It all started with a dress. A beautiful one, in a lovely fashionable color, which I saw in a shop window. It drew me in with the promise of lightness and grace, and I, like a moth flying to the light, fluttered to it just as fast. The fitting, predictably, turned into a tragicomedy.

The dress took me for yet another enemy and aggressor and, predictably, got stuck on my hips and my "favorite" folds. So I decided to join my own campaign under the name I had chosen: "I will die, but I will lose weight at any cost!" My weekdays became one continuous walk and jog along the Ob riverbank — or rather, attempts at them. I could only last a few minutes, and I became more and more convinced, even talking myself into it, that — as it indeed turned out — Nordic walking is a serious sport.

Cabbage salad became my favorite delicacy. My co-workers started eating it secretly from me, sometimes even in the bathroom. I am very grateful to them for their support! A special story is that I work as a baker and had to learn, swallowing and choking on my own saliva, to eat with my eyes. Every day, like clockwork, I died on the health disk, imagining myself to be Maya Plisetskaya; spoiler alert, the disk did not last long. But I was glad — it kept reminding me of the real, sad state of my body. I will skip a detailed description of my Tabata workouts — from the outside I looked like a half-squashed cockroach in agony or a twitching pig on a rope — but in fairness it brought the desired result, as did my intense visits to banya complexes with a collection of different kinds of birch whisk.

After some time of torment I returned to trying on the dress (thank heavens, because of its price my desired size remained untouched). At first I thought I had been too hasty! I armed myself with huge patience, shaping underwear and a positive attitude. The result of the fitting — seeing myself in the mirror, the tears of expected disappointment instantly dried up: my coveted garment fit beautifully on my newly slim body. The desired dress was bought! And it was already appreciated by my friends and colleagues.

From all my sacrifices, one conclusion was made — the whole undertaking was not in vain, and I noticed a significant improvement in my psychological and physical condition! Our goals are our dreams, which we turn into plans, and then, through our own actions, into the reality of our lives.