Living with HIV and haemodialysis has taught me that health isn’t measured by a single workout or one good day. It is measured over weeks and months, and sometimes the biggest achievement is simply adapting rather than giving up.

This week reminded me of that.

Early in the week I experienced several nosebleeds, including one during dialysis. The session had to finish thirty minutes early, and I had another nosebleed while walking to the railway station afterwards. It was enough to make me slow down, and I let the dialysis team know what had been happening.

There were days when my energy was low and my notebook reflected that honestly. Some pages contain very little exercise. Others record only food, medication and symptoms. I think that matters just as much as logging a good workout.

By the end of the week things were improving.

I completed bodyweight squats alongside weighted squats using my backpack, worked through my bicep curls and doorway pulls, and finished more than one day with over 12,000 steps. The temperatures climbed towards 28°C, which made everything feel harder, but the routine was still there.

Perhaps my favourite entry in the notebook wasn’t an exercise at all.

Under “Win of the Day” I wrote:

No nosebleed.

Sometimes that is exactly the victory that deserves celebrating.

Looking back over the past month, I can see how this little notebook has become much more than a fitness diary. It records my dialysis treatments, energy levels, medications, food, symptoms, haemoglobin, daily steps and the small milestones that might otherwise be forgotten.

It reminds me that progress is rarely a straight line.

One week you add hammer curls. Another week you discover you can do weighted incline push-ups with a backpack on. Another week the biggest success is simply getting through dialysis safely and returning to exercise when your body is ready.

As someone living with HIV and kidney failure, I have stopped chasing perfection. I am much more interested in consistency.

The habit of turning up, recording honestly, adapting when I need to, and starting again the next day is becoming stronger than any individual workout.

And I think that may be the most important strength I am building.