I’m 25 and I Lost 22 kg Without Starving Myself

My name is Elina. I’m 25 (almost 26), and I’m finally halfway to the body I’ve wanted for years. I’m not a fitness coach or a nutritionist. I’m just a regular woman who got tired of starting over again and again.

If you’re reading this and feel stuck, maybe my experience will help.

I started gaining weight when I was about 15. I don’t remember one specific moment when everything changed. It was gradual. Maybe hormones. Maybe stress from school. Maybe emotional eating. Probably a mix of everything.

By the time I got married, I weighed around 82–83 kg at 165 cm. I wasn’t happy with my body, but I wasn’t in panic mode either. Life was busy. There were other priorities.

After my wedding and two immigrations, my life changed a lot. New country. New routine. Stress. Different food. Less movement. One day in autumn 2024 I stepped on the scale and saw 95.2 kg.

That number hit me harder than I expected.

My BMI was 35. Obesity class II. Seeing that written in numbers felt uncomfortable and very real.

Of course, it wasn’t my first attempt to lose weight. Over the years I had tried diet challenges, restrictive meal plans, cutting carbs, removing sugar completely, intense workout programs. I could usually stay disciplined for about a month. Sometimes a bit longer.

Then one of two things would happen: either the scale stopped moving, or I got exhausted.

And once I felt exhausted and disappointed, I would slowly go back to old habits — and gain even more weight.

There was also another problem. I don’t enjoy intense workouts. I’ve tried to force myself many times, but with extra weight it feels even harder. My knees hurt. My back hurt. I felt uncomfortable in group classes. So every “hardcore fitness” plan felt like punishment.

In autumn 2024 I tried again. This time I reduced my calories to 1200 per day. The weight started going down. But so did my energy.

I was tired all the time. I was thinking about food constantly. I was counting minutes until the next meal. My mood wasn’t great. It didn’t feel like something I could maintain for a year.

Eventually, I broke again.

In April 2025 I told myself something very simple: this is the last structured attempt. If this fails, I stop dieting completely.

This time I decided to approach it differently.

Instead of choosing the lowest possible calorie number, I downloaded a calorie tracking app that calculated my actual daily needs based on my height, weight, and activity. It suggested around 1600–1700 calories for steady fat loss. That number scared me at first. It felt like “too much.” But I decided to try.

I also made one more change: I started walking 8,000–10,000 steps every day. Not running. Not extreme workouts. Just walking. Every single day.

And I stopped banning foods.

- I didn’t cut bread.

- I didn’t remove chocolate.

- I didn’t forbid fast food.

Instead, I bought kitchen scales. I weighed everything. And I really mean everything. If the bread package said one slice was 30 grams, I checked it. Often it wasn’t exactly 30. One slice could be 35 grams. Another one 15. Small differences add up over time. If I baked chicken, I removed the skin to lower calories. If I wanted dessert, I planned it into my daily target instead of pretending I didn’t want it. At first, weighing food felt annoying and obsessive. But after a few weeks it became normal. It was just data. No emotions attached.

The weight started going down by 2–2.5 kg per month. Some months were slower. Some were faster. But overall — consistent progress. More importantly, I didn’t feel miserable.

Now it’s January 2026. I weigh 73 kg at 165 cm. My BMI is 26.9. I’m no longer in the obesity category. I still have some weight to lose, and I estimate it might take another 10 months to reach my personal goal.

But for the first time, I’m not in a rush. The biggest lesson I learned is this: fast results are not always good results. Yes, my method sounds boring. There was no dramatic transformation in 3 months. No detox. No “no carbs ever again.” No punishment workouts.

But for an entire year, I didn’t go through binge-and-restrict cycles. My diet includes healthy meals, sweets, and occasionally fast food. I can go out with friends. I can travel. I can live normally. For me, that matters more than a fast number on the scale.

Maybe consistency is less exciting than extreme diets. But it’s sustainable. And for the first time in my life, I feel like I’m building something stable instead of fighting my body.

If this resonates with you, I can share more details about what helped me stay consistent mentally, not just physically. Because in my experience, weight loss is much more about patience than willpower.