Progress so far and stopping for surgery
Hello everyone! I've gotten so much encouragement from this sub through this journey, and wanted to share my story and get some advice.
I was always a bigger kid - always the tallest, hit puberty very early. After I was about 12 I just stopped growing up and my 5'2 frame started growing out. I have PCOS, ADHD, and suffered with addiction while in college, getting up to around 250lbs. After I got married my husband worked with me to really improve my life - I got sober and through working out daily and meal prep I got down to 180-190 lbs. I was happy at this weight because I was working towards competitive powerlifting, and then I got pregnant with my first child. My health started to decline after I had her as I had many birth and post-natal complications. I was back around 265lbs when I got pregnant with my second child, and by the time I gave birth I was 315 lbs.
I started Ozempic in 2023 and felt terrible, and only lost about 20 lbs in 6 months. I stopped that for awhile and started mounjaro in December 2024 at 290 lbs (first picture). As of January 2026 I was at 225 and went for a plastics consult as I have lots of loose skin around my abdomen and was approved for partial OHIP insurance coverage of a tummy tuck and breast reduction. I am now sitting around 205 lbs (second picture) and my surgery is scheduled for May 19th, and my hope is by the end of the summer to be fully healed and around that 180-190lb mark where I was happy before. I am still lifting heavy 3-4 days per week and am a size 12, so the number on the scale and my BMI are not that important to me. I just feel so much healthier now, and my labs confirm this improvement!
My concern is that this is definitely a forever medication for me, and I need to be off of it for 3 weeks pre-op and 4 weeks post op. I worry that post op it will be harder to prepare healthy meals so I will be doing a lot of frozen meal prep, but would love any tips and tricks for deflecting the hunger that I know I will have. I was off for two weeks on vacation and woke up every morning RAVENOUS. I gained about 12 lbs on that trip, but after taking my shot and eating normally for 3 days I was back to my pre-vacation weight. Pre-op I will be tracking everything meticulously (I track very loosely now, just making sure I hit my fibre and protein goals) but post op I know I would be able to do and much physically and keep on top of tracking. Would love any tips or tricks others have used and thank you if you have read this far!!