Having gotten a wee lumpy around the middle, In 2020, I decided to start hitting the gym, but I needed a bit of extra motivation to make it there regularly. Luckily, I had a friend, Tu Anh (who also goes by Ana), who was reinventing herself. She became my first personal trainer, and I became her first client. More than half a decade later, she has gone from a fitness hobbyist to a professional, a journey that saw her completely reroute her career path and remake her own body in the process.
By the time she entered her late 20s, Tu Anh had long been aware of challenges caused by her weight. Chronic knee pain and low energy became more common, but she ignored her body’s warnings and those of her doctor as well. For her, food was a source of comfort and way to relax. “I just loved eating since I was a kid and exploring different types of food that were often carb- and fat-heavy,” she told Saigoneer.
Trying new restaurants became a favorite activity and an escape from the stresses of work. Despite sputtering attempts to improve her health, like hiring a personal trainer, consistency proved elusive.
She was so focused on money and developing her career that she never thought about the long term. Tu Anh knew that dramatic lifestyle changes would need to start with her job as working long hours at an agency was both stressful and time-consuming. In 2020, the universe provided the jumpstart she needed to make serious changes.
For Tu Anh, like many others, the Covid-19 pandemic changed the trajectory of her life, and fear proved to be the best motivator. “I had a bad immune system and I easily got sick for long periods of time. I was afraid it would hit me hard. I was afraid to die and didn’t want to die early.” That mindset was shared by one of her inspirations a few notches above her in her family tree. She regularly visited her grandfather, who always talked about eating healthy and doing sports. She remembered his common refrain: “I want to live for 100 years.” He lived to be 102, beating his own ambitious benchmark.
It started with walks, 3–5km per day. “That sounds easy, but Saigon isn’t really a city for walking.” But she stuck with it and, for the first time in her life, was able to find consistency, even adding walks to her work calendar. This also proved to her that through consistency, change was possible, and she dropped 20KG.'
Throughout our conversation, consistency was a central theme of both struggle and success.
It was around this time that she felt fulfilled in a way she never had before, and realized exercise and fitness were more than just a routine. When she got out of bed each morning, she felt good rather than lethargic. It was a feeling of liberation, one she wanted to share with other people.
With her newfound confidence, Tu Anh put a plan in motion. She saved money from her job in the first few years of the pandemic. And she began meeting friends to try her hand at personal training, not charging anything as she learned her craft and figured out how to motivate people.
After about a year, she decided it was time to quit her job and pursue her fitness career professionally. She had plenty of self-doubt, echoed by her family, who found it difficult to accept her leaving a well-paying job. But Tu Anh knew that if she were to find success and long-term health, she’d have to go all-in. She gave herself one year and never looked back.
She slowly built her client base, offering both in-person and online sessions for individuals and groups. She also broadened her knowledge by studying nutrition. Another huge driving force was the community. She sought out like-minded people in Saigon, some who had long been into fitness and others who were just starting their journey, and started a Facebook page, Saigon Healthy Lifestyle. Community has become a central source of inspiration and motivation for Tu Anh.
Community wasn’t a way for her to find clients, however, as Tu Anh instead needed it for consistent motivation. “Sometimes I’m still lazy, but activities with others force me to get out of the house.” Meeting so many different people also made her understand just how different everyone is, from what motivates them to their genetic and physical challenges. Tu Anh says that beyond the personal fulfillment the community has given her, it has made her better at her job by helping her better understand how to tailor workout and dietary plans for her diverse roster of clients.
Intimate community involvement has also impacted her philosophy on how to help clients achieve the best results. She’d seen many people fail by trying to change too much at once, creating nearly impossible expectations that would ultimately collapse. After training over 100 clients, Tu Anh found that beyond gradual changes, the best way to create lasting lifestyle and habit shifts was to identify healthy activities that people either enjoy or that give them a sense of accomplishment, and then build from there, step by step.
She pointed to her proudest accomplishment: working with a client who was over 20kg overweight at 21 years old. Her parents had tried a number of times to help her lose weight, to no avail. After a few sessions, they discovered that weight training was her passion. After a three-month course, her young client lost the rest of the aimed for weight on her own. In a poetic twist of fate, that client has since become a personal trainer herself, and sometimes helps Tu Anh train clients when she’s overbooked.
Five years into her career as a personal trainer, Tu Anh continues to evolve her business. She plans to optimize her time by keeping a few in-person clients, while extending the reach of her message through online group classes focused on exercise and nutrition. Though my tummy is not yet taut, I’ve slowly found consistency in my workout and dietary habits and point to my time with Tu Anh as the starting point for my own healthier lifestyle.
If you’re interested in joining Tu Anh’s community or learning more about her services, you can visit her website.
