Weight Loss Progress as of November 24, 2024

Weight Loss Update

I’ve come a long way since I first started this topic, when I began my weight loss journey back in May! (first posted about it here in July). I last posted about it here in September where I described how it all works.

I’ve been busy working on it and posting a lot about it in my Facebook group here (which I purposely kept small at the time I created it). I may open it up to more as it’s been only a few of us posting.  I decided to post myself regardless of anyone else posting or not.  Then it would be a place where I document my journey, if nothing else.

I also became active on TikTok (after resisting it for years). That’s where I found the most support and camaraderie. Also where I have learned SO much more about the medication I’m using (Mounjaro), as a miraculous tool in this journey. There are a LOT of us (believers in Jesus) on there too. My need for support and information (I couldn’t find on Facebook without a TON of spam and ads in all the groups I joined) is what led me to look on TikTok.

I’m down 61 pounds since May, and 204 pounds down from my very highest weight ever.

I was SO crazy excited when I hit the 200 pounds off mark last week!

Happy to hit my 200 pounds off mark

I need to take new pictures,  as this most recent one is from July and I’ve lost 34 pounds since then (after a huge plateau after this picture).  In the meantime:

Helen's Weight History to Date

I think I’ll start posting my TikTok videos on YouTube as well and perhaps linking them here on the blog. I know a lot of my followers resist TikTok as I did for so long.

One exciting thing just happened a few days ago. After MONTHS of trying to get accepted to become a TikTok shop affiliate, I was FINALLY accepted into the program!  What this means is that I can promote products from their shop. With every purchase my video leads to, I can make a commission.

As many of you who have followed me for any length of time is aware, my son and I are just barely getting by.  Paycheck to paycheck and then pretty tightly.

Successful affiliate work would make a HUGE impact for us!  I would definitely appreciate your prayers for my efforts with that!

 

December 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -Prophecies Fulfilled by Christ’s First Coming

December 2024 Scripture Writing Plan THUMB

Good afternoon and happy Lord’s day, everyone.  I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend!

I thought I’d try to get this month’s scripture writing plan posted ahead of Thanksgiving. It’s here and ready for us all before the rush of the holidays begin.

I think it’s really important for us to remember the very first Christmas and how Jesus/Yeshua fulfilled every one of the many prophecies foretelling the coming of the Messiah. The promised one of Israel and through them the rest of the world.

What better reason to be thankful this and every Thanksgiving, and every single day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting!

Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

Click HERE for December 2024 scripture writing plan

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs.

If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way for everyday planning stickers, regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I joined several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.

I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose less pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink

November 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -Thankfulness

November 2024 Scripture writing plan headerThe Scripture writing plan for November. Sorry it’s so late, but here ya go 🙂

I’ve been crazy busy getting my yard and garden ready for winter and working out, focusing on my weight loss. (I’ve lost 51 pounds so far this year and I’m 6 pounds shy of hitting my 200 pounds off mark from my highest weight ever).  That takes so much planning as far as food goes, and I’ve been using TikTok as a place for support with others who are on this same journey.

The month got away from me or I would have had this up at least a few days ago. Better late than never, as they say.

I always use Thankfulness as the theme for November, not just because of Thanksgiving, but also because I think we need reminded of it at least annually and how important it is.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting! Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

November 2024 scripture writing plan thumb

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs. If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way, however for everyday planning stickers. Regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I did several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.  I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose lesser pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink

October 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -Compromise & Halloween

October 2024 Scripture writing plan headerGood evening, family 🙂 I just uploaded the October, 2024 Scripture writing plan.

I hope you all have had a great weekend and have been busy about the Lord’s business.

For this month’s scripture writing plan, the word “compromise” kept coming to me and it wasn’t until I was nearly finished with the plan with the theme of compromise that I remembered the time of year we were in and how it’s so easy to compromise with the world.

Now it’s up to the Holy Spirit to do the convicting in terms of what you choose to do with the Halloween holiday.  I would just like to encourage you to follow the teachings of the Bible and what it has to say about the appearance of evil in 1 Thessalonians 5:22.

 “Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.” –1 Thessalonians 5:22-24  (KVJ)

I think we also need to keep in mind our testimony before others.  If your neighbors and/or others know you are a Christian, they will be watching you.  Let them see Christ in you and not the evil one.

“and they overcame him by the Blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” —Revelation 12:11

I invite you to watch the following video by Chuck Missler, whom I highly respect.  After that will be our scripture writing plan for October 🙂  God bless you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting! Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

October 2024 Scripture Writing Plan thumbnail

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs. If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way, however for everyday planning stickers. Regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I did several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.  I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose lesser pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink

Weight Loss Information and Know How with GLP-1

Ponderings Weight Loss Header

Well I’ve been doing really well since my last post for this category.

Firstly, I have to say this is just my own experience I’m sharing and if you want further information, it’s always a good idea to consult a medical doctor.

I’ve lost 40 pounds since the beginning of the year, and 32 of that is since I started on Mounjaro on May 5th. I just started measuring myself, so updates about that will be down the road. I just bought a pair of jeans that are two sizes down from where I was and that’s during a month where I’d just plateaued!

I’m very seldom ever hungry so that makes it much easier to avoid eating things I shouldn’t.

It really has slowed down the food noise and the only real thoughts about food that are going through my mind are trying to get in all my water, protein, and fiber, and trying to plan ahead for success with meal planning.

Right now I’m taking 7.4 mg of Mounjaro which is the first therapeutic dose.  I’ll be raising it to 10 mg this weekend on my injection day because my doctor just increased it. I’ve heard many other users say they lost the most of their weight on 10 mg. so I’m hopeful 🙂 It’s a middle-of-the-line of the therapeutic doses, so I’m hoping to avoid the 12 and 15 mg doses.  If you go up too quickly, you won’t have anywhere to be raised to.

Mounjaro is a GLP1 drug used for diabetes for type 2 diabetics and now also weight loss.  Ozempic is a GLP1 drug as well, but Mounjaro is a little different.  It has a few extra hormones.  GLP-1 is already present in your body as your stomach produces it.  It’s a peptide.

GLP-1

Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a hormone produced in the small intestine and colon in response to food intake. It has many functions in the gastrointestinal tract, including:
    • Regulating appetite: GLP-1 acts on the hypothalamus to increase satiety and slows down gut motility.
    • Inhibiting gastric emptying: GLP-1 delays the emptying of the stomach.
    • Inhibiting gastric acid secretion: GLP-1 may also inhibit the secretion of gastric acid.

For me, it’s difficult at times to make myself eat.  There is like 90% no hunger now.  That’s due in part to the slowing down of your digestive tract making you feel full a lot longer (thus the digestive issues).

ELECTROLYTES:

It’s a good idea to increase electrolytes as well.  I put flavored electrolyte powder (linked below) to help my water taste better which makes me want to drink more water too.

Here’s what AI brought up in a google search about it:

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that plays a role in sodium and water homeostasis in humans. It increases sodium excretion by the kidneys and may reduce sodium absorption by the gastrointestinal tract to control extracellular volume expansion. Staying hydrated can help with some of the gastrointestinal (GI) side effects that people experience while taking GLP-1 medications, such as nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. To stay hydrated, you can try sprinkling salt (real mineral salt like Redmond’s Real Salt) or adding an electrolyte powder to your water. Electrolytes like sodium, potassium, and chloride help deliver water to your cells.

EXERCISE:

Any calorie burning is a good idea when you are trying to lose weight, so working up a cardio sweat is beneficial.  But what is really promoted with those of us taking the GLP-` drugs is STRENGTH TRAINING.  Strength training can help maintain or regain muscle mass, boost metabolism, and improve bone density, among other reasons.

I plan to get back to freezer cooking and have meals ready to go in the freezer and just pull them out the the night before. That really helps! That’s the topic for a future post 🙂

September 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -The Nature of Jesus Christ

September 2024 Scripture Writing Plan HeaderHi everyone!  I hope you’re having a great summer!

Mine has been wrapped around two life-changing things.

Firstly, my son’s adjustment from high school to dayhab has been really hard on him, which has made it really hard on me!  Tons of stress there. But he’s in dayhab now and adjusting much better and that’s keeping mom from a few more gray hairs 🙂

In addition to that, I’m still working really hard and and am really focused on weight loss efforts, as I posted here last month.  I’ve been doing really well! I’ve lost 40 pounds now so far this year.  Thirty-two pounds of that has been since starting on the weight loss injectable, Mounjaro.  What a blessing that’s been!  But I’ll catch you up in a different post soon to come on that 🙂

For this post, our theme for September is, “The Nature of Jesus Christ”.

As we await His soon return, I think it’s a great idea to be reminded of all that He is; or rather Who the Word of God tells us He is. I’m reminded also that the apostle John told us, “If they were all written down one by one, I suppose that the whole world could not hold the books that would be written”. (John 21:25).  We’ll just focus on the ones the Lord brought to my attention while preparing this plan 🙂

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting! Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

 

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs. If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way, however for everyday planning stickers. Regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I did several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.  I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose lesser pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink

August 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -Attitude

August 2024 Scripture Writing Plan Header Hello everyone!  I hope this finds you all well and enjoying a great summer.

My spring had me super busy outside putting in a new garden and tending to yard work, but I’ve been less active this month due to a few different reasons.

First was a nasty arthritis flare (Before this, I didn’t know that was a thing!) in my left knee that had me in a LOT of pain.  To the degree that my orthopedic doctor (who had just given me gel injections at the end of June) ordered an ultrasound.

The ultrasound didn’t find a cyst or anything concerning more than the arthritis, as the doctor had thought perhaps it was a Baker’s cyst or something.  The ultrasound doctor told me she thought it was just an arthritis flare.  I’d always thought arthritis was just…there, causing pain especially with weather changes, but otherwise just there causing pain, and stiffness 🙂

I don’t know, I find it a little odd that it caused me SUCH a crazy amount of intense pain that came on so suddenly, but it’s just an “arthritis flare”.  But either way, it’s a lot better now, thank the Lord!

Also, my son graduated high school in May (yay!) and has been home all the time stuck in the house with mommy (remember, he has autism…)  and has been growing steadily bored (I suspect…he is nonverbal and doesn’t tell me) as his behavior has been keeping me on my toes and my nerves frazzled (to say the least). He’s normally such a very good boy.  He starts dayhab on August 6th though, so boy am I looking forward to having some time to get things done and grocery shop alone 🙂

I know I’ll worry myself to bits about him starting at a new place; new people; new teacher, aids, and bus driver (and no more driving him to school and back twice a day like all last year, yay!!), and new individuals (non-typical folks like my kiddo…and yes he will always be my “kiddo” :), my “baby” in fact! lol) of all ages, not just his age group.

So anyway…more posting to come for my Ponderings of My Predicaments shortly.

The scripture writing theme for August landed in my lap with a thud.  A HARD thud.  A thud the Lord gave me with a heavy reminder of my attitude.

An unbelieving Facebook friend has been challenging my opinion about the Olympics 2024 opening ceremony.  I (as many of you have as well, no doubt) found it to be appalling and evil.  I had to keep biting my tongue (ok, holding my fingers back …same thing 🙂 )  from really typing what my flesh was sending to my brain about his standing up for such wickedness.

Also, Evan being home all summer and his boredom has led him to watching a lot of YouTube videos.  He enjoys watching videos about his favorite toys, chief  among them being the See ‘n Say.  There’s a channel from a young man (in my anger I caught myself referring to him as “an idiot”, and the Lord gently reminded me that He shed His blood for him too) who enjoys destroying things and videoing himself doing it for his YouTube channel.  He takes a hammer to See ‘n Says, drops them off balconies, you get the picture. His entire channel is about destroying things (mostly toys) and videoing it.

He also spells out words on the Word Whammer-type toys that children shouldn’t see at their tender age!

His speech is just as bad.  I reported him to YouTube the first time (not that it did any good, thanks a lot YouTube) after hearing him saying (and Evan hearing), “A, B, C, D, E, F, G….I will ki11 my family”.  Images of mass sh00tings (and yes I changed the letters there so this wouldn’t get flagged) comes to mind every time I see the behavior of this guy!

If you happen to have time, would you go to his channel HERE and report him to YouTube?  Not out of spite, but so that other kids who do a search for a particular toy doesn’t find his videos and get corrupted by them. In the meantime pray for him as well.

So I first started titling this plan, “behavior towards unbelievers”.  Then realized quickly that we are to be cautious of our behavior to everyone; and as it started coming together, I changed the theme title to, “attitude”.  Attitudes towards each other, the lost, and ourselves too (I was softly reminded by the Holy Spirit).

We are the only Jesus many people will ever see, I’m reminded.  We are to be loving, kind, and humble like Jesus is. So “attitude” it is.  And with that…here is what the Lord gave me for August!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting! Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs. If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way, however for everyday planning stickers. Regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I did several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.  I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose lesser pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink

My 2024 New Weight Loss Efforts Have Begun!

Ponderings Weight Loss Header

Hello friends 🙂

This is the first of what I hope to be many installments about weight loss, nutrition, and anything that affects either one along the way.

It’s high time I expand my blog a bit, and since I’m on a new weight loss journey, I decided to share the journey with you, as I mentioned in my previous post. For several reasons, really:  accountability for me, inspiration for those on the same journey as myself, to (hopefully) bring glory to God for guiding me along the way, step by step, and for His many blessings.

HISTORY

Here’s a picture share for a little history. Highest weight, till the day of this posting:

Helen's Weight History to Date

I shared my past weight battle here in my video HERE.

NEW JOURNEY

This NEW journey (as I’ve fought this battle my entire life from teenage years to now) began in January of this year, as so many of my most successful efforts have. I’ll fill you in on it chronologically 🙂

The past four years or so ago, I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.   I was put on levothyroxine to manage that and through the last four years my doctor had to keep increasing the dose as lab results showed that the levels were still way too low.

This past January I got my eating (and my brain -my resolve) on track and got busy trying my hardest to lose weight and get healthier.

January came and went…February…March…April.  I lost a whopping 8 (eight) pounds from the beginning of January till the beginning of May.  Two pounds a MONTH.  So at my recent yearly checkup, I talked to my primary care physician and told her how hard I’d been working and the little results I achieved.  She gave me a referral to Akron General Hospital/Cleveland Clinic’s weight loss clinic.

When the appointment (virtual) came, the doctor was my previous primary care doctor who had left to go into obesity  medicine, so we were already acquainted with each other.  That made it such an easier talk and I felt much more comfortable as I have always liked her.

The appointment began with her advising me on fat and fiber (been there, done that…) and gut health.  Ok now…I’m familiar with researching “Leaky Gut Syndrome” when my son’s autism became apparent.  But I’d never heard it in relation to weight loss.  I was intrigued.

I’ll link you to more info on that HERE.

When I filled out the forms for the clinic before hand, I had to tick a box either for surgical or non-surgical methods.  I chose non-surgical as I’d already had the Roux-En-Y gastric bypass about 20 years ago.  I’d lost 157 pounds then.  You see my video about the history of all that HERE.

I felt myself thinking, “Is this all this appointment is going to come to? Just information?”  But then she asked me, “Have you ever considered injectable weight loss medications?”  I explained that they made me nervous because my friend Sherril had  taken Phen-Phen years ago and it resulted in serious heart problems she suffered for years and that she had passed away a few years ago (she sang at my husband’s funeral almost five years ago now).

She went on to explain the improvements in obesity medicine since then and explained to me about MOUNJARO (tirzepatide, a GLP-1 drug) and how that works.  Again, I’ll refer you to HERE to understand that.  She told me it’s a newer drug than Ozempic and how she felt it worked much better as it has two more hormones in it than Ozempic does.  Hormones your stomach is supposed to create naturally and many obese patients are lacking in that. GLP-1 is Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar, digestion and appetite.

So I went to the pharmacy and picked up the prescription and came home and put it in the refrigerator and hopped online to research it all as thoroughly as I could.

I took my first 2.5 mg dose a few days later.  It was May 6th, 2024.  It’s injectable, but it’s a pen, not a needle and vial and it couldn’t be easier to inject.  Even a squeamish person could do it.

A month went by and it was time to increase to the 5 mg. dose, but the whole country was stuck under backorders of it due to shortages.  I was able to remain on the 2.5 for three weeks then the 5 mg was finally available.

I’ve been on the 5 mg. dose for three weeks now, and I just got a message from my doctor today that she had sent in the prescription for the next higher dose, 7.5.  Soon afterwards, I got a text from the pharmacy that it was ready for pick up.  That brings me to this moment as I type.  I’ll be picking up my prescription in a few hours.  Tomorrow is my normal injection day so I’ll start on the 7.5!

I’m thrilled about that, because in my research recently, I discovered that the 2.5 mg dose and the 5 mg. dose both are introductory doses to make sure your body can handle it.  Then from 7.5 and up to 15 mg is the weight loss doses.

I have lost 27 1/2 pounds since January, however. (Eight pounds of that before the Mounjaro).

Mounjaro is supposed to suppress your appetite, and BOY has it.  I have to remind myself to eat and I usually don’t really feel like it when I do.  I’ve had to increase my protein intake and fiber (both a necessity when on Mounjaro especially) to avoid your weight loss being muscle weight and not true fat weight.

Although I had sworn off TikTok, I found a lot bigger Mounjaro community there and a lot more videos that educated me about it, so I’m active there now as well.

My journey continues…

Sincerely, Sapphire (Helen)

A Brand New Gardener

Ponderings of My Predicaments The Great Yellow Jacket Escape

So as I said in my earlier post today, this year I am a brand new gardener!  Most of my friends have gardened way before the age I am now, but I never had anyone teach me when I was growing up.  My mom gardened a little but just as her answer to her teaching me how to can, she’d say, “I don’t have the patience to teach you.”  That was that.

However, with all the rising prices and all the discussions of the pesticides being sprayed on our produce and things being added to our food, (in addition to trying to avoid as many processed foods as I can). Check out how they are adding a coating called Apeel to a lot of the produce to make it look better. There are a lot of foods in the US that are banned from other countries!

I decided to try to grow as many of our own vegetables and fruit as I could.  I kept it small this year as I’m still learning.  I want to try a few different things next year and increase the size of the garden.

I started out by setting up some racks and grow lights in my dining room (that will change to probably the basement next year for sure…what a mess!), some plant heat mats for some of the and started seeds.  I watered and babied and hardened off those things for two and a half months till the last frost date arrived and they were ready to go outside. They were my little green babies 🙂

I didn’t think I would be able to garden the normal way with my bad knees and bad back.  However, after thinking a lot about it and putting my thinking cap on, I came up with an idea that I thought just might work.

I went to Menards and bought about 24 concrete blocks and took them home (in my mini van…yeah, that was interesting 🙂 )  Then I went back out and found some skids behind a garden center they were getting rid of and brought those home (again…an interesting activity, but hey, they were free).  I fit five of them in my van and took them home.  Then I went out and got five more on my way to pick up my son at school.

So after setting the skids up on the cement blocks (see picture below) I had a “platform” for containers to garden on.  This is the result to date:

elevated container garden

It works great because the skids have the open places between the slats and it lets water drain well after watering. (The right side has a cement block that’s cockeyed, but nothing is wrong with it.  I just bumped it with the lawn mower the other day 🙂 )

I also went to TSC and bought four 8-foot cattle panels and…yep, you guessed it -brought them home in my van  (again…that was fun but I did it) and some t-posts.  I turned those into two arch trellises (with the instructions from a YouTube video and another here) by myself (something really difficult to do by yourself, but I’m thankful for these videos. I’ll have to bend occasionally for these tomato plants, but as they grow up the trellis I won’t have to.

I have my indeterminate tomatoes, some cucumbers, and a few other things growing next to it and they are just starting to climb the trellis:

Cattle Panel Arch Trellises

I’m on a new weight loss journey, so all that work led to all that sweat which led to a lot of burned calories 🙂

I’ll hopefully get a few more bags of soil mix to top off some of the tomato plan pots, and there are a few that need transplanted to bigger pots so they have more room to grow.

I’ve spent HOURS and HOURS on YouTube learning how to garden. I have a LOT of gardening playlists categorized to find the videos easily.  YouTube is the widow’s friend 🙂

 

July 2024 Scripture Writing Plan -Freedom and Liberty

Hello everyone 🙂

This has been a super busy spring and beginning of summer here at my house.  I started my very first garden ever and have been busy out there getting it set up. It’s a container garden sat up on raised skids to work best with my bad knees and back (I’ll post about that here shortly).

I also began my weight loss efforts in great earnest (more about that to come).  The gardening work has been a great help in burning calories! 🙂

This month’s Scripture writing plan is a revisit of the one from July 2022.  I think it best that here in the states as we celebrate our Independence Day where we revere freedom and liberty (which we seem to be losing more and more each day…)  that we would do best to be reminded that only in CHRIST are we truly liberated and free!  Liberated from the curse of sin and death.  Liberated to be one with Christ and grow in Him daily!

I wish you all (no matter what part of the world you may be viewing this from) a very lovely Independence Day!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m so thankful that so many of you are enjoying and spiritually benefiting from these monthly scripture writing plans! I love putting them together for you knowing that you find them useful and uplifting! Use these passages to write out the scriptures and grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Click on the image below to pull up the full-sized PDF file for printing –>

July 2024 Scripture Writing Plan HEADER

I usually print these out on 28 pound white paper (or 32 pound paper is even better) and just stick them right into my planner or journal. The heavier the paper, the less chance it will tear out of your binder or planner by accident and helps resist bleeding or ghosting from your pens or markers. It helps the page turn easier too.

For planner stickers, etc:  If you choose to print these out on full-size (letter) sticker paperI use these here. They’re priced great and you can write on them easily. They are good enough quality for my needs. If you want a top-quality sticker paper look for these or clear vinyl ones here. (Though not all pens or markers will write well on the clear ones). If you don’t want to use sticker paper, you can print them on card stock or regular printer paper and glue them down. Honestly, the sticker paper is the most economical  way, however for everyday planning stickers. Regardless of the type.

Going through a lot of ink printing out planner stickers? Do like I did and enlist in the HP Instant Ink program! I’ve saved so much money on ink since I did several years ago. They have different plans, but the one I’m in is the plan that lets me print up to 300 pages worth of ink for just over $11 per month. That’s regardless of the amount of ink on the page.  I love printing out pictures on photo paper.  I fit 4 4×6-inch photos on one sheet of photo paper.  Imagine the amount of photos you can print at four pages per one page and the cost is the same for a full page of photo ink as it is for one dot.  It goes by the page, not the amount of ink!  You can choose lesser pages for a lower rate, but I do a lot of printing between coupons, planner stickers and other things. Click on the image here to check it out! –>

HP Instant Ink