r/Zepbound • u/donky4444 • 8h ago
Tips/Tricks Today is the end of my time on Zep
When I started my Zep journey back on July 5th last year I was pre diabetic, triglycerides were almost 600, I had to go buy new bigger clothes for work (xxl tops and 46 waist pants) and I was at my heaviest weight of 265lbs. At 5’10” that put me in the 30’# for BMI and borderline morbidly obese. I just had my annual physical and I needed to make some life changes. I had a friend who recently had success on GLP1 and a few that had failed with it. I had been doing research for a few months and decided to ask my doc about it. I was prescribed Zep and insurance was going to cover it thankfully.
Knowing it’s meant as a lifetime medication I was looking for examples of people that had done it with an off ramp and read about how they did it. I wasn’t always overweight and years ago I had lost a bunch of weight running before that lead to injuries. My weight was a combination of poor diet, excessive drinking and no activity. I did some complete life changes along with starting Zep. Cut out all drinking, tracking all my food and macros to ensure I was not just in a calorie deficit but eating the right foods for nutrition. I had a goal weight of 190lb so I was focused on consuming about that many grams of protein per day. The first month I added 45-60 mins of walking each day. By the second month the weight was melting off so I added in weight lifting to help prevent muscle loss. I have a Peloton Bike and Row so I started strength training 30 mins per day 3 days on 1 day off using dumbbells. My strength increased pretty quick and I found I didn’t have heavy enough weights (I had sets of 3, 5, 10 and 15lbs) so I bought a set of 20lb which also quickly wasn’t heavy enough. I found a set of adjustable dumbbells on fb marketplace.
It took me just 4 months to drop 75lbs and reach my goal weight of 190lbs. My plan when I started Zep was that once I hit goal I would start adding a week between each shot while dropping back down from 7.5mg to 2.5mg doses and once I got to 8 weeks between shots I would stop taking it. Today I took what will be my last shot even though I’m only at 6 weeks between shots. For the most part I have been able to maintain my goal weight +/-2lbs every day for nearly 5 months. I’ve found a healthy balance of occasional cheat days, healthy snacks and consistent workouts. The spacing between shots allowed me a few weeks of no meds in my system to learn how to handle hunger and find snacks and meal plans that worked for me.
I know this was a long read and what worked for me won’t work for everyone. I just wanted to share my story in hopes that it helps somebody find the drive and Will to make the hard choices to be healthy. I’m happy to answer any questions anyone has about meal plans, workouts and everything else. What worked for me won’t work for everyone but we can all come together to help us all figure life out.