Weight Loss, Wegovy, and Craving Donuts

Anyone who knows me knows I've struggled with my weight my whole life. Even as a teenager I was a bigger kid. Hearing fat jokes growing up, sometimes from your own older brother doesn't make for the greatest self esteem.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s and body shaming wasn't really a concern back then. Fatness was a character flaw because you're lazy and like to stuff as much food in your mouth as possible at all times. I was in sports as a kid and usually quite active. Yet weight always piled on. I joined the Marines right out of high school, hoping to help my self esteem and to get away from my small town.

I was about 5'10 and 250 or so pounds when I enlisted. The Marines said a person my size should weigh around 190lbs. So upon arrival at boot camp I was designated a "Diet Private" where they spray paint red paint on your uniform and name tag so they know you're not supposed to eat regular food.

All we could pretty much eat was salad and cottage cheese. By the time I left boot camp, I weighed about 180 lbs, but felt very weak most of the time. I could run and all that, but had little muscle or arm strength. But that didn't matter, I was skinny!

Throughout my four years in the Marines I often gained and lost weight. I was put on remedial PT numerous times meaning I had to do extra running on top of the usual daily three miles we did each day. As you can imagine, it was extra tiring, but hey at least I got skinnier.

Fast forward to my 30s. I was on anti-depressants which made me pack a ton of weight on. At this point I'm 6Ft tall and 360 lbs. I found out our insurance would cover weight loss surgery. I opted for lap band over the sleeve as the sleeve sounded very harsh and invasive with a longer recovery time. They assured us the band was great and highly successful. It was for a while, I lost almost 100 lbs.

Except then the band fell out of favor with healthcare providers. The clinic we got it at stopped filling the band with saline to keep it tight around my stomach. Well, they didn't stop they closed up shop and no other providers wanted to mess with it. They just wanted us to get the sleeve which is around a 20,000.00 procedure.

So we jump to last year. I was back up to around 340 lbs, having some health issues, by now I'm 51. Expecting me to go out and run ten miles a day isn't really realistic. I've tried gyms, diets, cutting calories, keto, adkins, etc etc and nothing would work.

So I talked to my nurse practitioner about Ozempic and Wegovy. She favored Wegovy, and my insurance doesn't cover it, but its available at a compounding pharmacy she trusts for a fraction of the price. So now I've been on it for about six months or so and lost 45 pounds and counting. I currently weigh around 304 and been teetering just over 300 for a few weeks. So hopefully I'll have a breakthrough here at some point.

In this journey, I've received a lot of poeple's thoughts and comments. Mostly that Wegovy isn't healthy, my head will explode or I'll grow a third eye or turn into the creature from The Substance. Mostly people will tell me I'm "cheating" or taking the easy way out. This still isn't easy. I have to watch what I eat, undo old habits and not force something down just because it looks good.

With some weight off I've started walking again, just down the street and back or around the block. Just something to get my blood flowing. I got a nice pair of hiking boots to encourage me to be more active. With a lot of weight off, I'm not as embarrassed to leave the house or go to events or concerts or even the library. I still have a waddle when I walk, so I'm working on that.

Since being on the Wegovy, my blood sugar has dropped, my heart rate and blood pressure have gone down. I sleep better. I hope soon I won't need my CPAP machine anymore. Plus, I just feel like moving around more than in the past. My older brother died at age 50 due to some ongoing health issues he'd had. I don't wish to join him anytime soon, and when I got some bad blood work back last year, it was a wake up call.

Also a wake up call was when we saw Pink in concert at the Alamo Dome at the end of 2023. We were in nosebleed seats and I went and got us snacks. As I was walking up the steep stadium steps, I had to stop several times to catch my breath. Each time, people would come up to me going "are you ok? Do you need help? Do you need to sit down?" etc, and I have to say it was kind of alarming that so many people were so worried about me.

I did appreciate the concern, but the fact there WAS so much concern was enough to get my attention. If I'm walking up some stairs and people are worried I'm about to keel over, I must have looked REALLY bad. Months later I was on the Wegovy and we were off and running. My goal is around 250 lbs, and I think I can make it. It will just take a few more months.

The shot is saving my life no matter how you look at it. I don't even care if it is some form of cheating at weight loss. Life is hard and we need every advantage we can get. Its not like I'm an athlete getting some advanatage. I'm just some guy. So that is my journey. I'm not trying to convince anyone else to use these shots, or make any kind of case. Everyone is different. I suggest talking to your doctor to find out what if anything would work best. Once you decide on something, commit to it. In the meantime, ignore the haters and naysayers. Do what makes you healthy and happy. Life is too short.