Yem Yuon, from Canberra, is a single father of three who weighed 115kg at the beginning of the year. Using his children as inspiration, Yem embarked on her weight loss journey in March to be a better role model for his children and spend more quality time with them. In just 5 months, Yem has lost an incredible 42 kg thanks to a ketogenic diet aka keto and a regimen of physical exercise and strengthening. It’s not just a healthier lifestyle that the 36-year-old has noticed, as his transformation has inspired him to make a career change and become a nutritional coach to help others achieve their goals and understand their bodies.
Here’s how he did it.
What was your lifestyle like before the transformation?
Before embarking on my transformation, my life was very mediocre. I never had any drive to excel at my job anymore and became comfortable, complacent and unmotivated – I didn’t prioritize my health and as a result it took a heavy toll on my physical health, mental health and my marriage.
What did you eat and exercise?
I’ve always been passionate about the gym and working out, but I’ve always found that my diet and sleep were keeping me from reaching my true potential. I never had the physical body to show off my hard work due to poor dietary choices. My first step was to research and understand calorie counting and macronutrients. This allowed me to create a planned meal program that would fit my current weight and body fat percentage and allow me to lose weight (excess body fat) while staying in a caloric deficit, but feeling full enough not to fall into temptation to go astray and cheat on my diet plan. I researched prepared meals and found that My Muscle Chef Meals was a perfect fit for my dietary needs. Having my meals planned ahead and prepared allowed me to focus on my weight training, work-life balance, and sleep.
What have you tried in the past?
I have tried many diets: low carb, carnivore, 1000 calories a day, OMAD, etc. I was never able to stick to a diet long enough as I was not satisfied with food or had no time to prepare meals in advance. Also, I realized that I was training with weights like I was in my twenties – with dreams of Mr. Olympia – and my body couldn’t keep up with the demands of such an intense workout, with little sleep and extremely low calorie diets.
What was the turning point?
Honestly, after my marriage fell apart, I needed to find a way out of such a dark place: my children needed me to do my best for them at a difficult time for everyone. I spent a lot of time self-evaluating and reflecting and came to the conclusion that although we cannot change the things that have happened to us, we can re-evaluate our position in life and see where we can improve physically and mentally. I decided that my being overweight had always held me back in life, that it affected my mental health, and that really, if I could achieve my weight and body goals with a plan, then I could achieve anything in life.
How did you do it?
I started my weight loss journey at the end of February 2022. I weighed 115kg and was 163cm tall, which put me in the obese category. I started a caloric deficit diet of about 1800 calories a day along with weight training 5 days a week.
A typical day of my food intake would be coffee in the morning (since I was practicing the 8/16 fast) and lunch would be around 2pm which was a My Muscle Chef meal – my favorite lunch would be their chicken and baked cauliflower, so good! He would then have a pre-weight training drink after work around 6pm, followed by a post-workout protein shake. And for dinner I would have another dish from My Muscle Chef – my absolute favorite is the Moroccan Cabbage Potato Salad – it has everything I need to finish the day with my macronutrient needs. If I may, I could also sneak in a quick protein bar as part of the My Muscle Chef meal plans that I buy every other week.
My training split was tailored to my age, as I am now 36 and not 21. A typical week would be Monday – Chest – flat bench bodyweight dips, incline bench press and decline bench press – to finish the day I would perform a bodyweight exercise to failure such as push-ups.
Tuesday – Triceps – warm-up would consist of bodyweight dips, followed by closed bench presses, skull crushers and other triceps extension variations – completed with diamond curls.
Wednesday – Legs – The warm-up will consist of bodyweight squats, followed by barbell squats, front bar squats, Romanian deadlifts and Bulgarian split squats.
Thursday – Biceps – warm ups are bicep pullups – followed by barbell curls, reverse ez bar curls, hammer curls, alternating dumbbell curls, and to finish concentration curls.
Friday – Back – warm up is with wide grip pull ups – followed by deadlifts, barbell or yacht rows, one arm dumbbell rows, barbell rows and to finish pullups with a static hold for as long as you can.
Saturday – Shoulders – warm up with dips, barbell military press, dumbbell shoulder press, incline lateral raises, standing lateral raises, upright rows and heavy shrugs to finish.
Sunday – Rest day
What was the results?
As with any plan without weights, I found I had “rookie gains” and lost an average of 2-3lbs per week for the first 6 weeks. As I continued I found that my weight loss slowed down and I started seeing an average of 300gm-600gm a week. I also found that I needed to readjust my diet to stay in a caloric deficit as my weight was now one number lower and my body fat percentage was lower and my lean body mass was increasing. In September 2022, I weighed 68.5kgs with an estimated body fat percentage of 12-15% and my lean body mass estimated at 63-64kgs.
How do you feel now?
I feel fantastic. My mental health has improved as much as my physical health. I have more self-confidence, I am more extroverted and I have a more positive attitude towards life. I feel motivated every day and take on new challenges that I would only have dreamed of. I am very proud of myself, and my children are very proud of their father for setting a good example for them and for others. This transformation has literally saved my life.
What is your best advice for others who want to embark on a transformation?
There is no better time to start than now. Do your research and try different things until you find a plan that fits your lifestyle. We are not all cut from the same cloth and there is no one plan that fits all. Preparation, dedication and perseverance will give you the results you are looking for. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you just have to remember to be better than yesterday.