1 week update on Wegovy 1.5mg

I'm writing this while eating lavender lemon cookies that my mom and I made for Easter. How do you spell ironic again?

I've been on the new Wegovy pill for exactly 11 days. Today is day 11. Here's the good and the bad:

GOOD

• I have noticed I think about food much less overall.
• I have way fewer cravings. I'd say about 99% less.
• I don't have that "blocked up feeling" anymore.
• It's easier to take than the shot was.
• It's half the price of the shot. $149 vs $300 for the same supply.
• It has made me think more about what I eat and how much. Especially during the day.
• Overall I think I'm eating less than I used to. 
  
  
  
  So good, but so bad.

BAD

• I can still eat as much as I want. It's still hard to stop eating.
• It doesn't help my nighttime appetite. 
•  If I eat too much "rich food" at night I get acid reflux (when I didn't used to.)
• I think my constipation is a bit worse. (I had it before this too, so it's hard to say.)
• It's still very expensive.
• I think the effects are getting slowly less impactful. I feel like I need a higher dose for it to be more effective.
• The first three days I took it I did have that "blocked up" feeling.
• My weight isn't budging.
• If it's in front of me, I'll still eat it.

I will keep on with it, but I'm going to ask my doctor for a higher dose soon. Or if I can take 1 1/2 pills or even two.

On the plus side since I started it I stopped eating all the Easter candy I bought for the kids. That's an accomplishment! 

See how I put them all right next to the scale? Sneaky!

 

 

I Am A Self Sabotager

I feel like I need to go to a support group for self sabotagers and people with eating disorders.

"My name is Antoinette and I'm a self-sabotager."

"HI ANTOINETTE!"

I mean seriously.

What is wrong with me?

I know I'm far from alone when it comes to self sabotaging, but I also feel like I have more on the line than a lot of people. Or do I? Smokers smoke themselves to death all the time. But I don't want to eat myself into a wheelchair. I really don't.

The feelings...

I feel huge.

I feel like I'm making my pain worse.

I feel like my food choices are making me weaker.

I feel like a failure for not eating what and how I should to make myself well.

I feel like I'm punishing myself over and over again, but I don't know why.

I feel scared that I can't do it.

I feel confused why I keep doing this to myself.

The facts...

I'm not "huge."

I "could" be making my pain worse. It's not a fact.

I need to make better food choices for my health.

The bad choices I am currently making are contributing to my health, for good or for bad.

I have been working out. (I feel proud about that.)

Every time I eat is a new chance to change and improve my choices.

I'm not alone, everyone self sabotages, don't be so hard on yourself.

"Self-sabotage often serves as a coping mechanism that people use to deal with stressful situations and past traumas. Unfortunately, it typically makes problems worse and limits a person's ability to successfully move forward in a healthy way."

-VeryWellMind on Self Sabotage. Click for more.

Food is my "self medication" of choice. Drug of choice. I love the taste of food with a lot of preservatives. All that fat, sugar and salt. Yum! When given a chance that's my go-to. Frozen food. Fast food. Diner American style food. Whoooo Mama. Gimmie that pie and cinnamon buns for dessert too.

I love to eat this way. 

And "love" is hard to walk away from.

It's an addication.

But I have to love myself more than the food.

Isn't that what it comes down to for all addicts? You have to love yourself enough to want to change. And it's not like you change once and you're done. I have to choose to change at least three times a day, plus dessert. I can't just put down my drug and walk away. I have to change and change and change and change.

I need stamina, grit, determination, focus, willpower and strength. And I need it all of the time.

If that's really what I want. Like 'three wishes genie' want. Then that's what I need to get there. That and endless amounts of self love with the ability to put myself first.

Feeding Myself

I'm watching a show about Native Alaskans and a woman said something I love. "Everything is medicine, especially the food we eat." It's easy to forget that in today's fast paced world. I'm very fortunate not to live in an urban food desert and to have money to spend on pretty much any kind of food I choose. From wholesome organic food to junkie fast food. It's all up to me.

I have a troubled relationship with food and feeding myself. I'm really not sure even when it began. When I was younger I looked at food as an inconvenience. Something I just HAD to do. Stop playing and eat. Of course unless it was something super good like pizza. But even then I would just eat what I wanted and stop when I was full.

Something switched when I became a mom. Maybe it was eating my son's leftovers? Or eating for emotional reasons (eating my feelings.) I don't know but something changed. I began to over eat, eat at the wrong times and eat convenience foods. 

Every Friday was "treat day" for my son and myself. "Treat" meant fast food. I would pick him up from school and we would drive through the fast food of his choice. Yikes. I cringe at that now. I'm older and wiser. Sadly my now fully grown son is completely addicted to fast food. I can't help but blame myself.

But back to me.
I struggle with feeding myself. 
When and how much is a constant battle for me.

My natural setting is to eat nothing till later afternoon, then have something small. But when night comes the beast is unleashed! I love a very large dinner followed up with dessert. BOOM! More than a days worth of calories all at once.

How I "should be" eating for my mitochondrial disease is the complete opposite. Small meals with very high protein through the day. 

Then there's the ethical side of eating. At least for me.

I LOVE ANIMALS! All animals. I wish I could have a complete menagerie (and the staff to properly care for them.) Dogs especially, but seriously. All animals are wonderful. The way farm animals are treated here and in Asian countries is despicable. Really disgusting. So one of my goals for this year was to stop eating mammals.

In the past I was a vegetarian for a year and a Vegan for two years. As much as I wish I could be Vegan it's just too hard for me to get enough protein that way. I have low protein levels as it is, so I need to be careful. And when I was a vegetarian I increased my dairy (mainly cheese) to unhealthy levels. Plus I was still contributing to the cow/dairy industry which I didn't like.

I'm hoping by cutting out mammals I can find a healthy balance between what I need nutritionally and what I can do ethically. I can cut back on domestic cheese. I can eat more goat and imported cheese when I do eat cheese which is far more ethical and healthy. I will still eat eggs, but from certified humane farms. I enjoy organic free range chicken (not from factory farms) and that's a great source of protein. Fish I'm working on loving. I do love seafood, but honestly not more than once a week.

Why do we love some animals and eat others?

Beef is my favorite meat, but I just can't justify eating it anymore. The older I get the more I don't think it's very healthy for me anyway.

A healthy balance is what I'm striving for. 

Lately I've been enjoying either a protein bar or small yogurt cup for breakfast. Lunch is typically leftovers from the night before, egg and toast with a banana or a sandwich of some kind (like tuna.) Or if I'm fortunate then I'm at my mom's house and she's making me something fabulous. Like cod, baked potato and salad. I'm so lucky.

These are my absolute favorite

Dinner is still commonly my biggest meal. That's something I still struggle with. Both my husband and myself want to try and make lunch our biggest meal of the day, but it's a challenge for us. Dinner is usually fish tacos, chicken curry over potatoes or soup and quesadilla. We diversify our diet a lot with dinner. 

Dessert is something I'm working on cutting out all together. Unless it's a special occasion. I used to have a serious thing for Junior Mints. My nutritionist recommended replacing them with super dark chocolate bars (since you can only eat a little bit of them at a time.) I did and I find that I just don't want it that often. Although I'm guilty of making other gluten free goodies like chocolate chip cookie bars. But not very often.

I notice I'm not as hungry when I eat a high protein diet. My nutritionist also recommended eating a little bit of carb with every meal since it's carbs that convert protein to energy your muscles can use. I didn't know that and I had been eating super low carbs thinking it was healthier. So that's another small adjustment I made.

It would be fantastic if I could cut sugar out of my diet. I'm sure it would help with pain and inflammation. Sadly I'm addicted to my sweet sweet cup of coffee. Just one cup a day, but I need to have it sweet. I'm also still searching for the perfect non dairy coffee creamer. -sigh- I'm just a work in progress. Even at 50.

Did you know that...

• 10 Billion animals are slaughtered each year in the US.
• 99% of those are raised in a factory farm.
• Globally 80 Billion land animals are slaughtered for food each year.

This one shocked me and got me thinking...

This is Hard!

 Here's how things stand on me trying to change my eating habits for the better.

1. This shit is REALLY hard!
2. I apparently don't eat enough protein
3. If I ate as much protein as I "should" I would never poop again
4. I'm still eating too large of a dinner
5. I hate thinking about this as much as I am
6. I'm glad I'm tracking with an app because how I think I eat and how I really eat are so far apart you could steer a cattle drive through it (Mmmm... running burgers...)

Here's some of the evidence that my eating isn't consistent even though I think that it is. These are screen grabs from My Fitness Pal, the app that I'm using (no affiliation). 

See! What the hell!? I knew that dinner was my largest meal (typically), but come on!

Ok... so I also have the awareness to know that it has only been a week and that most people suck when trying something new. Apparently eating like this is a skill and like any skill it will take a lot of time and practice to master this.

Now if you'll excuse me I must take a laxative and eat a boiled egg.

Being Frank About My Fat

There's something that's been weighing on my mind (pun intended) for a while. Well, since I'm a woman I'd say my entire life. W e i g h t. The size of a woman and what she "should" look like has been with me for as long as I can remember. But as a disabled "woman of size" it's on my mind now more than ever.

I am fully aware that the more I weigh the more stress there is on my joints and weak muscles. I'm also aware that my weight being well over my personal preferred size does no favors for my health. However there is a constant tug-o-war that happens in my mind. I can know both those things to be true and lack the motivation and will power required to do something about it. Simply put... I LOVE FOOD!

I love to eat. I love to think about what I'm going to eat next while I eat. I love to watch TV shows of people cooking as I eat. I'm not so fond of cooking, but that's where my husband and mother come in as they are both very skilled chefs. 

I tell myself that I still look good (true), am still sexy as hell (also true) and if it makes me that happy then I should indulge. I also tell myself that if I can't have an orgasm I can absolutely replace that joy with food without guilt.

But there is guilt. Because I know that attitude isn't what's best for my body and boy does she let me know it! My pain is only getting worse along with my mobility. If it turns out I need help eventually getting into my chair or bathing, how fair is it that I have extra mass to contend with as well?

So here we have two completely conflicting emotions. The logical, sound reason that I would be much better off if I were to drop at least 80lbs. Then the heartfelt yearning for the taste of yum and more yum (and more...)

What's a cripple girl to do?

Punishment disguised as self-love.

Punishment disguised as self-love

Going out with your friends and pounding back drinks can seem like a good time and a good idea on the surface, but underneath that you're just hurting yourself physically. Or the messages that women get all the time that by applying chemicals to ourselves (hair dye, anti-aging cream, makeup, etc) we're somehow treating ourselves. 

Personally I struggle with over-eating or eating things that don't help my body feel good. At the time I tell myself it's a "treat" or "special" but it only leaves me feeling unwell and at a weight and size that has negative repercussions for me.

Again that's a message we all get in Western culture. "You're worth it!" While a billboard shows someone shoving a massive burger in their face. It's a rare person who would feel that "health food" would be some kind of a treat or reward. 

But when you scrape the surface of most "rewards" you will find they are actually punishments. So how can I break that cycle?

• Patience
• Mindfulness
• Changing my vocabulary around food (like "good" or "bad")
• Find pleasure intrinsically

Mindfulness teaches us that there is no "first pain then pleasure" but instead to find the pleasure in everything. That goes against what we're taught as children and takes a lot of time to re-learn how to do. The example most often given is in washing dishes. Don't rush to "get it over with" but instead really be in that moment.

So perhaps rather than focusing on rewarding myself with things that I know will hurt me in the end I should go slow, be mindful and find the pleasure and reward in every action.

I believe children naturally get this. It's the adults and our society that teach them to rush on from one thing to the next calling some things "work" and others "play." But science shows that when you're rewarded for something you enjoy doing it takes all pleasure and motivation out of wanting to do that thing. Reward actually robs you enjoying that moment.

I'm going to try to be more child-like in my food. Enjoying it for what it is... Food. Not comfort, not a reward, not sex. It's food and that should be enough.