If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)
By Marcel Sng
I have decided to put the interview with Sathiavathi into 2 sections - Part 1 will be about Sathiavathi's efforts to lose weight, and Part 2 will discuss her efforts to bring down her weight through diet and exercise.
An Interview With Sathiavathi
What was your lowest weight in the past?
It was 55kg, at the age of 20.
What was your highest weight in your life?
It was 87kg, around the age of 35. It remained constant until recently.
Can you share with us your story on how you brought your weight down to 77kg?
When I was at the age of 16, I had an athletic physique. I had a slim body and felt very good. It was only when I got married that I started putting on weight. At first, my weight was somewhere around 60kg, and when I got married, it shot up to 80kg.
At the age of 35, I decided to take up walking. To manage my weight well, I used to do slow walks, at 4km per hour, of about 5km to work. When I return home, I will come by bus.
I was able to keep my weight to 80kg that way until I got knee injury later on. I saw the doctor and got well temporarily.
Later on, I got to know about Flexifitness Young Champions Programme. I decided to put my children in the programme. While my children were improving themselves in running, in both stamina and speed, Flexifitness provided me with a programme to bring down my weight. My weight was fluctuating most of the time. The reason was that I was not committed at that time.
It was only when my daughter Sara, 15, lost 11kg and she came in 4th in the Women's Open 10km POSB RUN 2014 that she started to push me to lose weight.
As soon as I got myself committed, my weight dropped to 85kg in September 2013. In October that year, my weight dropped to 82kg. I believe that the weight loss earlier enabled me to do brisk walking to burn fat faster. After reaching that, I did some drills given by Coach Rameshon. I found that the knee pain was reduced and as soon as I reached 77kg, my running speed went up.
Due to the running drills given by Coach Rameshon from Flexifitness, I found that my children's and my knee pain has vanished.
In the past, my daughter Sara had knee problems and our doctor had recommended an MRI scan. As it was expensive, I was not able to send her for this. The only thing I could do is to make her do the running drills. Her walking gait was also changed. My other two children also had this long - term injury problem in the knee area. It has now vanished. I am grateful to Coach Rameshon and his team of Flexifitness Coaches.
Sathia's changed in the diet will be discussed in the next post.
What is your next goal?
I hope to bring my weight to 70kg next. With Flexifitness, I believe that through managing my busy schedule well, I will carry on their programme and continue my weight loss. I am hoping to go down to 65kg, and then possibly run a marathon in 2 to 3 years time.
Any running goal to do a personal best time?
I used to do 2 1/2hour runs for 10km. Last year, I was able to do in a trial time of 2hr 10min. It has now reduced to 1hr 23mins. I am hoping to do a 1hr 10min to 20min next time in POSB RUN 2014.
What is your message to people who are overweight?
I never believed I would be able to get my weight down to 77kg. There are two major factors for me to lose weight. One was because of my daughter and the other was because of Coach Rameshon and his committed coaches of Flexifitness.
Note:
By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’ by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).
He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.
