is. My body image has always been very healthy. Now I am exercising more than I ever have in my life, I physically feel great.
Have you ever received any comments about your body?
All the time but name anyone who hasn't? It doesn't matter what gender, age, or what their body looks like, people will always feel a need to comment both positively or negatively. Most don't faze me but a pet peeve of mine is when I get messages about what expression they want me to feel/show. The most frequent one being "You could smile" or "Why do you look so angry?"
What do I say? I simply don't respond.
If you could change anything about yourself, would you?
Change? No! Develop and improve? Of course! I have realised that the more I learn, the less I feel I know. Therefore I try to keep challenging myself in all aspects of life.
