Rebuilding with Grace (Part 2)

Learning to Strengthen, Not Just Survive

Healing didn’t end when I walked out of the hospital — in many ways, that was just the beginning.

When I left, I was fragile — not only emotionally, but physically. My body had been through more than I had allowed myself to fully process. At my lowest, I weighed just under 44kg. I felt small, weak and disconnected from my own strength. (This was at least 10kg more than when I was first diagnosed with RA in 2024, yet still a very unhealthy weight for my body).

However, healing, as I’m learning, is not about rushing back to who you were.
It’s about becoming someone new, with more awareness, more care and more intention.

Since then, I have gained 8kg, but more than weight, I have gained strength and that strength didn’t come from pushing harder. It came from learning to listen.

With the guidance of my health coach, I began rebuilding my body in a way that felt almost unfamiliar at first. Instead of restriction or control, it required nourishment... real nourishment.

I began focusing on protein-rich foods to support my healing, help me gain weight and address my anemia — liver, eggs, Greek yoghurt, avocado, cottage cheese and more. While I had always loved avocado and eaten it regularly, liver had once completely repulsed me and eggs were something I only ate a couple of times a year. Still, they gradually became part of my daily routine. I also added protein shakes, collagen and creatine, while continuing with my multivitamins and omega-3.

It wasn’t about eating more for the sake of it. It felt like learning to trust my body again after years of not being able to and about giving my body what it had been asking for all along.
At the same time, I had to let go of something I once loved — intensity.

Running used to be my escape.
Boxing and kickboxing made me feel strong and in control, but I’ve had to learn that not everything that feels powerful is actually healing.

Due to my autoimmune condition, rheumatoid arthritis, high-intensity workouts were doing more harm than good. They were increasing my cortisol levels, which in turn increased inflammation in my body and triggered flares.

So I had to shift and now, my movement looks different.
Power walks, weighted pilates, gentle, intentional strength-building and surprisingly, there is a different kind of power in that... a quieter one.
One that doesn’t leave me depleted, but instead supports my healing.

I’ve also started learning more about cortisol — something I had heard about before, but never truly understood.

Cortisol is often called the “stress hormone.”
It plays an important role in the body, helping regulate energy, metabolism and how we respond to stress, but when cortisol levels stay elevated for too long, especially in a body already dealing with inflammation, it can begin to work against you instead of for you.

For me, that meant understanding that constant physical stress — even in the form of intense exercise — was keeping my body in a state of imbalance.

Healing requires something different — not force, but rhythm.
It requires calm, consistency and care.

Every few months, I now go for follow-up blood tests. Not out of fear, but out of awareness. It’s a way of listening to my body in a language deeper than feelings — tracking my cortisol levels and understanding what my body needs, including how to support it with the right balance of nutrients like omega oils.

This journey is teaching me that healing is not linear, but that it’s layered.
It’s not just about “getting better” — it’s about learning your body, respecting its limits and working with it instead of against it.

There are still moments where I miss the old version of strength I used to chase, but I’m beginning to see that this version — the slower, softer, more intentional one — is far more sustainable and far more honest.

Rebuilding with grace means accepting that strength doesn’t always look the way we expect it to.
Sometimes it looks like rest. Sometimes it looks like nourishment. Sometimes it looks like choosing peace over pressure and sometimes…

It looks like starting again, but this time, with wisdom.

If you’re in a season of rebuilding too, I hope this reminds you that slower doesn’t mean weaker — it often means wiser.

With you on the journey,
– Storm Reagan
Life Coach | Lived Experience Guide