Sara Thompson
Tue, July 14, 2026 at 12:01 AM UTC
Hi, I’m Sara! I’ve been on a health journey since March 2023, after a doctor told me I was pre-diabetic and had to lose 70 pounds to avoid lifelong complications
What started as a weight loss process quickly morphed into something else — me rethinking my lifestyle and feeling stronger. I continued to drop weight but slowly gained muscle, received better nutrition, and built a new foundation for health
The gym became a key part of my day, to the point where I looked forward to visiting. Even when, a year and a half ago, a parent of mine got sick, and I made it a habit to visit after taking care of her
Every phone call seemed to end in bad news, declining health updates, and an overall sense of hopelessness. I would take all those heavy feelings of dread and guilt to the gym with me, physically pushing myself to my limit, and then leave feeling at least semi-better than I did coming in
Getting better for my parent and keeping myself healthy for her were my missions, and that kept me going and active. It fell apart about six months into caregiving, about a year ago to date, when I got the early-morning call that she passed
As the next of kin, I spent the week of her death arranging her final decisions, taking care of the “business side” of death, and looking after my siblings. The last thing that was on my mind was getting back into the gym or taking care of myself at all
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It wouldn’t be until weeks later, when the grief got too heavy to hold, that I started the early steps of taking care of myself again. Two years of progress seemed to unpause, little by little, all of it now transformed into a post-grief timeline for me
1. I started with early-morning walks outside and gave myself a strict 60-minute window to think it all out
2. I meal prepped every little snack, lunch, and dinner
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3. I started going to the gym. Just going — not working out
4. I wrote out physical daily goals for myself and worked off the checklist
5. I ignored the numbers and physical progress and focused on how I felt during the exercises
6. I found new friends and partners to exercise with
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7. I drank water. Lots of it
8. And I started to work out and exercise in honor of my deceased loved one
The two hardest things in my life have been changing my health lifestyle and living in grief. Both are processes that fundamentally alter your everyday life and who you are as a person. I’m not always perfect in these processes, not even 50% of the time, but it’s something that I’ve still tackled nonetheless. I can take pride in that fact alone
Whether you’re living in fresh grief or trying to change your lifestyle, or even harder — going through both — know that these were just my starting points. I’m still learning things by good old-fashioned trial and error, even a year later. And no matter what your journey is, I can confidently say that whatever you’re feeling is normal, valid, and natural
POST NOTE:While the gym helped me *physically* in my grief, I also sought professional help, something I suggest to anyone struggling in grief. The gym and exercise are great tools, but not a cure-all without professional help
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