The story of how I, who thought I hated exercise, lost 32kg. From 87kg to 55kg. Three years of facing my own body.

This content is a summary of my three-year diet journey, written for submission to the 2026 Creative Awards.

From the day I couldn't walk in the land of dreams

I still remember well the day I went to the land of dreams for a one-night, two-day trip.
It had been a while since my last visit.

I walked around from morning till night, enjoyed the attractions, and ate what I liked. My legs felt heavy by the evening, but I thought, "It must be because I got too excited."
However, the fatigue didn't go away even the next day.
I would walk and then sit, walk and then rest.

My companions were walking energetically, but I was the only one who couldn't keep up.
Rather than just feeling tired, it felt as if my own body had become heavy. After returning home, I stepped on the scale.

The number displayed was87kg.
My height is155cm.

I was aware that I was overweight.
But I hadn't realized it had increased this much, and the number mercilessly confronted me with the reality I had been turning a blind eye to.

"This is not good."

That thought was the beginning of my diet.

Repeating failures

To tell the truth, I was not a beginner at dieting.
I had been concerned about being overweight since my student days, and it wasn't just once or twice that I had thought about losing weight.
I tried drastically reducing my meals or jumping on trendy methods, but I would stop and return to my old ways.

Instead of just returning, I would gain even more, so rebounding was not unusual for me; it was the typical result.

That's why, even when I saw 87kg, there was a part of me that thought, "I probably won't stick with it this time either."
Still, what was different from before was that I decided not to push myself too hard.
I had already accumulated more than enough experience of failing by trying to get results in a short period.
So this time, I decided to start by getting to know my own body.

Diet = Exercise

I also worried when starting exercise.
That's because I had always thought of myself as someone who hated exercise.

During my student days, I wasn't good at sports,
and there were times I was laughed at for not being able to do things well.
I wasn't good at moving my body in front of others, so I was convinced that I hated exercise.
What I chose was exercising at home.
・I don't have to worry about other people's eyes.
・It doesn't cost money to go to a gym.
・No one sees me if I fail.

And above all, I love games.
The first thing I started was Ring Fit Adventure.

When I exercise, the character praises me.
They praise me even for just a few minutes.
There was a joy there that I hadn't felt during my student days.
Before I knew it, I was continuing to exercise.
One day, I thought.
It wasn't that I hated exercise,
I just wasn't good at exercising while being watched by others.

As I continued Ring Fit Adventure, I gradually began to enjoy moving my body.

At first, it was about 10 minutes a day.
Thinking back now, I could have done more, but this time I had decided "not to try too hard."

Things I learned from past experience

The past me was the type to suddenly get enthusiastic when starting a diet.
I would reduce meals, increase exercise, and try to get results in a short time, only to get exhausted and quit.
But this time is different.

10 minutes a day is fine.
It's okay to have days when I don't do it.
What was important was not one month later, but that I was still continuing a year later.
Before I knew it, my weight had started to decrease little by little.

It's not a huge change. Still, for someone like me who had repeatedly rebounded many times, the fact that "the lost weight didn't return" was the happiest thing of all.

As the story of Ring Fit neared its end, I started looking for the next exercise.
It was Fitness Boxing 2.

The instructor on the other side of the screen praises me every time I throw a punch.
"Nice!"

"Good movement!"

Those words were strangely happy.

I didn't have many memories of being praised for exercise during my student days, which is why the feeling of being recognized by someone was fresh.

Before I knew it, the 10 minutes of exercise a day became 30 minutes, and there were days when it became an hour.
I was surprised that exercise itself had become a part of my life, even though I had started it for the sake of dieting.

Moderate meal management

I also changed my meals.
That said, I didn't do extreme dietary restrictions. Because I had failed many times in the past, I decided that was the one thing I wouldn't do.
The first thing I did was record what I ate.
When I tried entering it into an app, I was consuming more calories than I thought.

An excess of 300 to 400 kcal per day.

The reality was easy to understand when seen in numbers, but it wasn't just about reducing them.
Because I love to eat.
The method of enduring while hungry doesn't last long.
When I was reviewing my meal content with that in mind, I noticed one thing.

I was eating without almost any chewing.

When I counted, it was about ten times per bite.
Looking back now, I was eating surprisingly fast, so I became conscious of chewing more than thirty times per bite.
Even though it was just that, I became able to feel satisfied with a single serving, and even though it was the same meal, the time I could feel the taste became longer.
What I was lacking might not have been endurance, but how I ate.

As my weight decreased, my daily life also changed little by little.

Changes in the body after weight loss

First, my body became lighter.
The lead-like heaviness I felt in the land of dreams disappeared, and the stiff shoulders and lower back pain that were normal before had also resolved before I knew it.
The body that was easily tired changed little by little, and the resistance to moving also became smaller.

And clothes.
The old me was looking for "clothes I could wear."
Whether there was a size was the top priority,
and I didn't have the luxury to choose designs.
But after weight loss, it was different.

"Clothes I want to wear" instead of "clothes I can wear"I became able to choose.
That was a happier change than the numbers.

From 4L to M size

It's just a difference of one letter of the alphabet, but for me, it was the accumulation of three years itself.
However, dieting didn't end with losing weight.
Rather, I felt it was more difficult after losing weight.

I love to eat,
so if I stop exercising and meal management, I will return to my old self.
I understood that during weight loss.

Dieting is not a short-distance race that ends when you cross the finish line.

It is a long-distance race where you change your life itself little by little.

That's why I'm still continuing it.
It's not perfect.
I eat cake, and I eat what I like when traveling.
But when I return to daily life, I adjust my meals and move my body.
I am repeating that.

And I also newly learned that just because you lose weight doesn't mean everything goes well.

Changes in the body

It seems I was trying too hard with exercise at one point.
There was a period when I moved my body almost every day, shed large amounts of sweat, and only chased after calories burned.

I didn't have the feeling that it was fun or painful. So I didn't notice.
That my body was sending signs little by little.
Looking back later, I think that was a message from my body saying, "I want you to rest more."

Being able to work hard and not pushing yourself are not the same thing.

It is one of the things I learned in my 3-year diet.

I, who was 87kg, became 55kg.

If you look only at the numbers, it is a weight loss of 32kg.

But what really changed is not the weight.
How can I continue?
How can I not push myself too hard?
And how do I listen to the voice of my own body?

It was three years of learning that little by little.

If I hadn't become unable to walk in the land of dreams that day.
If I had turned a blind eye to the number 87kg.

The current me wouldn't exist.
That's why I move my body again today.
Not just to lose weight, but to live energetically from here on out.

*Bonus: The photo of the jeans in the thumbnail was taken after my successful diet.
I took it because I thought it was funny that I could fit into three pairs at once when I tried them on.
I look at this photo to motivate myself to maintain my body shape every day.