I was a midwife and birth worker for 32 years, mostly for home births.

Women having home births work hard to “do it themselves,” – all natural. But when the pain makes them struggle and suffer, we move to the hospital for an epidural.

Listening to dozens of stories a day and reading even more in comment threads, it saddens me how many people use the word “struggle” when talking about their weight and weight loss attempts. They speak about the list of illnesses they have because of having clinical obesity and how “this time,” dieting and exercising is going to work. People seem to forget that statistics prove an average of 90% of those who diet and exercise to lose weight will gain it back. And more.

I Know That World.

I started dieting at 10 and now I’m 63.

I’ve been clinically obese… really, really, really fat… for decades. I’ve been somewhat immobile for decades and totally immbolized for a decade. Two years ago, my labs spoke volumes about how ill I had become. My body parts, inside and out, were encased in fat. At 405 pounds, my BMI was 76.5.

Through a COVID wake-up call in 2022, I lost 40 pounds on my own, then went on Trulicity for a year. My labs began improving. I lost 86 pounds.

Then I was moved to Mounjaro and have been on that for a year in September 2024. My labs are pristine, my insides are thrilled with not being covered in fat. I have a lot of sagging skin, but I don’t even care. I am down another 99 pounds, with a total loss of 225 pounds. My BMI is 34.

GLP-1s Are My Epidural.

I no longer suffer and I am finally alive and thriving with health and mobility.

There is no shame in asking for help.