Girl Loses 130 Kilos, Discovers ‘Biggie’ Lifestyle Change

After overeating for years, Alexandra Merz says she feels “absolutely amazing” since dropping 130 kilos with a GLP-1 weight-loss drug. She workout routines on daily basis, calls herself extra productive and now not experiences meals noise.

But one large, surprising pleasure got here within the type of vogue.

Merz was all the time pissed off by her “bulky legs” and “huge ankles.” As she misplaced weight with the medicine, these physique components slimmed down. Even her shoe dimension shrank.

For the primary time in her life, the mother of 5 discovered she might put on over-the-knee boots, so she splurged on a pair.

“You have no idea what a victory that was,” Merz, who lives in Santa Barbara, California, tells TODAY.com.

“It’s ridiculous that this 59-year-old woman found this so important, but it is. It just crystallized this whole frustration with my body over so many years.”

She says meals isn’t a reward system for her anymore — stylish garments are, and he or she enjoys showing them off on social media.

Still, Merz urges others not to consider GLP-1 medication as a straightforward answer anybody can take with out considering it by means of and speaking with a physician.

Weight Gain Was ‘Constant Battle’

Merz, who’s German, says her weight wrestle started when she was 16 and got here to the U.S. as an alternate scholar for a yr. She had a job at McDonald’s and gained 70 kilos.

She misplaced the load when she returned to Europe, however there have been extra setbacks to return.

As an grownup, she moved to France along with her husband, had 5 kids and gained about 70 kilos with every being pregnant. The extra youngsters she had, the tougher it was to lose additional weight.

“It was a constant battle. My body loved being fat,” Merz says.

Her greatest drawback was bread — she couldn’t cease consuming something doughy. Looking again, Merz is amazed on the quantity of meals she might devour with out feeling she’d had sufficient. If somebody gave her two desserts after dinner, she would eat them.

At 5 ft, 10 inches tall, Merz additionally felt out of proportion in France.

“I was the elephant in the porcelain shop. Everybody else was tiny and beautiful and fashionable, and I was just crazy tall and fat,” she recollects.

About 12 years in the past, Merz and her household moved to California, and that got here with a extra sedentary life than in Europe.

She was strolling much less and sitting extra, “getting bigger and bigger.” A ketogenic weight-reduction plan helped, however she couldn’t follow it after some time.

Merz reached her highest weight of 270 kilos at first of 2024.

“I was so exhausted and tired,” she recollects. “I really felt very unproductive.”

Weight Loss with a GLP-1

Merz’s physician instructed her she was the best candidate for a GLP-1 weight-loss drug and beneficial Zepbound, which mimics two hormones the physique produces after consuming, resulting in a lowered urge for food.

Merz was reluctant, noting she doesn’t take any medication, even nutritional vitamins, however agreed to take the bottom dose of the prescription drug.

“The first 24 hours were awkward. But then something switched in my brain,” she recollects.

Her unintended effects included coronary heart palpitations, acid reflux disease, abdomen cramps and nausea, however went away after the primary day, Merz says. The commonest unintended effects of the drug embody gastrointestinal points akin to nausea, diarrhea, vomiting and constipation, based on the producer.

She additionally immediately grew to become “disgusted by coffee” and couldn’t drink it for 18 months, although she’s now having fun with espresso once more.

But Merz discovered a routine that labored. With her lowered urge for food, she now eats two meals per day. Breakfast is entire wheat bagel that gives fiber and “completely satisfies my addiction to bread,” she notes. She completes it with ham to get sufficient protein.

Her noon meal, eaten at round 3 o’clock, contains fish, steak or one other protein, plus greens.

She now weighs 140 kilos.

Lifestyle Changes

Merz says she hasn’t touched alcohol since beginning the load loss medicine in February 2024, discovering it’s simply not interesting for her anymore. Her husband is a companion in a winery, so it’s “a biggie” for her to not drink wine, she says.

Many folks, together with Oprah Winfrey, have observed GLP-1 medication can curb their need for alcohol.

When it involves train, Merz works out for one hour each morning, together with strolling on a treadmill for a minimum of 35 minutes, and utilizing a rowing machine and a vibration plate.

Sticking to a health routine is among the many issues she couldn’t do earlier than.

“There was just this weight on me that pulled me down,” Merz says. “(Now), I feel like I’ve dialed back 20 years of my life.”

She now not experiences persistent ideas about her subsequent meal, however the meals noise comes again if she goes a couple of week between pictures of the medicine.

Merz and her household love touring to Italy and different nations only for the meals, so she frightened in regards to the drug taking pleasure out of eating. But she eats what she will and asks for substitutes, akin to spinach or different greens as an alternative of potatoes.

She plans to take the GLP-1 drug indefinitely.

“I’m convinced I’ll never get off it. … I do believe I need it for the rest of my life,” Merz says.

“I feel fabulous. I really do. I’ve hardly felt as happy in my skin as I do now. But I can’t recommend it to anybody else because everybody has their own health story and everybody should really check with their own doctor.”