Jot down the first thing that comes to your mind.

When I saw the prompt today, I just had to respond. This isn’t my usual content, but I feel like it still applies to so many people. In August 2010, I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes. I was pregnant with my first son after three losses. I stuck to a strict diet plan and delivered a healthy baby weighing 7 lbs 11 oz. Unfortunately, the gestational diabetes did not go away and instead turned into type 2. I went on to have four more children, and in that process, I gained 70 lbs. Due to high insulin resistance, losing weight has been an uphill battle for the last twelve years. Losing weight required disordered eating (basically starvation), and it was not sustainable. In the last 12 years, my weight loss only ever made it to 20 lbs, which I gained back. A few people in my diabetes group started a buzz about Mounjaro, a GLP-1/GIP drug used to control blood sugar. The silver lining? It also causes weight loss for many people. As of April 18, 2023, I have been taking Mounjaro. I weighed in at 188.4 lbs. at my doctor’s office. This morning, April 22, I weighed in at 183.2 lbs. My blood sugars are normal, and I’ve been taken off of insulin. There’s such a stigma around using medication or surgery to help with weight loss, but I’m not ashamed to admit that I needed help. So far, this is everything I’ve been looking for. For more than a decade, my body has not felt like my own. I’m finally seeing hope of returning to the body I used to know. I know that after having five children, I’m not going to get my pre-pregnancy body back, but at least I won’t be ashamed of it anymore!