I'm about to start Zepbound self-pay, so I'm looking at you like my canary in the coal mine, Steph.

For now, Tim's throat feels sore from being poked and scraped, and he's eating yogurt and counting the minutes until his next percocet dose.

This is the month where yogurt will solve all of our problems. Also, here's to fine-focused radiation treatments in miniscule areas.

So far it seems like they happen on days 2 and 3 after the shot, and then everything calms back down.

Yeah, I have a couple days of stomach unease after my shot and then it disappears.

My Ozempic Update: I'm down to 214 lbs from 247, starting Ozempic in April. I lost ten pounds in the first month, and then it came off much more slowly. In June and July I plateaued at 220 for a while and couldn't seem to make it budge, but I raised the dose in August and was very strict on my diet for a month and lost six pounds.

So I'm about 20 lbs from reaching my goal weight, but already feeling and looking much better.

My meal log for today is: bowl of cereal with blueberries this morning. One small muffin sized bacon/zucchini frittata for lunch. Dinner will be a small salad with protein (probably tuna, but could be roast chicken). I've had two coffees.

I am actively working against constipation from the protein heavy diet. So I take a motility supplement which is helpful, but I also periodically just swallow a couple spoonfuls of mineral oil to soften my stool. (I put it in a very small glass of chocolate milk and use the frother so I don't taste it at all.)

(I also drink liquid collagen daily and again, use the frother to mix the mango flavored collagen with fizzy water and make a little soda of it. Yay, frother!)

When I did a hardcore keto diet in 2019 and lost fifty pounds I got down to 199 (for a day) and mostly hovered around 200 for a couple years after that. So I'm hoping I can keep and maintain 195 when I get there.

195 is basically my weight when I left college, and I was lean and buff. It's not scary light for my 5'10" frame.

Despite the Pilates I'm not as buff as I was then simply because I've been losing muscle mass and tone since I hit my mid-fifties.

But I'm actively working in Pilates on creating a lean, ropey, dancer-ish body.

In my mind, that is a much better shape for negotiating my late sixties and beyond. I've already had issues with my joints and sciatica and really want to give my body a break from hauling around so much.

I'm about to start Zepbound self-pay, so I'm looking at you like my canary in the coal mine, Steph.

The Zepbound subreddit is extremely helpful. Their most common recommendations boil down to: use the Shotsy app (which is awesome actually) to track your shot location each week and track progress if you like, hydrate like a motherfucker (optionally with electrolytes like Liquid IV — I have one thing of Drip Drop Hydration electrolytes a day), make sure you get your protein and fiber in, and take your measurements (so if the scale doesn't move in a given week, you may be losing inches). They also have a lot of suggestions for dealing with constipation if that happens (eating kiwi fruit and prunes are high on the list). Ginger is good for nausea, and some people have gotten an Rx for onsdansetron (Zofran) from their doctor for bad nausea days.

There seems to be a split between people who track their food (protein, fiber, overall calories) and people who trust that the drug will dial down their appetite enough that they don't need to track. I'm on Team Track, but that's because I really want to be sure I get enough protein and fiber (and I love data).

There seems to be a split between people who track their food (protein, fiber, overall calories) and people who trust that the drug will dial down their appetite enough that they don't need to track. I'm on Team Track, but that's because I really want to be sure I get enough protein and fiber (and I love data).

I don't track but I'm conscious whether I'm having smaller portions, and only 2 or 3 meals a day.

I don't worry about Protein since I basically trained myself to eat it /plan around it when I did keto.

I don't worry too much about fiber, because I tend to alternate breakfasts between either cereal or oat bran, and protein/egg bites, so I'm usually okay in that regard.

My waist has dropped enough in size that I had to get a smaller belt and I've just recently started buying a few pairs of pants in a smaller size, even though I could've done that a while ago.

I'm just not sure where my waist size is going to be when I'm at my goal weight.

My rule of thumb (for my body at least) was I lost an inch of waist for every five pounds loss. And that's consistent with what I've done in this process because I was stuffing a 44 inch waist into size 40 pants, and now I'm comfortably at 38 and hoping to go down a notch or two.

I don't track on Wegovy, but that's because for me, food tracking is a fast path to flirting with an eating disorder.

Timelies all!

I'm sorry about your brother, Laura.

We got back from Seattle Monday night. Worldcon was fun, though there was a lot of walking involved. Our hotel was several blocks from the Convention Center. Gary had rented a scooter, since he's been dealing with plantar fasciitis. Lots of good music, a fantastic masquerade, and a couple of panels where Seanan McGuire tried to overload the autocaption by chanting "butts, butts, butts".