One woman on a mission to lose weight over a prolonged period of time decided to settle the age-old question for herself, and now she’s sharing her findings with the rest of us. Without further delay I’ll let Irina take it away…

“My name is Irina, I am 38 years old, and I weigh 224 lbs. This number might seem like a lot if you don’t take one thing into account: a year ago I weighed 266 lbs. I can’t say it was all that bad, but once a 5-year-old kid came up to me and asked, “Irina, why do you have such a big belly?” This was the moment when I realized: I can’t live like this much longer, I need to lose weight.

Especially for Bright Side, I’m telling my story of how I lost the weight. I still have a long way to go, but the changes that I can already see in photos keep me motivated.

The story of my body is similar to those that most overweight people have, which includes a sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy food. Because of my work (I am a freelancer) and my tendency to eat when I feel bad, by the time I was 37 years old I weighed 264 lbs. I don’t have a family and I haven’t left my house often in the past several years. This is why the opinion of other people wouldn’t really have an influence on me. Or so I thought.

At the end of 2017, I saw a commercial for a fitness center with an 80% off discount and I decided to go. This was how my story started.”