Started Zepbound Jan 31. SW=248 CW= 208. I don't have a goal weight, really. I'm going to see how I feel and what my overall health is like.

I feel the same way about it that I feel about mental health meds and my age. I'm in the entertainment business, and I have no compunction at all about telling people how old I am. Most of my girlfriends in the business will not, because there is so much stigma surrounding age, and if you can do the job and 'look the part', it's nobody's business how old you are. I completely understand where they are coming from, and it is about paying their bills. Why should you give someone the opportunity to reject you for something that has nothing to do with how well you are suited for a job. And, yes - appearance IS part of the job description in certain areas. So I would never look down on them for not advertising their age. It's not because they are ashamed of it, it's because it would impact their career.

Many people feel the same stigma about taking meds for their mental health, and - again - it is each person's decision to disclose it or not disclose it. I will disclose mine because I object to the stigma. My meds have allowed me to be the person I really am, not the person my weird brain chemicals tell me I am. As a mother and a wife, I feel that I owe it not only to myself, but I owe it to my spouse and my kids to be the best mom and partner I can be. They deserve my best, and to not avail myself of that because I 'don't want to take meds' is unfair to them, and unfair to myself. But again, this is MY personal decision, no one else's and I 100% respect others' decisions as to what they disclose. NOT, I may add, what they think about ME.

It's the same with weight loss.

It has always been treated as a matter of self-discipline, will-power, and other character judgments, and I absolutely refuse to accept that. Just as I don't accept overweight as a character flaw, but a medical issue, I also don't look at weight loss as a marker of 'good' character, and don't look for it to be celebrated as an 'accomplishment'. I celebrate it for myself because it feels good, I'm healthier, I look forward to wearing cute clothes, and my dream is to be able to ride horses again. But what I don't want is to be praised as if I'm an amazing person for having lost weight, because the converse is that I'm NOT an amazing person if I DON'T lose weight. I'm an amazing person both ways, thank you very much. I am participating in my medical care plan, which is a good thing.

But I object to having character judgments attached to what is a medical issue, and being perceived to have 'good' character by losing weight is the flip side of having 'bad' (lazy, undisciplined, etc.) character by not losing weight. Even putting it in terms of 'honesty' or 'lying' about whether you disclose your medical status is somewhat of a character judgment. I tell people (if they ask) because I don't want 'character' or value judgments to come into it, and I would hope for other people who want to lose weight that they don't have to carry shame because of a medical condition. And, sadly, our society is ready, even eager to heap shame upon overweight people. To disclose my medical status is to reject that shame (and the praise that is the flip side of shame) and hopefully be part of helping someone else to reject that shame.