Two Years Into My Weight Loss Journey
It’s been a bit over two years since I started on my weight loss journey with injectable medication for weight loss. I started out with tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound) but thanks to insurance coverage, I now am on semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy).
Back in March, about a year and a half after starting tirzepatide, I stopped losing weight. My body seemed to have found its ideal weight, so I am now in maintenance mode. Considering this weight is at a “normal” BMI (and to be clear, I think BMI is bull malarkey, but it was, if nothing else, a useful goal to hit, a number I could aim for) I am completely fine with this. For the last eight months, I have stayed within a 5 pound range.
All told, I have lost about 95 pounds. (Sure, I’d love to lose five more pounds, if only to hit 100, but that’s so arbitrary, I don’t really care too much.) That’s 37% of my body weight. Over one-third. Mind-blowing.
When I first started this journey, I was very reluctant to tell anyone about it. At the time, the drugs were very new and not much was understood about them. There was a stigma around them, that it was “cheating.” People actually said to me, “please tell me you aren’t taking those drugs.” I wasn’t going to lie about it, but it made me uncomfortable to admit it, especially in the face of negativity. And I still struggle with the idea that losing weight made me happier.
Now, everyone and their sister are using them to lose weight (literally, my sister is one of them). I have seen so many people lose weight that they’ve struggled with for years.
I no longer am embarrassed to admit that this is how I lost weight. I mean, at this point, I can’t imagine anyone hasn’t guessed anyway. Now when people comment on my weight loss (because as much as I dislike it, there will always be people who do), I just say, “I’m sure you can guess how I did it.” And they usually can.
I can now buy clothes and not worry they’ll be too big in a few months. (Too big! Can you imagine?) I may have a bit of a shopping problem now, I’ll admit it. Thank goodness for thrift stores. When I was bigger, finding appealing clothes at thrift stores was a lot more difficult. And shopping at “regular” stores is now fun, not depressing.
I no longer dread meeting new people, or seeing people in person that I haven’t seen in years. The other day I spoke to a friend from elementary school, and she suggested meeting up. My first instinct was to make excuses, to shy away from the idea, but then I remembered I’m no longer embarrassed by my appearance.
I don’t have to look at the weight limits on ladders or chairs. Airplane seats are no longer uncomfortable. (Well, no more uncomfortable than they are for other average-sized people.)
I realize that I will probably be on these medications for life, the same way I’ll be on antidepressants forever. I’m not ashamed of the latter, so I don’t know why I’d be ashamed of the former. Both keep me healthy, in different ways.
Speaking of health … a bottle of antacid medication expired, unopened, in my medicine cabinet. My blood pressure is normal, as is my cholesterol (both were creeping above healthy numbers two years ago).
