From Twig to Waddle, and Back Again

For those who knew me growing up, the idea of me writing a weight loss journey post would come as a genuine shock. And honestly, a couple of years ago, it would have shocked me too.

Until COVID-19 hit in 2020, I was skinny. Very skinny. Twig skinny. We’re talking 60-something kilos at 9% body fat, and I genuinely struggled to gain weight or even fat no matter what I ate.

The first measurement I have on record from 2020 was 71.1 kilos at 12.7% body fat. By June of that same year, I was sitting at 80.4 kilos and 19.6%. By June 2021, 88.9 kilos. By December 2021, 92 kilos at 26.6% body fat.

I stayed in that 92 to 95 kilo range, hovering between 26 and 28% body fat, for the next few years.

Then, in late June 2025, something snapped. I’d had enough. I was always a skinny kid growing up, and now I was waddling. I hated the way I looked. I hated the way I felt. I felt gross, depleted, and like I had no energy or willpower to do anything at all.

So I decided to change that.

I started going to the gym. I started eating healthier. And I made some very small changes that ended up making a massive difference.

At the time, I was working at McDonald’s, pulling 40 hours a week on my feet, running around constantly. You’d think that kind of physical work would be a recipe for weight loss. It wasn’t. It was actually a significant contributor to my weight gain. I was regularly drinking full-sugar Coke multiple times per shift, chugging liquid calories without even thinking about it. Even though I’d only eat a single cheeseburger and a home-cooked meal at the end of the day, the weight wasn’t moving and I couldn’t figure out why.

The biggest change I made was simple: I cut out full-sugar soft drinks and fries from my work lunch. On my days off, I cut out incidental snacks and kept a closer eye on what I was eating. I started tracking calories for a while, though I haven’t bothered since December 2025. My weight loss has slowed down since then, but it’s still continuing.

Here’s where the numbers get interesting.

When I started my journey in June 2025, I measured in at 93.6 kilos and 28.1% body fat. By August, I’d averaged down to 89.8 kilos at 27.1%. It felt slow at first, almost discouraging. But once I crossed below 88 kilos, the weight seemed to just disappear.

On September 2nd I hit 88.3 kilos. By the 4th I was 87.5. By the 9th, 86.5. And by October 29th, I was down to 83.4.

Things slowed again after that. It took a couple more months to go from 83 to 82. On December 21st I measured in at 82.3 kilos.

As of today, February 20th, I’m sitting at 79.3 kilos and 19.1% body fat.

All of this came from small, sustainable changes. At no point in this journey have I ever felt like I was dieting.