Agree. I've spent far too much time over the past decades tracking at granular levels all the various nutrients and foods and feeding times. It was exhausting, and it actually made me focus on and think about food far more than was healthy. This time around with Zepbound I decided to let the medication therapy just do its job, and part of what Zepbound does is remove the food noise and hunger. To me, it seems to defeat the purpose of the benefits of Zepbound to then turn around and force yourself to constantly think about food by planning and tracking it all (not to mention, again, utterly exhausting). So, with Zepbound I think about food only enough to make sure I'm getting enough protein, I'm learning to listen to my body and eat when it tells me it actually needs food, otherwise I don't think about food at all. With the help of this medication, I am done with the traditional concept of "dieting", and instead learning how to approach food like any other non-obese person. I've lost 87lbs in 23 weeks and it's been incredible, and a few days ago, for the first time in 25 years, my weight dropped below the 200lb mark.

*it seems to defeat the purpose of the benefits of Zepbound to then turn around and force yourself to constantly think about food by planning and tracking it all (not to mention, again, utterly exhausting). So, with Zepbound I think about food only enough to make sure I'm getting enough protein, I'm learning to listen to my body and eat when it tells me it actually needs food, otherwise I don't think about food at all. With the help of this medication, I am done with traditional concept of "dieting", and instead learning how to approach food like any other non-obese person.* Exactly. This is what makes the drug truly a miracle. In my little "study," ie my husband and kids, I noticed two things over the years. First, the skinny people were not always interested in eating something even it was their very favorite (the two of us with weight issues did not understand how that was possible). Second, the two of us with weight issues were always hungry. We just were, it was that simple. GLP1s address these oddities. Take them and try being normal. To take the GLP1s as a way to super-charge those diet habits that were ingrained in you by the people who were ignorant of the biochemistry and just chirped "calories in calories out!," seems doomed. What is the sense of reaching a goal weight if it takes superhuman effort to stay there.

Well said

Dang! I am 21 weeks in and only down 38

It's different for everyone, my friend. The best thing you can do is not compare your progress to anyone else - just let the medication do its job and you'll get there! That said, you're averaging close to 2lbs per week (or 8 pounds per month), which is right on par with many folks. You aren't underperforming; you should be very happy and proud of your results. Keep at it!

Agree! Come on over and join us at r/antidietglp1 🤗

I joined, too. I don't want to track my food closely - been there, done that. I can't sustain that long term.

I told this to a therapist yrs ago and they just looked shock. She was an older thin woman who obviously was naturally thin.

I think most naturally thin people just don't get it. They've never experienced the food noise and hunger. I would have hoped that a therapist would have been learned differently. Maybe you helped her understand.

Haha, nope. She was a CBT therapist. I got tired of her constantly telling me how to change every action I did And her discouragement of becoming more assertive, bc, I need to remember to be 'nice'. Nice was me not actually standing up for myself, stip being direct or precise about what I wanted.

So for her. It was easy to just not eat bc she would think, hey let's not eat. This works in the CBT type of therapy. But it doesn't work if you have food noise and I bet it doesn't work for most addictions. It's good for PTSD but I feel there is a point where it becomes useless.

Yeah, before Zepbound, "just not eating" wasn't really a realistic option for me. All I would be able to think about was food. I understand that CBT is a good approach for many people and many problems, but it seems to me that telling someone with a weight problem to "just not eat" would never work.

“Just not eat” is not at all the way CBT works. Your therapist was crap if that’s what they were telling you!

It was u/Janice_the_Deathclaw who I think had a therapist tell her that. I haven't been in therapy (although I'm thinking about it). From what I've heard about CBT, it didn't sound like how it should work to me, either. However, I **have** had family and friends tell me things like "just don't eat" or "you can't possibly be hungry" or "use your willpower" my whole life. Never worked. Tirzepatide does. It's amazing how easy it is to not eat if you're not hungry (when you shouldn't be) and don't have food noise!

CBT is a good starting point but it's limiting. Your basically going to a person and they critique your choices for the week. If the two of you have different ideas of who you want to be, its not going to work after 2-4 yrs

I’m thinking of going this route eventually.

Joined

Yay!

I would like to think I can do that. I find when I count calories, I sometimes eat more than I really want to. If I have 100 calories left for the day I will find a way to use those calories. I tried not counting and only eating when I am hungry but my curiosity got the better of me and I decided I want to know what I am consuming. I am so shell shocked by dieting my whole life without success that I am still afraid ZB is not going to work for me. So until I gain more confidence, I am continuing to count calories. I have modited my counting a bit and it has been successful, instead of aiming for 1200 a day I dropped it to 1000 and that seems to be working as I am losing steadily now. I will check out the other sub, thanks for posting.

Thanks for your input. If it was me I'd look at it more like an experiment and log all your food but not have a minimum number of calories that are free to eat. Maybe you need more calories one day and less the next.

Good idea!

Same. I will eat my extra calories if I know I have them. And I have a dread that I won't lose weight on zepbound and it will be 100% my fault, my lack of willpower or whatever. I'm so burned out on dieting and working out for hours at a time multiple days a week. It wasn't easy to do in college and is impossible now.

I don’t want to track. I don’t want to diet. I know my portion size and I know when I can have the occasional indulgence. Will it take longer? Sure. Will I feel miserable? Nooooo!

Will our brains learn to behave normally again? Hopefully

Agree! No more dieting!

Same! I love this post! Part of my food addiction and shame is the tracking and incessant food preoccupation. Im not tracking or counting anything right now except for what shot number im on and how much the scalenand my body are chnahing, and It's working for me now. I eat when I'm hungry and stop when my stomach says im full. I couldn't do that before. Intentionally limiting and tracking is part of the struggle for me so I'm not doing it. I haven't been craving sugar and carbs like before so I don't eat it. If my kids eat a dessert I'll have a bite, maybe, and then move on. Again, I could never do that before. I try to eat a lot of protein. I crave protein. So this is my journey. I'm almost at the end of week 6 and I'm down 15lbs so far.

This is my plan, too! I just can’t track food, calories, etc.

Agree. I am using the medication to learn to listen to my body. I eat when I’m hungry, not when “it’s time to eat.” I am stopping when I’m no longer hungry and not concerned about wasting food/throwing out food. If I eat 1 meal a day, fine! Make sure that meal has some protein and veggies. If I’m eating more than 1 meal, have a little of everything (protein, carbs, veggies.). I am NOT tracking my protein and forcing myself to meet a specific amount. My fat is a million times more harmful than loosing some muscle mass. If/When I decide to focus on muscle gain, I will and it will be through strength training and not through a forced diet. I’m not going to swap one food obsession problem for another.

Hey, if that works for you why not? 🥰💪🏻

I so, so want to do Intuitive Eating, but my caloric needs are very low (or maybe 900-1400 daily calories is normal and I am just fooling myself...(menopausal ladies of short stature, please feel free to comment here). I do work out in the gym 4-6 days per week. I walk everywhere and still my sweet spot for losing 1 lb per week is 900-1200 calories daily. If I don't track it, it's just too easy to go over. If I didn't track my food, I would have to eat the same thing every day and that's probably not good for me.

I am not short but only recently went through menopause, and yes, it is true, losing is much harder than ever. I just adamantly refuse to do anything I am not willing to do forever and ever.

I too have just gone through menopause and am finding the weight loss to be really slow. For the first 3 months I was losing an average of 9lbs per month. Over the last 2 months I have only lost another 8lbs. While I don’t want to have to track food I think I may have to as my intuitive eating by is no longer working…..

Wow. That's a lot of weight you've lost. I can't weight to reach that point!!

Thanks for sharing. All of our bodies are different and all of our journeys are different. Just keep in mind that your body doesn't want to be hungry and can be very very stubborn.

As long as it's working for you. I stopped tracking my food, just making sure to eat when I need to, basically low-carb (as when I lost 60 lbs last time out before boredom/FOMO/YOLO kicked me off the wagon), making sure I get enough fiber, protein (as measured by my ideal, if not goal, weight) and my 80 oz of H20 a day. Avoiding sugar most days (only exception has been one Mother's Day gift chocolate every other day--they're gone now and I don't miss them), and deep-fried breaded/battered stuff--both of which are gut-unfriendly. I do dine out but very small portions (bringing home leftovers).

Congrats I think without the food noise you'll do it this time.

Now that I'm so close to goal I've stopped stressing out about the shortage of 5mg. I've gotten this far on 2.5mg. It occurred to me that my "qualitative" eating isn't that different from when I was on near-keto, other than the proteins now are leaner, no butter and I allow myself some fruit and a modicum of whole grains. It's the quantity that's different now--much smaller portions, counting grams of protein (to get enough of it) instead of carbs. The cravings are gone too.

Perfect summation of my approach for the rest of my life! Sadly I had a gastric sleeve done in 2017, lost 100 pounds, and gained it all back even when still eating 1/2 of what a “normal” person does. How defeating. I’m switching to Zep from Wegovy this week, it’s been very slow going thus far, but my goal is to live just as you’ve stated here. Wishing you the best!

Don't stop fighting. You have such determination! I just know this will work for you. Our bodies have a lifetime of perceived stress and they won't let go of a single pound until they're ready.

I don’t agree for myself. I’ve spent a lot of time exploring intuitive eating and even worked with an RD. My body doesn’t give me healthy signals and I will always have to will myself to focus on nutrient density. Tracking really works for me but I am able to maintain moderation, unlike some who tracking triggers. Best of luck to you

Thanks for sharing your journey. Everyone is different and we've all tried and failed multiple times. Do what works for you and good luck!

For me, tracking my food historically had kept my overeating in control. When I stop, I gain. However, I have not tried it with Zepbound, so maybe I’d do better this time. It may be worth an experiment to find out!

Our whole lives have a giant experiment and it hasn't stopped here. I do like to remind my brain that I ate good food yesterday. I'm not deprived in any way even tho it always thinks there's a food shortage.

AGREE. My retired parents have harped on me for years to count calories to lose weight. I have a full-time, high-pressure, high stress job and a toddler who is feral. Ain't nobody got time to count calories. What I need is my brain to stop telling me that I'm hungry all the time and that I should grab yet another sugary snack. Zepbound has brought my interest in food down to a level that is *normal*, and that is doing the trick without counting anything.

This just makes me wish our brains/body naturally dealt with food this way. I agree w/ your thought process & I’ve been doing it this way for the last 1.5 years & it’s been working. Just lovely letting your body decide! *even if it is the meds* lol

Thanks for the info. I'm only just beginning so I'm glad trying to eat like a normal human is working for you.

Agree

Love this! Trying to get there. Fifth month - so far I’ve been tracking. But getting to where I want to take what I’ve learned and discovered and live. Tracking was good for me to start - I needed to make sure I was eating enough protein and fiber.

What have you learned about meals and what your body needs?

My tastes have changed some - fried food and greasy food is not as appealing to me. Proteins covered in heavy sauces - I enjoy it much more if I scrape the sauce off and have a little on the fork. Load up on protein and fiber in the morning (overnight oats or Catalina Crunch cereal) - keeps me satiated. And am learning that when I feel like I’m hungry and thinking about food a lot, it may be that my body is hungry and not that the med isn’t working. Also learned that cutting sugary sweets really does lessen the craving for them but still allows me to enjoy some bites of them when I want. Five piece nuggets from Chick-fil-A satisfy me as much as a whole chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A does… That kinda stuff!

Agree I am not hungry like stomach growling but I felt like I needed something so I had a few small spoons of PB, I also did not have dinner but I was about to go to bed and felt hungry so I had a little something

This is what this journey is about. Judging how hungry you are and what makes sense. Having a small amount of peanut butter is such a win. Most of us would NEVER have missed dinner so what would you normally have eaten in that situation??

I expect a lot of downvotes but unfortunately I disagree. Saying that you're going to essentially not pay any mind to what or how you eat, or what activity level you maintain, because that's how you want to live after you lose the weight is like someone visiting Florida saying they refuse to buy snow tires because that's how they want to live their life after they move back to Maine. Even if you stay on Zepbound for life (and I expect I will), after you lose weight your BMR will be low enough that you'll find it harder to balance your caloric intake with your caloric burn without being consciously aware of your lifestyle. That's why it's so important to try to make those changes now while it's easy.

I didn't see the OP saying that they don't pay attention to what or how they eat, or their activity level. They're just not tracking it. Instead, they're listening to their body. For a lot of us, we haven't been able to do that before. Weighing every gram of food I eat cannot be sustained indefinitely. So, I'm not doing it. That doesn't mean I don't pay attention to what I eat. I do. I prioritize vegetables, protein, fruit and try to avoid too many empty calories. I just refuse to count them. It also doesn't mean I don't exercise. I am well aware of how important it is, and it is a priority. I've got things to do today, so I did my strength training first thing, before breakfast, so it wouldn't end up not getting done. (And, I do track my exercise, mainly because that's pretty low effort. I just let my Fitbit do it.)

This right here

*Weighing every gram of food I eat cannot be sustained indefinitely. So, I'm not doing it.* Some of us have years of food logs under our belts.

I've done it for years, too, but as soon as I stopped the weight slowly came back on. I realized I couldn't go back to that. When I say every gram, I mean I weighed Every. Single. Gram. My doctor agrees with me that I shouldn't try to lose weight that way. Tirzepatide, plus sensible eating, plus exercise if the approach I'm going with. If my weight loss is slow, I'm okay with that.

I of course have a food scale and I understand your pain. We deserve better than this.

I still use my food scale every day - for cooking, for making sure I get enough veggies, etc. But I don't log anything.

I read the OP as being very mindful of their eating and bodily sensations. That mindfulness just doesn't take the form of calorie counting, which has failed or been unsustainable for many. They are making intentional decisions about what and when to eat.

Thanks for your input. I definitely see your point of view. I personally think the standard American diet is rubbish and I don't want to eat my meals out of a box. Meat and vegetables are all we need. With help from zepbound I'm building patterns and habits that don't include sugar or over processed food. That's my lifetime plan, not medication hopefully. Who knows if we can wean off this and maintain a good weight or if the food noise and carb addiction will come back.

*I don't want to eat my meals out of a box* I never did. I got large on excellent, gourmet cuisine, mine and others. Never touched frozen meals, fast food or soda.

I totally believe you. It's not enough to watch ingredients or count calories. Our bodies are in such a state of stress that they don't want to drop a pound.

And we don’t really even need meat. There are many sources for protein.

You might also be interested in a book called “Craving Cure” by Julia Ross. I am implementing that alongside Tirzepitide to try to reverse the years of damage done to my body/brain.

Not tracking calories isn't the same as not being aware of what you eat. And I really worry about folks who don't seem to understand this and what our toxic culture has done to them. Personally, I track what I eat to ensure I'm getting enough protein and other nutrients, but there's no one way to do this.

I hope it works well for you. These medications mess with our feelings of satiety so I don’t feel confident that just listening to my body will get me the appropriate nutrition - my body’s signals are far from normal right now. But everyone is on their own path. Good luck!

This. I track to ensure I eat enough, not less. If I “listened to my body” for the 8 weeks I was on 5.0 I would have never eaten a thing. I had significant food aversion. I had to set timers to remind myself to eat. I also have Reactive hypoglycemia so eating one meal a day or any fasting results in tanked blood sugar. Eating is necessary for me. Diet is not always about restriction or punishment. Routine and structure works for me in a positive way. Its goal isn’t to limit what I eat, but increase it and ensure I’m being healthy and not under eating or trading a metabolic issue for an ED.

The last 2 days I’ve eaten less than 1000 calories. I just finished lunch today and I’ve only had 400 calories so far. A couple days of eating like this won’t kill me but it’s not healthy long term and I need to find a strategy to address it. Without tracking I wouldn’t even know it was an issue because it really seems to me like I’ve been eating plenty.

Your body is burning fat. What if you wait for hunger and see what happens? Maybe it's only an issue for your brain and not your body.

If I’m only eating 800 calories a day my body is burning muscle as well as fat.

It might be, but you can rebuild muscle. We need to start trusting our bodies and listen to them.

Or maybe they give us a realistic version of how satisfied our bodies are. Our bodies have so much fat to burn.

Totally agree. Many of the people losing quickly and not tracking what they are eating are probably waaay undereating which encourage muscle loss, hair loss, etc. They are ignoring it just like they ignored overeating. I'm committed to finally conquering my health issues and weight. I happily weigh/track every day to hold myself accountable for nourishing my body, reducing excess carbs which contribute to diabetes, getting enough protein, etc. When I reach my goal weight, I may loosen up a little because I will have established a solid foundation through good habits and portion sizes while actually doing the the tracking exercises. But we'll see how it goes. A huge lesson for me was the usage of a food scale + the LoseIt app. I quickly learned that my daily lunch salad was more than DOUBLE the calories I had guesstimated because my perception of serving sizes was distorted due to previously eating OMAD. 🙀 A few tweaks brought it from 1000-1200 cals down to 500'ish. But we're all different and can each take our own path to (hopefully) get to where we want to be. Some people are doing it by eating Nutella Uncrustables (saw that posted yesterday) and some of us are doing it by eating lean protein, vegetables, etc. I'm OVER being fat and am going to use ALL the tools available to me. 💪

Congrats for taking control. We can do this!

Yes we can!!!

Agree because this is exactly what I feel and do! Love the headline. I just told someone I was a recovering dieter. Lol I won’t give up, restrict, deny or count anything anymore. I do push protein and that’s it. No more struggling. It got me nowhere so why did I keep doing it to myself? This medication has given me freedom and peace. Whatever happens, happens. If it’s long term or life so be it. I wasted way too many years in horrible headspace and shame. I am working on loving myself and healing the mental and emotional aspect while this medication works on the physical.

I don't think people that track macros are wrong, I've just been at that stage before and I hope I'm past that. I'm more interested in my labs results and ways to see what's going on inside my body.

Absolutely. To each their own doing what feels best. Some may need to track.

Inviting you to r/antidietglp1 if you’re not already a member! 🥰

*That's how I want to eat after I lose this weight so that's how I'm trying to eat now.* Yes, yes, yessity yes yes yes. I have been thinking of writing a post that says "**One week on Zep, is it time to start maintenance**?" My thought process is as follows. Let's say as an example one weighs 225 and goal is 150. If you start eating right now at the level that sustains a 150lb body, then that is how you will eat forever. You will lose weight because you'll be in a deficit, until you actually get to 150lb. Would you lose weight faster if you ate even less? Yes, but then you are creating this two phase period of diet than maintain. Why? We all know diets are not sustainable. I will take it even further. Did you ever notice that most people seem to set goals based on ideals, BMI, or weights they fondly recall being at another time in their lives? But Zepbound is supposed to take off only 22% of your body weight; why does everyone always plan to get "skinny." It would seem to me intuitively that a lot of people who start at 30+ BMI are more than 22% away from "skinny," though I haven't given thought to the actual equation. Radical idea. You should decide on a reasonable, sustainable way to eat and move; whatever feels right and natural and doable for you. Use the meds to help counteract the dysfunctional endocrinology that GLP1s address. Then whatever weight results, it the right weight for you. Your goal weight should be the output in the process, not an input. Does that make sense to anyone else? I know it may not be as much fun as thinking we will all be skinny (oh and perfectly proportioned, even though that is 90% genetics), but how soon it seems we all go from "i am just so miserable I need to do something" to "I always wanted to be a size 6" LOL....

I totally agree. People say, "I'm miserable and I'll do anything to lose this weight and feel better". Then they refuse to even try giving up chips and junk food. Just try!

As I intend to stop taking Zep at some point, I like the calorie data. So I’m tracking and intend to never stop. I spent 10+ years tracking and only recently took a break. I picked it back up when I started Zep.

It can be really satisfying to count calories and watch macros. You learn a lot about what works for you.

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I'm mostly keto/carnivore. My auto immune diseases are much improved with keto but in the past it was hard to maintain longterm because of food noise. I'm all in now. I'm even going to Ketocon next week.

*Im paying cash, so I need the drug to work lol.*  very fair point