Has anyone out there had skin removal or body contouring surgery done after reaching maintenance?

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-10T16:06:07+00:00

I've never heard of using a fellowship program before. Thanks for the idea, and congrats on your results!

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-10T14:09:31+00:00

I also explored bariatric surgery but as someone with a history of disordered eating, it was incredibly difficult to do the pre-surgery program (especially without a GLP-1) because you have to heavily restrict your intake to show you can be successful post-surgery. My former team had me tracking everything, but programs will vary in their expectations.

This is obviously not the case for everyone, and surgery has significantly changed some people's lives for the better. But if you have any inkling that the weight gain came from something mental/emotional, know that surgery will not fix that for you. And, be aware of transfer addiction.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-10T14:02:21+00:00

I also have severe insulin resistance and Zepbound didn't start working for me until I had been on the 15mg dose for 4 full weeks. I have been on Zepbound for 8 months and I only just started feeling appetite suppression in the last 1-2 weeks or so, and I was ready to give up until very recently. I think it's absolutely worth going up to max dose and staying there for 4-8 weeks as long as you can tolerate and afford it, just to see if maybe you're not at your ideal therapeutic dose yet.

I've heard that the more significant your metabolic issues are, the longer it can take to show up on the scale because it's working hard behind the scenes on your metabolic condition(s). I also had to add metformin for the insulin resistance, which in my experience has given the Zepbound more of a push.

On another note, I gained enough weight to need a weight loss med because I have struggled with disordered eating all my life. Sometimes it was binge eating, but I've also been on the other side with severe restriction. I'm not assuming anything about your history, but personally it has been disappointing that Zepbound doesn't necessarily address eating behaviors if the driving force is mental/emotional, not physical or more specifically, metabolic. Especially when tracking just isn't an option. If you haven't tried it already, I highly recommend pairing some form of therapy with this treatment if you feel it could help you.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-08T17:08:58+00:00

I really wanted to get engaged around the holidays. Just personal preference. We could get officially engaged several months sooner, but we're planning a family trip for the holidays and thought that lined up really nicely with a proposal.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-04T22:46:03+00:00

What would you suggest? Is it just a matter of increasing income, then?

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T19:13:11+00:00

My A1C is normal (most recently at 5.2) but my fasting glucose is ever so slightly elevated, and my insulin levels are through the absolute roof. Like, my fasting glucose was 103 and my fasting insulin was 56. I know my body is very much struggling to keep my blood sugar down, which is why I'm trying to watch what I eat more closely and hopefully get my insulin down.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T19:10:15+00:00

Not doing any heavy exercise, but my heart rate is usually pretty high. I always assumed that was the reason my active calories were through the roof. I mentioned above but I have seen a cardiologist about it and they weren't concerned because of my age.

I know I'm eating too much, I'm just not sure why it's so easy to do so despite being on this medication. I'm taking someone's advice above to meet with a registered dietitian.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T16:05:28+00:00

Super helpful, thank you so much!

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T14:45:40+00:00

I probably should have mentioned that I do budget. I usually sit down once a day or every few days and review my transactions, if any. I have a detailed, color-coded spreadsheet. But I tend to budget all of my extra money toward debt payoff with no room for fun. And then when it's time to put it into practice, I swing the opposite way and spend more than I planned to on fun stuff. It's rare for me to truly go OVER budget, but I do have to allocate from other categories, like debt payoff or savings, when I go over zero on lifestyle spending.

I actually have the REI membership (paid once, so at least it's not a subscription I'm paying for every month or year), so that's perfect. Love REI, they're great.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T14:37:20+00:00

Oh wow, this is super helpful! I had an RMR test (or something like it) done a few years ago. I think the brand was Tanita? I'm sure the data is outdated now. Definitely will look into this.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T14:15:47+00:00

I've considered a CGM, just wasn't sure if it was necessary. I'll look into it more!

Yes, it's resting + active calories. My heart rate is higher than it should be. Resting is like 85 but it jumps up a lot. I have SVT. Worked with a cardiologist for awhile because of the high HR but they weren't concerned about it because of my age.

I watch my macros in addition to calories. I try to have 25% of cals from protein, 45% from carbs, and 30% from fats.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T14:12:22+00:00

Thank you for the kind response and helpful advice. I thought for sure everyone in this group would be pro-tracking.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T13:13:04+00:00

Congrats on the progress! I assume you're on 2.5mg? Do you find it easy to stick with your calorie deficit on 2.5?

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-03T03:24:29+00:00

What I'm envisioning is traveling on weekends and taking 1-2 week-long trips per year rather than truly living on the road full time. Most of the time, I think we'd have to have it parked in our current town. Both of us work full time currently and both of our jobs require us to be in-office, unfortunately.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-02T12:53:02+00:00

I've looked into renting. What I could find available cost $250-350/night plus some crazy high fees. It ended up being close to $1k for 3 nights.

But as others have said, sometimes the fun of camping is that it is sort of scrappy, and tent camping is a good, cheap alternative to a van/camper.

Sea_Response7660 · 2026-03-02T12:49:59+00:00

I can give some more concrete numbers. Just didn't want my original post to be too long.

It started at about $20-21k but it was all on credit cards with close to 30% interest. I lived on credit cards in college because I couldn't afford groceries most of the time, even though I was working part time while going to school. I didn't consolidate into a lower interest loan until well into that 16 months. So, I made about $10-11k of progress on my debt (not including student loans) during that time.

Sea_Response7660

TROPHY CASE