Starting Zepbound in My 60s

 I'm rounding out Week 4 - just today and tomorrow, and then my 5th shot. This week seemed like smooth sailing.  Diarrhea update: I finally stopped racing to the bathroom - it lasted about Friday to Wednesday - and now find myself mildly constipated. Sigh. I've read that 4 ounces of pear juice in the morning can do wonders so I will start that tomorrow. I have a performance today and would rather not have to race off the stage! Food update: I decided this week to start counting calories. Although I tracked protein, fiber, and water for the first 3 weeks, I had a sneaky suspicion that I was still eating too many calories. According to my smart scale, my BMR (basic metabolic rate) is only 1400, which would put my TDEE at 1680 (1.2 times BMR for a sedentary person). To lose a pound a week, this means that I would need to shave off 500/calories a day from the TDEE, making my daily max only 1180!! Obviously this is too few calories, which means I have to boost my TDEE. Two ways t...

Did my end-of-week-3 weigh-in this morning and was a little disappointed to see only one pound gone this past week. I'm still happy with my 7.9 pounds lost over three weeks, but I was hoping for more. I had my second Walgreens virtual appointment. They require it after the fourth shot and won't refill the prescription without it. It as basically a $49 text chat lol. The NP said since I'm losing on the 2.5mg , she recommended I stay on it for at least another 4 weeks. No complaints from me, as I believe the price from LillyDirect jumps up $150/month for the 5mg dosage . I will say that even with the medicine, it's taking a lot of willpower and determination on my part. This is not a magic, eat-anything-you-want, fat-melting cure. What it does do though, is stabilize my hunger . In the past 3 weeks, I haven't had any enormous spikes that usually have me stuffing my face. I am also feeling full earlier during meals, which is helping me to cut back on portion sizes. ...

I'm a couple days shy of completing my third week on Zep and I wanted to share some side effects. Early in the second week, I experienced a somewhat scary bout of lightheadedness and dizziness . In retrospect, it was scary only because I didn't realize this could be a side effect and it hit me seemingly out of nowhere.  I'd been lying on the couch cuddling with the kitties before bed. When I stood up (maybe too quickly?), everything felt off kilter. My head felt light and I'd lost my balance. I sat back down to recover, and that helped, but it persisted throughout the rest of the evening. Luckily I felt fine the next morning and it hasn't recurred. Today's side effect was a bit more problematic. I was out shopping before the weekend, and I felt the urge to poop . I'd already been to the bathroom three times today, so I should've realized this was concerning. But I was too wrapped up in shopping to think about it so I continued on my merry way. I went to...

Yesterday morning I did my second shot! Before that, though, I stepped on the scale, eyes closed....down 4.4 pounds! While I was very happy to see a loss, I think only about 2 pounds was real, as my weigh-in on the day I started seemed a couple of pounds high. Anywho, I'll take it! The effects of the shot definitely wore off towards the end of the week, where I was hungry 24/7. Even after shot 2, the hunger pains didn't really subside until late evening.  This morning I woke up not hungry, so that was good! I made a bowl of oatmeal with raspberries & that seems to be doing the trick. Prior to starting Zep , I talked with a friend who's done compounded something-or-other for the past 18 months. She cautioned me that I'd have zero interest in eating, but had to make sure I did! Well, so far that has not happened. I still enjoy eating very much, but I seem better able to make good food choices and control my portions, although I'm not sure if this stems from t...

Welp, I'm almost at the finish line of week 1. It was pretty smooth sailing all in all, until yesterday (Day 6) when I was literally hungry all day. I even woke up overnight with hunger pains. No matter what I ate, I was still hungry.  But despite the hunger, I managed to stick to my healthy eating plan. I didn't experience any wild, out-of-control, eat-everything-in-sight hunger, just a constant, dull ache. I had a lot more carbs (the good kind--whole grains and legumes) than earlier in the week, so that might've contributed. This morning I am still hungry, but will try to focus more on proteins. I have hit my protein/fiber/water goals every day this week and I am very proud of it! Tomorrow I will step on the scale and then take shot 2. Hoping for a positive result but determined to stick with this. I do think my pants are fitting just a touch looser but that could be because I haven't run them through the wash yet this week. 

So I've been tooling around these past few days and all was well until...BAM at about 5 PM on day 3 I hit a HUGE energy sink. I'd gone to back-to-back rehearsals after lunch (I'm a musician) and had forgot to bring a water bottle. Decided to run an errand on the way home, which took way longer than expected, and come 5:00, I felt like my body wanted to shut down. The good news though: I was surrounded by fast food places and had zero interest in hitting a drive through. I even thought about it, and my brain was like, nah. I just wanted to get home, get some water, and whip up an early dinner ( impossible burger on Dave's thin - 25g protein , 11g fiber - not too shabby).  I'll see how the next four days go, but I am wondering if I need to track calories . I feel like I've eaten enough when I look at my log, but man, that low energy hit me hard.  Will sip water for a bit and read a book to relax. I have a few more things I need to do this evening, but need to g...