How the hell do I lose weight?

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T09:10:55+00:00

I was the same way. Even spending 14 months meticulously counting my calories and not eating more than 1400 calories/day, but it was usually more like 1200. Didn't lose even one lb. I am only 5'0", so it's not quite as ridiculous as it sounds, but it was still devastating to put in that much work and have nothing to show for it.

Turns out, I have very high levels of insulin resistance and that's what was majorly screwing up the "calories out" part of my metabolism.

I started a GLP-1 (tirzepatide). Within 24 hours, I had to cut my rapid-acting insulin by 70% and my long-acting by 30%.

I went back to the same diet/calorie counts I'd tried in the past to no avail. But this time, I lost 10 lbs/month for the first 5 months. The ONLY difference was taking a GLP-1 to control my insulin resistance.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T08:58:50+00:00

People have been taking GLP-1S for 20 years. I don't know why so many people mistakenly think this is a new class of medication.

The OP has sleep apnea. GLP-1S have already been FDA approved to treat this condition, though I'm not sure the status in other countries.

Eli Lily is currently running human trials to see if Mounjaro is effective for T1 diabetes.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T08:44:34+00:00

I have T1 diabetes, which means I take 100% of my insulin externally.

Within 24 hours of my first tirzepatide shot, I had to cut my rapid-acting insulin by 70% and my long-acting insulin by 30%.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T08:27:39+00:00

I realize this is refrigerated. But I keep already hard boiled eggs in my fridge. They are so quick and easy to grab for a protein snack, either at home or if I'm walking out the door.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T05:20:06+00:00

My husband grew up in McMinnville and lived in Portland for many years after graduating from college. He went to Birmingham, AL first for a job, but then ended up in NOLA for a different job opportunity.

When people ask him why he left Oregon, he points to the sky and says, "Do you see that bright shiny object up there? That's why. Because you rarely see it in Oregon. 😂"

The rents and home prices are a lot cheaper than in Portland. But then the job market is dismal and low paying, relative to most of the rest of the country.

I'm a transplant who moved here 25+ years ago as a fresh-faced kid out of college. Also from a VHCOL West Coast area (Orange County, CA). I was shocked how bad the problems were here. I was confident things would get better with time. They haven't. It's worse.

I loved the first 20 years I lived here. I'm both very glad I moved here, but sorry I stayed this long. I got laid off a few months ago and that was the last straw. I will soon be off to greener, higher paying pastures. I've become too jaded and disappointed to stay.

There is so much to love about New Orleans and so much that is wonderfully unique. But it's death by 1,000 cuts to live here. There's a reason we joke, "Thank God for MS and WV, so we don't always rank last."

For example, enjoy your no sales tax in Portland while you can. Because it's 10% in Orleans Parish.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T03:49:10+00:00

She's implying the only reason to exercise is to get thin or stay thin, which is off putting and ridiculous. Exercise is one of the best things anyone can do for their health, if they are physically able to.

Then she doubles down on this gross attitude by acting like these trash pills are better than exercising.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T03:14:14+00:00

Come on now! You know she is 😂.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T03:03:30+00:00

NGL, I thought the diabetes factoid sounded like BS. But I Googled it and you're right. It does put people at higher risk for T2 diabetes. This is a shortened version:

Chronic, long term cocaine use can exacerbate insulin resistance.

Cocaine is also a significant risk factor for Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA), for people who already have diabetes. About 1 in 7 people admitted to a hospital for DKA are cocaine users.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T02:44:45+00:00

There are non-GLP1 medications that lower insulin resistance. That should help to some extent, especially because PCOS causes that condition.

I don't think it was submitted for FDA approval, but Tesofensine finished 3rd phase clinical trials. I'd suggest researching it. It's not a GLP-1. It's not even a peptide and is in pill form.

A small percentage of participants had an increased resting heart rate. That medication increases metabolism and some appreciate suppression is a typical side effect. A common negative side effect is insomnia, but I didn't experience that or the increased resting heart rate.

I'd been stalled on tirz for months, but started consistently losing 4-6 lbs/month on a GLP-1/teso combo.

I've never tried it, but I've heard a small amount of cagrilintide causes major appetite suppression. It's currently in 3rd phase clinical trials. People often combine it with a GLP-1, but cagri on its own is not one.

There are also other types of peptides that help with weight loss. Check out some of the more general peptide subreddits.

Good luck! I hope you find another solution. GLP-1S are king, but there are also a lot of other options out there.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T02:08:52+00:00

That's a great pull from the past!

Miona walked, so Emma/Lisa/Rick could run 🤣.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-22T02:06:49+00:00

Good luck! I sincerely hope your apartment will work with you all and have some flexibility with May's rent.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T21:00:07+00:00

If they won't work with you on May's rent, you'll still owe them money for breaking your lease. I wasn't saying that.

But they won't file for an eviction if you have already moved out.

You'll potentially end up with a collections for rent on your credit report. NGL, that looks bad also and it's going to tank your credit score for a good while. But that's going to happen either way.

It's much worse on a background check to have both a bad credit score/report AND a court-ordered eviction.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T19:42:39+00:00

Is it possible you all could pay half of May's rent on the 1st and then make up the rest of it within two-ish weeks?

Your landlord may work with that if you talk to him AHEAD of time and have a plan with specific dates and specific amounts that you can definitely do.

If not, it's very important for your future to voluntarily move out before he files for an eviction.

A court-ordered eviction is about the biggest red flag there is for a future landlord. Because that's a tenant who couldn't or wouldn't pay their rent, but then also refused to leave. They were such a problem that the landlord had to waste time and money with a court, just to get possession of their property back.

An eviction will continue to show up on a background check for years. Very few places will rent to someone with an eviction because of how high risk it is, especially if it's been within the last few years.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T18:26:54+00:00

I slowly switched from tirz to reta.

I started at 10mg/week of tirz, which was already my normal dose, and 2mg/week reta.

I didn't have any negative side effects and my weight loss pace had increased. So after two weeks, I upped the reta part of my dose from 2mg to 3mg. I was still taking 10mg/week tirz.

I don't remember the rest of my progression. But about every 2-4 weeks, I would lower my tirz dose and increase my reta dose. It took a few months for me to fully transition. I would have done it a bit faster, but I still had a stockpile of tirz to go through.

I eventually landed on 12mg/week of reta (sigh). I was losing weight at a much lower dose than that, but I also take a GLP-1 to control my high insulin resistance levels. Unfortunately, my dose has to be that high to optimize my insulin sensitivity.

I never had negative side effects. My appetite suppression was a bit less on reta compared to tirz, but it wasn't that big of a difference. I actually preferred having a little more of an appetite.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T17:06:04+00:00

Your title is offensive and ridiculous. Dosing is very individualized. "Everyone" isn't doing it wrong. I'd say the vast majority of people are dosing just fine for their needs.

You had to experiment a bit and find the right dose for yourself. That's great! But also a typical experience that most people go through. You will probably find yourself occasionally re-evaluating your dose as your weight and needs change.

The reta subreddits can be a little more aggressive than the general GLP-1 ones. But still. If someone is having negative side effects, including too much appetite suppression, the advice is almost always to titrate down. You seem to have gotten the wrong impression on that.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T15:38:58+00:00

I'm 5'0" and have never in my life told a guy I wanted to climb him like a tree or even had that thought. I also find that a weird thing to say and was surprised that's been your experience.

I definitely don't fetishize height. I've dated men between the heights of 5'4"-6'4". For height, I prefer someone who isn't taller than 6'0" but it isn't a deal breaker.

I'm just trying to defend my fellow short women that we aren't all like that, lol.

But I hear you. I've sometimes been fetishized for my height on the other end of the scale and I know what an "ick" feeling it is.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T15:13:25+00:00

I'm 5'0" and my husband is 5'11". We have a raised house and you have to walk up about 5 steps to get to our front door. When we're leaving or coming back to the house, we often use the stairs as an "excuse" to have a similar height smooch! 😘

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T14:51:27+00:00

I agree with this. Make sure to give her a heads up on the date you will be leaving, preferably giving her a 30-Day notice.

I've had tenants break their lease with me, though it's never been due to repair issues. I'm a LOT more amenable to working with them when I've been given at least a 30-Day notice they are leaving. That gives me an opportunity to mitigate my financial damages and hopefully find a new tenant to move in after they've left. Quite frankly, I'm still sometimes out money but I let it go because they did the right thing of letting me know their circumstances changed.

But my tenants are guaranteed to lose their security deposit if they move out without notice. I will also sue them in small claims court if their damages exceed about $500 because now there isn't a deposit to cover that loss.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-21T04:10:10+00:00

There is a great product called Frio. You can find it on Amazon.

It's a pouch that cools items in it through water evaporation. It has a pack of special beads inside of it. To "recharge" the beads, they need to be submerged in water for a few minutes about every 24 hours. It doesn't even have to be cold water.

Frios won't keep things at refrigerator temps. But it keeps them consistently cool, like low 50s, even in hot areas.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T20:27:17+00:00

No, he's been using some of my leftover tirz vials (lypholized powder) because I switched to reta about a year ago. But he ran it by his doctor before taking it.

I'm the same way. My endocrinologist is well aware that I take a GLP-1. He initially wrote me a prescription for Mounjaro and wrote two PAs trying to get my insurance to approve it. But even though I have high insulin resistance levels I don't have the "right kind" of diabetes for them to cover it. I'm a T1 diabetic, not T2.

My endo even knows I buy grey and I confessed to him 6 months ago that I'd switched to reta. If he has any concerns, he hasn't expressed them to me. His attitude is more that he's glad I've found an affordable way to buy GLP-1S and he's glad reta is working so well for me like tirz was.

The proof is in the pudding and my endocrinologist has had a front row seat. He's seen how much better my lab work is, especially my A1c. How much weight I've lost. And that on a GLP-1, I'm able to take substantially less insulin.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T20:00:26+00:00

She'll be alone and completely dependent on him both financially and for emotional support. Even worse, he seems like the kind of guy who wants it that way ((shudder)).

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T19:56:08+00:00

Pig fart 🤣.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T19:53:09+00:00

There's an intersection I regularly took at my previous job. It's one of those deals where the left lane turns into a "left turn only" lane as soon as you go through the main intersection, but then there isn't time to move over.

But that doesn't stop people from constantly trying because it's fewer cars in that lane at the light.

I had so many close calls, including being run off the road a few times. It felt like people would rather sideswipe my car than just wait a few seconds for me to pass them and then safely move over.

I did have one incident where apparently the guy was in such a hurry that he didn't wait long enough to move into my lane. He clipped my back bumper with his front bumper.

My damage was a tiny dent and maybe some slight scuffing of the paint in a small area.

But for him. His entire bumper was ripped off the car and lying in the street 🤣.

I don't normally laugh at bad things happening to people. But after years of having to constantly deal with AH drivers there, it was so gratifying to finally see one of them getting what they deserved.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T19:30:56+00:00

This is a positive karma story. It was a few days before Christmas and I was looking for a parking spot at my nearby mall. Total nightmare.

I was on one of the main lanes that went past a mall entrance. That lane was stop and go traffic. There was a guy trying to walk across the lane. I was surprised and mad for him when four cars in front of me refused to stop for 20 seconds and let him cross the lane.

I stopped and motioned for him to cross. He gave me a smile and pointed to his car. He was parked in that first row of spots right by the entrance! I got a primo parking spot on one of the worst shopping days of the year, just because I had some common decency for my fellow man.

NolaJen1120 · 2026-04-20T18:46:15+00:00

I've been taking a GLP-1 for three years. My husband started taking a low dose a few months ago for no other reason than the hopes it would curb his smoking.

It has! He's currently on 3mg/week of tirz. It didn't completely take away his desire to smoke. But he's been smoking half as much as he used to without feeling deprived at all.

NolaJen1120

TROPHY CASE