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Bhakti Mathur
Bhakti Mathur
Contributor
Bhakti took to writing in 2010 when she created the popular Amma, Tell Me series of children’s picture books about Indian festivals and mythology. After a long stint as a banker, she now juggles her time between her writing, her passion for yoga and long-distance running, and her family.

Ravi Chandra was diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 51. Instead of medicine, the Hong Kong finance executive took up running. In the years since, he has competed in 29 races and set up a running club.

With Jennifer Aniston as her role model, the toned and lean Jessie Lim talks about her weight-loss and fitness journey, in which she went from 85kg to 51kg in 14 months through diet and exercise.

Opal Li, who suffered from depression and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, learned to manage her mental health issues with meditation and yoga, before studying psychology and becoming a counsellor.

Taking up distance running has been life-changing for executive Sundeep Singh. He is 22kg lighter, he ran 100 half marathons in 100 days in 2019, and recently did an impromptu 100km overnight run.

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A Thai Buddhist, Siriluck has fought cancer for 16 years, and says a good attitude and a belief in the healing power of your body are important, but so too are conventional cancer treatments.

Vinith Rao turned to the keto diet in 2018 when his weight hit 93kg. He lost 14kg, but regained it during the pandemic. After a wellness coach inspired him to try regular exercise with his diet, the kilos have stayed off.

Iyengar yoga, founded by the late B. K. S Iyengar, is intended for people of all ages and physical abilities. Three women share how regular Iyengar yoga practice helped them overcome physical and mental issues.

On his 60th birthday Peter Hopper set himself an epic running challenge – go the length of the equator by running 5km or more a day for 10 years. Four years in, the Hong Kong running coach’s streak is unbroken.

Told he had type 2 diabetes and hypertension at 42, a 101kg Singapore IT exec quit smoking, cut down on alcohol, began cardio and strength training and adopted a keto diet. Intermittent fasting was the final step.

Ultramarathon runner Winnie Khattar got into long-distance racing in her 30s. The Hong Kong finance executive talks about how she stays injury-free, and why running is ‘the most rewarding experience’.

At the age of 58, Venkatesh Prabhu started running. Kiron Kukreja started strength training at 88. They are proof that neither retirement nor old age should keep people from finding their way to fitness.

A breast cancer diagnosis helped change a former fitness instructor’s perspective on life, and she began to take better care of herself with therapy, meditation, a fresh look at food, and walking.

Ross Bendix weighed 127kg (280lbs) before having a seizure and being diagnosed with liver disease. He quit alcohol, started exercising, changed his diet and now he’s in the best shape of his life.

An executive in Hong Kong lost 30kg in seven months after joining a gym and hiring a personal trainer. Her lifestyle changes have helped her overcome her many health issues.

To recover from open heart surgery after a heart attack at 46, Dhananjay Yellurkar took up running and has now run marathons on six continents – even one ultramarathon.

A colon cancer diagnosis while he was trying to get fit shocked Winston Herrera, but he recovered and shed 25kg. Then he got lung cancer – and beat that, too.

Limiting the hours in which he could eat, diet changes and exercise helped Sumanta Panigrahi lose 17kg. When he put on 6kg working from home, they helped him lose another 15kg.

Former massage therapist and cancer survivor Petra Winkler-Hirter explains how Iyengar yoga helped her through chemotherapy’s side effects and recover from breast cancer.

A Hong Kong businessman diagnosed with high blood pressure and high cholesterol chose exercise over medication to lose weight. He took up running, got fit, lost 22kg and, 13 years on, is an ultra runner and triathlete.

We all have a voice in our heads, and sometimes it says too many negative things. Experts describe techniques for countering the negativity and harnessing our internal monologue to be happier and healthier.

Overweight for 15 years and obese for seven of them, Singaporean Sudipa Sen was diagnosed pre-diabetic and decided she had to do something. Three simple steps were all it took to shed 30kg in a year.

Theresa Brickley says the secret to ageing well is to keep active while listening to your body and adapting to injuries. In particular, regular strength training and yoga have helped the Hong Kong resident to keep feeling young.

Regular physical activity and good nutrition can help slow down and even reverse the ‘normal’ ageing process, says Singaporean doctor. He applied this to his own life and shed 15kg in six months.

Practising yoga forced Kate Lee to confront her body in ways she had not before, with the poses and breathing techniques helping her accept herself as she was.

Modern life is noisy and frenetic, technology provides a constant distraction and we’ve forgotten how to listen. Here’s how active listening can help us tune back in to our friends and family.

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As a teenager, Menka Purswaney developed severe asthma that doctors said was incurable. Yoga helped cure it, however. Now she’s found her calling teaching yoga to children – it helps them cope with the pandemic.

Embrace your feelings of anxiety instead of trying to push them away to unlock superpowers, say experts, from being more productive to being more emotionally resilient.

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Bioresonance therapy allowed sports pro Joann Hardwick to ‘find out which food groups put stress on my system’, helping her beat breast cancer twice and then thyroid cancer.

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