Over the last two years, I have lost close to 100 pounds (weight that I gained in high school + the first two years of college). It was a huge challenge for me, and basically required that I completely overhaul my lifestyle, both in terms of diet and exercise. In the process, I learned a ton about food and the food ecosystem in the U.S. It inspired me to study food policy + its impact on public health during my MPH, and work on a healthy food initiative outside of school. Obesity is obviously a major issue in our country, and I'm hoping to continue studying it and helping patients in medical school. As someone who was borderline obese, the past few years dealing with my weight and losing it have also given me first-hand understanding of patients who deal with similar issues.
I'm working on secondary drafts, and I'm wondering if you think this weight loss and what I've learned from it could be the subject for an "adversity" essay that asks about a big challenge I faced? I looked at some older posts on SDN, and they seemed to suggest that weight loss isn't a great topic to bring up to adcoms and that it may/may not be looked upon favorably (especially if I gained weight in high school/college, because then it could suggest issues with coping with stress.) If that's the case, I will pivot to something else, so I wanted to confirm if this would be appropriate. Thank you so much!