How This 25-Year-Old Mom, Youtuber, And Entrepreneur Learned To Love Her Body

A successful YouTube vlogger, a CEO of her own company, and a mom—all that at the young age 25 years old. Like a lot of people her age, Shekainah Chen has her hands on a lot of honey pots and she puts her everything in all of them. So it comes as no surprise that she has inspired her 615,000 strong subscribers—who she fondly calls her SHEKitings—in their own goals too, may it be in their entrepreneurial endeavors, fitness, or their self-love journey.

But it hasn’t always been a straight path to the yellow brick road of self-love for Shek. As with the birth of a lot of brands, their owners have experienced first hand the problems they’re trying to solve with the products they create. The mom of one has always been open to her audience about how she felt insecure for the longest time and even tried unhealthy diet plans in her younger years that compromised her health just to try and fit in. She admits, "My relationship with my body was a journey. My body type isn’t considered the most ‘ideal’ here in the Philippines so when I was younger, lagi akong nako-conscious. I always wondered why I looked different compared to my friends. I became so conscious that I did multiple crash diet plans at a young age. They were so intense that I was clinically-diagnosed with hyperacidity and ulcer."

It was a long and winding process of healing and learning to accept herself, particularly her body, and now, even though she admits she's far from perfect, she's learned to see the goodness in her beautifully flawed self with the help of her daughter.

Below, Shek shares some of her tips with Metro.Style, about how she learned to overcome her struggles and how her audience resonated with it:

Even small steps have a big ripple towards change.

"Lately, I’ve been doing a calorie deficit and I find healthier substitutes instead of the high-caloric food that I usually take. Like now, if I have a milk tea craving, I drink green tea instead. I know it's a small thing but it really helps to cut back on things you can and choose a better alternative. No need to force yourself to do an extreme diet overhaul right away."

Listen to your body and find a routine that works for you. 

“I’m not gonna lie, with all the things I do in a day, I don’t always have the time to do a rigorous exercise routine. So I always just try to find time to squeeze in some kind of physical activity like being on the treadmill a few minutes a day or even just hula-hooping when I have some down time! You just have to be creative with it and be consistent.”

Be kind to your body.

“I think my self-esteem was at its lowest after I gave birth. It’s harder to bounce back to your old shape after a pregnancy. It made me really insecure about my body and it was honestly harder because I wasn’t only responsible for myself anymore. Between taking care of a baby and taking care of myself at the same time, it really was a lot. But my people really helped me through it. Even just reading articles about mom empowerment really helped me gain my confidence back. It made me accept what pregnancy did to my body: mom belly, stretch marks, and all. This body gave birth to a baby and this body protected me from the pandemic!”

Have a solid support system and pay it forward. 

"With the wisdom that comes along with age, my friends, social media, and a lot of self-love, I realized that I’m not alone and I don’t look as bad as I thought. I slowly became confident in my own skin and coincidentally, I inspired more women with the same body type as mine! So even the content we produce for my brand, The Diet Coach, I make it a point to not only have nice, uplifting visuals but for it to be informative as well. To not only sell products I’ve spent a long time trying to develop with experts but to communicate to our audience the overall message of taking care of yourself. I personally use and enjoy our products like the Ultra Collagen Drink and Ultra Gluta Glow because I consider them instrumental in bringing back my glow and I want others to experience it too."

Find your inspiration. 

"It was actually challenging for me to create a diet for weight-loss after giving birth to Chlea. Siguro kasi, life’s never gonna be the same after you have a kid. Before her, imagine—I was young and wild and free! But now, I’m starting to be careful with my food intake. It’s funny because even though Chlea is just 2 years old, I’ve done, and am still doing, a lot of adjustments, like being a certified business woman now because I have so many dreams for her. My journey is not linear and the same goes with everybody else but I'm happier now ‘cos I’m more motivated to lose weight and have a healthier lifestyle!"