Only when I tried to tag my Instagram story under the “2026” highlights but couldn’t find it did I realise that I hadn’t been posting for quite a while.
In the past few years, I used to tag my personal stories under the year I posted them. But this time, I realised I hadn’t been sharing much of the personal moments I would love to look back on in this year’s highlight.
At first, I blamed it on my laptop being spoiled since Chinese New Year this year… but hmm.
What have I been busy with?
It’s actually been a while since I last posted something I truly care about. Guess what I’ve been busy with?
Well, for the past few years, I’ve been gaining weight uncontrollably – to the extent that I’ve exceeded my pregnancy weight from years ago. Since the end of last year, Kpo Kia papa bought a lightweight treadmill for me… and I took it as a hint that I needed to exercise more. I then started watching a lot of YouTube/XHS content to learn about managing weight through diet.
At first, I thought I could control my weight with food alone, but I soon realised that wasn’t enough.
I usually go to the ActiveSG gym every alternate weekend during Kpo Kia’s swimming lessons. I use the treadmill there (which has incline settings that my home machine doesn’t) and the body composition scale available at the gym. While I did notice a slight drop in weight and a lower BMI, my “body age” was still 4 – 5 years older than my actual age. My body fat percentage remained high, and my muscle mass had actually dropped.
Out of curiosity, I started researching what does it means – and to my horror, I realised that jogging/running alone isn’t sufficient to improve my overall health. While running is great for cardiovascular fitness, it’s not as effective for weight loss for women in their 40s due to hormonal shifts, muscle loss, and a slower metabolism.
Jogging/running can increase cortisol (the stress hormone), which may promote belly fat storage and break down muscle in women in their 40s. Less muscle means a slower metabolism and fewer calories burned at rest – which was quite a shocking discovery for me.
So what should I (or anyone in their 40s and beyond) do instead?
I’ve started incorporating light weights into my routine for strength training, to rebuild lost muscle and boost my metabolism. This also helps with managing fat-storing hormones. Kpo Kia papa prefers high impact High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), as these short bursts of intense activity are supposedly more effective and place less stress on the body compared to long-distance running.
Diet-wise, I’m trying to increase my protein intake to maintain muscle mass and cut down on the processed and sugary food I love. The biggest challenge for me now is managing stress and improving both the duration and quality of my sleep.
So far, I’ve managed to lose 2 kg since the beginning of the year. It’s slow, but it’s a comfortable pace that I can sustain. I’ll share more when I see improvements in my muscle mass from my next body composition reading. 🙂
