Fat to fit at 40: milestone motivates dad to shed 27kg with support of family, friends and associates
- Keon Lee was the heaviest he had ever been as he approached his 40th birthday, and resolved to lose weight, something he had tried in vain before
- He turned to family and friends for inspiration and support, and has left his junk food lifestyle far behind
Keon Woong Lee has battled the bulge as long as he can remember, he says, showing a school yearbook photo of his “fat kid” 11-year-old self.
“I had ajummas always giving me food but at the same time saying, ‘why are you so fat?” recalls the Hong Kong-based Korean of the family friends he called “aunties” when he was a child attending Sha Tin College.
Lee, the general manager of Faust International Youth Theatre in Hong Kong, says his voracious appetite for soft drinks and foods such as Choco Pies and French fries played a role. He tried everything from juicing to eating healthily for months, but never sustained those habits, so the weight always crept back.
In late 2019, Lee hit his heaviest weight: 115kg. “I was 38 then, and was going to be 39 in November that year. I knew I wanted to lose weight before 40,” he said. Whether it was a symptom of a midlife crisis, or just the idea of reaching a milestone age that inspired him, a determined Lee sparked a transformation that saw him shed 27kg.
