HOW THIS HONG KONG EXECUTIVE LOST 32KG IN 8 MONTHS THROUGH EXERCISE AND A DIET OVERHAUL
Two years ago, Keizer Cheng had 37 per cent body fat, aching knees and trouble sleeping. Now he's sculpted and doing Hyrox races
At 25, Keizer Cheng was living a typical life as a young Hong Kong professional: working long hours with relentless deadlines and the constant hum of pressure. On paper, he was a successful executive. In reality, his body was buckling under the weight of his choices.
Within a year of starting his career in 2023, Cheng had ballooned to 97kg (214lbs) with a body fat percentage of 37 per cent, and his health was quickly deteriorating. He had trouble sleeping, his knees ached carrying his weight, and his snoring rattled through closed doors.
His wake-up call came in a moment so ordinary it was almost absurd: he was sitting on the toilet, his stomach pressed against him so tightly he felt suffocated.
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"That's it. I can't live like this any more. Something has to change," Cheng vividly recalls thinking.
Over the following eight months - from August 2024 to March 2025 - he shed 32kg, his weight dropping to 65kg and his body fat percentage to 12.5 per cent.
Now 27, Cheng has gone from struggling to move to completing races. These include the 2026 Standard Chartered Hong Kong half-marathon and four Hyrox competitions: in Shanghai and Shenzhen in 2025, and in Taiwan and Hong Kong this year.
The perfect storm
Cheng's earlier struggles will resonate with many Hongkongers.
Although he was on his secondary school's handball and athletic teams, he was never really fit, and he began to put on weight after graduation. Starting university added to that.
"The academic pressure hit hard, and my routine went out the window, replaced by a sedentary lifestyle. A late-night bowl of instant ramen became my ultimate comfort food," says Cheng, who continued his unhealthy eating habits as he embarked on his career.
Stress eating, long hours at the desk and a slow metabolism created the perfect storm. His relationship with food was not about nourishment, but chasing satisfaction.
"I only cared about three things: maximum volume, instant gratification and taste," he says. "Breakfast began with double helpings of siu mai, lunch at a local cha chaan teng diner always meant an extra mound of rice, and dinner was a massive soup bowl ... alongside home-cooked dishes. I could easily wolf down up to 30 dumplings in a single sitting."
Turning things around
Cheng's transformation began after he happened across the Instagram account of Hong Kong gym One Personal Training, which, he says, featured "transformation stories, ordinary people achieving extraordinary results".
He booked a consultation and met personal trainer Tony Chen, who recorded his weight and other measurements and walked him through the fundamentals of strength training.
"My goal wasn't grand - I just wanted to reclaim my health and shed the belly fat," says Cheng, who began training with Chen twice a week.
Chen initially had Cheng focus on compound exercises such as bench presses, squats and lunges to target different parts of the body. Later, he included upper-body exercises such as the cable chest fly and the shoulder press.
For cardio, he had Cheng walk 10,000 to 13,000 steps daily, often on a treadmill at a steep incline to maximise calorie burn without taxing the joints.
As Cheng began to feel fitter, he began running and training for Hyrox. In May 2025, he started going for long runs on weekends with friends. One of his favourite routes is from Kennedy Town in the west of Hong Kong Island to Shau Kei Wan in the east.
Chen also introduced Cheng to an app from the fitness centre, One PT, to track his macros and calories and help him start making the right food choices, such as consuming whole foods and lean protein "with basic palm-size portion control".
"Our strategy evolved constantly depending on how my body responded," Cheng says. "Now, food is fuel for the body, not for comfort."
These days, a typical breakfast for Cheng consists of chicken breast with black coffee; lunch is typically a salmon bowl with cauliflower rice and zero-calorie teriyaki sauce; and dinner is a lean beef bowl with cauliflower rice, followed by a whey protein shake. He snacks on fruit - mainly kiwis - and drinks four to five litres (1 to 1.5 gallons) of water a day.
Quitting alcohol was another game-changer for Cheng. From four or five drinks with friends on weekends, he now has one drink every month or two.
He now indulges his sweet tooth sensibly, with a small piece of mint chocolate - "my weak spot" - daily.
When he wants to treat himself without worrying about the nutritional numbers, his go-to spot is the Japanese sushi chain Sushiro.
"There is something so satisfying about that conveyor-belt sushi paradise and going all out on a massive sushi feast without counting the calories for one night," he says.
'Trust the process'
Looking back, Cheng remembers the challenges he faced on his road to fitness.
"The early months were gruelling," he says. "I couldn't see obvious changes for the first two months, even though the scale was dropping and my family noticed a difference."
As his body grew leaner, he could see muscle definition. "Then vanity kicked in, and I wanted to push the envelope and see my abs."
Occasionally his weight plateaued despite adhering to the plan. "The hardest part was the constant mental battle between resisting intense food cravings and believing in my journey," he says.
To get through the Christmas and New Year period, when everyone was feasting on holiday delicacies, Cheng says he had to develop "a psychological trick" - smelling the food and living "vicariously through the aroma".
"Every single day, I had to remind myself not to throw all my hard work out the window," he says.
When Cheng had doubts, Chen would go over the data with him, tweak the variables and remind him to "trust the process".
"His daily text check-ins, genuine encouragement and accountability kept me anchored," Cheng says of Chen's support. "In the end, the sweat paid off and the results exceeded my wildest expectations."
The mental shift was also profound. "Challenges no longer intimidate me; I see them as opportunities," he says.
His work performance has sharpened, his focus deepened and the difference in his energy levels is "like night and day".
"I sleep for seven hours, which is a massive upgrade from before, when I was surviving on four to six hours of fragmented, restless sleep."
Cheng's parents, who had spent years worrying about his health and urging him to lose weight, are proud of him.
"It has brought us closer," Cheng says. "They've been my biggest cheerleaders! They keep telling me that I look like a completely different person now - much healthier and beaming with vitality."
Cheng's advice to others is simple: "Just start."
"Tune out the noise, block out the excuses of a busy Hong Kong schedule, and lock your eyes on your own lane. If you want it, chase it and earn it. Once you rack up those small victories, the momentum will naturally carry you forward."
Cheng's focus is now on bulking up to sculpt a better physique.
"I'm aiming to run a full marathon next year, and perhaps enter a bodybuilding competition down the road."
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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.
Copyright (c) 2026. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
2026-06-10T03:18:40Z
