'I lost weight for my wedding. This is why I regret it.'

Lucy Klemt spent years unlearning the toxic idea that "a smaller me is a better me".

It wasn't easy. In her twenties Lucy had internalised all the usual messaging about diets, workouts and worthiness. But over time, she rebuilt her relationship with food and exercise — in a way that actually felt good.

She got to a place of balance.

Then she got engaged.

Suddenly, Lucy was bombarded with ads for personal trainers and fitness programs targeted at brides. Her feed was flooded with "wedding shred" content from brides-to-be, hair and skin transformations and tips for looking "your very best" on the big day.

"It's relentless," she told Mamamia.

On top of the internal pressure, Lucy said the external pressure placed on brides is "like nothing else".

Lucy chose a slow, steady, and balanced approach to weight loss. She still ate her favourite foods. She still had fun with her friends. But even then, she noticed food and exercise beginning to take up more space in her brain — a familiar sign of slipping back into old patterns.

Now that her wedding is behind her, Lucy says her mindset has shifted once again. She loved her big day. But part of her wishes she hadn't lost weight at all.

Watch a snippet of Lucy talking about her wedding dress. For the full video, head to her Instagram lucyklemt. Post continues below.

Lucy opened up about it in a refreshingly vulnerable video on Instagram.

"On my wedding day, I looked amazing, but I didn't look like me," she said. "I didn't look like the body I live my life in. I was kind of in a shrunk down version of that."

"It just reinforced this idea that a smaller me is a better me, a smaller me is a more beautiful me and to look my very, very best I needed to be the smallest version of myself."

Speaking to Mamamia, Lucy said she still loves her wedding photos.

"I still looked great — especially by society's standards! But that body isn't the body I live in when I am living my fullest life," she said. "It isn't the body where I am most 'me'."

"I immediately regained the weight I lost for the wedding afterwards."

Lucy on her wedding day. Image: Lucy Klemt.

After the wedding, Lucy quickly regained the weight. She describes it now as her body's "happy weight".

She knows her body's "happy weight" is still a very socially acceptable size, and she reaps the benefits that come with that. But now she's back at it, she feels her best.

"I find that my ability to resist the ups and downs of body image issues is far better when I am this size too," she said.

"I guess the dietitian in me knows why — a well-nourished brain is one far more emotionally resilient to the twists and turns of life."

Lucy says she feels most like herself at her 'happy weight'. Image: Lucy Klemt.

The weight gain meant her wedding dress no longer fit. When she shared this on social media, some followers suggested she keep the dress "just in case" she has a daughter one day.

Instead, Lucy sold it to a beautiful bride-to-be and is happy it's getting a second life.

Her reason why? It's a refreshing one.

"If I am lucky enough to have a daughter one day, it is very possible she will have the same body size as me," she said.

"I do not want her pulling out my dress and trying it on at 16 years old, realising it doesn't close. That just feels like passing on the same body pressures I have lived with for my entire life."

If she could go back and speak to bride-to-be Lucy, she knows exactly what she'd say:

"Every single person at your wedding knows and loves you at your body's 'happy weight'. They love that at this size you are most present and say 'yes' to more joy. That is the 'you' they want to see."

Feature image: Lucy Klemt/Supplied.