In 2020, if someone had told me that my biggest wardrobe staple would be yoga pants… I would’ve laughed. But here we are – years later, and I can tell you every pair by feel, not just fit.
This wasn’t just about weight gain. It was about slow, creeping disconnection. The world was in chaos and uncertainty. I found myself trying to hold it all together—work, parenting, the constant ache of isolation. Somewhere in that mix, I started losing me. It happened not in one big moment. Instead, it was in small, quiet ones. A skipped walk here. A comfort snack there. Another hour behind a screen, slouched on the couch.
The shift to remote working felt like freedom at first. No commutes. No pressure to “look presentable.” But what started as convenience gradually blurred into confinement. My kitchen became my office. My lunch breaks became snack marathons. My body, once agile and active, slowly slipped into stillness.
And of course, the weight followed. Not just physical weight — emotional, mental, and hormonal too. Welcome to perimenopause, where everything you thought you knew about your body becomes… negotiable.
My shape changed. My cravings intensified. The scale became something I avoided, not out of shame, but out of sheer disbelief. Like, how? I haven’t done anything dramatically different — but the difference was showing. And staying.
But the worst part? The silence. No one really talks about this aspect of midlife. There is a weight that sneaks in when your energy is low. Responsibilities are sky high. The grief that comes with watching your body become unfamiliar. The guilt for even caring about how you look when the world has bigger problems.
So let me say this clearly, just in case no one else has: Your pandemic pounds are valid. Your frustration is valid. Your wish to feel strong again is not vanity — it’s self-respect.
This chapter of my life wasn’t marked by “letting myself go.” It was survival. I did what I had to do. I kept my home, my daughter, my work, and my sanity in one piece. And now? Now I’m ready to shift. Not to punish myself for the past, but to reclaim my strength in the current.
If this resonates with you, you are not alone. Do you feel like the version of you from before COVID is hidden? Is it buried under a layer of comfort eating? Or stress weight? This isn’t about going back. It’s about going ahead — stronger, wiser, and unapologetically real.