I Thought My Body Would Always Forgive Me
If you'd asked me ten years ago whether I knew how to lose weight, I would have confidently said yes. Because I'd already done it. In 2014, I completely changed my life. At my heaviest, I weighed 85kg. With my wedding approaching, I decided I couldn't keep living the way I was.
So I committed. I learned how to eat well. I planned my meals. I exercised consistently. I stopped looking for shortcuts and focused on building better habits. It wasn't easy, but it worked. Over time, I lost 27 kilograms, reaching 58kg. Looking back, that journey taught me something incredibly valuable.
Healthy habits really do work. For years afterwards, I kept many of those routines. I honestly believed that if I ever gained weight again, I'd simply follow the same plan. I thought I'd already solved the problem. I couldn't have been more wrong.
The Same Plan Didn't Work Anymore
Years later, I found myself trying to repeat exactly the same process. Eat less. Move more. Meal prep. Exercise. Drink more water. Everything I'd successfully done before. But this time... Something felt different.
The weight wasn't coming off the way it once had. My body recovered more slowly. I felt tired much more often. Stress affected me differently. Even when I knew exactly what I should be doing, I struggled to keep doing it. That was confusing. How could someone who had already lost 27kg struggle so much to lose it again?
My Body Had Changed, But So Had My Life
At first, I blamed myself. I thought I'd become lazy. Maybe I just wasn't disciplined anymore. But after reflecting honestly, I realised the situation was much more complicated. I wasn't living the same life I had in 2014.
I was carrying years of accumulated stress. My work looked different. My responsibilities had grown. Sleep wasn't as consistent. Recovery wasn't as quick. And while research suggests that age-related hormonal and metabolic changes can influence energy levels, muscle mass and body composition, I realised there wasn't one single reason everything felt harder. It was the combination of many small changes. Life had changed. My body had changed. And the strategy I needed had to change too.
Then Everything Came to a Stop
After noticing the weight slowly creeping back, I made the decision to get serious about my health again. I didn't want another quick fix. I wanted to rebuild the healthy lifestyle I'd once had. So I signed up for group fitness classes. I started moving my body again, believing I was finally heading in the right direction. I was motivated. Excited, even. For the first time in a while, I felt like I was taking control of my health. But somewhere along the way, I made a mistake.
I focused on pushing harder instead of listening more carefully. I ignored the signals my body was giving me. I skipped proper recovery. I didn't spend enough time improving my mobility or easing into exercise after years away from consistent training. Instead of becoming stronger, I injured my lower back. It was devastating.
The very thing I believed would make me healthier suddenly became the reason I couldn't move. For almost two months, my world became incredibly small. Walking from my bed to the kitchen felt like a workout. Some days, even standing for a few minutes was difficult. Exercise disappeared overnight. The healthy routines I was trying so hard to rebuild disappeared with it. Looking back now, I don't think exercise caused the injury. I think I underestimated how different my body had become.
I was following the mindset I had years earlier, but I wasn't living in the same body anymore. That experience taught me one of the biggest lessons of this journey: Getting healthier isn't about doing more. It's about understanding what your body needs today, not what it was capable of years ago.
When Physical Health Declines, Mental Health Often Follows
Nobody really prepared me for this part. The physical pain was difficult. But the emotional side was even harder. When you lose your routine, you can slowly lose your confidence as well. I stopped believing I was making progress. Medical appointments didn't feel like they were changing anything. Eventually, I stopped looking for answers. Instead, I escaped. Alcohol became my distraction. One drink became a habit. The habit slowly became part of everyday life. Relationships suffered. I isolated myself. The healthier version of me felt further away every week.
Knowledge Isn't Always Enough
This was probably the biggest lesson of all. I already knew how to lose weight. I understood calories. Nutrition. Exercise. Healthy habits. I'd already proven I could do it. Yet I still found myself struggling. That taught me something I never fully understood in my twenties. Knowing what to do and being emotionally able to do it are two completely different things. Sometimes your greatest obstacle isn't a lack of information. It's exhaustion. Stress. Pain. Loss of hope. No meal plan can solve those things on its own.
One thing that genuinely helped me wasn't another diet, it was understanding how much energy my body actually needed. I still use the same calorie calculator today because it's detailed, easy to understand, and doesn't try to push products or quick fixes. I simply find it a helpful reference whenever I'm reviewing my nutrition or setting new goals. If you're interested, I've linked it below.
Disclaimer: The calorie and macro targets provided by this calculator are ESTIMATES. While they are typically quite accurate estimates, there can be quite a lot of situations where actual calorie needs are different to what is provided here – for example, if somebody had a particularly low/high body fat percentage, the numbers would be significantly different.
The Day I Didn't Recognise Myself
One morning I looked into the mirror. My skin looked dull. My eyes looked tired. My posture had changed. The person looking back didn't feel like me. Then I stepped onto the scales. I had gained 8 kilograms in just two months!
I stepped off. Then back on. Surely it had to be wrong. It wasn't. That number wasn't simply showing my weight. It reflected everything I'd been carrying. Stress. Pain. Poor sleep. Reduced movement. Alcohol. Neglecting myself. The weight wasn't the beginning of the story. It was the result of everything that came before it.
Ageing Wasn't What I Thought It Was
For a long time, I believed ageing happened on the outside. Wrinkles. Grey hair. A slower metabolism. Now I think it begins much earlier. It begins when we stop listening to our bodies. When we convince ourselves we'll look after our health later. When stress quietly replaces healthy habits. When recovery becomes less important than productivity. When we keep pushing until our body forces us to stop. That isn't simply ageing. That's neglect. And I realised I had neglected myself for far too long.
This isn't another weight-loss blog. It's not about finding the perfect diet. It's not about losing 10 kilograms in 30 days. It's about understanding how our bodies change throughout life. It's about recognising that the habits which served us in one season may need to evolve in another. It's about rebuilding physical health without ignoring mental health. It's about accepting that healing isn't only about eating less or exercising more. Sometimes healing starts with sleeping better. Managing stress. Asking for help. Moving again. Cooking one healthy meal. Choosing one better habit today instead of trying to change your entire life tomorrow. I don't have all the answers.
I'm still learning. But if my story helps one person realise they're not failing, they're simply trying to apply yesterday's solution to today's body, then sharing this journey will have been worth it. Because our bodies change. Our lives change. And perhaps the healthiest thing we can do is learn to change with them.
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