LUMINARTUS

From 2010, at around 19, my health started coming apart at the seams. I had played football since I was 10, and as a boy I never imagined my health could decline like this. But the warning signs came even earlier: at 17 I already had multiple disc protrusions in my lower back. Over time my upper back and neck began to trouble me too. It all ran much deeper than I realised back then.

At around 22, I ended my football career. But after that, my health only kept getting worse.

I first injured my knee at 16, on an ordinary run. I didn’t trip or fall: the knee just twisted, and the meniscus tore. I had arthroscopic surgery to remove the damaged meniscus.

After a long break, in 2020, I decided to play a casual game of football with friends. That’s where I tore my cruciate ligament and meniscus — in the same knee.

Now I know why it wasn’t chance or fate. Back then, sadly, I didn’t.

These are the last photos before my transformation began. My weight had reached 92 kg.

I ate like everyone else: low-quality food, and plenty of it. I followed the popular advice to drink 3–5 litres of water a day.

In short, I did what most people do once they’ve handed the understanding of their health to someone else.