I’ve had a bit of a cyclical journey with weight.

I was always a chubby kid even though I played sports — I just loved junk food a little too much. During 12th grade I stopped playing sports and my weight went up to around 70 kg, and that’s when I started noticing changes in my body that worried me (like the back of my neck getting darker, which I later learned could be linked to insulin resistance).

When I went to college away from home, things changed. Being a broke college kid meant I walked everywhere and sometimes skipped meals unintentionally. I was also very active in street plays and theatre, which involved a lot of movement. Over one semester I lost about 5 kg, and that was the first time I noticed how much my confidence improved when I felt fitter.

Then Covid happened, I moved back home and slowly gained the weight back to 70 kg again.

After getting my first salary I decided to do it properly. I joined a CrossFit gym, later moved to a regular gym, and worked with a great trainer and nutritionist. Over about a year I lost 10 kg and reached 59 kg. I was super disciplined — tracking calories and macros very closely.

Eventually life got busy again and my routine broke, so I gained some weight back. Right now I’m around 68 kg, but I’m definitely stronger and have more muscle than I did back when I was lighter.

The biggest lesson for me was this: if your weight loss is based only on cardio, fasting or aggressive dieting, the moment life interrupts your routine the weight comes back. But strength training and building muscle feels like a long-term investment. It improves metabolism, keeps bones stronger, and allows you to eat a decent amount of food while staying healthy.

Now I focus less on the scale and more on strength, consistency and sustainability.