Transcription
Hey y'all, welcome back to my channel. I'm Jasine. If you're new here, I am doing my one-year weight loss journey video. I can't believe it's been a year. I literally don't know how the time flew by so quickly.
So, if you guys don't know, I started a weight loss journey back in May, one out of the 2,500 journeys that I've tried over the past 10 years of my life. And this one was different. I did use GLP-1 medication, which you guys are probably not, um, naive to if you watch my channel. I did use Wegovy, semaglutide, and Wegovy during this journey. So I wanted to give you guys a recap over the past year and just kind of like tell y'all the tea. I've gotten a lot of questions, some of them usually are very similar, so I figured I would answer those questions as well in this video, but just giving you guys an overview of what the past year has been for me now that I've completed a year. So, and also like where I'm going from here, like what my plan is.
May of 2023 was when I started this journey. For a little background, I have PCOS, which is a hormonal condition that can affect so many different things. One of that being difficulty losing weight, and the kicker, it's real easy to gain weight. So it's easy to gain weight and hard to lose weight with PCOS, amongst many other things. I know a lot of you guys are familiar with PCOS. I know a lot of you who follow me have PCOS, but if you're not familiar with it, definitely look it up and see the things that we go through, okay? 'Cause it's a lot. Between having PCOS, gaining excess weight during pregnancy, and postpartum depression, which I had and didn't know until years later, I basically never lost my pregnancy weight. I just kept adding to it. I would lose 20 lbs here and there over the past nine years, but never was able to get down to a manageable, healthy weight. So I got up to 200, I want to say close to 215 at one point, that was like my heaviest. And then eventually I got to like 210 when I started the medication. So I started around 210, I'm pretty sure that's where I started. I'm currently between 133 and 135, I fluctuate between these numbers, so that's where I am currently. So I've lost a total of around 75, 76 lbs, like somewhere along there. So I've lost a total of 75, 76 lb over the past year, which most of that weight was lost in the first seven months. I want to say the past maybe three months has not been much change, but in those months I have definitely built a lot more muscle. That's been my goal since, I want to say like January, February, that became my goal to like build and tone my body, and we got gains, okay?
As I've mentioned before, being overweight affected my health. My metabolic numbers were all over the place. It also affected my confidence, just my daily life. Simple things like taking a long walk was an issue for me. Like I started getting back pain. Honestly, I had back pain for years and years and years and thought it was everything from my mattress to just my shoes. I changed up shoes at one point. Um, yeah, as soon as I lost the bulk of the weight, the back pain was gone, vanished, disappeared, like it never existed. I actually didn't even realize when it went away. I just all of a sudden woke up one day and said, "Wait a minute, my back is not hurting." I would literally have to roll out of bed and be so careful to not turn the wrong way. I also had trouble like walking on the treadmill or at the park for a long time, just my back would start hurting. So it made exercise harder. My body was going through it mentally and physically, so I had to do something.
And I tried all the things, all the natural things, 'cause I know y'all like that word, "natural." The natural things. Not y'all as in my subscribers, but the people out there. Medication was definitely not my first stop, and it never is for me. I'm usually somebody who likes to treat things in every way I can before taking a medication. But I felt like at that point, my doctor and I felt together that we had to change something, like do something about it, because it was affecting me in ways that were just not, like the risks were not, it was not adding up, okay? Like I was on the path to developing long-term conditions that would just, it was just not a good idea, and it was worth trying this type of a medication.
So, as y'all know or may not know, I did start the GLP-1s back in May. I originally started with MedBot because my appointment was in August, and I just could not wait, okay? Like my doctor had no availability. I personally would recommend going through an endocrinologist because that's somebody who really understands the conditions that tend to need those types of medications. So an endocrinologist understands PCOS, um, diabetes, or any other metabolic-related conditions that may require that medication, or a primary care doctor that is knowledgeable about the conditions that you may have.
So with that being said, one of the frequently asked questions I get is how long it took for my weight to, um, change and like how long I took, how long it took to see results. I started seeing results almost immediately. I was beyond ready. In the first couple months, I had already lost around 20 to 25 lbs, and then from there, I just continued to lose weight. The first few months, I definitely dropped way too quickly. So when I first started back in May, so from May to August, I was on tirzepatide. And I will say during that time, even into like September, I want to say the first maybe three to four months, I definitely lost way too much weight. What I mean by that is I was cutting back a lot when it came to calories. These first few months, I was so anxious and just like scared that the medication wasn't going to work and just like scared that it was going to stop working, that I was doing anything and everything in my power to get the weight off as quickly as possible. 'Cause I'm like reading and watching all these videos of people saying that it stopped working for them after like two months, after three months, some people saying it never even worked for them, and it made me so scared that I started just going crazy at the gym and not eating enough calories during the first, I want to say four months. But I would definitely not recommend doing that. I did it because I was scared and I was anxious, but I, this is something that I regret doing because instead of building muscle from the beginning, I had to kind of start from scratch. It was kind of a double-edged sword because at the same time, seeing the weight fall off made me more motivated to eat healthy, but I definitely had to increase my calories. I brought my calories up to a healthier level, and I also monitored my workouts. So if I was working out really hard, then I would increase my calories even more. I started focusing on protein more as well because during that initial phase, I was doing a lot of salads and just like trying to really minimize any, I don't think I had a carb during the first like three months. I was, girl, I was really like trying to get the weight off. I was like, "This got to go immediately."
If you're not familiar with the GLP-1 medications, basically they take away food noise and they leave you fuller longer. So the food takes longer to digest. So if you're somebody who has a lot of food noise, it tends to help you not think about food 24/7. So the fact that I was not thinking about food 24/7 made it very easy to not eat and not overeat. Once I increased my protein and calories as a whole, the weight did come off a little slower, but it was definitely healthier than what I was doing in May, June, and possibly July. Back in like September, October, I did a "What I Ate in a Day" video, and that pretty much gives you an idea of what I started eating once I realized that I was doing too much. And if I did go to the gym and burned a lot of calories, I would add in an extra snack or something like that, just to make up, just to make up for the calories that I burned.
Going on that drastic of a weight loss journey definitely does affect you mentally because it's a big shift in how you look. Um, I did experience body dysmorphia. Like I have it off and on, but it's not that I think that I'm bigger than I am when I look in the mirror. Like I don't have it in that way, but sometimes as when I'm shopping for clothes, I sometimes will still shop with the mindset of, "I want to hide my stomach," or "I want to get something that doesn't show my rolls," you know? So I will still like browse the aisles looking for certain, um, styles of clothing, like staying far away from a bodycon dress, for example. But then I like have to remind myself, like, "No, girl, like you can wear that." I'm not saying that you need to be a certain weight or look a certain way to wear these clothes. Me personally, I just did not feel comfortable. I felt very self-conscious if I wore something that was very like skin-tight or just showing too much. Even though yes, I know, you know, it's there, personally I didn't want to see it. I've basically relearning my body, relearning how I look. It's been a journey. It's been quite the journey. As much as I wish my confidence was not tied into my weight, it was. And I tried and tried and tried to really tell myself, "Girl, you look good no matter what," and it just didn't work for me. Like I just could not get over, like it was a disconnect, like it wasn't like I couldn't convince myself. And unfortunately, it took me losing weight to really gain back confidence and, um, feeling comfortable in my skin. And I wish it wasn't that way, but honestly, we live in a very fat-phobic society. So even when you try to tell yourself certain things and try to do that work mentally, it's hard to escape reality. It's hard to escape what you see on TV, what you hear people saying, like it's just, you know, it's really hard.
Questions I get asked a lot is what dose I'm on. I'm on 2.4, which is the highest dose. Is it 2.4 or 2.5? I think it's 2.4 milligrams, which is the highest dose. Now, your dosing really depends on how the medication is working for you. So if you're getting all the benefits at 1.7, your doctor's going to, I'm talking about Wegovy, by the way. I know there are other GLP-1s and the dosing is different, so it would depend on what medication you're on.
I also get asked about side effects pretty often. Per, this is such a personal thing because the way you react to medication obviously is going to be personal. When I first started, I did have headaches. When I switched to Wegovy, they disappeared. So I didn't have them with Wegovy. When I first started, I also had some constipate, so constipation. I, I don't know if I mentioned constipation much in my other video, but that was like the biggest side effect that I would say I experienced. But I figured it out real quick, okay? Part of my constipation issue was my diet. Like I said, I was not eating the right amount of food. I was not, like I was staying away from all carbs, like I was not doing the right thing at first. I was eating way too little, not enough protein, not enough fiber, not enough anything, okay? So that's where my issue came with that. And so for constipation, I did a few things. I started magnesium, which eventually I told my doctor and he was like, "No, please don't do that. Let's not, that's too strong of magnesium. If you need magnesium citrate, that means that you're doing something wrong with your diet." So I was like, "Okay." Once he told me that, I immediately stopped taking it, but I also never had that issue again because I had changed everything else diet-wise. So I increased my water intake, fiber became my best friend, okay? Like I made sure I was having enough fiber in my diet. I literally got an electric kettle specifically to make warm lemon water. It basically activates your digestive system in the morning. I also got a squatty potty. So those are the things I did: water, lemon water, squatty potty, fiber, and walking. Those are the changes I made for that. That's one symptom that I did not appreciate when I had it, but it is very avoidable if you do the right things.
Another question I get asked very often is basically what is my, what are my future goals and those sort of questions. So right now, I am at a plateau, which what that means is at a certain point, the medication kind of meets your equilibrium, is what my doctor told me. And so you don't lose weight as much. You also no longer have the loss of appetite, which I never had full loss of appetite, I just had the edge taken off. Um, so that is gone. You start feeling more regular, like how you should feel. I definitely don't feel like how I used to feel in terms of like feeling hungry all the time, always thinking about food. I am going to see the doctor, I think in July or August, and at that point, we're going to discuss what the next steps are. At my last visit, we talked about spacing the medication out more, and my personal goal is to eventually taper off of it. As per my doctor, you don't want to stop cold turkey, like with most medications, you want to taper off. So that's basically what I'm working on right now. As far as what I'm doing next, like my next step in this journey, I am at my goal for the most, most part. Toning is what I'm working on right now, and just getting my glutes right, my arms together. I really love the look of like a nice deltoid, a nice like bicep, so that's what I'm really working on, and also my glutes to get that little perkiness back, which it's growing, it's getting there. But I'll take all the body changes that came with this any day over what I was experiencing at my heavier weights.
I don't have much loose skin, but I do have some. Like I do have some right here, I do have some loose skin. Obviously, like I lost a lot of weight, but it's not something that bothers me. Like I'm not thinking about my loose skin. Um, the only area I think about is my abdominal area, and that's 'cause of pregnancy, like I have stretch marks. So it's not something that is from my weight gain necessarily, I guess it's from pregnancy. I don't know. The way I feel right now in my skin, it just outweighs thinking about stretch marks or loose skin or any of those things. There's also things you can do for those situations, like procedures, or some of them are not even invasive. Like they have different radio frequency things. I don't really know much about. I was actually on Serena Williams' page recently on Instagram, and she was getting some type of like skin tightening treatment with like a radio frequency. So there's a lot of stuff out there, especially now. There's like so many things that are not invasive.
By the way, I definitely want to thank my community here because you guys have been so supportive. 99% of you have been so supportive. There's always that 1% that I don't know if they know they a hater, but they really are a hater. But I'm definitely grateful for you guys. I feel like I've gotten a lot of support. I've also seen a lot of people who have gone through similar journeys or experienced PCOS the way I have comment, and it just makes me realize like how many people are part of this community. And there's still so little research, there's still so little knowledge about PCOS, it's just astounding. But, um, it is a female condition, so you, you have that.
Speaking of PCOS, my cycle has been regular, girl. Like that is one thing that was a crazy change for me. I've never experienced a regular cycle. I think actually after having Clay, I did for like a year, and then it wasn't regular anymore. But that has been completely regular, like 28-day cycle. I've never experienced that in my life. If I did, it was probably when I was like in high school, and it literally on the dot every month, which is crazy. Like I, I'm just like, "Wow, this is crazy." Like I can plan my life and know like, "Okay, it's coming around this day," you know? And it actually shows up, which I've never had that before. Like I would just, it would randomly show up like every four months, every six months, once a year, whenever it felt like it, you know? And I did mention it to my doctor, and he wasn't sure. I don't think the research is there to see if there's a correlation between the GLP-1 and the cycle, but he definitely said weight loss can make that more regular.
Only regrets I have in this journey is the first three months when I was literally eating nothing. I was eating, but girl, it was, it was minimal, minimal. Um, and like I said, it was because I was just, I had the fear of it not working and I wanted to make sure I lost every single pound before it stopped working. And I had no business doing that, honestly. Besides that, I don't really have any other regrets. I'm very grateful. Thank you guys for watching this video. If you have any other questions, leave it down in the comments. I think I pretty much answered the questions you guys asked the most. Um, but yeah, that is my one-year update. I'll give you updates within my vlogs. Usually, I'll mention things here and there in vlogs, but yeah, thanks for watching, and I'll see you in my next video. Bye.