Semaglutide is the microcosm for the failed American insurance system

So this may be an interesting post. It will probably be long. Let this serve as a 3-month update.

So tomorrow is my last day of taking Phentermine. I started at about 270 pounds. As of this morning, 3 months later, I'm at 217 pounds. As a rough estimate, I would say my body fat has probably gone from about 35% to, rough guess here, probably around 18 to 20% now. I can see a faint beginning of abs starting. Maybe even make out a couple upper abs.

Thank you to all that responded in this thread. Tough love goes a long way. And I think a lot of fat people need it. I was making excuses, but I don't think it was fully my fault. The greatest thing that's happened to me has been this Phentermine being essentially an equivalent to Adderall. I've come to the realization that my wife has been right for a couple years and I most likely need to be medicated for ADHD. I see a psychiatrist on Wednesday. Tough to admit that. Maybe I need help as far as that goes, but it's the truth.

Being on Phentermine has helped me be a little more honest with myself, get my mind right, stay focused on my goals, and this has been extremely easy. I've yo-yoed for a long time, and I've been down this low before, but I always had a deadline and then after the deadline I always slowly found excuses to slowly gained back 20 or 30 lb. I think I finally have a system set up that is extremely easy and enjoyable and I can carry out for the rest of my life.

I'm not done yet. I definitely want to try to get below 200 lb. just to say I am, though I'll be fairly skinny at 200 lb. Then I'll probably go into some bulk and cut cycles. Though, I think I look pretty good right now as far as my upper body goes, but due to past lower leg injuries, I've never completely committed to lower body consistency in the gym, and that's something I need to face.

I have a system set up now where I'm prioritizing protein, eating at a healthy deficit of probably between 500 and 1,000 calories a day, tracking my steps and making sure I get over 12,000 (I think I've averaged about 13,500 since I started this thread) steps a day. On my work from home days, I'm walking about 6 mi each day on the treadmill, which counts towards my step goal. Most of my work from home days I get about 20,000 steps give or take a couple thousand.

I started lifting a little heavier and doing compound lifts at home, and now I'm going to the gym 3 to 4 days a week to supplement with some spot exercises. I actually love my morning routine I have. I drink a tiny bit of salt water, take a couple gummy supplements I have, and then eat one piece of candy that is about 30 calories. Then I drink an energy drink on the way to the gym. That's my pre-workout. I look forward to it every morning that I'm going to the gym.


I'll quit talking about myself and the changes I've made and move on to the opinions that I had at the beginning of the thread and how they've changed.

I still think that these GLP drugs should be much, much cheaper, and there's no reason why they're not. I think they're a crutch for the general population, most of whom are too weak-minded to actually motivate themselves to lose weight. The correct way. I can say that now, I feel, considering the commitment I've made in the last 3 months. I was one of those people. Before that. I felt hopeless and that I would never be able to lose the weight again. I feel like my life has changed a lot for the better because I've accepted some tough love, committed to the suck, and mentally made myself tougher (ironically, somewhat through meds). I've watched a lot David Goggins, Athleanx, Thomas Delauer, Mind Pump, Jocko, and Andrew Huberman. I wish there was a way to somewhat force feed this kind of content to a large mass of Americans. (Pun maybe intended?)

All this being said, my original point still stands. There will always be a need for these drugs, and I think they will always be helpful. Something needs to be done to lower their cost. I am glad I have taken the path that I have, despite my original outrage at the beginning of this thread. But these drugs have too much potential to ignore. The cost has to be lowered whatever way possible. Nobody should be living their life obese these days. There's too many ways to beat it, and Americans need every chance they can in order to do this.

Thank you everyone.

Editing to end this right, with a thumper of a song.