Three years on a GLP-1. Here's what actually happened.
- I started at 258 and lost 73 pounds in a year and a half without changing much at all.
- Then the weight loss slowed way down, and I had zero habits to carry me.
- Year three is when I finally started building the lifestyle, slowly.
- Wherever you are right now, you're not behind.
Everybody told me I was doing it wrong.
When I started a GLP-1 in March of 2023, I weighed 258 pounds. I was also eating fast food almost every single day. Ordering lunch to school. Not going to the gym. Not tracking. Not drinking my water. Not doing a single thing you're "supposed" to do when you start a medication like this.
And in the first year and a half, I lost 73 pounds.
This is the full story. The easy part, the part where it stopped being easy, and what I'm doing now. Because if you're anywhere on this road, I think you deserve the honest version and not the before and after photo.
Everybody said it wouldn't work
I want to sit with this for a second, because I think it matters.
I'm not telling you to eat fast food every day. I'm not saying the rules don't matter. But I was told over and over that what I was doing wasn't going to work. That I needed to overhaul my whole life first. That I had to earn the weight loss.
And the scale just kept going down.
If you're just starting and you feel like you have to flip your entire life upside down on day one, you don't. I wrote out what I'd actually focus on in what I'd do differently if I started today.
The part nobody says out loud
Here's what was really happening during those 73 pounds.
I wasn't eating healthier food. I was eating less of it. The medication did exactly what it's designed to do. It cut the noise. It quieted the part of my brain that couldn't stop thinking about food.
I wasn't white knuckling anything. I wasn't restricting. I was just less hungry, so I ate less. Even when what I was eating was a cheeseburger.
That's it. That's the secret I'm not supposed to tell you.
And before you close this tab, that is not the end of the story.
The wall nobody prepared me for
April 24, 2024. I stepped on the scale and saw 199.5. Onderland. A year and a month in, 60 pounds down, and I truly thought I was about to sprint through the finish line.
I did not sprint through the finish line.
In the two years after that, I lost about 15 more pounds. My goal is 140. The math on that is not cute.
So what happened? Honestly, nothing dramatic. The medication kept working. My body just slowed down, which is normal and expected. You can see what a real timeline looks like in the GLP-1 weight loss timeline nobody is showing you.
The problem wasn't the slowdown. I knew a slowdown was coming. The problem was that I got to this part completely unprepared. I hadn't built a single habit that could carry me further, because in the beginning, I never needed to.
The first part was so easy that it left me with nothing for the hard part.
What being stuck actually felt like
When the scale slows down after a fast start, it messes with your head in a specific way.
- You start wondering if the medication stopped working. It usually didn't. Your body just isn't dropping weight at the same speed anymore.
- You compare yourself to year one you. Who was losing two pounds a week without trying. That's not a fair fight.
- You think about quitting. Or doubling everything. Neither one is usually the answer.
I call this the invisible phase. You're still doing the work, but nobody can see it, sometimes not even you. I wrote a whole post on it: you're not behind, you're in the invisible phase.
And if the scale is the thing driving you crazy, signs your GLP-1 is working even when the scale isn't is worth a read.
What I'm actually doing now
I'm 37. I've been on a GLP-1 for over three years. And I'm only now, slowly, building the lifestyle I probably should have been building all along.
- I stopped ordering lunch to school most days.
- I cook dinner more nights than not. Simple stuff. Food my family will actually eat.
- I go to the gym at least twice a week, sometimes three. And I'm starting to actually like it, which I did not see coming.
None of this happened overnight. There was no big moment where I decided to become a new person. It was one meal at a time. One gym session at a time. Slow.
And I think that's okay. I actually think that might be the only way it works for women like me.
The thing that helped most with food was taking the decisions off my plate. I don't want to think about dinner every single night. That's a big part of why I built Picky Girl HQ, so the week gets planned around foods I already like and I'm not starting from zero at 5pm.
What I'd tell you, depending on where you are
If you're just starting
You don't have to flip your whole life upside down. Make small changes. Let the medication do some of the work it was designed to do. Give yourself permission not to be perfect. If you're still figuring out how to begin, start with how to start GLP-1 medications.
But here's the one thing I'd add, with three years of hindsight. Use the easy months to start one small habit. Just one. Protein at breakfast. A walk after dinner. Something. Future you will be so glad it's already there when the scale slows down.
If you're in the slow part like me
The slowdown is real. It's frustrating. And you are not broken. You might just need to slowly add the things you weren't ready for at the beginning. That's not failure. That's how this actually goes for a lot of us.
If you feel behind
You're not. I'm three years in with about 40 pounds still to go. I'm not racing anyone, and you don't have to either.
The real takeaway
A GLP-1 can change your appetite. It can turn down the food noise. It can give you a running start you never had before.
What it can't do is build the rest of your life for you. That part is slow, and it's yours, and it's allowed to take as long as it takes.
Three years ago I thought the shot was the whole plan. Now I know it was the head start. What I do with that head start is the part I'm still learning, one boring Tuesday at a time.
You're not doing it wrong. You're just in it.
Come do the slow part with us
- Sunday weigh-ins where I share my real numbers every week.
- Daily threads and chat with women who are in it too.
- Picky Girl HQ and the GLP-1 Hub included with yearly.
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So tell me: how long have you been on your GLP-1, and what surprised you most? Come tell me over on Girl Code Daily.
Quick note: I'm not a doctor. This is my personal experience, not medical advice. Talk to your provider about your medication, your dose, and your health.
You're not doing it wrong. You're just in it.
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