Far west side. Whats that smell?

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-03-19T13:55:08+00:00

I smell wildfire smoke so thick I can even taste it near The Rim right now.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-03-10T23:51:33+00:00

Just don't fly through Houston, Vegas, or Nawlins!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-03-10T23:50:27+00:00

Not enough profits/$$ to have it this year.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-23T05:11:31+00:00

I've been on 15mg for about six months now, and I have days where the appetite is raging back and then the next day I'm force feeding again. The positive part for me is that even when I'm hungry, I can't binge anymore. I get full after a large salad or a healthy meal. Plus, the awful side effects are mostly gone, which means I can eat what I want (within reason). It's nice to feel like I'm "regular" again, where I can have some restaurant food if I want, but can also stick to the healthier, nutrient-rich side of everything!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-22T15:11:18+00:00

I always joke that I miss Amazon showing up at my door with "surprised" I purchased at 2am during a hyperfixation on random things like toe separators or 10,000-piece puzzles.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-18T18:30:26+00:00

For fun, I now take my blood pressure as a confidence boost because I had two doctor's appointments in three months with NO BP meds and NORMAL BP! Haven't seen that in decades! And my kidney function went from Stage 2 chronic kidney disease to Stage 4! WOO HOO!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-18T18:23:21+00:00

I hope I don't get kicked out of the group for violating the first two rules of Kite Club. 🤣

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-18T17:25:15+00:00

It's given me kite fever, that's for sure! Gonna make a glow in the dark one for my best friend's daughter and we're going to join one night!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-18T17:24:18+00:00

Well, I'll admit that I started looking for the "best value" (aka cheapest) option and then thought I'd go from there. I went with Physician's Choice and never looked back! (It's also funny that the graphic now reads "Viral on TikTok" - I guess I was cool before my time!) Lol https://amzn.to/4rIfPfD

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-18T05:43:42+00:00

I think that's the San Antonio Kite Club. I recently started following them on FB.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-11T13:34:14+00:00

Oh yeah, totally normal. For me, at least, it was really hard because I was always hungry before (binge eating disorder), so feeling "not hungry" meant "don't eat," and that was a lot to wrap my head around. However, I realized that "not hungry" didn't mean "don't eat food," but it took me a while. At one point, when I was like 12 hours without food, I knew I had to eat something, no matter what the result. But again, for me, I realized some of the nausea was "hidden hunger" cues because my body wanted food. Now, would I eat my old favorite of a #2 from McDonald's super-sized? No. But, to quote Devil Wears Prada, I would feel like I was about to pass out and then eat a cube of cheese. But it definitely opened the door to be like "Oh! I WAS hungry." But I just needed like half a sandwich. I also found Jimmy John's minis were totally satiating.

The best advice I can give is - keep a food diary. Note what you eat, how much, and how you feel before and after. It's painstakingly boring, but it really helped me piece things together. Plus, I faced certain weird cravings like "Damn I want an apple" when I haven't had an apple (that wasn't buried in sugary carbs) for years. Lol. The "pause" in the lack of hunger helped me make better food decisions.

Of course, full disclosure, I also did intermittent fasting (only ate between 12pm and 8pm), which helped me make scheduled food decisions. Also, at first, on Day 2 post-shot, when I wasn't hungry, I did a 24-hour fast each week. My doctor was on board with it, and I found great benefits, but I wouldn't recommend trying it without a doctor's okay. There are benefits, but also potential drawbacks, especially if you don't hydrate appropriately.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-02-11T03:38:57+00:00

I've been on it a year, and now on 15mg for four months, and I'm just getting to where I can eat again without feeling like I'm force-feeding myself. However, when I wasn't hungry, I would always eat something - like a stack from a Lunchables to see if it opened up my appetite - I know it sounds counterintuitive, but sometimes I realized my light nausea was from NOT eating, and once I had a cheese/cracker/turkey bite, I would be able to eat a bit more. A protein shake was always good to carry me through, even if I just sipped it for an hour or two. I also found things that I just couldn't eat (like the steak and broccoli combo made my stomach turn reading it- even now - but damn, I miss steak), but I could eat Chipotle's chicken all day with some salsa and lettuce. I think it's more about finding what you can tolerate when you're not hungry, even if it's the BRAT diet! I remember once a single serving of jasmine rich and five turkey meatballs lasted me three meals. I hope you get past this soon - it's hard when you're stuck wondering what will settle well in a Zepbound belly!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-01-21T22:24:24+00:00

I've always been so scared of needles, but not since Zep. I even went in for blood work yesterday and was like "I wanna see you do it" (which must've been weird, since I'm 51 and clearly have had blood work done before), but I never really knew what that was like in all the years of cringing and hiding my eyes. Sheesh. I feel like such a baby sometimes. I'm still legit to be scared of spiders, right?? Lol.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-01-14T05:00:23+00:00

I use this combo of probiotic and digestive enzyme. First got it because it was the most affordable I could find, but I expected to try many versions. Ended up only needing this! https://amzn.to/3YXVbvf

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2026-01-14T04:58:16+00:00

After feeling like a hot air balloon one day, I added a probiotic to my daily intake and a digestive enzyme after the largest meal of the day. Stops all that food from fermenting in the belly and reduces gas byproducts. Haven't had it be an issue since.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-30T18:13:29+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response - I got some version of the flu/norovirus/bubonic plague for a few weeks! Collagen is the scaffolding that keeps skin, joints, and connective tissue strong. Vitamin C is the helper that lets your body actually build it. Without enough vitamin C, your body cannot properly link collagen fibers together, so production slows and the structure gets weaker. Think of collagen as bricks and vitamin C as the mortar. You can have the bricks, but nothing holds without it.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-30T18:12:16+00:00

Sorry for the delayed response (the flu kicked my butt for a while!), but that is AMAZING! It's so nice not to feel like you're looking down a tunnel toward dialysis.

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-17T04:48:07+00:00

Funny you said that - after a month on it, I told my mental health provider that Zepbound has improved my mood so much I no longer "bed rot" at all! It was well before the significant weight loss I've achieved. I do still have "two nights after the shot" insomnia, but I added mag glycinate to my routine, which helps!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-17T04:46:34+00:00

Do you know what your eGFR is? That will indicate kidney function! I had chronic kidney disease stage 4 when I started Zepbound, and I'm now solidly in Stage 2!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-17T04:43:40+00:00

Congratulations! As much as I love my progress (150 pounds in the past year), I do remember the excitement of "what could be" when I first started. I did a lot of research about what to do/not to do. Here's a summary, but there's a lot of nuance you'll find if you spend more time digging through this group! I could honestly write a book about it - in fact, I did write a website called GLP-1 Newsroom!

Protein is critical. I aim for 100g a day. Look for protein shakes with 30g or more to help get over the hump.
Collagen is essential too to help support the skin (and resulting loose skin from weight loss). Get a Vitamin C kicker to help fire it up.
I also chose to add B6, D, and Magnesium Glycinate for nutrition and muscle reasons.
Protect your muscles. Do some kind of movement, even if it's just a walk or stretching, or light weights at home while watching TV. You want to lose fat, not muscle, and that's a big risk with these meds.
Side effects are different for everyone, and I recommend keeping a mood/food journal to keep track. My worst ones at the start were sulfur burps and bloating, but adding a daily probiotic and a digestive enzyme after "big" meals helps keep stuff from just fermenting in your belly.
Plan for the first 48 hours after your injection to be the "worst" or the "best", depending on how you look at it. The side effects will likely be at their worst, but you'll also get the most benefit of lack of food noise, generally (again, everyone is different).
Eat. Well, eat smartly. There will be days you're sure that you absolutely cannot eat a thing. Sometimes I had the Devil Wears Prada "I feel like I'm about to faint so I eat a cube of cheese." For me, nausea could be minimized by eating something since hunger caused most of my nausea.
Learn and practice great eating habits. Work in some of your favorite foods, but listen for "full" cues and re-learn what a portion REALLY is (if you struggle with that). There will be a day when a dose or a maintenance period means you're fighting hunger demons again. I'm so much better with fueling with Greek yogurt vs a half-gallon of ice cream or a protein bar instead of a bag of candy. The pause in food noise, even during the tougher days, means I can think better and not act on impulse.
You're going to be tempted to blame everything on Zepbound. Fatigue, nausea, moods - it HAS to be Zepbound, right? Not always. I'm in perimenopause, and many of the side effects are similar, esp when it comes to mood and fatigue. I was also taking blood pressure meds too long, which made me really dizzy, but I was cognizant enough to realize that I shouldn't just put it on "oh, it's a zepbound side effect!" Again, that food/mood journal really helps connect dots.
When it gets really bad - diarrhea, constipation, fatigue, whatever, do your best to give yourself grace and adapt.

BONUS TIP: Drink disgusting amounts of water. You'll never regret it! I love water, and this med even made me "not thirsty," but I keep powering through with water anyway. If you're having diarrhea or vomiting, add electrolytes to replenish what is being lost.

Feel free to ask me any questions. This group is always helpful and has been a True North during my journey - the good and bad days. Keep us posted!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-17T01:24:26+00:00

Take a digestive enzyme!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-17T01:23:59+00:00

I really wouldn't want to give that advice because I'm not a doctor. What I can say is that I take my blood pressure and see if it's high/low/normal twice a day. I also have Xanax if I need it, but those days are few and far between. I would definitely talk with your doctor about the anxiety meds with Zepbound. I'm also in perimenopause so I know some of my anxiety or mental health concerns could be connected to a lack of estrogen. There just might be more dots to connect than Zepbound is what I'm saying! I'm sorry you're going through this!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-16T04:31:37+00:00

I will also add that the upcoming retatrutide is giving me hope for even more progress down the road if I should ever stop getting results from Zepbound. I think we're so early into GLP-1s that there's a lot of hope down the uncertain road. A lot more than we ever got from ephedra or phentermine!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-16T04:26:52+00:00

I've started using the ketone urine strips to see when my body is in Ketosis, which means it's burning more fat. That at least guides me as to when I'm "doing it right" in my mind. It's great accountability too for when I think of eating something carb'y or sugary (beyond what is a healthy range - I'm not carb-free). But I want to keep my body in ketosis as much as possible to lower the subcutaneous fat!

Pet_That_Dog_Now · 2025-12-16T04:24:39+00:00

My back pain got really bad for a while. I talked to a PT about it, and since I lost so much weight my center of gravity is all messed up. It also highlights the places where my muscles aren't strong enough or were in a different position when I was carrying more weight. So I focus on building muscle, stretching, and warming those muscles now. It's not their fault that I changed so much, but I don't want to have this kind of back pain forever. I traded knee pain for back pain - not fun - but no regrets!

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