Obesity and weight loss

@missuezq
I think my first dose of WEGOVY is at the .25 dosage. They start low to see if you are going to have any serious side effects and then raise it up one dosage each month.

My wife does do the grocery shopping. Most of it on line now and she really enjoys doing it. I hate it. I am a researcher and label reader and it drives her crazy when I come with her.

I am working with PCP to find a way to get this off. I really get offended by myself when I look in the mirror as only I am to blame.

I struggled with weight all my life and even gained weight on Atkins, despite test strip saying I was doing it right. I was, but no matter our wishes, consuming too many calories means too much weight. That's science. When I got desperate enough, I found Overeaters Anonymous, a non-profit program. Yup, I had to admit that I ate too much and was powerless to stop. I'd restrict and lose a few pounds, reward myself with goodies. Up and down, up and down. Before OA, if I was happy - I ate to celebrate; if I was sad, frustrated, angry - I ate to feel better. But it was never worked. I ended up feeling shamed. When I found OA, I found that I have an actual disease - Compulsive Eating Disorder. My brain/thinking was not my friend. OA gave me people who understood how I felt, a sponsor to talk to regularly, meetings that discussed the solution and so on. Have you ever met someone who got sober in AA? Well OA works the same for food disorders and has plenty of people who have found a healthy weight without dieting. It takes more calories to weigh more, so eating the amount of food that will maintain my healthy weight meant I lost down to it and stay here as long as I follow the healthy meal plan every day. But I didn't do it alone and I have never felt deprived. At 5' 1" I am keeping off 85 pounds for 13 years now but that feels like just a side effect of what the program did for me. I am grateful every day for OA. If it were too easy, nobody would need it. If it were too hard, nobody would do it. But it is just right, and life becomes happily livable with some extra work and without extra food. It also gratefully works with professionals who help with weight loss. Look up OA.org

@laurie22
What great advice and philosophy.

I think I will look up an OA in my area. Do they have on line groups?

I am on WEGOVY now but the lowest amount first. It has done nothing. I guess I thought could just let it do the job of losing weight so ate what I wanted to and gained weight. I am told the higher levels will have more of an affect but have to start at lower dose to see if going to have side affects and which level will work.

You are a great coach and spokesperson for weight loss and taking responsibility for losing it.

May I get your input on how to approach an extended family member who is struggling? I know that before my recent 85 pound weight loss, I was quite sensitive about the gain. I have been thin to average for most of my life, so I took my gain incredibly hard. I was mortified. However, I had to make the change on my own and it happened quickly.

However, my extended family member has been quite obese since he was about 5 years old. He has suffered certain health issues due to his weight. Doctors have begged him to lose weight. He’s not even 30 years old! He has lost and gained like a yo-yo.

I have observed him eating decadent food before with a look of ecstasy on his face. It was troubling to see that level of intensity over gorging on massive amounts of food. I knew then that this is very serious.

I truly believe he has no control of the disorder. Would it be overstepping to tell him about OA? He probably wouldn’t go. He seems to love the large amounts of decadent food too much. I fear for his future, but have no way to help him. He has refused to consider medication or bariatric surgery. I guess he is over 500 pounds.

There are in person meetings all over the world, including Phoenix (don't know your location) and hundreds of virtual meetings in many languages. But I am not a spokesperson, just a member who needed help from fellow compulsive eaters and found it in OA. If it helps, I really identified with the thinking about having anything but eating less cause weight loss. Been there, done that.

Find a way to share a simple statement that it exists, so he will have the information when he is ready. Understand, though, that he won't be able to change things until he is ready/desperate enough. At least he will know that there are people out there who understand how he feels about food. He already knows he needs to lose, but weight loss diets tend to make things worse, hence the yo-yo. They are demoralizing and he is already overeating to not feel that way. Accept him as he is and pray for him to be ready. He needs love and acceptance more than anything else right now. (that doesn't mean accepting the food behavior but him as a suffering human being.). Thank you for caring about him.

I will. Thank you.

I just wanted to share some positive news! I bought several new outfits today. One included a pair of jeans that I didn’t really think I would fit into. They slid on perfectly! I felt so confident! I added a nice lightweight pullover in pink…size Small…..it looked just the way I wanted! I took 10 items to the fitting room and they all fitted perfectly! Even bought a pair of shoes! Most of my clothes were way too big, so this was really needed. I highly recommend getting something new that flatters your new figure. Plus, I got great deals on everything I bought. November is starting out to be an awesome month!

What a wonderful feeling for you!! congrats!!

@celia16

How great! I remember after losing weight, a friend told me i looked "frumpy" because all my clothes hung on me. For some many years I dress to cover up my body, definitely had self image problem. The retailers are better at providing selections in bigger sizes, but you definitely have more options as you lose weight.

The next step is to throw, donate or sell the larger sizes. DO NOT keep them "just in case". In my area, there is a consignment store that I use to shop at for "bigger" sizes, Then I sold my bigger sizes there and was able to buy smaller sizes.

Again, congratulation