I am 5’4, starting weight was 143. Currently I’ve been on tirz for 1 month and weigh at 132. Goal weight is 110-115.
I have been struggling with my body image since middle school. I have lived in an Asian country for a long time where most middle school girls are super skinny like 80-90 lbs. That started my body image issue. But even after that through high school and college I never stopped trying to lose weight, and it has always been a few months of dieting followed by a few months of rebound.
In the dieting period I try to be healthy: exercising regularly and eating ~1200 cal a day. But it costs me enormous mental energy, and at some point I would break down and binge eat as much as I could. In my rebound period I do zero exercise and eat very unhealthy food. The cycle goes on. (I’m pretty sure it’s not bipolar disorder because this cycle doesn’t exhibit itself in any other ways than eating and exercising)
Before getting on tirz one month ago I think I was borderline eating disorder. I would eat at any point in a day, whether that being first minute I wake up in the morning or midnight. I binge very unhealthy food like whole jars of ice cream or large pizzas, to the point where my stomach hurts. Eating itself became a source of self criticism. It’s a time period where half of my mental energy has been dedicated to my body image and self criticism. So I started the meds after doing the necessary labs.
All I have to say is that so far it has been one of the best decisions I have made. Finally I don’t have to either criticize myself for eating too much or criticize my current body image so I could keep my diet. I could eat at regular times 3x a day, maintain a healthier diet (even compared to my dieting period before. Because I don’t have cravings anymore, I don’t need to allocate calories to the unhealthy food that satisfy my cravings), and exercise regularly. I start to feel like I exercise for its own sake rather than to burn calories. I am happy that I could keep my appetite under control. And it has been one of the few months where I have a good relationship with food in the past 8 years.
This is in no way encouraging normal people to take meds. I just hope to share my story. For me its benefits largely outweigh the risk. I think glp1s might help not only people who are overweight but also those who are struggling with mental issues.