MJ Two Years: Still Going!

I've been tracking my hematocrit numbers for about ten years now. The levels stayed steady the whole time, including the five checks I got after I started tirzepatide back in August 2024.
 
Adding metformin alongside GLP-1 actually helps your body use the medication better and boosts leptin, which helps metabolism. Plus it's got benefits for kidney and heart health. My A1C was stuck at 9.6 on 2000 units metformin plus two other meds. Now on 7.5 tirz and 500 metformin and sitting at 5.6. Complete turnaround in how I feel and perform.
 
been on it for two and a half years now and it still works. turned out the medication helped my autoimmune stuff and some nerve pain from an old injury too. planning to stick with it long term, especially once it's approved for those other conditions in my area so i can get a prescription instead.
 
yeah that's gonna be the challenge for me. trying to fit 200g protein and 60-80g fat means squeezing carbs in even when i'm not hungry, which is way harder than it was back a dozen years ago
 
dearth of studies on higher dosing and especially the long-term stuff. anecdotal evidence fills in where science hasn't caught up. good point that lack of high-dose data might be deliberate — nobody wants to test overdose in people. hypoglycemia would be a real risk at too high a dose
 
Had rough fatigue first few weeks but that faded. Flat mood took longer to show up and stuck around till weeks after I quit. Wouldn't bump the dose while dealing with sides. 1mg twice a week was my sweet spot.
 
I inject at 4:25 am before my 5 am workout, wake up at 4 or 4:15. Timing shouldn't matter much as long as it's in your system. Been doing 1-1.5 mg daily and just switched to 2.5 mg MWF to cut down on injections. Haven't noticed much difference honestly.
 
These two photos show 58 pounds total. I'd already dropped 28 on my own before August, just bouncing between losing and gaining the same 10 back. Started semaglutide in August 25 and lost another 30 since then. Still going down.
 
No issues jumping to 5mg. Was nervous but no new side effects. On 5mg for six weeks after four on 2.5, pounds really started rolling off around week four. Everyone's different but worth it. 🍀👍
 
Two years and a 145-pound difference is remarkable. The skin removal piece is a real milestone too - that's a chapter closing on the physical side of the journey. Do you feel like a different person mentally or does it take a while for your head to catch up?
 
I've used Renpho scales for a while. They're not as precise as Dexa or MRI, but they're way more practical for regular tracking. I treat them as a direction indicator, not gospel. For accuracy without the cost, comparing your own progress photos over time is actually pretty solid.
 
Still got 10 kg ahead but feeling the best I have in years. Ditched like 90 percent of my wardrobe, my health markers are solid, going to the gym regularly now, can actually run. Used to take 4 different antidepressants and now I'm just in love with how life feels. Hard to put it into words.
 
Two years and 145 pounds down is a different category of result. The post-skin-removal milestone on top of that is the final piece most people don't talk about publicly - it takes real commitment to get there. The exercise habit changing is one of the most underrated effects of the medication: being able to actually recover from effort without the subsequent compensatory eating breaks a cycle that most people couldn't break before. What dose are you maintaining on now?
 
Two years from 303 to 158 is the kind of result that makes the skeptics go quiet. The skin removal chapter on top of that is the full arc - most people don't talk about it publicly but it's a real part of significant loss journeys. On the Renpho question: body fat percentage from impedance scales is noisy but the trend line is useful. Tracking the direction over months is the right use, not the absolute number on any given week. Dexa is the gold standard but not practical for most people weekly - the Renpho gives you something to work with.
 
Coming through an extended ICU stay and then taking on a serious weight loss effort after decades of heavy smoking is a compounded challenge that doesn't get enough acknowledgment. Lung recovery alone changes what the body can tolerate in terms of exertion and caloric deficit. Adding a major lifestyle change on top of that history is a different category of effort than starting from a clean baseline. Two years of consistent work after that kind of medical background is an outcome worth naming directly.
 
Two years in is where the habits become automatic and the identity shift catches up to the physical change - the 60 pounds is real but the daily relationship with food being different is the part that sticks.
 
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