“But anyone who knows me knows that I now always visit the restroom before I go somewhere. If I had to estimate the number of trips per day, it’s at least five.”

I'm Sara, and I cover the fitness and health sphere on BuzzFeed — from finding the best snacks to sharing the easiest hacks on staying fit.

Of course, whenever your body either gains or loses weight in certain areas, you can expect stretch marks. I have some on my back from my early teenage years, just from purely growing so tall so fast. But these stretch marks were unlike my others.

Once I started lifting weights and gaining muscle, my arms slimmed down, but at first, they looked more deflated. Then the stretch marks appeared. Honestly, at first it scared me — they were dark purple and so deep you could feel the texture. Now that some time has passed, they've faded, but I find myself showing them off more often than I hide them.

Before I started my health journey, I could sweat through my shirt in minutes, and I actually mean that. I used to have to opt for a $20 OTC gel deodorant to have even a chance of keeping my shirt dry.

But after about six months in the gym, I dropped a little amount of weight, but I was suddenly cold all the time; even on a beach vacation in June, I covered up to stay warm. It's something I've now grown used to, but I've since grown a larger sweatshirt collection.

Everyone carries weight differently. For me, most of mine is carried in my lower half, in my hips, thighs, and legs. So, when I started losing weight, I lost what Meghan Trainor calls her "bass." I self-admittedly don't train my glutes often, so this area of my body is now a lot more bony than before.

I have my favorite pillows at home, but when I get to the gym, doing sit-ups on the mats actually hurts because of my tailbone having more contact with the floor. If I'm going out to eat, I always ask for a booth now.

There's a misconception that if you lose weight, you won't snore anymore. And while I definitely snore less and quieter, I still snore (so I've been told). I used to wake myself up from a sudden, loud snore, but that hasn't happened in at least a year.

I also get better sleep, whether this is from snoring less or just being generally more active in my day-to-day life, I'm not sure. But it's the same amount as before, about seven hours, but I go to sleep and stay asleep and wake up refreshed a lot more often.

Even before I started my total health change, I drank the recommended amount of water, but for some reason, I now pee a lot more than I used to. Medical professionals have told me that it could be because I've shed more fat for muscle, improved my water retention, or that I'm just more active and thus getting more water.

But anyone who knows me knows that I now always visit the restroom before I go somewhere. If I had to estimate the number of trips per day, it's at least five.

I've never been someone who had to shave more than twice a week or so, but after losing about 20 pounds, my legs, underarms, and arms started to get fuzzier than before. It seemed like I was shaving almost every other day, and the hair only came back darker.

My knees, shoulders, and fingers also started to grow light fuzzballs of hair that weren't there before.

I should say that I've always had very straight, very fine hair, but after about the first 20-40 pounds lost, I started seeing more and more of my scalp. I made sure my ponytail for the gym wasn't too tight and that I used protective products, but I noticed increasing shedding throughout the day.

I took an OTC hair vitamin to help the growth, and after about three months, it slowed and finally stopped the constant shedding.

I'm sure it obviously didn't happen overnight, but I remember about a year ago, rolling over in my sleep and feeling like I rolled onto something. I got up, turned on the lights to see what was in the bed, and nothing was there. Turns out, I was feeling the sheets rub the little knob in my collarbone for the first time.

It genuinely freaked me out, because I thought it was unnatural and almost as if something was medically skewed. It took getting used to, but it's still a bit shocking for me to see the bone when I wear a low-cut top. 

When losing weight and getting more toned, it would make sense that my bra's band size would go down, but the cup size dropped almost as fast. Before I started my lifestyle change, I wore a size 36C (although I suspect I could've gone up a size, because it was always tight). Within seven months, I was a size 32A.

Of all the changes my body has been through, this is the one that, self-admittedly, I took hardest, because it made me feel less feminine than before at first. But once I saw the muscle on my chest and how much stronger I looked, I realized the change was well worth it (for me). 

And it goes without saying, but I'll still say it — there's nothing wrong with or even less feminine about a smaller bra size. This was just the initial adjustment I struggled with in my health journey.

If you were to catch me in the gym, you would see nothing but veiny hands. Before getting active, I had more cushion on my hands and feet, but now, the smallest strain — think carrying groceries or stretching my legs forward — shows off new veins I never knew I even had. 

Even my neck in photos has a more prominent veiny appearance. It's wild to think that I always had this structure, but it was hidden for a while.

I used to work in the food industry, so it wasn't out of the blue for me to be on my feet for 10 hours a day. By the second hour, especially if I were standing around more than walking back and forth, my feet would start to ache, especially around the heels. Now, I can walk around my hilly city for hours (in boots even) and not feel even half the foot pain I had before.

Three years ago, I was a size 10/10.5 wide in women's shoes. Today, I'm a size 8 in regular-width women's shoes. It used to be so hard to find wide-width shoes for women, much less stylish and trendy ones, so this is a change that has actually made my life easier.

I used to be able to stand for maybe 10 minutes before my ankles would swell up over my shoes. It never caused any pain or discomfort, but it was a small thing that used to embarrass me. Now, they still will swell a bit, but only if I've been on my feet for a long time.

Before I lost any weight, I had more of a cushion of skin under my arms. But, being true to the name now, they became more hollow and bony. I was used to simply swiping my razor on that cushion of skin, like my legs, but now, it's almost like I have to dig to shave.

Since a lot of my weight is carried in my legs and lower half, losing fat here and adding tone is probably one of the more noticeable areas of my body transformation. This area is also where a majority of my tattoos are. 

While they still resemble the original tattoo, I can see they've stretched a bit and become a tad longer than before.

I'm now about a size six in rings, but three years ago, I was at least a size eight (nine, if I wanted a little wiggle room to slip it on and off). My wrists have slimmed a bit as well, because before, I couldn't keep a hair tie comfortably on my wrist for long before leaving a purple ring.

For most of my life, dry skin wasn't an issue for me — in fact, the opposite; I've always been naturally oily and greasy. Though after losing about 30-40 pounds, I noticed that I had to reapply lotion on my entire body more than once throughout the day, when before, it was just after a shower. This also helped when my skin felt really tight and itchy, which was quite often when I first started out.

It was probably the last thing to go when my body weight was shifting, but as my face slimmed, my nose actually did as well. It's the same size as before, but the sides of my bridge have slimmed. 

How do I know? Besides seeing a difference, I had to get my glasses tightened, because the nose pads no longer sat comfortably on my nose without having to push them up every other minute.