Gym anxiety after major weight loss — what worked for you?

VendorMark said:

Training does two things here and only one of them is on the scale.

Pushing back on VendorMark here. I would be careful about how confidently the flatness reports get attributed. Rapid weight loss, a large deficit and disrupted sleep produce low mood on their own, and separating that from a drug effect is genuinely hard.

I would rather be corrected than agreed with, if it comes to it.

greg_boulder said:

The weight came off and the harder part started, which is not what any of the material I read had prepared me for.

Mood changes on mental health: I want to be transparent — I went through a rough patch emotionally around month 3. Not depression exactly, but a weird flatness. Food was my main coping mechanism and without that, I had to develop new ones.

Therapy has been essential. I'd strongly recommend anyone starting GLP-1 therapy also invest in mental health support. The physical transformation is only half the journey.

Dr.GutHealth said:

I would be careful about how confidently the flatness reports get attributed.

When to call your doctor about mental health side effects — a reference I wish I'd had:

Call immediately:

• Severe abdominal pain (could be pancreatitis)
• Vision changes (thyroid concern)
• Lump in neck (thyroid nodule)
• Severe vomiting/can't keep fluids down for 24h+

Schedule an appointment:

• Persistent nausea beyond 4 weeks
• Significant hair loss
• Mood changes or depression
• Gallbladder symptoms (RUQ pain after eating)

Following on from mia_MS2 — and this may be the naive question:

What training is actually for during a large deficit, because framing it as calorie burn sets people up to quit when the arithmetic disappoints them?

Reporting back.

Follow-up — I put something in the gap where food used to be rather than waiting for the gap to close on its own. That was the part nobody told me.