A dream body in 7 months: how yoga, mindful eating and ‘now or never’ attitude helped menopausal mother of two lose 10kg

Fitness has always been a part of Bhakti Mathur’s life, but age and the onset of menopause caused her weight to creep up, so she decided to shed the pounds

Eager not to have regrets at 60, the 51-year old walked more, ate less, practised intermittent fasting and, after seven months, looks and feels better than ever

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Bhakti Mathur in October 2023 after losing nearly seven kilograms in three months through walking more and consuming fewer calories. Now, having lost even more weight, she has achieved the body she always wanted. Photo: Bhakti Mathur

Published: 4:15pm, 13 Apr 2024

I have always wanted the mirror to like me. Maybe that makes me vain, but that is the way it has always been. And for months, the mirror had stopped being my friend, showing me unwanted extra weight around the stomach, the sides of my waist and back.

Growing older and the onset of menopause made it easy for my weight to creep up. I was at my heaviest – 61.7kg – in June 2023.

One morning as I looked at myself in the mirror, I said: “It’s now or never.”

That epiphany led me to shed 10kg (22lbs) over the next seven months, reducing my body fat from 25 per cent to 16 per cent, to get the body I had wanted at 15 – at the age of 51.

Fitness has always been a part of my life. I took up long-distance running to shed the extra pounds gained during my two pregnancies in 2008 and 2009. I ran eight half marathons in Asia before taking part in the New York Marathon in 2017.

I stopped running in 2020 after a decade, triggering the slow rise in my weight.