Monday Motivation: Forever daddy’s girl, Vanda the Panda’s bittersweet weight loss from 325 to 150 pounds

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AUSTIN (KXAN) – Is there a band or singer that your parents heard when you were growing up that influenced your choice of music? For Austinite Vanda Taupradisd, it was Stevie Wonder.

The icon influenced more than Vanda’s music playlist, it sparked a Keep Austin Weird vibe that took her around the world. She competed in Denmark’s air guitar championships and appeared in two music videos – one in London and the other in Vienna – while wearing her signature panda suit.

Vanda the Panda performs at the Danish Air Guitar Championships. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

“My life would change so fundamentally if I never became Vanda the panda,” said an energetic, beaming Vanda. She describes herself as always ready to enjoy life to the fullest.

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Vanda the Panda’s origins began during her college days at the University of Texas at Austin. She was walking around the campus and Austin was wearing her panda suit. It was her summer 2011 outfit that Stevie Wonder headlined at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

“I’m going to wear this panda suit,” said Vanda. “Stevie Wonder will feel my panda energy. I know he can’t see me, but I know he will feel my panda energy. “

Vanda the panda enjoys ACL. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

On that hot summer day, Vanda the Panda went to the festival and the first thing she did was sit right in front of the stage where the singer would be performing 10 hours later. No snack or toilet breaks, Vanda was camping. Back then, the festival was in September, and you know that summers in Texas don’t really end until mid-October.

“It was so hot,” she recalls. “All of my friends said, ‘You’re going to die,’ and I said, ‘No! I will not die! I’ll wear this panda suit! “

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Festival staff helped her stay hydrated by giving her water throughout the day.

“He did the greatest show in the end,” said Vanda. I could never have imagined being in the front row. ”

Vanda the panda takes a picture with actor Alexander Skarsgård. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

That determination, the decision to commit and endure the Texas heat to see the superstar she listened to and grew up with, also saved Vanda from a number of health problems.

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Six years ago, Vanda weighed 325 pounds. At the age of 24, she gave in to the idea of ​​not leading a healthy lifestyle. This meant she didn’t have to go to stores to buy clothes and bring a seat belt extension when traveling by plane. She was also comfortable knowing that she was going to develop high blood pressure or diabetes.

Six years ago, Vanda weighed 325 pounds (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

Vanda kept the same attitude when she heard about her father’s diagnosis. He had six months to live after doctors found he had stage four colon cancer.

“He was just the guy who never went to the doctor,” she explained.

Vanda remembers the day she heard the news when she returned home to visit her parents in Houston. Her heart was broken, but then she realized how much she took her health for granted.

“My father will soon die. I have to show him that I love and appreciate all the support he has given me, ”Vanda said while holding back the tears. “I know it was really hard for him to see me so unhealthy.”

Vanda returned to Austin from that trip determined, using fitness as a recipe for health. She trained with two personal trainers twice a day – at 5:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. She worked out five to six times a week, avoided alcohol, bad food, went to a dance studio, drove to the gym in northwest Austin, and then went south to boot camp.

Her father’s cancer fight was her greatest motivator, but it was also bittersweet.

“I’m working to ensure that my father can die peacefully,” she said. “I needed him to have this comfort and to know that he could be fine when he’s gone and know that I can take care of my mother and be there for my family.”

Vanda the panda and her father who was a marathon runner. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

In about eight months, Vanda lost 100 pounds. Her father saw Vanda’s healthy transformation. He lived a few years after his diagnosis.

“I remember getting one last lap with him. It was really nice, ”Vanda cried as she shared the time her father asked her to do something she really didn’t want to do. “I remember coming home one weekend and he said, ‘Do you want to go running?’ He was a very stoic man, but I could see that it meant so much to him to say, ‘Yeah, let’s run.’ “

Running was never her passion, but it was for her father, a marathon runner. He ran five miles a day during chemotherapy. Vanda says that for her father, it was never about running pace, it was about being slow, steady, and ready.

In May, Vanda qualified for the Hyrox US Championship. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

Vanda continues this mentality. She and her boyfriend recently qualified for the World Series of Fitness, also known as Hyrox. It’s an intense fitness competition that premiered in Austin in May. It includes running, pushing, and pulling weight sleds and a variety of other workouts. Vanda was surprised that she finished third in her age group and will compete in the US championships next week.

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Vanda the panda trains with her unique nails. (Courtesy photo: Vanda Taupradisd)

“I was looted by people, I just did my own thing, I just wanted to finish and feel good,” she said. “Later someone said, ‘I think someone called your name because you placed.’ And I said, ‘No, you must have called something like Amanda.’ “

Vanda is tough. She pushed a 175-pound sled and pulled a 110-pound sled without breaking her own glitzy, blinded nails. She doesn’t intend to cut it if she competes in national because that’s how she trains and competes.

“I may be slow as a panda, but I will definitely finish,” she said firmly. Vanda plans to enjoy every moment of her competition, do her best and smile at the finish line.

The biggest challenge for Vanda will be running, but it’s her father’s memory that keeps her going. Every time she does her father’s coaching, she reappears, reminding her of her posture and how to control her breathing.

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“My dad was such an inspiration growing up and was a fit, disciplined guy,” said Vanda. “He loved the fact that I was actively involved in sports as a kid, tennis, soccer, golf, all the same sports that he loved to do.”

Before Vanda went to UT, Vanda had a serious knee injury that required surgery, but rehab didn’t go that well and that triggered the weight gain. Today she is an athlete, certified Lagree instructor and loves to share her story.

“I hope anyone who thinks they are too advanced at this point will see my story and say if they can, I can,” said Vanda.

Vanda, isn’t she pretty?

KXAN photojournalist Frank Martinez and I met Vanda at Urban Lagree in east Austin. Vanda recently received her certification to teach Lagree. (Photo by Jose Torres)

Jose Torres is a morning news producer at KXAN. His blog will bring stories of hope and determination from others who have struggled their own health struggles and life challenges. He looks forward to sharing these conversations on future blogs.

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