Joanna Wronska

Your Body Have a Voice!

I used to struggle with my weight in my early 20s, believe it or not. After I graduated from my ballet school, where I spent nine years of my life — my entire childhood and teenage years, through puberty and into early adulthood — I received my first contract in Paris. With so much pressure and specific weight guidelines written into my contract, my mind became constantly focused on one thing: how much do I weigh?

I was always naturally skinny, and with so much dancing and that amount of stress from a very early age, I never had to think twice about what or how much I ate. I was a ballet child, raised in the studio, spending my weekends in the theater. I had never been on a diet or counted calories until I signed my first professional contract.

That is where it all started — my obsession with food, weight, and exercising. I stopped listening to my body and began ignoring its needs. I wasn’t gentle with myself. I guess when you are a dancer, you rarely are. But up until that point, I had never starved myself. Suddenly, there I was, counting calories and days until the next Sunday — our “weight day.”

Some days I would eat only a piece of salad or an apple. Other days, I would “reward” myself with an entire chocolate bar or a box of cookies. The irony? I wasn’t losing weight. I was actually gaining it. On my days off, I would go out for amazing dinners at fancy restaurants — those were the only times I truly ate. Sometimes I barely drank water because I believed it would make me heavier. As a result, my body retained water and looked swollen. I was traveling a lot during that time, and changes in food, climate, and jet lag did not help at all.

I struggled for a few years until I finally realized I was exhausted from doing this to myself. I think I stopped because I reached a point where I would rather have left the job I loved than continue restricting my body from food. I simply couldn’t do it anymore. I believe my body has a natural ability to protect itself, and before I became truly sick, it said “no.” I paused and finally listened. I was lucky enough to regain control before things went too far.

I began eating regular meals again, and I noticed I was no longer craving sugar or carbs in the same desperate way. I forgot what it felt like to be constantly hungry — and that is not a pleasant feeling, as you can imagine.

Once I started eating normally, my metabolism changed. Everything began functioning naturally again, and ironically, I started losing weight. I returned to my natural body shape — the one I had lost a few years earlier. I also realized that I never truly loved sugar, meat, or heavy carbs as much as I had convinced myself I did. Since childhood, I always preferred fruits and vegetables. When I was starving, my body made me believe my preferences had changed. But hunger can make you do and crave things that are not aligned with what you truly need.

It has been over a decade now, and I am genuinely happy with my body, my diet, my metabolism, and the way I nourish myself. Along with that balance came improvements in my internal health, skin, hair quality, and mental wellbeing.

Don’t make yourself suffer the way I once did. I am grateful I stopped when I did — before it was too late. Do yourself a favor and truly listen to your body. Everyone has different needs. There is no universal right or wrong way — only what is good or bad for you. Too much or too little of anything is rarely the best choice.

Listen carefully. Your body will help you find the right balance in diet, movement, and lifestyle. Be gentle and kind to yourself — and always be grateful for what you have.