MountainsoftheMoon
Explorer
Hey everyone,
Late 30s guy here, still near the start of my journey in the GLPs world. Looking forward to meeting you all!
A bit about me: music is a big part of my life (a devoted deadhead), I'm a family man, and a workaholic
Opening up about myself isn't my usual habit, but seeing as this is the intro section, here we go!
As for what brought me here:
Bettering my health, and how well I live, is something I'm serious about.
Some background first. Weight has come and gone in phases across my adult years, through punishing exercise routines and strict diets. None of it held, given my habit of sliding back into bingeing and snacking, and a long-standing fondness for social drinking.
Exercise form, cardio, lifting, yoga and outdoor sports are all things I'd call myself capable at. Nutrition is another area I know well, and while dieting I veer toward whole foods, paleo, or an organic high-fibre high-protein approach. Cooking is a passion! Being outdoors and moving my body are passions too! And yet, looking back, I've kept getting in my own way, through impulsive and self-defeating patterns.
Across the last decade, ever since my late 20s (back when eating and drinking as I pleased cost me almost nothing) I've ridden the same roller coaster: gaining, then bottoming out on energy, health and mood (rock bottom, call it), then flipping everything: militaristic diet and training, no alcohol or recreational drugs, feeling good at last ā only to wreck it myself and put the weight back onā¦ The older I get, the harder the comeback is. Every 1-2 years, it seems, round and roundā¦
Unhealthy patterns have had a hold on me at points: bingeing, drinking, and recreational drugs. Each one feeds the others. (Picture it: a heavy night of drinking, then a next day spent hungover and bingeing on fried food, pizza, that sort of thingā¦) Many years of smoking are behind me too, and that's stuck for a few years now.
Now that I have a young family, finding something that gives me lasting and sustainable results on weight, and on health generally, matters more than it ever has. Becoming a dad meant cutting back hard on drink and drugs, or dropping them outright. Food, though, is my nemesis ā the one vice I've found hardest to quiet.
Reading around, mostly online ā this forum, Reddit, assorted papers and publications ā I kept coming across claims that GLP medications show real promise not only for appetite suppression but for other habits such as drinking or drug use, and I felt I had to try. The idea of getting help with weight while possibly rebuilding a healthier long-term relationship with food and alcohol would change my life.
Having read a great deal on the subject, my first move was to talk it all over with my primary care physician. That was in 2025.
Another low point had arrived and I was ready for something different. My height is 5ā9ā, and at that point the scale showed a personal worst of 223lbs, comfortably above the 165-170lbs span I'd normally consider healthy.
The familiar ending: Wegovy was prescribed, and insurance refused to pay. Diabetes isn't something I have, nor other measurable weight complications, apart from cholesterol numbers my doctor wants lowered through improved diet and exerciseā¦. At this weight, for my age and height, I qualify as obese on paper.
A month's worth came to more than $1000, which put it out of reach before I could even start.
Enter several friends who argued passionately that I should look into alternatives the way they had. Months of reading followed, this forum among the places I dropped into.
So here I stand, keen to take part!
Where things stand:
My journey has begun. 6 weeks in now, dosing Reta low and slow, and already the change to my quality of life and self-control is enormous. Exercise and diet that I actually enjoy are part of the routine now, and I intend to post a little about it, hopefully of use to others before long.
An enthusiast is how I'd describe myself at this stage, and I'm eager to get to know all of you! Plenty of your posts and stories have already steered me right. Joining this community is something I'm thankful for, and one day I hope to repay it as I keep learning and experimenting, chasing better long-term health.
Grateful to anyone who read all of that!
ļø
Late 30s guy here, still near the start of my journey in the GLPs world. Looking forward to meeting you all!
A bit about me: music is a big part of my life (a devoted deadhead), I'm a family man, and a workaholic
Opening up about myself isn't my usual habit, but seeing as this is the intro section, here we go!
As for what brought me here:
Bettering my health, and how well I live, is something I'm serious about.
Some background first. Weight has come and gone in phases across my adult years, through punishing exercise routines and strict diets. None of it held, given my habit of sliding back into bingeing and snacking, and a long-standing fondness for social drinking.
Exercise form, cardio, lifting, yoga and outdoor sports are all things I'd call myself capable at. Nutrition is another area I know well, and while dieting I veer toward whole foods, paleo, or an organic high-fibre high-protein approach. Cooking is a passion! Being outdoors and moving my body are passions too! And yet, looking back, I've kept getting in my own way, through impulsive and self-defeating patterns.
Across the last decade, ever since my late 20s (back when eating and drinking as I pleased cost me almost nothing) I've ridden the same roller coaster: gaining, then bottoming out on energy, health and mood (rock bottom, call it), then flipping everything: militaristic diet and training, no alcohol or recreational drugs, feeling good at last ā only to wreck it myself and put the weight back onā¦ The older I get, the harder the comeback is. Every 1-2 years, it seems, round and roundā¦
Unhealthy patterns have had a hold on me at points: bingeing, drinking, and recreational drugs. Each one feeds the others. (Picture it: a heavy night of drinking, then a next day spent hungover and bingeing on fried food, pizza, that sort of thingā¦) Many years of smoking are behind me too, and that's stuck for a few years now.
Now that I have a young family, finding something that gives me lasting and sustainable results on weight, and on health generally, matters more than it ever has. Becoming a dad meant cutting back hard on drink and drugs, or dropping them outright. Food, though, is my nemesis ā the one vice I've found hardest to quiet.
Reading around, mostly online ā this forum, Reddit, assorted papers and publications ā I kept coming across claims that GLP medications show real promise not only for appetite suppression but for other habits such as drinking or drug use, and I felt I had to try. The idea of getting help with weight while possibly rebuilding a healthier long-term relationship with food and alcohol would change my life.
Having read a great deal on the subject, my first move was to talk it all over with my primary care physician. That was in 2025.
Another low point had arrived and I was ready for something different. My height is 5ā9ā, and at that point the scale showed a personal worst of 223lbs, comfortably above the 165-170lbs span I'd normally consider healthy.
The familiar ending: Wegovy was prescribed, and insurance refused to pay. Diabetes isn't something I have, nor other measurable weight complications, apart from cholesterol numbers my doctor wants lowered through improved diet and exerciseā¦. At this weight, for my age and height, I qualify as obese on paper.
A month's worth came to more than $1000, which put it out of reach before I could even start.
Enter several friends who argued passionately that I should look into alternatives the way they had. Months of reading followed, this forum among the places I dropped into.
So here I stand, keen to take part!
Where things stand:
My journey has begun. 6 weeks in now, dosing Reta low and slow, and already the change to my quality of life and self-control is enormous. Exercise and diet that I actually enjoy are part of the routine now, and I intend to post a little about it, hopefully of use to others before long.
An enthusiast is how I'd describe myself at this stage, and I'm eager to get to know all of you! Plenty of your posts and stories have already steered me right. Joining this community is something I'm thankful for, and one day I hope to repay it as I keep learning and experimenting, chasing better long-term health.
Grateful to anyone who read all of that!
ļø