You don’t cry until you see the coffin! Pom Pam Niti Chaiyachitathorn She recounted a major turning point in her life after her weight soared to 85 kg within a year, making it impossible to squat in the bathroom, on the program Kim’s Mirror. Accumulated stress, little sleep, frequent drinking, and eating at night caused her body to send warning signs, leading to unnoticed damage. She believes aging isn’t bad but is about living longer with quality rather than trying to reverse aging, and shared her balanced lifestyle approach.
Why did you decide to refocus on taking care of yourself?
Pom Pam said: "You don’t cry until you see the coffin. My chronic problem was rapid weight gain. I used to think I could be slim by morning, but my weight jumped to 85 kilograms—gaining 15 kg in one year. During that time, I drank a lot, but when I tried to lose weight, I stopped drinking completely."
Living a heavy party lifestyle to relieve stress?
Pom Pam: "I don’t know the main cause, but I felt stressed during that time. I was focused on other things, thinking I was letting go, but actually I wasn’t, because if I had let go, I wouldn’t have been stressed. The show had paused, and there were work issues and other things that kept me thinking a lot."
Thinking a lot led to poor sleep, staying up late, eating at night, and when my hands were free, I’d pop corks and pour drinks. I don’t like to call it partying because sometimes I wasn’t meeting people; I was just sipping on my own. I thought I exercised, but my weight didn’t drop—it kept increasing from size M to L and then XL.
Lack of sleep made me groggy when waking up and less alert. Stress accumulated throughout the day in a cycle until my weight jumped to 85 kg. At that point, I noticed my pants no longer fit. Many friends in the industry were slim, but what made me realize I had a problem was other issues like knee pain and a noticeable drop in tennis performance.
The breaking point was when I traveled to Hua Hin on Rama 2 Road, which was very congested. I urgently needed to use the bathroom, told the van driver to stop anywhere, and ran into a market restroom. It was a squat toilet, and I couldn’t squat because of my knees and belly. I wondered how I got to this point—I couldn’t squat properly; squatting felt like I was going to fall forward.
I felt that I really couldn’t continue like that and decided to lose weight. This time, I tried to lose weight gradually, not abruptly. Luckily, I consulted with many experts, including both physical and mental health doctors, and discovered that unnoticed stress was part of a cycle: stress leads to eating, eating leads to weight gain, and weight gain leads to more stress.
Besides exercising, did your diet change?
Pom Pam: "Regarding food, when I started losing weight, I ate more regularly. One fortunate thing was I stopped eating sweets—I would bake but give them away. I also stopped drinking soda or fizzy drinks. Previously, I didn’t avoid these for health reasons, but because they caused burping and bloating, which helped reduce snacking."
Now I eat more regularly. Honestly, my diet isn’t strict about protein amounts, but since I cook myself, I select ingredients. It’s not overly healthy food—I still use soy sauce, fish sauce, and deep fry sometimes. But I know what I put in and what I’m eating. I’m not strict about eating only healthy or perfectly balanced meals.
How about your skin?
Pom Pam: "I like the sun and sunbathing, so my skin tans easily. But when tanned, my skin gets dry and a bit greenish, dull like a whiteboard. Dust sticks instantly, and I can tell if my skin is dry because it feels dirty (laughs). I wasn’t naturally very clean either."
Do you experience sagging skin?
Pom Pam: "No, I don’t. I’m not exceptionally skilled, but I’m lucky to have expert advice. I control my diet, meal timing, and exercise daily. I cut unnecessary things like alcohol and eating at night because often I eat not out of hunger but because my brain commands it, which isn’t necessary. I cut out what’s unnecessary, so weight loss..."
I feel it’s quite sustainable now, and the weight hasn’t yo-yoed back. I’m also concerned about hydration, so I drink plenty of water to compensate for losses, protect against sun damage and roughness, and use products that help with sun protection, wrinkles, and moisture. That helps.
How do you maintain longevity and sustain this care over time?
Pom Pam: "It has to become a habit. For example, with drinking, I admit I initially did it because I had to or wanted to change something. After not drinking for a while—longer than the theoretical 21 days—one day, seeing others drink, I just didn’t want to anymore. The mind leads, the body follows."
Regarding longevity, I don’t like the word aging. I feel we can’t fight getting older. I believe the only people who don’t age are those who pass away prematurely. When people say I look old, I thank them because it means I’ve lived a long life. I’m okay with aging and appreciate appropriateness—beauty that fits one’s age. For example, I don’t worry about wrinkles but want them to appear naturally with age, not prematurely. At 45, looking 20 isn’t my goal. That’s point one.
Point two: longevity for me isn’t separate but holistic—appearance, health, diet, and mind all balanced together. Inside and out, mind and body must be balanced. Then you can live long and be satisfied. When these four aspects work in harmony, good health and weight loss inspire me to continue. A stronger body makes me want to exercise more, releasing natural dopamine, creating a positive cycle.
Have you heard of 'Beauty Longevity' and what is your view?
Pom Pam: "Beauty is subjective; one person finds it beautiful, another does not. The most important thing is to feel beautiful yourself. 'Best version of you' means the best version within your circumstances. If you’re satisfied, that’s enough. For me at 45, the best version is balance—how to maintain it long term."
What do you think about people who wait until their body breaks down before starting to repair it?
Pom Pam: "Our lives are designed to be normal—eat three meals, exercise appropriately, and get enough sleep. That’s normal. Going out partying is normal too. If we do these normal things, we won’t break down. If we do break down, it means something is too much or too little, yet we tell ourselves this is normal. Actually, it’s not really normal; we need to assess if something is excessive or lacking and then find balance."
Actually, there is a simple way to avoid body breakdown: keep things normal by eating all five food groups. If you consume less or more than the five groups, that’s abnormal. To avoid body damage, I don’t believe in strict self-care that causes stress to live longer. Humans can sense when something is too much or too little. Just having a self-check system and returning to balance is enough."
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