Zen Yi

Author: Zen Yi

  • HYROX Foundational Class at Fitness First: A Reality Check

    Crossing the marathon finish line in December, albeit a lacklustre finishing time, felt triumphant. So did getting back about 80% of my strength in the conventional lifts in the span of 3 months. But the Hyrox Foundational Class humbled me, revealing gaps that I never saw coming.

    My Fitness Journey

    My entire goal in 2024 was to improve my cardiovascular capacity by training and participating in endurance sports. I underwent a total of three training blocks for three different races throughout the year. Just so you know, I’m not lacking in the mental grit department.

    After my final race of 2024, I decided to get back into strength training. As I increased the numbers week-on-week, probably due to a long layoff from strength work and muscle memory, I started feeling more well-rounded as an athlete. 

    One of the goals I set for myself in 2025 was to participate in Hyrox Mixed Doubles with my lovely partner. How did I get drawn in to try it? It’s all due to its format: 8x1km run with some obstacles in-between, which seems pretty straightforward to someone who runs and lifts.

    So when the opportunity came to sign up for a class, I thought – since I just completed a Marathon not too long ago and have managed to get some of my strength back, how hard could this be, right?

    It was really hard.

    The Hyrox Class Experience

    The workout consists of 6 stations – Devil Presses, Run, Rower, Wall Balls, Ski Erg and Farmer’s Carry + Burpee, 110s of work at each station followed by 30s of rest, for a total of 2 sets with 90s rest in between.

    My partner and I started at the rower station. At the end of the first set, my heart rate was already at 180 and by the third station, my quads were trembling uncontrollably.

    My familiarity with rowing and run did carry me through the stations, but anytime muscle endurance was required, I would crumble within seconds. Farmer’s carry made me feel like I was moving through quicksand, while burpees got me burping up my lunch.

    The Harsh Truth

    With the number of runs and lifting under my belt, I was expecting to do much better at these exercises. I guess what shocked me was how poorly I had done in my first session. The amount of sustained explosive power required for some of the stations and the resulting grip fatigue was shocking, to say the least.

    Things start to make sense once we bring energy systems into the equation. Marathon training is mostly aerobic, as compared to the anaerobic systems that Hyrox demands of our body. The muscle recruitment tends towards muscular endurance too, which 5×5 RPE 9 bench presses don’t directly translate to.

    Long story short, my body just isn’t prepared to be put through such a session. I lacked muscular endurance in every way. So much so that my leg actually cramped up during the cooldown stretches (which I also did not complete).

    Moving Forward

    With my struggles and weaknesses in mind, I have a brand new 16-week plan to follow. This training block will be split into 4 phases. In each phase, I will include some endurances exercises to my upper/lower body strength sessions, while dedicating more days to doing faster training runs and functional circuits. 

    Hyrox didn’t just test my body, it made me rethink the term ‘fit’. That alone is a win worth going for.

  • Navigating Through A-Level Failure and Beyond

    Since A-Level results were released last Friday, I thought there’s no better time to write on my personal failure in my own A-Levels almost 10 years ago.

    As someone who tripped and fell multiple times in my academics all the way to University, I think I’m well-equipped to discuss the experience and mindset of being in a “hopeless” crossroads.

    In this article, I’ll write about my experience of underperforming in my A-Level examinations, retaking them during National Service (NS) and rebuilding my academic and personal life through mindfulness principles. By weaving personal narrative with psychological frameworks, I aim to demonstrate how intentional awareness practices may help to reframe failure into a source of fuel for growth.

    For students who are currently reeling from your results, I assure you that whatever hopelessness you feel right now, will not be of significance a couple of years down the line. I urge you to take what I’m about to say and cultivate resilience, while maintaining your forward momentum as you progress through your life.

    An Avalanche of Failure  

    The Day Reality Shattered 

    Receiving my A-Level results felt like time has malfunctioned – as if two years of Junior College collapsed in a single, excruciating instant. While for others it was a moment of overflowing joy as their consistent, hard-work in their preparation has paid off, it’s the complete opposite for those like me. Instead of a sudden surge of emotions, we’re faced with an acute stress response to academic failure. A sudden tunnel vision, nausea and trembling hands, all at once. It didn’t help that my form teacher simply told me that my ONLY choice from there, was to attend private university. 

    For a number of weeks, I operated in what psychologists call “functional freeze”. As I attended to my NS duties, the scenes from the day of result release constantly replayed in my mind. This eventually solidified the thoughts of “I’m a disgrace, a failure” and  “My future is ruined”, which haunted me for a few years.

    Mindfulness Practice of Non-Judging

    By constantly repeating those thoughts, I am subconsciously judging myself. This is why it is important to practice non-judging, which is Kabat-Zinn’s first pillar of mindfulness. 

    Judgement is an instinctual human response that spares no one, including ourselves. To break out of the negative cyclic thoughts, we must learn to observe failure without moral labelling and recognise and acknowledge when our mind wanders. Putting something like journaling into practice, where we can document those thoughts and consciously reframe them as transient mental events instead of truths, would help tremendously.  

    The Barrier to Retaking

    Life’s not so simple

    Singaporean males that are retaking A-Levels during NS faces a trifecta of challenges: 

    1. “Time Squeeze” from working full-time – often overtime in NS, while staying consistent in revision.

    2. Environmental limitation of studying in an unfavourable location such as a noisy bunk.  

    3. Social stigma of peers questioning wasted effort on a second attempt.

    Although Singaporean males face more difficulties in revising, Singaporean females would have a more difficult decision to make. While they are exempted from NS, deciding to retake A-Levels would mean to deliberately choose to spend another year redoing their A-Levels. Society sees this choice as a “waste” of a year and we’d be better off moving on, which is far from the truth.

    In the past, I was very easily persuaded by people’s words. I had a herd mentality and always thought that any more time spent not moving forward in life is time wasted. It’s only until I graduated that I recognised how wrong I was.

    If I could turn back time, I still would probably have retaken my A-Level examinations. But I wouldn’t treat it as the only way out of that situation. In fact, I may have went with my guts and tried to become a Sport Scientist.

    Mindfulness Practice – Beginner’s Mind in the Barracks

    Kabat-Zinn’s third pillar – approaching challenges with fresh perspective – is extremely useful in helping us keep our minds open. For the friends who are serving the nation, instead of resenting NS for taking up your revision time, try to reframe your duties: Route marches and physical training helps boost our cerebral oxygenation and field camps help build resilience through exposure to discomfort and stress. This cognitive restructuring would help improve time management efficiency and prevent mental burnout that leads to giving up.

    For those exempt of NS, sees retaking A-Levels as a waste of time and are tempted to give up on their dream, hear this: Most people who rushed through life to start working often found themselves not enjoying their line of work. Therefore, spending 1-2 years in exploring something of interest may not be the worst thing to do after all.

    The New Normal  

    Private candidates often don’t have the luxury of striving to achieve 90 RP. As students, we have the full-time responsibility of getting good grades. But once we’re out of school, we’d be forced to pick up other responsibilities. As such, it is crucial for us to adjust our own expectations accordingly.

    Mindfulness training reinforces our mind and forces us to focus on what’s important. Instead of falling into binary thinking traps such as “Total Redemption” and “Still Inadequate”, it is much better for us to focus on “Measurable Progress”

    My retake results brought BCC grades, which was far from stellar. But what’s important is that I managed to do so while juggling between NS duties and my revision. It was a massive improvement from how I initially did and it got me where I wanted to be; I went from having no return offers, to getting offers from my preferred school and major. Again, I was happy with my results because I managed my expectations beforehand.

    Mindfulness Practice – Letting go of Perfection

    This Stoic Philosophy of letting go involves recognising and accepting what you cannot control. Our fixation of going through the perfect academic path (Primary -> Secondary -> JC -> Local Uni) holds us back more than we realise. Even when we are forced to deviate from this ideal, we still try our best to hold onto it. 

    Only by letting go of such ideals can we notice the endless possibilities of this world we live in. Private universities, MOOC certifications and professional experience via internships are just some examples. All these diversified approach increases the area of opportunity for us, allowing us to succeed in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

    Failure as Fertilizer

    My journey from A-Level collapse to professional stability wasn’t a straightforward path, but being put in that position has definitely helped reinforce my mind and resilience. Academic setbacks become transformative when processed through mindfulness frameworks.

    For students facing result day despair, remember that:

    1. Failure is data, not destiny

    2. Recovery is non-linear

    3. Mindfulness is multiplicative

    There is nothing more important than our own mind. We are only as capable as what we think of ourselves. The path forward begins with a single, mindful breath, then another, then another. Every conscious step eventually brings us over the mountain. The world is your oyster, especially so when you have the advantage of youth.

  • My one week experience with Rybelsus

    It has been 1.5 weeks since I began taking Rybelsus, an oral form of Semaglutides, on a daily basis. Just 3mg a day seems to be working almost too well. It baffles me how such a small dose works so well in combating my previously endless cravings for food.

    The way to take the medicine is: first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Only a sip of water that’s enough to swallow the pill. No food and drinks either, for at least 30minutes after taking the medicine. The reason for this is so that the medicine can be absorbed in the stomach to maximise its effectiveness.

    To be prescribed the medication, you have to either have a BMI of at least 27.5, or a BMI of 23 if you have a weight-related chronic condition. Luckily for me, I was way above 27.5 in BMI and have high cholesterol too. So no issues getting the green light here.

    During the week, my dietician analysed my day-to-day meals and habits. She provided valuable feedback and adjustments to help me achieve a more successful weight loss too.

    How I feel so far

    It’s been a long time since I last forgot to eat and skipped a meal. Which is why it felt so weird when it happened on the first day of taking the medication. The effects of food noise reduction were immediate, as I went about my first day having to adjust and remind myself to eat and drink enough water.

    Another noticeable change was how satiated I was. This is probably due to the effect of food digestion slowing down in general. Don’t get me wrong, I still feel hungry, just not as hungry, and not all the time. Watching mukbang videos doesn’t make me feel like wanting any and food cravings were easily satisfied after a couple of bites.

    As a certified human camel, I am used to drinking many litres of water throughout the day. Normally, I would go to the toilet almost every hour. Though nowadays, I have to constantly remind myself to drink more water.

    What Changed?

    One worry I had prior to being on the medication is that I might end up being unable to keep food down and lose too much weight too fast. This would be a huge problem, as my goal was to keep most of my lean muscle tissues. Luckily for me, I had no issue getting in enough protein. My lifting results were good even though I am losing weight.

    Initially, my training runs were quite lacklustre; it felt sluggish and I often stopped before completing it.  I quickly found out that it was due severe underconsumption of carbohydrates. This made me struggle to complete longer runs as my body lacks the energy source that it used a lot back when I was training for my marathons. With that said, I do feel a little lighter on the run due to the weight I lost. 

    The most interesting thing that happened in the past 10 days, was that I managed to lose 2.4kg. Since my lifting numbers were still up there, I believe that the 2.2kg was a mixture of fat and water. The reason why I called it interesting, was that it happened during the period where I hosted a birthday party at a buffet and had a scrumptious meal to celebrate Valentine’s day. Having dropped weight even with these events, is something that I’ve never experienced before, since I tend to overeat quite often.

    Side effects

    Based on my previous article, a large number of patients experienced nausea and vomiting as a result of the medication. Thankfully, I managed to avoid anything serious . Either I am lucky or I received very good guidance on the dosage. 

    The biggest issue I had in the past 10 days was constipation. Upon discussing with my dietician, I understood that it’s mainly due to two reasons. 1. The drastic change in water consumption after being on Rybelsus and 2. Lack of vegetables in my diet. After making some adjustments, constipation was no longer a problem and now I do feel much better.

    The entire purpose of taking these medications for weight management is for a positive lifestyle change. It’s not for us to rely on them forever. Almost all of us know that vegetables are good for us, but that alone isn’t enough to make us change our old habits. Old habits do die hard, but change becomes a little easier when we have the help of latest biotechnological advances in the forms of a pill.

  • Navigating Singapore’s humidity as an overweight person

    The Burden

    Can you imagine that the moment you step foot outside, your shirt clings to you like a second skin, and your eyes sealed shut by the searing sting from your salt-laced, sunscreen-carrying sweat trickling down your brows?

    What I just described, was a slightly dramatised and exaggerated account of my personal experience as an overweight man, living in a tropical climate. I know for a fact that I’m not alone in this, as Singapore’s humidity and rising obesity1 is sufficient to prove that this is a common shared experience for many. Overweight and obese people just don’t deal with heat well. 

    This shouldn’t come as a surprise, as Singaporeans tend to have quite a relationship with food. For example, the Chingay Parade 2025 was themed around the term “Joy”. How is that related to obesity? Well, a large part of the parade was about the unique food and delicacies in Singapore. Just as what this insinuates, a majority of Singaporeans, including me, seeks pleasure from the food we consume.

    Therefore, this article posits that elevated body mass intensifies thermal discomfort in tropical climates, creating interconnected physical, emotional and social burdens to the individual. 

    The Physical Toll

    Have you ever wondered why the heavier people tend to perspire more than the average person? It’s actually due to how fat works as a thermal barrier. Subcutaneous fat has a lower thermal conductivity as compared to lean tissues and thus traps more metabolic heat2. That, coupled with Singapore’s high humidity that hinders evaporative cooling on our skins, makes sweating less effective in dissipating heat.

    The more I travelled to other countries and experienced different climates, the more I notice that many of these problems are due to Singapore’s climate. Simple daily activities such as walking 10 mins to the MRT or eating hot and spicy foods would make me sweat profusely. Chafing and rashes happens to me more often than I get to change my toothbrush. Yet when I’m in other countries, all these problems doesn’t seem to impact me as much.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love Singapore a lot, just not so much the heat.

    Emotional & Social Impact

    Some benefits of being overweight include: people avoiding the seat next to me on trains since I tend to spill over onto their seat. As nice as it is to have more space to myself, there are way more negatives about being overweight.

    Aside from perspiring from doing just about anything, we also frequently receive comments about laziness. Mind you, I used to play basketball competitively in school, so I was very much active. It doesn’t matter how active we are, it’s all about how much food we consume.

    One thing that I’m very certain many of my fellow big boys can relate to, is the shirt pull. If you don’t know what it is, it’s something a lot of us did when we were younger to hide our man boobs. Another thing that only fellow plus sized gang may related to, would be the immense feeling of embarrassment at the trail of butt prints left behind on plastic seats, even in the presence of air-conditioning.

    All these emotional distress often leads to an avoidance of social events. It’s the fear of being made fun of and sometimes the discomfort of going out, that makes us shy away from social events, especially so when it’s an outdoor event. Sweat stains on shirts under the pits and body odour are just some other factors why overweight people may avoid social events.

    How easy is it to cope?

    It’s certainly easy to deal with constant sweating. Just bring around a handkerchief! And if you’re worried about the hygiene issues with reusing a handkerchief, a packet of tissue works fine too. Portable fans are just as much a lifesaver in just about anywhere.

    Not everything is that simple though. There is an overall limitation when it comes to coping and dealing with being overweight in a climate like Singapore. A lot of emotional labor is involved when we remain in a constant self-conscious state. Even more so when it comes to the mental and physical battle to become healthier. 

    Being overweight inherently carries numerous challenges, but Singapore’s climate intensifies these burdens in unique ways. The combination of relentless heat and humidity creates a physiological double bind—excess body weight traps metabolic heat, while the tropical environment limits effective cooling.

    If nothing else I’ve wrote resonates with you, at least understand this: Weight struggles are not merely about willpower. Biology shapes our responses to food, environmental factors influence daily habits, and mental health impacts both.

    For those carrying extra weight and feeling disheartened, I encourage you to start by acknowledging where you are today. Accepting that fact would lay the groundwork for meaningful changes to come. Progress lies in small, intentional steps forward, so let us try and take those steps together!

    1. https://www.healthhub.sg/live-healthy/its-not-a-small-world-after-all ↩︎
    2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19340696 ↩︎

  • Ozempic for Weight Loss: Weighing Research Data Against My Personal Health Risks

    As I was ideating for topics to cover this week, I happened to see on my calendar that I had an appointment with a weight loss clinic just days away. This was an appointment I scheduled last year in November, fueled by my frustration at my failed weight loss attempts.

    For the last 6 years, my weight has fell under 90kg on just one occasion; my marathon race which I ran at 89kg. As I am only 179cm tall, my BMI has consistently remained in the overweight range. My most recent blood test also indicates that I have borderline hypertension and high cholesterol. After some deliberation, I decided to seek some help.

    The reason I made an appointment 3 months in advance, was to give myself some time for a Hail Mary attempt at losing weight on my own, instead of immediately relying on the latest biotechnological breakthroughs (and also many celebratory occasions fall in the December to early February period). Since that hasn’t gone too well, it’s time for me to do some research on alternative ways of losing weight to get healthy.

    As a strong advocate of doing your own research before doing anything that might permanently affect your body, I will dedicate this week’s article to my personal research on obesity and how semaglutides actually helps in weight loss. 

    What are GLP-1 RAs?

    GLP-1 Receptor Agonists (GLP-1 RAs) are a type of medication that mimics the action of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is a hormone that is involved in regulating our blood sugar level, as well as appetite control by promoting satiety through our central nervous systems.1

    These drugs were originally developed for type 2 diabetes, but its usage for other purpose has become more prevalent in recent years. Research has also shown its effectiveness in reducing clinically important kidney and cardiovascular events.2

    However, it is important to acknowledge that its usage in weight management is still being studied. A key thing to note would be the benefit-harm balance of GLP-1 RAs. Despite its efficacy in achieving weight loss, harmful side effects such as alopecia and vomiting has been reported in rather large amounts.3

    Types of GLP-1 RAs

    Now that we have an idea of what GLP-1 RAs are, it’s time to look into the types of GLP-1 RAs that are currently available.

    Semaglutides

    Semaglutides are FDA-approved drugs that are used for chronic weight management and type 2 diabetes.4 It has also shown to reduce cardiovascular risk in patients with obesity and preexisting heart diseases.5

    Latest efficacy research data shows that the use of semaglutides in treating non-diabetic obesity has led to a 11.8% mean body weight reduction, as compared to the placebo group, in 68 weeks.6

    Some side effects commonly seen in patients being treated with semaglutides are mostly mild or moderate gastrointestinal issues. However, cases of gallbladder disorders and cholelithiasis have been linked to the usage of semaglutides, with its users being 1.26 times and 2.06 times more likely to have face the respective side effect as compared to the placebo group.7

    Liraglutides

    Liraglutides are GLP-1 RAs that are 97% similar to that found in the human body. Liraglutides has proven to be effective in aiding weight loss. A study done on the clinical effectiveness of liraglutides, applied on 399 people living with obesity over the span of 6 months, has resulted in a mean average weight loss of 6.5kg, with majority losing more than 5% of their body weight.8

    Regarding side effects, liraglutides share a lot of similarities to semaglutides,  in that a large number of people experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) side effects due to the drug, though mostly at early stages of treatment.9

    An interesting statistical difference between liraglutides and semaglutides, lies in a significantly larger percentage of people discontinuing liraglutides (27.6%) as compared to semaglutides (13.5%)10. This might be due to medication fatigue, since liraglutides require daily injections while semaglutides are usually done weekly.

    Tirzepatides 

    Tirzepatides is a dual GIP/GLP-1 RA that outperforms single GLP-1 RAs. The effectiveness of this drug lies in the effects of GIP. GIP enhances insulin sensitivity, promotes fat cell lipid storage and improve lipid metabolism.

    The presence of GIP also helps in reducing GLP-1 RAs induced nausea by inhibiting area postrema neurons, which suppresses nausea.11

    Comparative Analysis on the effectiveness in curbing obesity

    There have been multiple studies done that directly compares the effectiveness of each drug in curbing obesity. Semaglutides, being the one with a longest safety data, seems to be a suitable benchmark for other peptides.

    Semaglutides vs Liraglutides

    A clinical trial of over 68 weeks was done on adults who were either obese or overweight. Those that received semaglutides achieved a mean body weight reduction of 15.8%, compared to 6.4% with liraglutides.12 

    Another clinical trial of 52 weeks reported a 13.8% weight loss with semaglutides at 0.4mg dose, compared to 7.8% with liraglutides.13

    Semaglutides vs Tirzepatides 

    In a 40-week trial, tirzepatide at 5mg, 10mg or 15mg has led to a 1.9kg to 5.5kg greater weight loss as compared to semaglutides at 1mg.14 A real-world study has also found that tirzepatides users had a 2.4% to 6.9% greater weight loss at 3-12 months.15 

    Meta-analyses

    A network meta-analysis of trials found that tirzepatides users who received 15mg doses achieved a 17.8% weight loss, as compared to 13.9% for semaglutides at 2.4mg doses and 5.8% for liraglutides at 3.0mg doses.16

    Long Term Outcomes

    After going through all these clinical research data, it’s pretty easy to guess the long term outcomes and benefits of using these drugs. At 208 weeks, semaglutides led to a mean reduction of 10.2% in body weight, sustained over 4 years in the SELECT trial.17 

    There were also improvements in HbA1c (a blood test that measures blood sugar levels) by 1.8%, blood pressure by 6.5 mmHg systolic and C-reactive protein (a marker for inflammation and infection in our bodies) by 40%.18

    There is also an improvement in the general quality-of-life (QOL), as expected when one goes from being overweight/obese to a normal healthy weight. 

    Side Effects, a Cause for Concern?

     As I went through the papers, I found myself being convinced by the multitude of benefits that the drugs offer. Though at the same time, I struggled to get over the high likelihood of experiencing GI side effects. The good news is that, most of the side effects seem to be temporary and would go away after some time.

    A very important thing to note is that the only GLP-1 RA that has the longest safety data would be semaglutides, which is better known by the brand Ozempic or Wegovy. With that said, all of these peptides, regardless of whether its semaglutides, liraglutides or tirzepatides, newer research would always surface and it is important for us to keep updating our own knowledge base and understand both the benefits and risks that it brings.

    My Personal Take 

    As someone who is very risk averse in my decision makings, a low possibility of risk is enough for me to avoid taking it. However, I am well aware of the dangers of being overweight, having high blood pressure and high cholesterol issues at just 27. 

    With the concerns over my health, I have decided to schedule an appointment with the clinic and see if it’s suitable for me. If you have similar health issues as me, I would highly recommend trying to resolve this without immediately resorting to these medications. But if you have been trying for some time and things just haven’t worked out (and you have some spare cash lying around), it’s time to seek some help.

    I will keep you guys posted on this topic if new research surfaces. I also plan to do a short update each week if I do end up starting on any medications. Until then, sign up for my newsletter and stay updated!

    1. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-024-01931-z

    2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39608381/

    3. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38846069/

    4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38016699/

    5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38740993/

    6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38016699/

    7. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38923272/

    8. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37194338/

    9. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28392927/

    10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8753508/

    11. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10697893/figure/Fig1/

    12. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11400221/

    13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30122305/

    14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34170647/

    15. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11231910/

    16. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39761578/

    17. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38740993/

    18. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36188627/

  • 2024 Annual Review

    Although it’s a little late into January, I would still like to do a little review on the past 12 months in the year of 2024. It also happens to be the first ever written review I have done in my life. Now, it’s not that I have never done any reflection on the past years before, I just haven’t documented any. 

    Usually, I would just be looking forward to the next year. Just like many others, I would set new year resolutions for myself for the new year and roughly plan on how to achieve them. I even made a vision board with my girlfriend, so that I’ll be reminded of my goals every single day. But one thing I have never done, is to sit down and write a proper review on the year that has just pass. 

    It’s interesting to me how, up to this point, I have yet to meet someone who writes a personal annual reviews before. I am referring to personal reviews, not the ones you have with your boss. Given how personal an annual review may be, perhaps it’s not something people would readily share.

    Due to my limited knowledge and experience on writing an Annual Review, I figured that having a structure in mind would be beneficial. Thus, for my Annual Review, I will be using the 3 questions that James Clear uses for his.

    The 3 questions that I’ll be using as a guideline are as follows:

    1. What went well this year?

    2. What didn’t go so well this year?

    3. What am I working towards?

    And without dragging it any further, here’s my 2024 Year Review.

    1. What went well this year?

    Career – 2024 marks the second year of me graduating from University and working full time as a Software Developer. It is also the year where I completed my graduate program with the company and received a conversion to become a permanent staff. 

    Travel – “I will travel more” was one of the goals I set for 2024. I used to see it as a pain to have to make flights and pack luggages. However, 2024 has certainly changed my perspective. I visited Japan and Australia, both for the first time ever. Worlds apart in their cultural offerings, yet both sharing its own kind of freshness completely transformed my outlook on travel. I would go as far to say that it has turned my previous dislike into a newfound passion.

    Fitness – I did a total of 3 races (2 Half-Marathons and 1 Marathon) in 2024 and got my PB timings in the Perth Half-Marathon and the Marathon. I fell sick twice during the 16-Week Marathon prep and was more than an hour off the timing I was trying to hit. It was a PB nonetheless so I’m still happy with what I’ve accomplished.

    Relationships – I used to struggle with finding the balance between individual ideals and compromise, but things felt way better last year. The concept of “Give and Take” is fundamental to a healthy and balanced relationship, but it’s only possible with proper and open communication as its foundation. (Bubby, if you’re reading this, I am truly thankful to have you.)

    2. What didn’t go so well this year?

         Things won’t always go as planned right?

         Weight loss – I failed to lose any significant weight this year. At the beginning of 2024, I told myself that I will drop my weight from 94kg down to ~85kg for the sake of feeling lighter and running faster. I did get my weight down to 89kg, but I gained it back when I started lifting more and running less. As of January 2024, I am back to 94kg. 

    Content Creation – I aimed to create video content and post them frequently on YouTube. Well, it didn’t work out too well. I struggled to meet my own deadlines multiple times, before realising that I was not as interested in it as I thought I was. Though, I’m glad that I gave it a shot.

    Staying healthy – This was probably one thing I never thought I’d struggle with. As I went about trying to achieve the things I set out to do for 2024, I fell sick a total of 5 times. A full recovery took an average of 2 weeks each time, which totals up to 10 out of 52 weeks of not being a 100%. Even though it was just shy of 20% of the year, the effects it had on my training and mentality was tremendous. It felt like a huge setback each time and all the work I put in prior was gone just like that. 

    Finances – Around May 2024 was when I cleared my student loan. To keep it vague, based on a rough calculation of how much I’m supposed to have saved since tells me that I haven’t been financially responsible.

    3. What am I working towards?

    This section is where I write about my long term plans that I am working towards. Here are some of the things I have already planned for in 2025. 

    Writing – One of the things that I have always wanted to do is to build a consistent habit of writing. Writing has always been my weak point, but I would love for it to be my main consistent form of creative outlet. 

    Lift Heavy, Be Kind – Though this is the name of Mitchell Hooper’s apparel brand, I found myself loving the message. We often get caught up in our own heads and subconsciously treat others meanly. I’m very conscious of that. So for the rest of my life, I’ll strive to lift heavy and be as kind as possible. 

    Athleticism – As someone who grew up excelling in sports, I’m quite ashamed that I have somehow lost my touch. Instead of focusing on just running or lifting, I plan to train and become more well-rounded. Additionally, Hyrox 2025 Singapore has just been announced, which I will be attending with my girlfriend in the mixed race.

    Study More – As someone who only took studying seriously in University (I pretty much failed my way through school and had to retake my A’s), I found myself enjoying the process of reading and gaining knowledge on certain topics. It’s something I haven’t done enough ever since I graduated and would love to pick it up again.

    Last words

    My experience writing this has been great. It serves as a reminder to be grateful of all that has happened thus far. It seems like the days of being in an unsettled position is far behind me. I am extremely fortunate to have a wonderful relationships with my family and friends, as well as a full-time job. I am happy with the progress that I’ve made in 2024, and I look forward to what 2025 has in store for me.