The Best Thing I Ever Did for My Lipedema Wasn’t a Treatment

Over the years, taking care of my body slowly became a hobby rather than a burden. Looking back, that change may have transformed my life more than I realized.

When people talk about hobbies, they often think of something separate from health. Something you do when the work is done, when the obligations are finished, when the serious parts of life are handled. Knitting, painting, gardening, photography, music. All of those can be beautiful things. But recently I came across the idea that we may need more than one kind of hobby in life. Something that keeps the body moving. Something that keeps the mind curious. Something that brings peace. Something that allows creativity. Something that keeps us connected to other people.

It made me think about my own life, because I realized that I have had one hobby for almost half of it.

Food..

Not dieting. Not restriction. Not calorie counting. Not turning every meal into a rule. Food itself.

Those of you who have followed me for a while probably already know this about me. I genuinely love food. I love walking through markets, looking at ingredients, tasting local specialties, learning why foods taste the way they do, and understanding what happens inside the body after we eat them. I do not think I have ever been able to separate food from curiosity. For me, they have always belonged together.

Looking back, I think this hobby really began when I was around sixteen. It eventually became six years of university studies, first in Human Nutrition and later in Food Science. It led me into research, where I worked with food compounds, bioactive peptides, intestinal cells, absorption, bioactivity, and inflammatory signaling. It also brought me into the food industry, where I worked with quality, laboratories, food safety, production, and product understanding.

Long before that, I was the young girl working in cafés and smoothie bars because I simply loved being around food, flavors, routines, ingredients, and people.

It has never really stopped..

Today, I spent the day in Setúbal, a Portuguese fishing town just outside Lisbon. We walked through the local market, surrounded by fish, shellfish, vegetables, fruit, herbs, and people who seemed to know exactly what they came for. We started the afternoon with oysters that actually came from Setúbal. Over the past few days, we have eaten a lot of seafood, and much of it has been prepared in the simple way that only works when the ingredients are already good.

There is something deeply satisfying about food that does not need much fixing. Fresh fish, olive oil, vegetables, fruit, good bread, and seafood that was in the ocean not long ago.

As someone who lives with lipedema, I cannot help noticing how my body responds to the life I am living right now. At the moment, I have no signs of lipedema pain. My body feels calm. My legs feel light. I feel well.

Can I prove that Portugal is the reason? Of course not.

Travel changes many things at once. I walk more. I spend more time outside. I sleep differently. My stress level is lower. I eat slowly. I share meals. I am in a different rhythm. The slower pace probably matters just as much as the food.

But I also do not think it is random that my body feels good while I am eating high-quality, minimally processed meals built around fresh ingredients every day.

My life at the moment is quite fragmented. I do not live in one fixed rhythm all year. I live more in chapters, or maybe in eras. Right now, I travel a lot, stay in different places, and work remotely. That kind of life is not for everyone, and I do not think it has to be. But for me, in this season of life, it works. I love the life I am living now. More importantly, my lipedema body seems to love it too.

That has made me think differently about hobbies and health.

Caring for the body does not always have to look like a treatment plan. It does not always have to happen in a clinic, through a protocol, or inside a strict routine. Sometimes it can happen through the way we build our days. Through the places we walk. Through the food we choose. Through the people we eat with. Through the things we stay curious about.

For me, food markets are a hobby. Cooking is a hobby. Learning nutrition is a hobby. Reading research is a hobby. Writing LipedemaScience is a hobby. They all connect, and they all support my health in different ways.

But I also know that food is not everyone’s thing.

Some people may find this same feeling through walking in nature, swimming, strength training, gardening, dancing, yoga, or slow morning routines. Others may find it through reading, learning, writing, photography, music, sewing, painting, volunteering, book clubs, faith, friendship, or spending time with family. Some people need hobbies that move the body. Some need hobbies that quiet the nervous system. Some need hobbies that make them feel creative again. Some need hobbies that remind them they still belong somewhere.

I think that is the point!

A hobby does not have to be impressive. It does not have to become a business, a performance, or a self-improvement project. It can simply be something that helps you feel more alive inside your own life.

Living with lipedema can make life feel very body-focused. We can spend years searching for treatments, reading about symptoms, trying therapies, buying compression garments, changing our diets, and wondering what our tissue is doing. Some of that is necessary. I have done a lot of it myself. But I also think we need to build lives that are not only centered around managing disease.

We need things that make us want to wake up in the morning.

Not because they cure lipedema, but because they remind us that we are still whole people.

For me, that has always been food. It has shaped my education, my work, my research interests, my travels, and now LipedemaScience. Looking back, I do not think I was only building knowledge. I was slowly building a life around something that made me feel alive.

And right now, sitting here in Portugal with a calm body, good food, and no lipedema pain, I feel very grateful for that.

The last couple of weeks..