On October 15th, 2024, I saw a picture of myself sitting by the pool and didn't recognize myself. It was the biggest I'd ever been, and I felt like it wasn't really me. I decided to go a year without added sugar, and I lost some weight. If anything had even one gram of added sugar, I didn't eat it for a full year.
All the weight loss tactics I'd grown up internalizing - painstakingly tracking calories and steps, feeling "naughty" for eating half a cupcake, pretending raw almonds are a treat - didn't just present a challenge to my soul. I was also pretty sure they didn't work for me. So, I got a body composition analysis: a complimentary service offered through my membership at Life Time Fitness, an athletic club. On average, membership costs between $100 and more than $330 in the US.