Okay. Before I get into the juicy details of this post, allow me to say that, due to personal reasons, this summer has been challenging. I won’t divulge information that’s too personal but, sometimes events happen in life that remain not for sharing. That said, I hope you like this post. Sometimes, we need a little push and the GLP-1 has been that nudge I needed.
We had more challenges than the damage the leaky fridge did!
Pre-menopause, it was easy for me to lose weight if I had gained. Or, it was easy to maintain my weight. I’ve gone from thin to not-so-thin. At my lowest, which is when I was 31 years old 1t 117, to maintaining a pretty decent weight of 137 during the years after giving birth to my daughter and after a few years, reaching a high of 180 pounds after going through a lot of stress.
Oona and me at Long Beach 1992. I was 137 pounds and felt great! At this juncture, I will be happy to reach 145 pounds! Oona was three and I did manage to lose stress weight.
Then came menopause. That special time of life when, thankfully, my periods stopped. And with that came a different quality of life. Hot flashes so intense I pulled over while driving to take off my shirt and drive around in a bra. Headaches that really weren’t in my head but the back of my neck to my shoulders. Having to have a tweezer in the car at all times, and one in each purse because the eyebrows that were shedding were now popping up as misplaced hairs, aka lady whiskers, on my chin.
One would think that living like a walking sauna would provide weight loss. But it didn’t.
My body also changed. It expanded. My once shapely and smaller waist was inflating faster than a tire tube. My belly, of which was always a little sticky-outy, was now one giant mudflap. My upper arms took on the appearance of a pelican’s mouth when full of water and fish. The thighs? Yeah. They became thighnormous! And the weight continued to pack on no matter what I did.
As in the words of my late, great dad: “It must be jelly ’cause jam don’t shake like that”. Yeah. My belly shook!
I joined a gym through work. Went pretty regularly but wasn’t motivated. Then I lost my job and lost the gym membership. I attended one—yes, one Yoga class at the Y. I couldn’t return because people had dirty and disgusting feet and I didn’t want those dawgs anywhere near my precious being. Weight Watchers no longer worked for me because the brand stopped the workshops and went cyber.
Basically, THIS was what made me never return to a yoga class. Dirty and disgusting feet.
It was time to do this on my own. Now, when the weight climbed up to 155, I was barely able to fit into my beloved size 8 pants. Luckily, at that weight, I was able to sort of hide the excess because I am a large-boned individual. I am not a gamine nor am I slight. I got the heavy bones.
But once my weight hit the 165 range, excess body weight couldn’t be hidden anymore. Love handles overflowed from my J. Crew white denim shorts that I wore for many summers. Form-fitting dresses gave the illusion that I was 5 months pregnant—and at my age, it would have been the second coming of Christ if that were so. Even my titties seemed larger. Age after menopause crept up like the itsy-bitsy spider.
Thankfully, my beloved Wynne maxi dress from Lilly Pulitzer has a lot of stretch. From the front, it doesn’t look bad but from the side. OUCH!
Then, two years ago, we attended a birthday party out on Long Island for my brother-in-law. It was quite the bash at my sister’s beach club. And there was quite a crowd. The one thing I noticed was the majority of the women I knew and who were around my age, were skinny as f*ck. I felt like a wildebeest. And, after a few drinks and not-so-deep conversation, I found out these women were on Ozempic. They were chatting the drug up as though it were a miracle worker. I was intrigued but not quite on board.
This is what all those Long Island women looked like after being on Ozempic. I honestly do not know what Kelly Osbourne has taken to loose an incredible amount of weight and with all due respect, her dad passed away, but this is ED skinny and Tom Ford should be ashamed that he is promoting this body type. Look, I want to lose weight but remain healthy.
Later, after a visit with my doctor, I inquired about this Ozempic drug. He gave me a firm “no” and told me to watch what I eat. Men. They don’t get it. I wasn’t asking him to give me the drug because I wanted to be bone thin, I just needed help. In hindsight, he could have been correct but also could have recommended something more substantial than telling me to watch what I eat.
And so, the past two years had me watching what I eat and the scale not moving below 165 pounds. During this time, the primary practice I went to changed into a “concierge” practice, which meant paying an extra $2,000 a year, over what I was paying in medical insurance to have your doctor’s visits be longer and have the doctor pay more attention to you.
I switched practices and now see a nurse-practitioner—and she’s wonderful!
Back to the story. As you know, if you read this blog, my son, Jake, got married last August in Santa Barbara, California. (And he and my DIL gave birth to a very healthy boy two weeks ago!!) The entire time we were there it was blissful. All three kids, my grandsons, the weather, the events—it was never ending happiness!! My husband and I, along with my daughter and SIL and the grandsons had a great day at the beach. Vincent and I were frolicking with the boys to give Oona and Sam a rest. And later on, I saw it. Oona took some photos of us with the boys. There was one of me bending over. My flabber was gasted! Actually, my flab was overflowing from the bottom of my two-piece bathing suit. I realized then and there that I needed to get healthier.
Here’s the proof. I wore the same dress to Jake’s wedding that I did to Oona’s. Look at the difference. And with body shapers, I still looked like a stuffed sausage!
Upon arriving back home, I did have an annual health checkup with my new primary. Went through initial blood tests-and naturally, got weighed. My weight was at 170 pounds. And I didn’t mention wanting Ozempic because, at that time, I was too much in shock at my 5-pound gain and was in a funk.
Blood tests came back with an iron deficiency and borderline high BP and cholesterol. My BP prescription was renewed from my previous doctor, and I received my new prescription. Yet, I remained silent about looking into a GLP-1.
Throughout the year, I tried to lose weight. I walked the hospital campus at lunchtime. I ate smaller portions during the week with only giving myself weekends with my husband to enjoy full meals. And even then, I was still somewhat mindful. However, eating from stress and boredom continued. A bit here. A bit there added up. I wasn’t fooling anyone but myself.
And then, a few weeks ago, I had to have my annual blood draw taken. Everything was in good shape. I also, two weeks ago, had an appointment with my NP. This time, my weight was 167.5 a small drop from last year’s 170. But for the span of 52 weeks, otherwise known as 12 months, otherwise known as one year, I dropped 2.5 pounds. It was time to come clean.
We had a great discussion. I talked. She listened. And listened well. She understood me. She knew what it was like to go through menopause. She understood issues we have with weight. She got it—that I wanted to be healthy not only for me but for my grandsons to enjoy their grandmother!
She explained that the State of Pennsylvania doesn’t allow insurance coverage for medicines for weight loss. I was already aware of this. Yes. If you live in the State of Pennsylvania, you’re cooked. Under my employer, The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, I have Aetna—and the pricier PPO insurance. Aetna, as well as many of the insurance companies are a sham. You want to get healthy. You want to maintain a healthy weight. One that could get you off medication—but the insurance companies want you unhealthy and sick so they can get their money. It’s a vicious cycle in America. Even with trying send a diagnosis of high BP and cholesterol issues—Aetna said “no”.
Regardless, we spoke about taking a GLP-1. Since I didn’t have a massive amount of weight to lose, it was better for me to start on a low dose. She also stressed the importance of working with the medication. The medication is a tool. It isn’t a miracle drug where I can shove copious amounts of food into my gut and magically the pounds will come off. I need to be mindful of proteins and fiber and lower the carb intake. I need to move. And at this point—I’m ready.
My best option was to go through Eli Lilly direct. I am now taking Foundayo and the lowest dosage possible. The out-of-pocket cost? 149 USD a month. While I’m not thrilled about paying that, it’s better than paying a lot more. Today, August 29, marks exactlya month that I’ve been taking the pill. This morning when I got on the scale, my weight read 156.50 pounds. That’s a loss of 11 pounds in four weeks. And I’m fine with that because I’ve been working along with my GLP-1.
I’m on the lowest dosage of Foundayo. The first month was a nice loss but moving forward, I expect to lose maybe 1 pound a week which is healthier.
The medication’s side effects can be headaches—I’ve had none. Constipation—luckily for me, I poop like a rabid dog so I’m fine. Fatigue-nope. Thirst. YES! I’m very thirsty and H2O is my best friend right now. Truth be told, the best plain water on earth is NYC tap water. I used to drink it by the gallons when I lived in the City. Now, I can only drink water if it is very, very cold. Otherwise, I add Zero Sugar drink mixes or make a big pitcher of Zero Sugar Iced Tea and keep it in the fridge.
Lots and lots of water. Flavored. Plain. Sparkling. Just. Water!
The medication curbs my appetite in a way that I could have never imagined. The only time I’ve never said no to food was when I was in the middle of labor, delivering my children. And even then, I couldn’t wait to deliver my little kiddles because afterwards, I could eat!
Non-fat cottage cheese and figs are my friend these days. This is enough to fill me up.
My husband makes a great carrot rappe. Low in calories and fat and delicious.
As much as I love Biscoff, I have no desire for them right now. The food noise has become silent!
Weekends are my downfall, not with meals but with being home and putzing around the house. Out of boredom, the fridge would be opened at least twenty times with me taking a little piece of ham. Or a cube of cheese. Or a handful of olives. Or some chocolate. Or a sweet. It isn’t happening anymore. To keep momentum up, I’ll have four olives but no desire to continue. I now have boundaries.
Dinner? I’m measuring out my food. I hadn’t done that in four decades. Last night, we had kabobs. I couldn’t finish it. I honestly, could not finish it. I was full. And another thing—Vincent loves his baguettes. With butter. And, naturally, I can’t help myself to a slice or three. I’m not eating any bread. I’m not missing it either. I’m just okay with not eating it. Last Sunday night we had spaghetti. I measured mine out. And lucky for me, I can’t stand tomato sauce. I had mine with salt and pepper and a bit of pasta water and I was satisfied.
I couldn’t finish this kabob. I ate half and will finish the other half tonight for dinner!
Okay. I made salmon rillettes. I had a bit but…
…not on the bread I made. Instead…
I had rillettes on a toasted slice of 647 bread and placed the loaf in the freezer, so I could take out a piece at a time and freezing it will keep it longer.
Moving forward, the weight won’t come off quickly. I will be pleased to lose one to two pounds a week until I hit my goal of—between 145 pounds and 147 pounds. I’m not in this to get skinny. I’m in this to get healthy. In October, I have a follow up appointment. If I’m stalled, I can go up to a slightly higher dosage costing 199 USD a month but I’m hoping this lowest dosage will fulfill my needs.
My clothes are fitting better. Even jeans. Does it look like I lost weight? Not really, but when I turn to the side, it’s apparent my gut is going down in size–and that’s a good thing!
My gut is going down considerably. It’s still there but going down..
Another Wynne maxi shows the shrinking gut. Still there but smaller.
Jeans? I’m in a smaller size–but still have a ways to go to…
Get back into the jeans of yesteryear–glad I kept them!
Sometimes, we need a bit of help to attain goals. Sometimes, we can’t do it alone. Sometimes our bodies need help and it’s okay to seek it and use that help wisely!