A Year After Quitting the Weight-Loss Shot: Svea's Update

Hi, friends! Almost a year ago, we interviewed Svea about taking a weight-loss shot (you can read that interview here). She'd been overweight for 25 years, and at her heaviest she weighed about 231 pounds at 5'9". Svea told us she's a very emotional eater, and that her whole day revolved around her next meal or snack. That's why she decided to try the shot. Now we have an update:

Dear Svea, it's been almost a year since our last interview. At that point you were on the weight-loss shot. Remind us what you weighed when you started and why you decided to try it.

I weighed over 220 pounds back then, and I had tried every diet out there, always without success. And when I did lose something, I couldn't keep it off. It was exhausting, and I didn't know what else to do. That's why I decided on the shot.

So the big question: are you still taking it?

No, I stopped last December. I stopped losing weight the way I'd hoped, and I also have to be honest: you have to be able to afford the shot…

How do you feel now that you're off it?

The food noise came back pretty fast, and so did the hunger. That was a big adjustment, and I honestly hadn't expected everything to come rushing back all at once. The quiet in my head while I was on the shot was really nice. Now there are days when I'm seriously struggling with food noise. Sometimes the food noise wins, sometimes I do.

What do you weigh right now, and are you happy with it?

I'm at 172 to 176 pounds now, which is okay. I feel good. But of course, I wouldn't have minded losing 22 pounds more…

What are you doing now to maintain your weight?

I do 16:8 fasting these days, and it works well for me. I try to eat a balanced, healthy diet. That mostly works, because I always cook fresh meals for the kids anyway. I'm not doing any extra workouts, but I try to move a lot in my daily life, like riding my bike and going for walks.

What are the typical situations where you slide back into old patterns?

Stress is my worst enemy. I've noticed it works best when I plan my meals for the whole week. I work rotating shifts in nursing, and if I don't have anything with me or haven't prepared something, I end up eating a lot of unnecessary snacks. In general, structure and prep help me a lot.

When would you go back on the shot?

I think if the scale showed more than 11 pounds of weight gain and I couldn't get it under control any other way. Or if the food noise took over again.

Now that you have some distance, how do you see your experience with the weight-loss shot?

For me, apart from the financial burden, it really only had upsides. My weight came down steadily and consistently, and so far I haven't seen any yo-yo effect.

I started with a fairly high dose. My mind reacted to that dose, and my anxiety disorder got worse. So I wouldn't start that high again. Other than that, it's a really good option for people who are overweight, especially people who are very overweight, to get motivated to lose weight and change how they eat. Because that's what a lot of people forget: you have to change your eating habits, or the pounds won't come off!