Singapore #Fitspo of the Week: Tyler Lim

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: Tyler Lim (@thisfitdoc)

Age: 32

Height: 1.83m

Weight: 79kg

Occupation: Doctor

Status: Married to @thisfitblonde

Diet: I eat intuitively, as others might call “intuitive eating”. I make peace with the food that I eat. There is technically no bad or good food; too much of anything is bad. Junk food makes you overeat before you feel full. It also makes me feel sick and sleepy post-meal, and I recognise that as what my body does not want.

Healthy food makes me eat in proper portions and gives me mind clarity after, and it gets my day going for what I need to do. It also moves my bowels regularly. There is a certain mental satisfaction to moving bowels regularly and its science (look it up). So mindfully I’d eat in moderation whatever and whenever my body tells me to. I also find that I keep more friends that way.

Training: I do strength training with my favourite personal trainer twice a week, and three times a week of HIIT for cardio with my friends on ClassPass.

Q: What were your backgrounds in sports growing up?

A: The only sport I did back in the day was e-sports, which involved a lot of finger clicking and sitting down. I mean, I did occasional basketball with my friends but never competitively. I was actually a sickly little asthmatic kid growing up and I’m glad I grew out of it.

What made you suddenly take an interest in fitness? Was it your wife who got you into this active lifestyle?

Well, national service (NS) definitely played a part in kickstarting my fitness exposure. I did it at 26 though, because of medical school. But I never had the love for fitness because who likes being shouted and screamed at while working out.

Then my wife (girlfriend then) started dating me during my NS time and pretty much got me into a routine because she’s a fitness fanatic, enthusiast, advocate, you-name-it.

How have your views towards fitness change?

I think a lot of people, including myself, view fitness as a means to an end – getting in shape or to lose weight, often within a designated period – when we first start. But more recently, I feel like it’s more than that: I see it as a lifestyle. It’s about getting active and spending time with like-minded people, having fun as you would going about your daily life.

I can bore you with all the benefits of working out and the science behind it (and it might get you started or even get you to try out your first class), but you wouldn’t sustain doing it if you don’t find yourself happy living that lifestyle.

What are the advantages of working out with your wife?

Well, you'd always have dates (you'll be surprised how many married couples can miss out going on dates for weeks), and that little endorphin at the end of the workout brings you ever closer together. You work out together, you eat together, you head home together. I guess that why couples who sweat together, stay together.

How do you balance your work as a general practitioner, being a dad and keeping fit?

Everybody is busy. I’ll find time to do things that are important to me, like you would for things that are important to you. I believe that you'll have to take care of yourself before you can take care of others. As you are reminded you every time you board the plane, “Please put your oxygen mask on first, before helping others”.

What are your fitness goals now?

I don’t like the term “goal” because it suggests that there’ll be an end to what I do. I enjoy that lifestyle and I like challenges, and currently I’m challenging myself to build more strength and maintain it.

When did you feel the least confident about yourself?

I used to be self-conscious especially when public speaking and leading in projects, especially back in school days. It leads me to over-worry and then appear nervous. When in actual fact, I think I’m often the hardest judge of my own performance.

I now just make peace with myself and focus on the task at hand and try to complete and clear the objectives I set for myself. I find that more people say I’m confident that way.

Are you satisfied with your body now?

This question makes me think about and then judge my own body and then feel insecure when comparing myself to others. I otherwise wouldn’t think about it. I'd be lying if I said I don’t care, so I try to think about answering other questions in life – which are aplenty.

Have you ever received any comments about your body?

I can imagine I would after this post gets out. But I mean here and there I’m sure everybody does, but I’m lucky because I mainly get positive things. Probably because I’m always around people whom I love and respect and likewise.