As we enter the winter months and holiday season, when many of us will struggle to maintain or lose weight due to colder weather, a natural inclination to hibernate, and all those tempting holiday meals, I wanted to share my weight loss journey. This is not my typical post on AI, security, or career, but I feel it is a meaningful holiday message. Hopefully it inspires others to take a leap of faith and possibly make a small financial investment to take advantage of this new era of weight loss medication. Though I am obviously not a doctor and everyone reacts differently.
I started taking Mounjaro on May 4, 2025, when the scale was brushing up against 240 pounds. My weight has been a lifelong struggle. I was never what I considered huge, just always heavier than I wanted to be; medically obese. There were two short windows where I got genuinely skinny. One was in high school when I basically starved myself in unhealthy ways. The other was right after Air Force basic training at age twenty. Outside of that, exercise never came naturally to me. Across twenty-one years in the military, I was always borderline on fitness tests. I tried running programs and even had a physically demanding side-hustle for a few years, but nothing stuck long-term.
The side-hustle probably pushed me into a kidney stone. I had heard “pre-diabetic” for years, and then right after the kidney stone surgery my diagnosis jumped straight to type-2 diabetes in my late thirties. My doctor almost put me on insulin immediately. I had weeks of stomach issues, constant thirst, and nerve pain in my hands and feet. When I was first diagnosed, my doctor warned me that most people start strong, lose weight, get lazy, slide back into old habits, and eventually drift toward type-1. He said it with the tone of someone who had seen it too many times and did not expect a different outcome. I took that as motivation. We tried diet changes, metformin, and different combinations of meds with mixed but decent results.
Not to say that I wasn’t trying. I exercised intermittently, dieted, and controlled my food intake. I am annoyed by how TV always depicts overweight characters eating with abandon as an explanation for their size. In reality it seems to take far less effort for things to get out of control. I can’t imagine how bad it would get if I really let myself go.
By forty-nine, I had lost two close family members, watched the scale hit numbers I had never seen, and felt age catching up with me. I wanted to honor the people I had lost by taking better care of the years I still had. I also knew I did not have the discipline to fix this with exercise alone. I asked my doctor about Ozempic. He reminded me we had already tried the pill version years earlier and I quit because of side effects. He recommended Mounjaro instead, said it was stronger and more expensive, and probably assumed the cost would deter me. At that point cost was irrelevant. I needed help.
Mounjaro is a weekly injection, using an auto injector. Used on the upper thigh, upper arms, or abdomen. It is two drugs, stronger and more expensive than Ozempic. Though it apparently might have stronger side effects in some people. I was already experiencing stomach discomfort due to Metformin, so my experience was rather mild. My understanding is they act as a hunger suppresant and it slows your digestion. Best to focus on foods that are easier to digest.
The weekly injections turned out to be simple and almost painless. The changes came fast. Less hunger, slower digestion, and aside from the classic once-a-week uncomfortable poop, no major side effects. Initially, I had an almost euphoric lack of hunger. No dizziness, no brain fog, no loss of energy. Over the next six months I lost more than sixty pounds, dropping from 238 to 175. Some months moved quickly and others hit plateaus, usually when I let myself indulge in deserts. Hunger eventually returned, but not in the old overwhelming way. I still enjoy good food, I just need less of it to feel satisfied.
The medication is not magic. It did not do all of the work for me, but it finally made weightloss possible after decades of failed attempts. The early progress pushed me to walk regularly, often 5-6 days a week.
As the weight came off, the changes stacked up. My diabetes numbers improved dramatically. My stomach issues almost disappeared. Far less gas and bloating. I stopped snoring. I fit comfortably into airplane seats again. My shirts fit, and I actually enjoy tucking them in, something I avoided for years because it felt like shining a spotlight on my stomach. My hands are smaller. My wedding ring is nearly too loose to wear. Dropping from 48+ waste to a loose-fitting size 36 jeans.
Rapid weight loss comes with surprises. I am cold all the time because I lost my insulation. Hard chairs hurt because there is no padding left. I always looked young for my age, and now I see an older, more deflated version of myself in the mirror. Weight loss can make you more confident, almost like Buddy Love from The Nutty Professor, but it does not guarantee attractiveness. You look older, gaunt, shrunken. You get wrinkles and flabby skin, develop a turkey neck. I feel better, I feel younger, though the tradeoff may have been looking older. My goal is somewhere in the 160 range before requesting a tapering of dosage and possibly stopping completely in 3-6 months. Though I think long-term use is recommended.
Mounjaro can be expensive. Insurance often covers it fully or partially if you are severely overweight or diabetic. That coverage can vanish once you improve. Some people are forced off the medication too quickly, and without time to build new habits they rebound fast. I have also seen others declare that the medication did not work, when in reality they never changed their eating patterns. These drugs can extend your life. That is a bargain at any price if you can manage it.
I will say that my hunger is more pronounced at 7-8 days. I have gone 12-14 days without a dose without a major hunger increase. Though I have heard of people going on a hunger binge once it clears the system.
Closing Thoughts
When I was younger, I used to joke that I would eat whatever I wanted, refuse to exercise, and someday rely on a magic diet pill to fix everything. It was said half-seriously, like someone planning to confess all their sins on their deathbed. A dream come true, it seems.
These new drugs are going to change a lot of lives. They already have. They are not an absolute shortcut and they do not replace diet and exercise completely, but for people like me who fought this battle for decades, they finally tilt the outcome in our favor.
Nearly 8 months in, I feel lighter, healthier, and far more aware of how my weight was negatively effecting my health. I am grateful for the help, even if it arrived later than I once hoped. I feel like myself again. And for the first time in a long time, the future feels bigger than the problem that started all of this.
So my call to action is to talk to your doctor about GLP-1 options. Don’t let skepticism, cost, fear of injections, or side effects keep you on the fence. I personally feel Mounjaro is the stronger option, especially if using Ozempic fails. Though remember, you have to put in the effort to eat less, exercise, and develop good eating habits to avoid a long-term dependency or relapse.
Quick tips. Eat slowly and pay attention to signals that you are full. Choose easier to digest foods when possible, like soups, breads, etc. Be patient with your digestion cycle, don’t force things with laxatives. You may need to force yourself to stay hydrated, I drink far less water than before. Try to use this momentum to start a good exercise program. I also found a 60-90 min weekly hot bath to be very helpful. Get a scale with tracking. Find small snacks for occasional cravings. I have these small bags of gummy bears, 5 bears per bag. Drink a hot beverage or chew gum as a distraction. Be prepared to encounter multiple plateaus and be prepared for a journey, not a race. Don’t let yourself feel judgmental or superior when you see others with weight issues overeating (as strange as that sounds).