Let's Talk Food!

 First let's start out by doing a little dance.

I lost 2 more lbs. this week after not losing anything for about 3ish weeks. So yay! That means I'm done to 254.6 lbs! Only 73 away from my goal weight of 180. I might actually change that goal because I didn't see that as attenable when I started, but now I feel like I could get down to about 160 and be really happy with myself. We will see.

Now on to the good stuff.

Thanksgiving is a few days away and what a good time to talk about FOOD!!! I know a lot of us will be stuffing our faces come Thursday. Me, I generally take my shot Thursday morning and by the afternoon I don't really feel like eating. My hunger is gone. So I'm actually going to be taking my shot Thursday night for a change. I want to be able to enjoy my food after I spent all day cooking it. But enough about that.

My relationship has changed a lot throughout the years. Growing up we never had much, and my birth-giver never kept food in the house when my brother and sister were not around, which was basically all summer. I would go hungry a lot! I got into this system of maybe eating a meal once a day, and it was never a really good one. 

As I grew up, got a job, married, and could provide my own food I went off the rails. I would drink every soda I could get my hands on. I could go through a 2 liter a day! Ice cream, cakes, candy, things I never got to eat as a kid I devoured, and like it should my weight went up.

Now among all this bingeing I did try to eat healthy. I would go through periods of eating low carb, vegetables, and other good for you things. At one point I was inspired by the women around me and I went no sugar. I switched everything to Stevia, I even drank Zevia which I will tell you is not good. It has an awful after taste, but when you work with a bunch of models you will try anything. 

Whatever I did try my relationship with food has always been a bad one. I overeat all the damn time, I eat my emotions which with someone with generalized anxiety that is not good. When I found out I had PCOS I was done. I gave the hell up hardcore. I started eating fast food three times a day, drinking gallons of soda, and I just didn't care anymore. I figured this was me. I have a bad, toxic relationship with food and it's always going to be that way. 

I blamed my mom for most of it, but a lot of it was me too just giving up. I surrendered to the fact that nothing was ever going to change. Zepbound or no Zepbound.

I was wrong!

When I first started taking Zepbound my hunger really went away and I ate less, but I was still eating fast food daily, and drinking a lot of soda and sugary drinks along with all the water I was drinking. My relationship with food was still a bad one. I knew what I needed to eat but I just didn't care. 

Then the food noise went away. The nag in the bad of your head telling you to eat this junk food or that awful thing. I need to devour these foods went away and suddenly my rational mind was able to make good choices. On top of that I was forced to learn to eat smaller meals because I couldn't eat that much at once. My bingeing days were over. After a few months of stumbling with these changes I'm in a set habit and now it's a natural thing for me to eat small meals throughout the day, healthier meals with higher protein to keep myself from being hungry or feel sick later. It was like a natural shift in my relationship with food, and I started to realize I didn't need to punish myself with food, and things were not hopeless.

Now do I still have a soda from time to time?

Yeah, but I can only drink about 16 oz before feeling sick. So I generally stay away.

Do I still crave chocolate when I am stressed or around that time of the month?

Hell yeah. But I don't devour pounds of junk. I have one or two small pieces and I'm good.

This has also helped me to learn new ways to deal with my anxiety and stress eating. Without that nag of the voice pushing me to eat my feelings, I can come up with other ways to distract myself. This is what this drug does. It just doesn't take the hunger away, it makes it so you can actually think for yourself instead of being a slave to food or your cravings. 

So people that say that Zepbound just takes the hungry away and doesn't make any REAL changes in your life are full of shit! It does, if taken the way it's suppose to be taken. This is not a short term drug you shoot-up and drop some weight. It's a long term treatment to help with weight, behavior, and your relationship with food. Remember that before starting this journey. 

Past, Future, but No Weight Loss

 Let's get this thing started. I was going through pictures on my phone and thought it would be fun to do a comparison from last year. So here it is, this is me September of 2023.

I was simply surviving. I had given up on ever losing weight and excepted the fact I was going to look like that the rest of my life. A walrus with thinning fair and stomach problems and all kinds of other problems. I was getting by. Then my friends at work kept talking about this shot they took to help lose weight. At first I was like, "no, I can't do that."

From there I realized taking a shot every week wasn't so bad, but then I had the thought, "Well, it won't work for me." Finally, after a lot of talking and hearing all these stories from there I came around and figured I would give a try. It has been a little over six months and this is me now.

I NEVER thought I would be here.

Honestly, while I still have long way to go to my goal weight and my journey is really just starting. I couldn't comprehend looking the way I do now.

Not only have I lost 50 pounds but my hair is filling in, my PCOS has decreased which I love. My stomach problems are gone. I don't get heartburn like I used to from overeating, because I simply don't overeat anymore. 

Overall, I'm happy with my progress.

Now I will say I'm a little concerned because it's been two weeks and I still weigh the same, but I'm trying to stay positive. This happens. Weight loss is not a straight-line trending downward, I have to remember that. That is why I'm making this short but sweet post today. I needed to be reminder I've come so very far from where I have started, so a few weeks of no pound droppage is normal and fine. 

Jumping Through Hoops, Good Exercise

 I know, it isn't Sunday but I have some time off so I'm doing a blog post today. I missed last week because I didn't feel like it. I have been having a difficult time with my mental health. My doctor and I have been working with different medications, and things have been all over the place. I have been going through tests after tests, and honestly I didn't feel like using my one day off to write anything.

However; I am on some good medication now. It has improved my mood and things are going good. On top of that I'm on vacation, so lets get this started.

About two weeks ago at work we got the notice our annual enrollment was coming up for our benefits in 2025. It happens the beginning of ever November. They send out the announcement along with a list of things changing, or updating. All that good stuff. It's all put together in a nice packet that is easy to follow along with. They even have access to the current years information so it's easy to compare, because lets face it. Figuring our medical benefits is TOUGHT!!!

It's like an alien language you barely understand. So when they break it down for you in nice little graphs and charts, it makes coming to a decision a lot easier. Now, I'm not here to talk about what I choose for benefits. That's private. What I am here to talk about is one piece of information that was really hard not to take offense to.

Starting Jan. 1st 2025, everyone that takes GLP-1 medication for "weight loss" must be enrolled in Virta.

Virta? What the hell is Virta?

Was my first thought, my second was, why? I already see a weight lost specialist, isn't that enough?

Anyways, I go to the Virta website and start doing my homework. As I read more and more about Virta Weight Lost Management I get more and more pissed off. When you get right down to it they are a program that believes in mainly reversing type 2 diabetes through diet not medication. In fact they have a NO medication stance. Their whole goal is to get you off your medication. 

Right away panic sets in. My moods were already bad from my other meds and now this? Oh hell no!

I couldn't deal, and I lost my cool. I started writing angry letters to HR, and these Virta people. I started reading horror stories about them and their program. All I could think about was "I knew this was going to happen." and two "they are trying to take my medication." I was losing my shit!

I did do one smart thing through all this panic, and I signed up for enrollment in Virta. Which turns out was a good thing because now there is a waiting list to get in that stretches into next year. And as my benefits package says, "Only GLP-1 medication prescribed by Virta will be covered" this is a very good thing. I actually have my enrollment meeting next week so I will let you know how it goes.

Now, am I happy about this? Hell no.

This is a hoop I have to jump through to get what I need to loss weight. They want me to try diet, which is basically the Keto diet. Diet does not work for me. Yeah I always end up losing something weight, about 15 pounds, but then it stops and I gain it all back. 

Zepbound is the first thing I have ever tried that has really helped me. 

Now, I get it. They want to weed out the people that are on this medicine for vanity. People that don't take it seriously. I get that, but then the rest of us have to suffer. Now here is the part I am extremely pissed about. 

Anyone taking a GLP-1 (ozpemic, zepbound, ect.) who has type 2 diabetes does not need to enroll in the Virta program. ONLY people that are considered Obese. 

Why the discrimination? 

Obesity is a medical problem. I have a hormonal imbalance that causes me to gain and retain weight. I can eat all the right things, workout and everything and still not lose. How is this not a medical problem like type 2 diabetes? In fact if I don't lose weight I will end up with type 2 diabetes, and then what? I guess my meds will be covered without question. However, this is preventative care, when you really think about it. So why is some preventative care covered and others not?

Well, you see obesity has not been officially labeled as a disease. In fact it's only considered a health problem. Not an actual disease. Because of that coverage for weight loss medication is considered and elective. I'm actually very lucky that my work is still going to cover my zepbound, even through I have to go through this stupid program. 

So while I am pissed, annoyed, and I am not going to have a fun time with this Virta program. I am still covered. My company is one of the good ones, are they great. No, they have their flaws (Virta), but they are trying. 

Now if you work for a company and your insurance doesn't cover GLP-1 medication for weight loss try this organization. They will help you push your company to cover the medication. Let's work together to get obesity labeled correctly.  

OAC