My journey with semaglutide, emotional hunger, and the struggle to change my lifestyle.
Thirty Days Into My Journey
Last Sunday, I took my fourth injection of semaglutide.
It has been almost a month since I started this weight loss journey. During these four weeks, I have noticed a significant change in my appetite. I feel less hungry, eat smaller portions, and get full much earlier than before.
I have also lost almost 2 kg, bringing my weight down from 85 kg to 83 kg.
On paper, that looks like progress.
But internally, I have been struggling.
The medication is helping me control my physical appetite, but I have not been able to make the lifestyle changes I originally planned.
I wanted to exercise regularly, but I kept finding myself caught between different choices.
Should I start walking outside every morning? Should I join a gym? Or should I begin doing Tabata workouts at home?
Every day, I considered these options. Every day, I postponed making a decision.
I was spending more time thinking about exercise than actually exercising.
And then there was another challenge, one I had underestimated: emotional hunger.
When My Stomach Is Full, but My Mind Wants Food
Yesterday was an interesting experience.
While working at the office, I went to the cafeteria for lunch. Usually, I prefer their steamed or roasted chicken. It is something I enjoy eating, and it fits reasonably well into my current eating habits.
Unfortunately, they had not prepared it that day.
The alternative was biryani.
The portion was actually much smaller than what I would normally eat at home. But I decided not to buy it.
I have noticed that sometimes after eating biryani at the office, I experience uncomfortable symptoms. My head feels heavy, and the whistling sound in my ears becomes more noticeable. I associate these experiences with an increase in my blood pressure.
So I avoided the biryani.
But instead of finding another meal, I decided to skip lunch entirely.
That morning, I had eaten jau ka daliya (barley porridge) for breakfast, along with a cup of tea. Sometimes I take tea with sugar, sometimes without it.
By the afternoon, something strange was happening.
My stomach seemed to be telling me that I needed food, but my mind was telling me that I was already full.
Perhaps this was the appetite-suppressing effect of semaglutide.
It was a confusing experience. I could recognize the physical need to eat, yet I had little desire to actually eat anything.
Eventually, I became busy with work and forgot about lunch altogether.
The Fish That Almost Became a Disaster
I reached home around 8:30 PM.
My family was out, so I decided to prepare dinner myself.
A day earlier, I had marinated some fish. I thought this would be a good opportunity to cook something healthy.
Unfortunately, my cooking skills did not cooperate.
I placed the fish in a frying pan, but half of it stuck to the surface and burned. I managed to rescue the remaining pieces and transferred them to the air fryer.
It was not exactly the dinner I had imagined.
Still, I ate what I could, and my stomach felt full.
I thought the day’s struggle with food was finally over.
I was wrong.
The Toughest Two Hours: 11:30 PM to 1:30 AM
Late at night, between 11:30 PM and 1:30 AM, I experienced the most difficult part of the day.
I wanted to eat something.
Not necessarily because my stomach was empty. In fact, I still felt physically full.
But my mind wanted food.
My tongue wanted a taste of something.
I kept thinking about eating, even though I could not identify exactly what I wanted.
Twice, I even tasted a little salt, hoping it might satisfy the craving. It did not.
The desire to eat remained.
That was when I started thinking seriously about the difference between physical hunger and emotional hunger.
Semaglutide seems to be helping with my physical appetite. But it has not eliminated the habits, cravings, and emotional associations I have developed around food over many years.
I also realize that skipping lunch and eating very little during the day may have contributed to those late-night cravings.
Perhaps I was experiencing emotional hunger. Perhaps my body genuinely needed more food. Perhaps it was a mixture of both.
Whatever the reason, it was difficult.
Eventually, I fell asleep without eating anything else.
But I did not feel that I had solved the problem.
I had simply made it through the night.
The Thought of Giving Up
Over the weekend, I had seriously considered stopping semaglutide.
Not because the medication was failing.
In fact, it seemed to be working. My appetite had decreased, and I had already lost some weight.
My disappointment was with myself.
I had started this journey with expectations of changing my lifestyle. I imagined regular exercise, better eating habits, and a more disciplined daily routine.
But after almost a month, I was still struggling to exercise.
I was still dealing with emotional hunger.
I was still making plans rather than consistently acting on them.
I began questioning whether I was really committed to changing my life.
I had undergone several medical tests, spent money on consultations and medication, and told people around me that I was starting a weight loss journey.
Would I now give up because changing my habits was proving difficult?
But then another thought occurred to me.
Why was I expecting myself to change years of habits in just 30 days?
The medication was one part of my journey. My behavior, routines, and relationship with food were another.
I realized that I needed to approach these changes more patiently. Whether I continue the medication is something I will discuss with my doctor, but I do not want disappointment with my exercise habits to make that decision for me.
This Morning, Something Changed
Today, I woke up around 6 AM.
Instead of thinking about whether I should walk outside or join a gym, I decided to try something simple.
Exercise at home.
I opened YouTube and searched for beginner-level workouts by Allblanc TV.
I found a 10-minute beginner workout.
Nothing complicated. Nothing ambitious.
Just ten minutes.
And I completed it.
For someone who has spent the last month thinking about exercise without actually starting, those ten minutes felt significant.
I did not burn hundreds of calories. I did not complete an intense training session. I did not suddenly become a fitness enthusiast.
But I finally did something I had been postponing.
And that made me feel different.
Day 31, or Day 1?
Technically, today is the 31st day of my weight loss journey.
I have taken four semaglutide injections. I have lost approximately 2 kg. I have experienced reduced appetite, difficult cravings, uncertainty, and disappointment.
But today, I am beginning to see this journey differently.
The first 30 days were not wasted.
They taught me something about my body, my habits, and my expectations.
I learned that medication can reduce appetite, but it cannot automatically create a healthy lifestyle.
I learned that physical hunger and the desire to eat are not always the same thing.
I learned that thinking about exercise is much easier than actually doing it.
And most importantly, I learned that I cannot build a new lifestyle through planning alone.
I have to start acting, even if the action is small.
Perhaps I do not need to join a gym immediately.
Perhaps I do not need to walk 10,000 steps every day.
Perhaps I do not need to push myself through an intense Tabata workout.
Perhaps ten minutes of exercise at home is enough to begin building a habit.
I want to focus less on creating the perfect plan and more on becoming consistent.
I also want to develop a healthier relationship with food, rather than turning every craving into a battle of willpower.
My goal is not simply to lose weight while taking medication.
My goal is to build habits that I can continue long after this phase of treatment.
And that will take time.
My Reflection
For the last 30 days, I was waiting for the right moment to change.
I was waiting to feel motivated.
I was waiting to decide which exercise was best.
I was waiting for my emotional hunger to disappear.
But perhaps change does not begin when everything becomes easy.
Perhaps change begins when we stop waiting and start doing something small.
Today, I completed just ten minutes of exercise.
It may not seem like much.
But for me, it represents the beginning of something I have been thinking about for a long time.
Today is Day 31 of my weight loss journey.
But in another sense, today is Day 1.
Not because the previous 30 days were a failure, but because today I finally began turning my intentions into action.