Anyone use weight loss drugs for just a few pounds?

[Anonymous]

I feel this, OP. I would never admit this out loud, but I am a bit jealous of my older sister. She was always the "beautiful" one, but her weight crept up to 175 through her late 20s-early 40s, while I stayed at about 125 most of my adult life (well, 130 after dc #3) without much effort. Now she is on Zepbound, she is down to 130, and I have crept up to 142 after starting a sedentary job two years ago. It is just so freaking boring and I don't know how to get through the day/not get distracted without snacking. We are both in our mid 40s. She is on a very low dose and says her side effects have dissipated. I know for others, these medications are truly life saving and also have rough side effects. This is just my little petty thing. I am happy for my sister but feel bad about myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel this, OP. I would never admit this out loud, but I am a bit jealous of my older sister. She was always the "beautiful" one, but her weight crept up to 175 through her late 20s-early 40s, while I stayed at about 125 most of my adult life (well, 130 after dc #3) without much effort. Now she is on Zepbound, she is down to 130, and I have crept up to 142 after starting a sedentary job two years ago. It is just so freaking boring and I don't know how to get through the day/not get distracted without snacking. We are both in our mid 40s. She is on a very low dose and says her side effects have dissipated. I know for others, these medications are truly life saving and also have rough side effects. This is just my little petty thing. I am happy for my sister but feel bad about myself.

OP. Thanks. I, too, have a sedentary office job and would eat crap throughout the day. On Zep, I just don't feel like it. It is absolutely shocking to me. I bring raw veggies and hummus to work for my afternoon snack, and it fills me up. Prior to Zep, I'd try to eat healthy snacks, but more often would end up noshing on a Kit Kat or two (or three), a bag of cookies, a sugary Starbucks drink (and maybe a cake pop). Those things hold no interest for me now. It's completely taken away the need to have any willpower. Instead, I am able to make decisions with my brain instead of my stomach. So I think, ok, I feel a little hungry, so now it's time to take out my container of snow peas and carrots instead of, I'm hungry, oh God, I'm going to run to Dunkin for a Glazed donut and an iced coffee. Now I think, it's noon, time to have my grilled chicken salad. But I don't feel desperate for it, and I also don't feel hungry when I'm done eating it. Such a huge change for me.

I empathize when you say you feel bad about yourself. I was always mad at myself, disgusted by my lack of self-control, just feeling like a failure. I also hated looking in the mirror. I was not overweight, but I was not taking good care of myself. I feel so much better now, physically and mentally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I feel this, OP. I would never admit this out loud, but I am a bit jealous of my older sister. She was always the "beautiful" one, but her weight crept up to 175 through her late 20s-early 40s, while I stayed at about 125 most of my adult life (well, 130 after dc #3) without much effort. Now she is on Zepbound, she is down to 130, and I have crept up to 142 after starting a sedentary job two years ago. It is just so freaking boring and I don't know how to get through the day/not get distracted without snacking. We are both in our mid 40s. She is on a very low dose and says her side effects have dissipated. I know for others, these medications are truly life saving and also have rough side effects. This is just my little petty thing. I am happy for my sister but feel bad about myself.

OP. Thanks. I, too, have a sedentary office job and would eat crap throughout the day. On Zep, I just don't feel like it. It is absolutely shocking to me. I bring raw veggies and hummus to work for my afternoon snack, and it fills me up. Prior to Zep, I'd try to eat healthy snacks, but more often would end up noshing on a Kit Kat or two (or three), a bag of cookies, a sugary Starbucks drink (and maybe a cake pop). Those things hold no interest for me now. It's completely taken away the need to have any willpower. Instead, I am able to make decisions with my brain instead of my stomach. So I think, ok, I feel a little hungry, so now it's time to take out my container of snow peas and carrots instead of, I'm hungry, oh God, I'm going to run to Dunkin for a Glazed donut and an iced coffee. Now I think, it's noon, time to have my grilled chicken salad. But I don't feel desperate for it, and I also don't feel hungry when I'm done eating it. Such a huge change for me.

I empathize when you say you feel bad about yourself. I was always mad at myself, disgusted by my lack of self-control, just feeling like a failure. I also hated looking in the mirror. I was not overweight, but I was not taking good care of myself. I feel so much better now, physically and mentally.

This is fascinating. I also want to lose a few pounds, just for vanity’s sake (to feel better in my swimsuit this summer basically). But what you say really shows the difference in needs for drugs. 95% of the food choices I make, I can make them under the same conditions as you under Zep.

I know when I am hungry but I have the space to choose with my head the grilled chicken salad meal. I very rarely have an urge I cannot resist (chips put in front of me at a cocktail party after I had a glass of wine for example, would be my 5% fail rate). I need to have a very empty stomach to feel any kind of desperation/ compulsion for food.

I used to have a much harder time years ago. For me it was carbs. I couldn’t resist white rice and bread. I would inhale that type of food and not know when to stop. I felt like a bottomless pit. I switched to a low carb and entirely Whole Foods diet and the cravings stopped.

The “only” difficulty for me now is being informed enough about the calories in my food to know exactly when to stop eating or to choose the best options in the menu so that I reach the point when I am full but didn’t go overboard on calories.

I say this for 2 reasons: to recognize that some people really need drugs and it is not a willpower issue, and to encourage you while you are taking Zep to explore healthy low carbs diet to be ready for the day you transition out of the drugs. I think it can really make a difference to most people’s cravings.