Lady Cat Lady

To catch up new readers, I began Wegovy two weeks ago. I had a heart attack almost four years ago at the ripe old age of 51, amid the pandemic. As well as having high cholesterol and high blood pressure, I wrestle with chronic pain in my left foot from too many surgeries and a bad back, knees, shoulders, and hips. Given the state of my body, exercise is limited. Something had to change.

I took my third weekly dose yesterday. In the first and second weeks, I wrote this post on Tuesdays, but a good friend pointed out that Wegovy Wednesday had a nice ring to it. He was correct, the alliteration sings! From this day forward, this series will come out on Wednesday mornings.

This is how a typical week on Wegovy has worked for me so far: For the first four days (Tues-Fri) after I give myself the injection, I barely think about food. I have to set reminders on my phone to eat and struggle to eat enough in one day to feed a toddler let alone a full-grown adult. Around Saturday, my appetite begins returning, but not like full force pre-Wegovy. More, I don’t have to remind myself to eat because I actually get hungry. I’m able to eat more, but still not a lot. This continues until Tuesday morning when I give myself another injection and the cycle begins again.

Appetite examples from Tues-Fri: A quarter of a medium apple leaves me feeling full. Most of the time, it takes me four sittings to finish an 8 oz (226g) smoothie stretched out over four hours.

Appetite examples from Sat-Mon: I physically cannot eat more than 2 oz (56g) of chicken, 1/8th cup (30g) of rice, and half a cup (75g) of vegetables in one sitting without feeling sick. I can drink an 8oz (226g) smoothie in one sitting but never want more.

It’s changed my tastebuds heavily. The other day, Nick, my partner, and I were out running errands. He picked himself up some nuggets and fries. Out of sheer curiosity, I ate a nugget. I didn’t like it, too greasy and heavy; I took a sip of his Dr Pepper too. Gross. Both these things I used to consume happily. He asked if I wanted more, and I told him I’d wait till we got home for lentil salad.

I did not use to like lentils. Then, I was at the store buying groceries (we will talk about my grocery bill later in the post.), walked by the lentils, and bought them figuring “Good protein, I can hide them in things”. Now, I eat lentils at least once a day. Other dried beans are still on the no list, I can’t get past the texture.

Every morning is a smoothie. I’ve dropped the protein powder. I just can’t. It’s so chalky and makes me gag. There was no point continuing. That’s made with nonfat Greek yogurt mulberries and whatever other fruit and veggies I pick out of the garden that morning or have frozen to make it. There’s always papaya, passion fruit, spinach, kale, moringa, and mulberries during this time of year…trust. And, I still have bananas in my freezer from the last harvest!

Without knowing, I set myself up for success in this when I began gardening three years ago.

Two grass-fed/no-hormone organic chicken breasts got me through the week. That’s all the meat I ate, though I did get protein from other sources. I eat a lot of brown rice and farro for whole grain, with an occasional tsp of peanut butter on a slice of whole grain bread. And, my vegetable/fruit garden pretty much feeds me the rest of what I eat with some exceptions. (I don’t grow corn, peas, apples, or onions.)

I have homemade pickled vegetables that I eat on cold brown rice as a snack probably once a day Sat-Mon. My other snacks tend to be Mulberries and Apples. I can manage about half a medium Gala apple in one sitting Sat-Mon.

I don’t think about food as much anymore and I’m not as obsessed with the thought of not getting enough to eat as I was last week. When a friend talked about her sister’s bariatric surgery, I remembered when my ex had it done. He ate far less than what I am now, and didn’t go into starvation mode. I’ll be fine.

I have set myself for success by batch-cooking the rice, farro, and lentils. Then, portioned a day’s worth in each container and froze them. It’s super simple to pull it out in the morning and combine it with any number of things when I’m hungry. It’s getting into the nineties (32C) here during the day, and I eat a lot of cold food.

I used to watch a lot of cooking shows on YouTube, that habit is gone. I don’t see the point, I’m never going to cook the stuff they show. Nick is a simple man, give him meat, noodles bread or rice, and some veggies and he’s happy. I’m the one who HAD a passion for cooking new, elaborate dishes. Now it seems pointless, most of what they make has ingredients I no longer eat because I don’t want to, I just don’t have the cravings for it.

Let’s discuss the food budget. Given my penchant for rich, elaborate recipes in the past, it used to be extraordinarily high for two people. I won’t tell you what it was, it’s embarrassing now. My last shopping trip was a bit less than a third of what we used to spend. Our food budget has been in a freefall since my garden has been producing more and more every day. Previously, Nick and I went out to eat at least once a week, I haven’t gone out to eat since I began this.

My clothes are less tight, I have way more energy and no interest in unhealthy food. I have to say this has been a success for me, even at the lowest dose. (They usually titrate it up over the course of months) I have no noticeable side effects, but do know many people on Wegovy have experienced them.

I’m doing weigh-ins once a month when I see my doctor. Though I have noticed a difference, I won’t know any numbers until I see her on May 9th.

I did take before pics. I haven’t decided if we will take pics every month or every other month.