I'm feeling inspired by Ellie Wenker's blog at belviqdaily.blogspot.com so I'm going to give this a try!

I've never done a blog before..read many of them.  Hopefully this will not be too painful.

It's going to take me awhile to figure this out, so bear with me.

I too have battled my weight my entire life.  Course I'm not think 38 is not as old as I once thought.

I think my biggest issues with weight are of course emotional, but also your typical family dysfunction, some chemical imbalances, and obsessive and compulsive thoughts and behaviors.

I have lost weight several times through the years.  And of course I always gained it back plus some.  I've asked for medical help, and until recently I didn't have a team that would take me seriously and offer more than "just diet and exercise"...crickets..and no detail at all.

I found my new medical professional in April.  She is a Nurse Practioner in an Osteopath's office.  I went on my birthday mid April to visit her.  I weighed in at a whopping 436.8 lbs...yikes and WTH!  We had a very long discussion about all kinds of issues, and my past struggles.  I have a history of bulemia that started in college and I had gone from 275 to 161.  Since that time, it has reared it's ugly head every single time I've lost weight.

Now, switch to today, a few months later, and I weigh 365.4.  Still an awful number, but a significant change.  I no longer have obsessive thoughts about food for which I'm not even hungry.  I don't crave sweets anymore (praise the Lord), I actually crave some healthy food, and I've started actually cooking for the first time (I was a box food eater).

What changed?  My doctor allowed me to be her guinea pig for a drug that was approved last fall.  Belviq.  This drug has been quite the wonder pill for me.  It doesn't cause the fat and pounds to go away.  It does not burn fat.  It does put me in control.  It helps get rid of those unwanted obsessions and helps me not act on the compulsions.  I track my food diligently, I keep my calories in check, and I've started walking 3 times a week.

There is not a whole lot online about Belviq because it is newly FDA approved.  But it was being tested for quite some time, and had to go through a lot more hoops with the FDA because of past issues with drugs such as PhenPhen.

Belviq was actually created for weight loss.  It is not some drugs put together that happen to have a side effect of weight loss like Phentermine or Topamax, or Qsymia.  It is not a stimulant, and it has shown almost no risk for heart issues.

So, I'm going to try to blog about this journey.  I'll post pictures as well.  I'm not nearly as charismatic as the lovely Ellie, but I'm honest and frank.