Salad_Dude
Well-known member
Hello everyone, I'm posting to share my weight loss journey and hopefully give some encouragement. For a decade I struggled. I had an eating disorder in my youth and was quite thin back then. I'm 5'6" and used to be around 120lbs until about 2012. After that, I tried all sorts of stuff, every diet you can imagine (except keto), countless workout plans, coaches, trainers, spending hours at the gym. Since 2007, I have been dedicated to this but could never get below 175lbs! Working in healthcare and the gyms closing for a year and a half really made things worse. I moved, got a new gym membership, tried new activities and diets but still couldn't get below 200, eventually hitting 215. I tried all kinds of fitness - spin, powerlifting, bodybuilding. In late Sept '22, I asked a bodybuilder for help, and he connected me with someone who crafted a diet that helped me lose about 20lbs over 6 months. It was a real diet plan with 215g carbs slowly reduced to 100g with higher protein. After all that effort, I asked my doctor about a GLP-1... and the pounds melted off. I was dropping 5lbs every few days! The progress was so motivating. Then supply issues happened, and I switched to another GLP-1 when it became available. That one was even MORE effective, but then it was also hard to get. I went back to the first one and kept going. From Sept '22 to Sept '23, I lost around 85lbs. This month marks a year of maintaining under 130lbs. (And in January I'll hit a year under 125lbs). The first GLP-1 no longer works well for me; when I had to use it again this summer, I immediately gained about 8lbs. I'm currently using a low maintenance dose and stay around 120-125lbs. I can eat pretty much anything now (in moderation). I used to have trouble breathing during workouts, but my blood pressure and resting heart rate have improved. I stopped going to the gym in early '22 and just walk about 4-5 miles per day. There have been some downsides. Muscle loss has caused back pain, and I was officially diagnosed with scoliosis and kyphosis. The kyphosis existed before, but it wasn't diagnosed until now. My body compensating for that pain has triggered an old back injury. However, I have drastically reduced the risk of other health problems. I've dealt with rude comments at work for the last year or so about my weight loss, being too skinny, looking ill, and being asked if I have an ED or cancer. It's been draining, but it's calmed down now. To those who are on a similar journey, or considering one, your reasons are valid. You deserve the body you want and better health. Take photos and measurements along the way. I didn't, and I regret it because I didn't think it would work.
