A Brand New Me
By Cindy Walker

Well, I was finally able to get an appointment with my doctor the beginning of March, and all I can say is I'm still mortified by the number that appeared before me on the scale. Oprah says you must own the number, but I'd like to totally forget this one exists. Never in a million years did I think I had gotten as big as the scale said. I even hate to write it down, but I fear I must. So, hang on to your hats, because it's not pretty. 194 pounds! I have this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to hide under a rock. To say I am horrified and disgusted doesn't even come close to what I feel. I was right - no man will ever want to look at this distorted, obese carcass. Heck - I don't even want to look at it. But I must stop wallowing in self-pity. It's time to pick myself up, dust myself off, stop feeling sorry for myself, and shake up my life! 

I asked my doctor several questions but not all that I had written down. I just tried to hit the main ones. One foremost in my mind was how big a factor menopause is when a woman is trying to lose weight. The answer was surprising. None. It is more an age thing than anything else. We all slow down as we get older, so we have to step it up, be more conscious of what we feed our bodies and how much we feed it. Plus we really need to incorporate exercise into our daily routine. Even something as simple as walking at least 30 minutes each day will help. 

The doctor also told me the people who had the greatest diet success were those on Weight Watchers or the South Beach Diet. He also gave me a pamphlet for a place called “MPS Weight Loss and Wellness Center” (MPS stands for Metabolic Profile System). It is not a diet but, according to their brochure and website, it is more about becoming aware of your individual needs and correcting a chemical imbalance. They say, “The process requires subtle changes and is relatively easy to learn and to live with for a lifetime!” You can check out their website at www.metabolicprofile.com I haven't looked into cost, but it is an option I'm considering. 

My doctor also told me there are three prescription diet pills that work, of which I can only remember two - Meridia and Zenacal. There was another surprising choice for a prescription weight loss pill, and that is Prozac. Yes, you read that right. Prozac. Apparently, the makers of this medical marvel are remarketing this medication as a weight loss pill. Having been on it a short time a few years back, I can tell you it worked wonders for me. Not only did it diminish my hunger, it gave me dry mouth so I was constantly drinking water. That is something I don't do nearly enough of, so that was a big plus. Unfortunately, I quit taking them after a month because I refused to justify to my doctor every month why I still needed to be on the medication. She didn't believe me in the first place and always had that look on her face like I was lying to her. Moreover, she was a real concerned doctor too - she never followed up to see why I didn't come back for the follow up visit. I'm so glad she's no longer my doctor. 

Anyway, the end result of the doctor visit is I am now on Meridia. After two weeks of taking it, I don't notice any difference in my appetite diminishing. I still get ravenously hungry between 10:00 and 11:30 a.m. every day no matter what I do in the morning. Reading the page of warnings for this medication, I discovered that acceleration in appetite is a possible side effect. Doesn't that just figure. And with my luck, that's how this will affect me. I have a follow up appointment for May 9, and if I don't see any results by then, I'll see if he'll switch me to Prozac. Hey, I don't have sex anyway so why worry about the sex drive. Cost is also a big factor since my insurance won't pay for the prescriptions. My first bottle of Meridia cost me $108, and that's only a 30-day supply.     more >>