Six Months on a GLP-1

It’s now been six months since I’ve started the GLP-1 chapter of managing my perimenopausal weight. Slow and steady like the tortoise, I have achieved the weight loss I sought.

At the beginning of August 2025, I made the decision (with my endocrinologist) to start a Zepbound regimen. I wrote a two-month update in October (GLP-1 and Me), and it had been going well on the lowest dose, which I stayed on for the first 16 weeks. I noticed a plateauing after losing about seven pounds, so in late November, I decided to increase from 2.5 (starter dose) to 5 mg.

It’s been twelve weeks since the increase. In that time, I lost another eleven pounds, and I think it’s still slowly moving in a downward direction. This dose seems to be the sweet spot, as it has gotten me just past my initial goal weight.

I visited my nutritionist in mid-January and she was over the moon. She even suggested that soon, she’d recommend a maintenance diet. That weigh-in was exactly where she wanted my number to be. Honestly, the drug is kind of taking care of the maintenance. I’m not losing a tremendous amount of weight at once. It’s more like a slow drip: a half pound here and there, but it’s been steady since the increase to 5 mg.

Getting my nutrients on a GLP-1

The combination of being very active and wanting less food requires me to be very mindful of the quality of calories I’m consuming. I eat whatever food types I want, I just don’t want a whole lot of it. A smaller portion of it is enough to make me feel full. I still eat a plate of food, but I don’t do heaping portions and I don’t go for seconds anymore.

My priority is protein and fiber, to keep building muscle and keep the inner pipes running smoothly. Everything else is gravy. I actually like the mental feeling of not wanting a lot of food. That’s a big change for me. I always thought that in order to fuel my physical activity and muscle building, I’d need many more calories. But it feels like I’ve been getting stronger, even as the weight has dropped. I’m sure that carrying fifteen less pounds on my frame helps that feeling as well.

I talk about protein needs in Building Muscle Mass in Perimenopause.

I’ve always used some supplements to cover what I might be missing in my diet, even before the GLP-1. I take magnesium, vitamin D, iron and a multivitamin. I also get a scoop of creatine and collagen in my morning shake. According to my bloodwork, it’s all working to support an optimized health outcome.

Looking at lipids 👀

This is my favorite part of the experience: seeing the proof of the GLP-1’s efficacy in my lipid panel results. In the last three months, the most significant improvements were in my triglycerides (from 93 down to 54) and VLDL (from 19 down to 11).

Needless to say, I am over the moon.

I get more into the weeds about cholesterol in Improving My Cholesterol in Perimenopause.

How do I feel?

Overall, I feel really good. There are no GLP-1 related side effects that I’m experiencing. I’ve figured out how my body deals with food on the medicine and I do my best to avoid uncomfortable triggers. For example:

Nausea/Gastric Distress

Since I don’t want to feel any of that, my brain has minimized the amount that I want to eat. I still love delicious food, I just don’t want to binge. Ever. When I push it and eat too much, the overfull feeling is really uncomfortable. It also leads to indigestion, which requires a bunch of antacids and time to subside. Not a great end to a food experience.

When we go out for a nice dinner, I’ll might have an appetizer with an entree but I’ll usually have to take home whatever dinner I didn’t finish. I do enjoy dessert, so I don’t feel compelled to finish my plate. I can enjoy the rest for lunch the next day. I never thought of myself as being susceptible to “food noise” but I notice that my brain is now signaling to order less food instead of more. That feels like a good thing in a world where restaurant portions are often two to three times larger than they need to be. Sometimes, just the appetizer is enough.

Basically, I can let my brain tell me when enough is enough. I love that freedom.

Less interest in alcohol

Also a good side effect: I feel much less compelled to drink alcohol. I don’t even keep wine bottles in my wine rack anymore. If I’m out to eat, I’ll have a cocktail or two. At home, I don’t even want to bother. I don’t know what the science of that is. Maybe part if it is knowing just how harmful alcohol actually is. Combine that with the lack of food (drink) noise, I’m not as interested. And since I don’t feel the same buzz of a drink or two anymore, it’s just not worth it.

Constipation (not for the faint of heart)

Once in a while, I don’t eat enough fiber or drink enough water and I pay for it. I have the over-the-counter workarounds in a pinch, but I’d rather regulate it nutritionally. The more raw fruits and veggies, lentils (fantastic for keeping everything running smoothly), and water I consume, the better. But sometimes, when work gets busy, I don’t have everything at hand in my fridge. That’s when I start to notice things not working so smoothly.

The workarounds? It’s a multi-faceted strategy. I start drinking more fluids. I’ll use a gentle nighttime laxative to see if it resolves in the morning. If I need more, I’ll go with hot senna tea or use a scoop of Miralax in a drink. Then, patience. The last thing I want is an episode of colon blow.

The benefits I’ve experienced

So far, for me, the GLP-1 has been a huge boon to my perimenopausal state of being. It was the missing link that really shifted the lingering problems in the right direction that my nutrition, exercise and hormone management weren’t covering.

Overall, I like how I feel and I like how my clothes fit. I notice my joints don’t hurt quite so much. I don’t know what the actual connection is; maybe it’s the weight loss putting less stress on my joints. Maybe there’s some other mechanism I don’t know about. But, I’m feeling less general creakiness. My energy is good, and I make the space to get the restorative sleep that I need.

In addition to the actual weight loss and improved bloodwork, I’ve noticed a gradual improvement in my physical performance. I’m now fourteen months into my Achilles rupture recovery. (Read My One-Year Snapiversary for the overview). Save for a slower building back of my right calf complex, I’ve gotten much stronger.

Looking at my perimenopausal body, I asked a question in my October 2025 post: Can I continue to kick ass at the gym?

The answer: Why yes. Yes I can.

I’m kicking ass so much that I’ve registered for two different gymnastics meets (my very first ones ever)! Since deciding in November to try competing, I’ve been training and preparing my combinations on floor, bars, beam and vault. The first meet will be The Red Hawk Classic on February 22. It’s at the Meadowlands Gymnastics Academy in Hasbrouck Heights NJ, in case anyone want to see me reach this milestone. 🤭

Below is a floor routine practice from two weeks before my first meet:

That’s not even the best part

The best part was the six-month followup with my endocrinologist, who prescribed Zepbound. He has been my doctor for many years. I had my thyroid removed thirty years ago and I’ve been doing yearly check-ins ever since. He was very pleased with all the bloodwork, my blood pressure (112/70), and my weight loss (16 lbs). He said all of this is excellent and asked me, for my visit in August, to come on a Monday morning so he could see a really healthy patient first thing during the week. 😊

Looking at everything altogether, I’d say the GLP-1 is working quite well for me.

Subscribe, ask me questions, and wish me luck on my first competition!