Burn 800 calories; lose five pounds; drop a dress size. These are the goals I have set myself in the past. But what do these numbers mean? What does five pounds look like? What does 800 calories feel like? How do we know when we’ve reached our goal; apart from checking the scales – which have the power to bring both happiness and pain in the same day?
PHOTOGRAPH: LAURA DOHERTY
During my journey to obtain a healthier, freer, more confident mindset and body, I realised that it’s not about a number, but a feeling. Not just in my own skin, or my clothes, but in my head, gut and heart. I looked back at almost every holiday I had ever had – self-consciously covering up on the beach, my inner gremlin picking at my imperfections.