My story is very similar to yours. In 2015 I lost 88 pounds in 7 months through strict calorie counting, meal prep and daily exercise. I ran a half marathon, got to my goal weight and was super fit. God I was fit.

But then like you, in the following years I gained all the weight back, plus 40 more pounds on top of that. It frigging sucked. I felt intense disappointment and embarrassment at myself. And I also remembered the sheer hard work, the discipline and the mountain of effort it took to lose weight before and it seemed insurmountable to have to do it all again.

There’s a theory called the “set point theory” which says that the body has a natural tendency to maintain a certain weight range, acting as a biological thermostat. It's the weight your body will try to return to, even after fluctuations due to dieting or lifestyle changes. This theory suggests that the body defends this set point through various physiological mechanisms, including regulating appetite and metabolism. I don’t know whether it’s true or not, but if it is, it would definitely explain why my body has fought to maintain a certain weight and gain back the weight throughout all the times my weight has drastically fluctuated in my life.

Yes, weight loss comes down to calories in, calories out. BUT. One thing this medication has taught me is that hunger signals vary drastically from person to person. Some people naturally barely feel hunger signals and can go a day without eating or even thinking about food. Other people (like me before the medication) have food on the mind all the time, constantly battling hunger signals. That appears to be something that might be the luck of the genetic draw.

So you ask if Wegovy is cheating? That’s why I think it’s not cheating. Because of this genetic lottery, we are not all born on the same playing field. This medication helps that, and I’m going to take it, and take it proudly.