Inspiring weight loss stories often motivate others to embark on their own fitness journeys.
Recently, a German influencer went viral after shedding an impressive 60 kg in five years. Thomas Derksen achieved this transformation without fad diets or weight-loss drugs. Instead, he relied solely on regular exercise and healthy eating habits.
What
His earlier pictures show him indulging in heavy meals like big breakfasts, cakes and bacon sandwiches. Since then, Thomas has made significant lifestyle changes, including indulging in activities like kickboxing, kayaking and swimming. At 36, he faced health issues such as chest pain, joint problems, and fatty liver, which prompted him to shift towards a healthier life.
“I started to lose weight when Covid happened. I knew I needed to lose weight and that my lifestyle was unhealthy. I had a fatty liver, chest pains and sore joints. Staying at home gave me time to do my research. All the information I needed was available online. There are many free resources. I collected what I found and put it into practice. Some ideas worked for me, some did not," Thomas said in an interview with South China Morning Post.
“I tried several crash diets, but each time I regained the lost weight and even more,” he added.
Thomas Derksen moved to China to study at Fudan University in Shanghai in 2013 and eventually settled there in 2016. He gained online fame by sharing humorous videos in Mandarin about his Chinese adventures. The influencer acknowledged that his fondness for delicious Chinese food likely contributed to the weight issues he had struggled with throughout his life.
Thomas's Fitness Routine
During the 2020 pandemic lockdown, Thomas used the downtime to reassess his weight and health. He started hitting the gym, doing strength training three times a week and cardio twice a week.
For shorter distances, he preferred walking, believing it to be the "best exercise." Ditching quick fixes, he prioritised sustainable habits over fad diets and weight-loss injections.
Thomas experimented with intermittent fasting but couldn't stick to it, finding himself constantly hungry within restricted eating windows.
“So I switched back to eating three or four meals a day, but ate smaller portions," the influencer said.
He focused on making sustainable lifestyle changes rather than following specific diets, which helped him maintain his progress.
“Having French fries or a hamburger now and then would not change the long-term result, so the feeling was very different. It was like raising a child: when you tell a child not to do something, it wants to do it even more. I never said to myself, ‘You cannot eat this or that.' Instead, I said, ‘You can eat whatever you want, but 80 per cent of the time you eat healthy.' That shift moved me from a passive role to an active one," Thomas added.
The influencer achieved his 60 kg weight loss by cooking healthy meals at home and cutting out junk food. Thomas Derksen's transformation took five years, and he is now down to 83 kg.
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