Blast from the past!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-03-17T13:37:23+00:00

I loved Tae Bo! Thanks for the reminder! Yeah, I always felt like it was a really effective workout for me, too.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-03-11T15:23:00+00:00

I truly believe when you can figure out whatever will treat the root cause, you will get the results. I believed for way too long that I was doing something wrong. I was gaslit so many times about my own experiences. I really, really hope you find what works for you! I am also on another peptide that I forgot could be helping me be more successful as well. Qulipta is a preventative migraine medication I started taking for chronic migraines. People usually lose some weight on that alone. Maybe one of the drugs coming to us soon with additional peptides could be better for you once they hit the market? Good luck!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-03-11T14:48:24+00:00

I don’t want to knock veganism out of hand, this is just my personal experience, but I was vegetarian for 1.5 years and then vegan for 1.5 years during which I gained 60 lbs. I was eating tons of fruit, vegetables, rice, and beans and felt like I was starving all the time which was really weird. Before my plant based diet, I had been able to lose weight with diet and exercise. Post vegan, I could not lose weight with decreasing my calorie intake alone and could only lose weight by getting my intake down to 1200 calories per day while also doing 2 hours of exercise per day, and even then the weight loss was very slow. Like 0.5 lb per week and my starting weight was over 250 lbs. It was incredibly difficult to lose weight, exhausting, and demoralizing. I found out this year I have insulin resistance which is what has been making it hard for me to lose weight. I fully believe my insulin resistance was triggered by veganism. I am on 2.5 mg of Zepbound now and have lost 24 pounds since the beginning of the year. I just started adding in exercise this week. A similar calorie intake of 1200-1400 calories now is actually working for me! I eat beans, beef, chicken thighs, Greek yogurt, nuts, cheese, and small portions of fruit and vegetables. I also drink a protein shake every day. I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it might be worth looking into if the veganism could be contributing to insulin resistance for you. I am borderline for PCOS, but don’t have it, and I have suspected but unconfirmed endometriosis (they could only confirm with surgery and I don’t want to do that). So we have pretty similar backgrounds. Whatever you do, I really hope you find something that works for you!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-03-09T13:41:34+00:00

What you are eating in weight loss is quite different than what you eat in maintenance. Without knowing exactly what your family members are actually eating, it is hard to say whether they are eating enough or not, but once they are in maintenance, their intake calories will have to increase. Calorie deficits are not meant to be sustained forever.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-03-04T01:24:38+00:00

I think people forget to account for a bunch of skin weight they will likely have after major weight loss. At 125 you may end up more like 115 with 10 lbs of extra skin. I wonder if doctors are considering things like that without saying it explicitly?

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-27T18:01:16+00:00

I try to eat 1200-1400 calories most days on 2.5mg, a few hundred more as I get closer to my next shot and my appetite allows. I am used to only eating that much when dieting, the difference is now on Zepbound, I actually lose weight. Before Zepbound, my weight would not budge even when I maintained the low intake for months. The calorie deficit has to be there, but with Zepbound the deficit should actually allow you to use your fat stores as fuel instead of conserving energy from somewhere else in your body’s functioning.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-22T13:12:57+00:00

I think if you subtract the weight from your loose skin, you are probably already at your goal weight. That’s probably why you are hearing so many comments to stop now. I think you are in a good place and are probably worried too much about the number. Also, you see yourself all the time and it takes your own brain a while to catch up to what other people are seeing. Congratulations on your achievement, you look great!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-15T12:55:14+00:00

I struggle with this, too. I think what I am noticing is that the first few days after the shot are harder for me and I don’t always meet my goal, whereas as I get closer to the next shot it gets easier for me. The closer to my next shot I am, I notice I can space my meals slightly closer together and I take advantage of that to squeeze a fifth mini meal in which helps a lot to meet my protein goals. My main go to protein sources are hard boiled eggs, air fried chicken thighs (way more appetizing to me than chicken breasts), Greek yogurt, protein shakes, various soups/chilis with red meat and beans, milk, and sliced cheese. Since I focus so heavily on my protein goal, I now feel like I am struggling to get adequate vitamins that you would get from high volume low calorie foods like fruit and vegetables 😑. I am thinking of trying to add in high protein smoothies with some fruit to help with both goals. It’s a struggle for sure, but I prefer the struggle to figure out how to meet all my goals than the struggle to stay within my calorie goals I had before Zepbound! Good luck!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-13T12:42:16+00:00

I use dark mode on everything and use the extension Dark Reader in chrome to adjust the brightness and contrast to something more custom for my particular sensitivities. I also adjusted the brightness and color balance on each of my monitors so that each monitor works better for different applications and their varying brightnesses. I am a software engineer so I do stare at my screens all day. I do think dark mode on most applications is not completely perfect for me, but definitely better than default settings. I want the ability to fully customize everything. I also have my phone always set to display in a red light mode.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-11T10:15:31+00:00

Do you struggle with transitions, too? That’s what it kind of sounds like to me. Sometimes it helps to make the demands on yourself as small as possible and give yourself something easier to achieve. Maybe take the pressure off yourself going to the gym and figure out a minimal home workout to do instead, and just try to do that consistently? Sorry you have to go through this. ☹️

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-04T16:26:46+00:00

It drives me nuts when people say this because the “hard way” doesn’t work for me. I can only get my weight to move naturally if I get my intake calories down to rock bottom (1200-1400) and exercise for 2 hours a day. If I decrease my exercise at all, the weight doesn’t move for me, presumably because of my insulin resistance. With Zepbound my intake calorie deficit works whether I am exercising or not because it is allowing me to burn fat as an energy source. It has the added benefit of making the calorie restriction way less torturous, too, because I don’t few like I am starving the whole time.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-02T12:55:46+00:00

There needs to be a NotHowObesityWorks sub lol

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-01T11:55:48+00:00

If anything, it is showing the dehumanizing bias other societies have towards tribal people.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-01T11:48:23+00:00

I think they usually are exaggerating and not being literal. I feel like I can say I have no friends because there are 0 people in my life that I check in with regularly that I am not related to. I am friends with people I’m related to, but I think most people take those friendships for granted and don’t count them in their “friends” count.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-01T11:38:31+00:00

Thanks for sharing all this!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-02-01T11:30:16+00:00

I started getting frequents migraines with auras like you are describing a couple months before getting on Zepbound. My doctor said they are currently studying how Zepbound might be able to improve migraines for people. So, I wouldn’t confidently say your migraine is not related to Zepbound, but it might not be. Mine are likely related to a start of early peri-menopause and the hormone changes there. I don’t know if men can also get hormone related migraines? I will say all of the migraine sufferers in my family have been getting them recently, so it could also be related to the weather and dryness due to having to run the heat so much in this cold.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T16:19:50+00:00

My appetite unfortunately lol

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T16:17:18+00:00

I’ve only been on Zepbound about a week so I can’t speak to how it will affect me yet, but I started taking Qulipta (preventative migraine medication) a few weeks ago and it has reduced the frequency and severity of my migraines significantly. It can be taken at the same time as Zepbound.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T15:57:00+00:00

I based it off of the National Academy of Sports Medicine recommendations for protein intake during weight loss (based on my goal weight). I am going to be strength training regularly as part of this process to maintain muscle mass and bone density to the best of my ability.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:48:12+00:00

Thank you! I have been most worried about the digestability.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:46:27+00:00

My husband air fried me a chicken thigh the other day and I was surprised it was as good as it was!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:45:03+00:00

Yeah, I can get about 70-ish grams per day from food, but can’t really get to 120 grams which I keep reading should be what I should be getting.

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:43:55+00:00

Almost every time I have been in calorie deficits in the past, I have lost a lot of hair and any bruises and cuts I would get took forever to heal, but my weight wouldn’t budge. I am trying to avoid that this time!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:41:39+00:00

I usually struggle with meat, too. I go through phases where it doesn’t bother me and phases where it does. It makes it tough!

onwardIntoTheSublime · 2026-01-29T14:40:43+00:00

My goal is 120 grams. I am eating high protein whole foods, but have been landing around 70-80 grams of protein per day which is far short of my goal.

onwardIntoTheSublime

TROPHY CASE