I need to step out of mod mode for a second and just be a person in this thread.

I'm crying. This whole conversation is why this forum exists. Not the dosing questions, not the side effect comparisons — this. People being real with each other about the hardest parts.

Every single one of you: your grief is valid, your joy is valid, and you deserve to take up space. Literally and figuratively.

Now back to mod mode: if you're struggling with grief or depression around weight loss, please reach out to a mental health professional. This is heavy stuff and you don't have to carry it alone.

53 years old. Missed every single pool party, amusement park (couldn't fit in rides), and airplane trip (needed a seatbelt extender and was mortified). Spent my kids' childhoods on the sidelines because I couldn't keep up physically.

9 months on tirz. Down 91 lbs. Went on a roller coaster with my 12-year-old son last month. He screamed and laughed and held my hand. First ride I've been on in 20 years.

I grieved the lost years. And then I decided: no more lost days. Not one. Every day from here on out, I show up. All of me.

OP, I see you. We all see you. Keep going.

I am brand new here. Just got my first prescription. Haven't even started yet. I'm reading this thread and I'm overwhelmed because I recognize every single story. The hiding, the photos, the lost years.

I'm 38. I feel like I still have time. But I also feel like I've already lost so much.

Thank you all for being so honest. It makes me less afraid to start.

38 is SO young. You have so much ahead of you. Start now. Grieve what you need to grieve. And then live.

We'll be here the whole way.