I got a dog and walking her has helped me lose 18 pounds. I also changed my diet a bit, so I’m pretty close to my goal.
It is so hard for these old arthritic bones to carry that much baggage so I’m very happy that I finally convinced myself to do something about it.
I forgot to mention the draw for me going for walks is meeting all the doggos in the neighborhood!
This is going to be my argument for getting a dog when I retire and have the time - my husband isn’t a fan, to say the least!
I’m just discovering this thread but should have been in it all along. I’ve been overweight since age 6, and spent good portions of my adulthood being morbidly obese. In 2003 I had lap-band surgery, which helped me lose 90 lbs in two years and giving me hopes it would stay off. And without the band the weight would have come back on in 12 months – which is what happened after I dropped 80 lbs in 6 months on a supervised medical fast 35 years ago. As it is I credit the band and what it taught me for the fact that it took 20 years to regain most of the 90 lbs lost.
In 2023 I realized it was time for intervention again, and by this time GLP-1s had hit the market. No joy there, my insurance wouldn’t cover it for love or money. So my doctor suggested QSymia, and on that I lost 50 lbs over the next 18 months. All good, but I plateaued for many months so I figured I’d get off this medication that had stopped being effective. I changed to Contrave which may have contributed to the maintenance of my current weight after a year. I’m not aware of any actual effects from that drug, though.
I’ve never weighed under 200 since high school (female, 5’10", age 63) so I have no illusions about getting there ever barring serious illness. But I would like to make it to 225 or so, which means losing another 25 lbs. I’m going to ask my doctor soon if I can get back on QSymia to see if that helps. If not, I am hopeful that by the time I reach Medicare age, some GLP-1 will have been developed that can be taken in pill form and which has a less dramatic effect than the current formulations. My health is generally good but my blood sugar is borderline at 5.8, and my cholesterol med dose was recently raised. I am as active as I want to be and watch my diet in the same way as I learned long ago that life is about more than the number on a scale.
That’s my story! And now I will monitor this thread and cheer you on. Congratulations to all who are successfully beating down the monster of obesity, and best wishes to all of us in the fight.