Happy New Yee

Cover girl CHARMAINE YEE shares her transformation journey, and how she’s riding on the benefits of a healthy lunch and hard-hitting Muay Thai-inspired workout regimen.

- Peh Yi Wen

When Kiss 92FM radio deejay Charmaine Yee isn’t rocking the airwaves with her husky voice and charming personality, she’s often shuttling from the studio to hosting gigs. Her spirited delivery and confidence as a presenter is admirable, but the 31-year-old tells us her decade-long career in the media industry hasn’t been easy on her self-esteem. “I was often told that I wasn’t good, skinny or fashionable enough, and I felt pressured to change who I was,” she says.

In a bid to lose weight, she then experimented with unhealthy diets, such as going carb-free and juicing, in hope of quick results. The kilos did slide off after two weeks, but returned soon after. “I tried every crash diet possible, but that wasn’t sustainable.”

At 25, Charmaine was thrown her first health scare. Having experienced week-long symptoms of urinary tract infection, she decided to see a gynaecologist for a routine check up. However, what her ultrasound revealed was a 10cm cyst that had engulfed one of her ovaries, which required immediate surgery for removal.

Six years later, she was hit with another medical emergency situation – appendicitis. “I was hosting an event and felt a sharp pain in the lower right side of my abdomen. I quickly brushed it off as harmless gastric pain but it still persisted hours later,” she recalls. These unforeseeable incidents taught Charmaine not to take her health for granted, and she’s reminded daily by the scars on her lower abdomen. This year, she made the commitment to clean up her diet and improve her fitness game with a Muay Thai-inspired training routine.

SHAPE: What sparked your decision to reshape your health?