Mounjaro / Zepbound Journey

  Today I weighed 253 lb for a weight loss of 105 pounds!  29.3% since I started Mounjari 1/18/23... Incredible!  Down 33.9% from my all time high weight. The photo is from Yarmouth, Nova Scotia... We all like to stand out in some way from those around us... but I was tired of being the bouy at the end… I am cheering for everyone looking to make the life change... People come up to me and tell me they started on this journey and they want to share!   20 pounds here... 30 pounds there... It is amazing... But the BEST PART are the unfiltered joy of the smiles on their faces!!

  On the road to great things! So I weighed in at 255.8 lbs this morning … whoop whoop!!  This is a 102.2 pound weight loss on Mounjaro since Jan 18th which is a 28.5% reduction!!   From my all time high of 383 lb that is a 127 lb weight loss which is a 33% weight loss … outstanding!!!   I cannot even begin to say how good I feel! Thank you Mounjaro!

  Today was a great day … as of this morning I am at a 100 pound weight loss!!  Wow!! The photos above were of this past blue moon … interestingly the second photo was taken with Canon T7 with a telephoto lense and manual settings on a tripod … and the first one was taken on a Samsung U23 smartphone held freehand with pinch zoom on the screen and autofocus … Crazy!!   The Samsung killed the Canon T7 … who would have guessed that! And a side note, I did try to get my mounjaro by an alternate means to save money and I fell  victim to a scam … ugh.   I definitely did not save any money on that front.   I am never trying that again.   Damn it.    Still thrilled about the 100 pound point today!

  So here is a before and after photo … the one on the left was the month before starting (taken Dec 2022) and the other was taken today!   Pretty dramatic difference I would say! And great news … I was able to get 15mg prescription filled this week and it was at. different pharmacy and when they ran it with my insurance my insurance covered part of it!!!   My total was $500 for a month … I am ecstatic!!   That is so much better than the $1050-$1200 I had been paying!!  (Update: just happened on one fill and the following months went back to $1000 😒)  I took my last 10mg dose this week so for the next 6 weeks I have two 12.5mg and four 15mg doses … whoop whoop!!  Very exciting!!  I have been at a plateau (261.6 lb this morning - 96 lb weight loss since starting for a. 26.9% weight loss) for almost two months now but I am not stressing about it … I am very happy with my results so far and although I hope to lose 20 more pounds it would not be horrible to live where I am at now….  

  Hello. The photo above is of the Yarmouth, Novs Scotia Cape Forchu lighthouse (there are two there but this is the taller of the two). Even though I am still at a plateau weight (266 # this morning) I certainly feel like I have lost so much weight that I am still shrinking.   I was down to wearing XL scrubs at work (down from 3XL and at time 4XL and even 5XL scrubs!) and yesterday I accidently put on a Large scrub shirt instead of XL and although it felt a little snugger then I am used to … it actually did fit and I wore it all day.   I was amazed! Ouch … this is me is 5XL scrubs just this past December… I cringe just looking at the photo… If I did not lose another pound I would still be beyond thrilled with how well the weight loss has gone.   Admittedly I would love to lose another 20 pounds or more but my happiness is not dependent on any further weight loss.   I feel so much better than I did not too long ago… Today’s shot was 10mg which was 9 days since the last shot of 12.5mg.

  Hello!!   I took a couple of weeks off from trying to lose weight and went on a long road trip which was awesome!  I weighed in at 270 pounds on my arrival home which is where I was about a month and a half ago  so now back to working on the weight loss! I was able to go on good walks and some smaller hikes with no problem on the trip and with plenty of energy which was really nice! I went 11 days from my last Mounjaro dosr and took a 12.5mg shot this morning.    The most remarkable thing is how many compliments I get... It has been wonderful!   Just as wonderful as the sunrise into work this morning!

  Hello All!   So today I hit 261.2 pounds for a 96.8 pound weight loss on Mounjaro! … 27% loss.    In talking to people about Mounjaro I find it hard to explain why this is such a great medication.  I have changed my diet and I am eating much healthier but without the Mounjaro my results would not have been any near as dramatic.   And the changes I have done would have completely overwhelming with my body fighting me all the way …. starving … craving … tempted … eating chatter all day and all night.   The medicine takes care of that part of the problem.  It allows us to make the changes we needed to make.   The medicine has been wonderful and nothing short of a miracle! Speaking of wonderful … the photo above is of Pirate’s Day on Smith Mountain Lake Virginia which has truly been an outstanding adventure to participate in every year!!

  I took 10 mg dose today.   On a weight loss plateau presently but I had company all last week so I am just glad I did not put on weight! Update: 4 days later D 182 … at 265.4 pounds for 92.8 pound weight loss (25.9%) since starting mounjaro!   And if you look at loss from my max weight including pre-mounjaro weight loss I have lost 118.6 pounds (30.7%).   I am completely amazed! The photo above reminds me of what it felt like when I was heavier... Nothing seemed built to accommodate me and I was always self conscious that I just did not fit in... Literally!

  Hello!   I am doing one more dose at 15mg this week and then going to 10mg for 2 weeks and then a 15mg and then 2 weeks of 10mg … good plan … after that will depend on what is available to get!  Update of anesthesia with GLP-1s … the American Society of Anesthesiologists came out with a task force recommendation which is what doctors will be following for now on GLP-1 patients … they say to hold the dose for one week before elective surgery and to consider using ultrasound of the stomach on the day of surgery to see if there is any food in the stomach.   If in doubt they are to treat the patient as being a full stomach.  I think that only waiting a week means a lot of people will have something still in their stomach following regular eating guidelines before surgery so we as patients are still at increased risk.   The issue they were compromising on was that if a diabetic’s sugars were under control on a GLP-1 then holding it longer than a week would mean poor sugar control at the t

  Wow!  Day 160 … I have been thrilled with my progress. My BPs are the best they have been in years … not sure if I will be able to decrease any meds but I certainly will not need to increase any doses!   That is exciting as my high blood pressure was worsening prior to starting the Mounjaro. I was only able to get the 10mg Mounjaro for this coming month but that is okay … I seem to do okay on it (although I do a touch better hunger wise on the higher doses). The unsolicited compliments continue to come in which is wonderful.  A lot of people asking me questions about the drug and my results.   Interestingly they all focus on nausea and hearing that people could not tolerate the medicine but as I have said I have not had any of those kind of issues.  One area of real concern, however, is that the delayed gastric emptying particularly with certain foods has an unintended consequence that everyone taking the medication needs to be aware of!  If you go under anesthesia for a procedure no