I was at parkrun last week and a couple of people commented on how trim I was looking. This hasn’t been unusual over the last 6 months, and I generally just feel a little awkward, politely thank them and move on. I managed to achieve a similar amount of substantial weight loss in my 30s but this time around it’s felt very different. Although there was a conscious decision following my separation to put some effort into losing some of the weight that I’d put back on over the intervening years, it’s largely been a byproduct of things I’ve been doing to keep mentally afloat during long periods of anxiety, loneliness and uncertainty.

Unlike my previous weight loss, this journey hasn’t been the result of dieting—I’ve not counted calories or followed a training plan. It’s been more of a side effect of building consistent daily activity habits and trying to find joy (or distraction) in the physicality of walking, running, getting out of the house, seeing friends and even to some extent drumming. It’s been a slow, steady, and quiet process that has unfolded over the last year. Being a gadget lover and nerd, I’ve recorded and tracked lots of data along the way, but this week is the first time I’ve really sat down to look at it and reflect on what the numbers say about the last 12 months.

The downward slope of a positive trend

In June 2025, the scales apparently read 101.7 kg (about 16 stone / 224 lbs). My BMI sat at 30.4—placing me in the obese category. I’ve not looked back further but I’d imagine this wasn’t my heaviest weight over the last few years. I looked how I felt: exhausted and generally pretty uncomfortable in my own skin.

One year later in June 2026, that number is down to 82.3 kg (about 13 stone / 181 lbs).

That is a loss of 19.4 kg (about 3 stone / 43 lbs) over the last 12 months, bringing my BMI down to a much healthier 24.6 and a reduction of about 19% of the body weight I was carrying. More important than the number is the way I feel in clothes and in the presence of others. I’m still no male model (my recent dating history or lack thereof is evidence of that), but there is a noticeable difference in my confidence and the way I carry myself. I could probably still lose a little more weight and tone up a bit, but I’m in a much better place than I was a year ago, and I’m happy with the progress I’ve made.

Here is what the last year looks like:

Stepping up

It feels like much of the change has materialised in the unglamorous margins of daily habits. Working from home and living alone have made me far more intentional about escaping out of the house (often several times a day). Forcing myself to be in different spaces and see other humans (even if I don’t interact with them) has become an important ritual. It’s been helpful to pair that physical time outside with the more cerebral act of listening to music.

Over the last year, my daily steps averaged around 15,000 steps. There was a peak in August 2025 where I averaged 23,652 steps a day. That was the height of summer, where walking was easy and the days were long. I suspect a portion of these steps were actually me drumming and not walking at all. My watch seems to add a suspicious number of steps while I’m playing, but that’s okay—as an activity, it still beats being horizontal in front of the TV or sat in front of a computer!

Here is the breakdown of my monthly average daily steps over the last year:

Even during the winter dips, the baseline remained pretty solid.

Going the distance

Looking back over my activity data for the last 12 months reveals the details of my formally tracked workouts. (Note: I don’t log every casual walk—only the formal sessions I chose to record. More recently, I’ve reverted to tracking only my runs). Since June 2025, I logged a total of 255 unique activities:

• Outdoor Walking: 146 walks covering 893.9 km (and climbing a total of 12,046 m in cumulative elevation!) with an average heart rate of 107 bpm.
• Outdoor Running: 109 runs covering 587.0 km (with 6,096 m of elevation gain) with an average heart rate of 152 bpm. It’s been nice to shift enough weight to feel comfortable running regularly again. Part of me is tempted to start setting goals, increasing my endurance and speed, but I’m trying to resist that urge until life feels more settled and certain.

Adding up just the walks and runs I’ve recorded, I covered a total of 1,480.9 km. To put that in perspective, that’s further than walking from Land’s End to John o’ Groats (approx. 1,407 km) across the length of the UK, with room to spare. It’s by no means an earth-shattering record, and there are plenty of people I know who cover that in a few months, but it’s a drastic improvement and change in direction from the sedentary lifestyle I was slipping back into during the preceding years.

Looking forward

Ultimately, having these physical outlets and daily habits has done far more than just drop a number on a scale. It’s gotten me out of the house, helped increase my social connections, and given me the confidence to stand a little taller in the world. Even the simple creative outlet of learning the drums—noisy step counts and all—has brought a new, welcome rhythm to my days.

During a few years that have contained many moments where I’ve felt overwhelmed, these physical activities have provided a very accessible way to stay grounded and in control. It’s not the magic bullet or the only thing I’ve had in my favour (work, friends, family and creative hobbies have all played a part). But looking back at these charts now is a timely, optimistic reminder of what is possible. It’s proof that slow, steady, and incremental progress really does add up.

There is still plenty of uncertainty ahead, and these charts won’t solve that. But comparing last June to today, it’s nice to be able to point at the progress and head into the rest of this year feeling quite literally a little lighter on my feet and in my head.