Wild Card

 Chloe Ting

    Chloe Ting is a fitness trainer on YouTube and a social media influencer from Singapore, Asia. She was originally born in Brunei on April 9, 1986. She started her YouTube career in 2011 after she posted her first fitness video. Chloe Ting now lives in New York, where she is still a fitness content creator. She is most well known for her "Two Week Shred Challenge," which gained fame in 2020 when COVID-19 hit the world. Chloe, a prominent fitness content creator on YouTube, boasts a subscriber base exceeding 24 million. Her objective is to democratize health and fitness by offering free workout programs and sharing complimentary recipes with her audience.

    COVID-19 took a toll on us all, and that is pretty evident. I can speak for the younger generation when I say that it was very depressing. These were the times that we were supposed to be living the most and going on adventures with our friends. The months were getting warmer, and summer was just around the corner. It was all fun and games with a "two-week spring break," or so they said anyway. Little did we know our whole world was about to be turned upside down. This pandemic did not just affect our mental health but our physical health as well. I think it is safe to say that COVID-19 has made us lazy mentally, physically, and in our academics. According to the National Library of Medicine, "these unprecedented changes in education and living environment due to COVID-19 led to decreased physical activity and strength, changes in sleep patterns,. and decreased opportunities for social activities, and thereby had negative effects on the healthy lifestyle of adolescents." COVID-19 reduced everyone's physical activity tremendously. Since gyms shut down and social activities were no longer allowed, people had to find their own ways to exercise. When you are younger, it is important to stay on a pretty strict schedule, and when that schedule is thrown off, it can mess with your daily routines and create bad habits. The pandemic's mental health toll on young people can have physical manifestations. Stress, anxiety, and depression can impact sleep patterns, appetite, and overall energy levels. Changes in daily routines can also cause improper nutrition, along with being limited to certain foods that we have access to. Poor nutrition can impact physical health, including weight management and overall well-being. If someone was having issues with their mental and physical health, it was almost impossible to get in with their doctor to assess the situation. Even though the younger generation was less likely to get sick from the pandemic, I feel as if our growth could have been stunted in some way.

    Now that we have discussed the major impact that COVID-19 had on our mental and physical health, let's talk about the influence Chloe Ting had on our lives during the pandemic. It all started with the famous "Two Week Shred Challenge." During the pandemic, I, along with so many others, were feeling extremely lazy, and our routines were getting repetitive. We were tired of laying in bed all day and doing nothing all day and then feeling bad for ourselves when it was all said and done. Magically, one day a random girl came across my FYP on TikTok talking about Chloe's two-week challenge, and I was immediately interested because who doesn't love a good challenge? Little did I know that the two-week challenge would change my perspective on COVID-19 and my mindset until the gyms opened back up in public. It started with the two-week ab challenge, and then I went down a rabbit hole of at-home workouts. Chloe carries herself in such a positive and encouraging way in her videos that it is contagious. You would almost forget that there were bad things going on in the world around you. I cannot recall one instance where I heard her mention the pandemic because she felt like it should be a pandemic-free zone where we were just there to workout. One thing I really liked about her videos was that they were never terribly long. I do not like a workout that is more than thirty minutes, so she fit me still very well. After starting Chloe's at-home workouts, I could automatically see my attitude and lifestyle change through the pandemic, and I suddenly had a new perspective. Even though everything was shut down and we were all secluded from our family members and friends, me and everyone else who followed Chloe's workout videos had something to look forward to every day.

    Chloe did not stop there. Since the pandemic, Chloe has moved to New York and continued to grow her fame in the fitness content creator world. When she first started posting her workouts, she was strictly an at-home workout girl, but as things opened back up after the pandemic, she started filming gym workouts with weights. Going to the gym can be very stressful for some people, so it helps if they can watch a video and have a set plan before they step foot into a gym. Chloe has also branched out and done some videos on her personal life per request from her fans. She has also released some other exciting things since the pandemic, like starting her own fitness equipment line. "In 2022, Chloe launched her range of fitness equipment in over 3,000 stores across the US at Walmart. This stylish collection was developed to ensure people have access to quality fitness equipment at a reasonable price so that they can continue challenging themselves as they progress in their fitness journey." She has also become a certified personal trainer, along with being a content creator.

    Chloe was a big inspiration and encourager of mine and so many others through COVID-19. She changed my point of view while I was stuck in the house for months, and I could not be more thankful. Her big personality and positive attitude made me realize that everything was going to be okay and that the pandemic was not so bad after all.