I lost 128 Pounds with Ozempic / Mounjaro - GLP 1 Medications. This is my journey

Bruce News MA Ed.

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I Knew I Could Lose the Weight. I Didn’t Think I Could Keep It Off. I lost weight at least 20 times only to gain it back. I used to think I already knew how my story ended.

I have been up and down on the scale since I was a pudgy teenager. Willpower was never the missing piece. I can lose weight. Diet after diet worked — until it didn’t. The weight always came back. Before COVID, I lost it again. It didn’t stay off. Eventually I made a decision that felt almost like peace: I was done trying. Why put myself through the grind if I already knew how it would finish?

Then COVID locked me in the house.

I became Big Pharma’s best friend. I gained about 50 pounds. I bought the test kits. I was treated with more drugs. I had seven vaccinations. I never had to leave home because everything was delivered. (I do the opposite now. No deliveries for me).

I also have severe emphysema. I was being monitored for prediabetes. My cholesterol was very bad. I was on oxygen 24 hours a day.

Being heavy was not only a number on a scale. It was a social sentence. I was fat-shamed. I felt socially awkward. Some people used me as the punchline to their jokes. Sitting on a plane, in a movie theater, at a concert, on a bus, or on a train was a miserable experience. I barely fit into the seat. I felt bad for the people sitting next to me. Going from sitting to standing made me dizzy. I could not fit into a diner booth. I sweated excessively — and I was still warmer in the winter. Dating was difficult. Women were less interested, and I always understood that.

Food was costing me a fortune. Pulling all of that weight exhausted my lungs. My emphysema was much worse because of it. I was constantly tired. I did not look in mirrors. During COVID, my Bible study partners on Zoom put light remarks in front of me. They gave me feedback on what they were seeing. That hint, and the daily reality of my body, finally broke through. It was another lesson: choose your friends carefully. They stick with you through fat or thin.

Usually at a place of prayer, a Bible study, or in volunteer work, you meet positive people. I took an inventory of that. I choose my friends very carefully. I do not need people who are negative and play games. That factor helped me get to the miracle of weight loss and a life-changing transformation. I have a new lease on life. I am positive I will not be gaining my weight back! I just had a cream cheese sandwich for lunch. I was still feeling hungry. I was thinking about the peanut butter cookies! 250 Calories of junk and feeds a sugar addiction. I chose a banana instead. The more battles won the easier it becomes.

Ordinary life had become a struggle: getting in and out of bed, getting in and out of the car, showering, walking, going up and down stairs. I was at a crossroads. I knew I could lose the weight. I also knew, in my bones, that I would gain it back. It is in my blood to overindulge in good food. Sugar is not a small problem in my life. It is an addiction. Concentrated sugar and corn syrup were put into the food supply to make people eat more. Even years later, if I start with a Yodel or ice cream, it can take over. Then I have to use willpower to get it out of my system. To me it is like a drug. At this moment just the mere mention of a Yodel makes me salivate! The battles I have lost with Yodels, got a bit easier... I compromised when I slipped I would have one and throw away the other 2.

I recommend reading my article about chemical additives to food to make it more addictive and maintain its freshness. www.BruceNews.com 

I closed my eyes and asked G-d to help me. I did not only ask to lose the weight. I asked for help because I did not want to lose it just to gain it back. My exact quote in my prayer was I have lost the weight before, would it be so bad if I lost the weight once and for good? A day later, a very close friend called. He had been keeping a secret: He was on Ozempic. It had helped him lose some weight. He kept it quiet because a lot of people are biased against GLP-1 medications — Ozempic, , the whole class. It helped him, but it was still a struggle. He was honest. These drugs can assist. They are not magic. The desire for good food does not vanish from the culture around you.

I thought: maybe this Mounjaro is a fit for me. I needed extra help to keep the weight off. The idea of being on it for life did not scare me. Given my history, lifelong help sounded like the point.

My General Practitioner Doctor looked at the picture in front of him. I was about 268 to 272 pounds. I was on oxygen 24/7 because of emphysema. He said there was no danger that should stop me from trying a GLP-1. He told me members of his own family take the weekly shot and have had success losing weight and improving their Diabetes. He said, in essence, that if people were dropping dead from it, we would know. He called it a “nothing shot” and advised me to start.

4 years later I am calling Mounjouro a cure to morbid obesity.

I mentioned the part about being on it for life. He said, so what.

He also said this class of medicine was only beginning. Eventually it would not only be a weekly shot. There would be pills. There might be biweekly shots, monthly shots, and better options over time. He was right. The pills are already out. The tools keep improving.

He was also clear about the other half: it is not magic. It will help. The rest is still up to me.

The plan I could actually live with.

I lowered myself to a 1,500 -1,800-calorie-a-day diet. My long-term idea was simple. After the loss, I could live closer to a normal male maintenance intake, around 2,500 calories, without turning food into a second job. I do not count carbs. Counting carbs is stressful. Eating is going to be part of my life, not my life. Calories were enough. Weight loss programs have terrible results. Most involved with counting carbs, logging food intake. That is good. However the down size is the constant focus on food creates more of a food obsession. The philosophy of shut up and use calories as a guideline worked for me. I also watched the Biggest Loser on a daily basis. I found it inspiring.

I emptied the cupboards: sugary food, oils, breads, ice cream, sugary soda. My home had to become a safe place. Later I reintroduce some of the foods I did not keep in the house. Not at the beginning. Not while I was trying to change the pattern of my whole life.

I decided I was not joining a gym. I hate gyms. I have never liked them. I would never keep it up after the weight came off. Search the numbers yourself. Look at how many people start a gym and still go a year later. Home equipment is only a little better. Too often those machines become clothing racks.

What do I like? Podcasts. Walking. Sports and Bible Study talk in my ears via podcasts. So I started walking 45 minutes a day. In the beginning I had to go very slow. I was heavy, and I was carrying a portable oxygen concentrator. As I lost weight, the pace picked up on its own. I do not feel like I am “working out.” I put in earbuds and disappear into a podcast. If I had to travel to a gym for an hour a day workout, I would hate my life. I hated it when I did it. More power to people who love it. That is not me.

I started Ozempic and later switched to Mounjaro at a low dose and raised it to the maximum after six weeks. At first I was not thinking about the shot. I probably did not feel much because I still wanted to overeat. I stayed with 1,500 -1,800 calories anyway. Then I started to feel a positive edge: more satisfaction from a meal, less pull to keep eating, less eating between meals.

That is the help I needed. Not a personality transplant. A little room to use the willpower I already had.

Four years later

I started at 272 pounds.

I lost 118 - 124 pounds.

I now weigh between 148 and 154 pounds.

I lost most of it in a year.

I did not notice the change the way other people did. Someone at work made a light comment about my clothes not fitting. I went to a thrift shop and bought clothes that fit. I did not go overboard. Even at 200 pounds I wanted to go lower. The clothing was a motivator.

Women are showing much more interest in me, my pursuit of finding a wife is more feasable now.

I am only using oxygen at home now. Sometimes when I go out, but rarely.

My blood tests are perfect.

My cholesterol is ideal.

My cancer screenings have been clean.

I have had zero side effects from Ozempic / Mounjaro / GLP-1s.

I am on it for life. Like the doctor said, things are getting better with that. Now there is a pill. and its only going to get better.

I take it once a week, same day, same time. That sequence matters. I have studied this enough to believe fluctuations can blunt the effect. For me the result is simple: I eat less, and I stay satisfied between meals.

Drinking more water and taking vitamins would help even more. That is something I could still do better.

Why I kept it secret — and why I stopped

I had a taboo about these shots too. Other people told me, “Don’t you dare tell anyone.” I hate being asked to keep a secret, and I hate telling people to keep mine. I have always said: don’t tell me a secret. I don’t want to know it. Period.

So I decided my own secret had to die. I became open like a book. Writing this is part of that. I have been shouted at and criticized. I have watched the shaming on television and online. People have gotten in my face as if I did something personal to them. I have been called a nut. I have been told to do it “the right way.” I am getting more criticism from this topic than my articles about UAP's and UFO's!

The funniest part is most of the people who criticize me suffer from obesity themselves! They look at my plate and make comments when their plate is the one they should be focused on. Its funny how people react. They take it personally what I do personally.

They are wrong about the shame. Obesity, for many of us, is not a morality play. It is a chronic pattern colliding with a food supply designed to be hard to resist. I asked G-d for help. I knew I could lose the weight. I doubted I could keep it off. I was asking for a miracle pill. I found a miracle shot — not because it erased effort, but because it finally made maintenance possible.

I do not feel the injection. I do it on a schedule. The doctor was right: this is not going to stay frozen in 2021 form. The medicines will keep changing. What mattered was that I finally had a tool that matched the disease I actually have.

This is my experience. It is not a prescription for you. GLP-1 medications are not right for everyone. People do have side effects. Some people should not take them. Some people regain weight if they stop. I chose long-term treatment because my history told me I needed long-term treatment.

Whatever you decide, consult your own doctor.

I used to think I already knew how my story ended. I was wrong. Thanks to GLP1 Medications.

I have a new lease on life. I spend my time making an impact as a popular social media personality. I spend a lot of time advocating for the Jewish people and for Israel. I love America, and I am passionate about my politics. I am even able to go to more Yankees games and Jets games. They are simple hobbies, but they are entertainment. I am fishing more than ever. That is my favorite, especially when I catch fish. When I was heavy, it was not easy to get around and do the things that I enjoy. I am more comfortable socially.

The ending I had rehearsed was the cycle: lose it, gain it back, surrender, sit small in a seat that did not fit, and stay quiet. The life I have now — walking, working, building, breathing, showing up for my people, and sitting in a ballpark without shame — was not available in the body that needed an external oxygen concentrator just to exist. I did not need a new personality. I needed G-d, honest friends, and a tool that made the willpower

If the old story is still running in your head, I understand it. I lived it. I also learned this: knowing how the last chapter went is not the same as being sentenced to write it again.

If you have questions about my journey, you can reach me at BruceNews18@gmail.com

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