{"id":12936,"date":"2025-07-16T00:47:11","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T00:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/12936\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T00:47:11","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T00:47:11","slug":"if-youre-not-plump-youre-not-healthy-breaking-cultural-food-norms-1-injection-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/12936\/","title":{"rendered":"‘If you’re not plump, you’re not healthy.’ Breaking cultural food norms, 1 injection at a time"},"content":{"rendered":"

When she was growing up, food and a clean plate were the center of everything in Tatiana De La Rosa\u2019s<\/a> life. \u201cIf you ever go visit a Hispanic family, they will feed you until you burst,\u201d she tells Yahoo. \u201cTo elder Hispanics, if you’re not plump, you’re not healthy.\u201d But as an adult, nurse and mother of two, De La Rosa knew her weight was not healthy. She was prediabetic and had sciatic pain that made even short walks painful. Severe endometriosis<\/a> had prompted her to have a hysterectomy<\/a> in 2023, but the pain and inflammation persisted.<\/p>\n

De La Rosa was always thinking about food. She was constantly preoccupied with when she\u2019d eat next and what she\u2019d have, and she spent a lot of time policing these thoughts. She tried countless fad diets and bought into all manner of supplement pyramid schemes. Working out left her with no consequential weight loss, and trying to build strength seemed pointless because she thought, as De La Rosa puts it, I\u2019m fat, who cares?<\/p>\n

But a year after starting the weight loss medication tirzepatide, De La Rosa is feeling like an entirely new person. The rigid meal plans and shame have been replaced by a sense of utter \u201cfreedom,\u201d she says. Her blood sugar is healthy, her workouts are regular, and even the inflammation that was a hallmark of her endometriosis has subsided \u2014 so much so that she\u2019s had to have her wedding ring resized three times as the swelling in her hands disappeared. In this installment of Yahoo\u2019s On My Weigh<\/a> series, De La Rosa explains in her own words how a weight loss medication has given her \u201cso much more space in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Tatiana<\/p>\n

Tatiana De La Rosa started taking tirzepatide in May of 2024 and, after losing more than 60 pounds, is now on a maintenance dose. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photo: courtesy of Tatiana De La Rosa, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The weigh-in<\/p>\n

The method: Compounded tirzepatide, a 3-milligram maintenance dose<\/p>\n

The goal: I just wanted to lose weight. When I started taking tirzepatide in May of 2024, I was 230 pounds. I told myself, if I can get under 200 pounds \u2014 even if it was just 199 pounds \u2014 I will be happy. Based on lab work, I was prediabetic, which was a small component of my decision, but I can\u2019t lie: I knew losing the weight would help make that better, but I was very naive about the additional benefits.<\/p>\n

Progress report card: I\u2019ve surpassed my goal! I\u2019m now around 167 pounds \u2014 I never thought that would happen. I thought I\u2019d never make it to 180 pounds, but here we are. But really, I\u2019ve made progress on so many levels. I feel incredible. I went from a size 16 to a size 6. My A1C<\/a> dropped from a 6.1 to a 4.7, so now I\u2019m nowhere near prediabetic. I feel physically great, but the emotional benefits and the improvement to my self-esteem \u2026 that\u2019s something that people don\u2019t talk about enough. My confidence has skyrocketed, and I\u2019ve been able to do things I never could have before, including launching my social media platform. I also have stage IV endometriosis<\/a> and had to have a hysterectomy and have one ovary removed in 2023. That launched me into perimenopause<\/a>, which I think led to a lot of my weight gain. GLP-1s aren\u2019t indicated for treating endometriosis, but, anecdotally, I have had such an improvement in my swelling and pain since starting one. I attribute that to the medication.<\/p>\n

Food-noise volume knob: I think before starting tirzepatide, my food-noise<\/a> volume was like an 8. It wasn\u2019t on my mind every minute of every day, but it was daily, and I would always give in to it. I am a self-proclaimed super-responder to the medication, and within an hour of taking the first injection, my food noise and appetite were silenced. Now that I\u2019m taking a maintenance dose, I really want to say that my food noise is at a 0, but that comes with a lot of work on my end. I really stay on top of my fiber and protein intake and have changed a lot of my habits. I have normal cravings now, and I\u2019ve learned the difference between those cravings and the food noise I had before. If I crave ice cream, OK, I\u2019ll have some. But I no longer have to have the whole container. On my platform, I try to spread the message that if you\u2019re hungry, you should eat, and eat what you want. I\u2019m so anti-diet culture<\/a>. I\u2019m anti-“eating like a bird.” Weight loss with these medications is about sustainability and regulating insulin, not about eating just 500 calories a day.<\/p>\n

Day in the life<\/p>\n

Rise and shine<\/p>\n

Before, there was no amount of sleep that would wake me up. Back then I still worked in person doing three 12-hour nursing shifts a week in the ICU. I would get up and get my kids ready for school. On the days that I didn\u2019t have a shift, sometimes I would go back to bed once they left. Sometimes I wouldn\u2019t leave bed all day.<\/p>\n

I now wake up around 7 a.m., and I\u2019m no longer sluggish. I feel ready for my day. That\u2019s a big change. I admit, I\u2019m still very dependent on coffee, but I used to have two cups in the morning and now I have only one, so that\u2019s a win for me. And there used to be arguments every morning while I was getting the kids ready, but I think that\u2019s improved significantly just because my mood is better.<\/p>\n

First bites<\/p>\n

Before tirzepatide, I never had breakfast. I wouldn\u2019t eat until maybe noon. I wasn\u2019t fasting; I just didn\u2019t feel hungry. I would go all morning on just coffee.<\/p>\n

I now have one cup of coffee in the morning, and add my protein shake<\/a> to it. This morning, I ate eggs and waffles for breakfast. Other days, I\u2019ll have scrambled eggs with toast or avocado, or sometimes a bagel sandwich. I\u2019m pretty hungry about an hour after I wake up, so I have breakfast around 9:30 or 10 a.m. Now that I\u2019m in maintenance mode, I\u2019m hungry often, but it doesn’t make me panic anymore. I used to tell myself I could only have oatmeal and egg whites and follow all of these unwritten rules about when you\u2019re supposed to eat and make myself wait. But there are no rules!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Get ready with me<\/p>\n

I now work from home, so I\u2019m often in sweats and a T-shirt. But I used to just stay in my pajamas. Now that life has shifted and I work remotely Monday through Friday, I do at least get up, get dressed and do my hair. Even though I\u2019m home more, I feel like I\u2019m more put-together than when I would go out before starting tirzepatide. And I don\u2019t try to cover myself anymore, at all. I wear clothes that actually fit me, instead of buying even bigger sizes to try to conceal my body. Now I look forward to buying things for nice events.<\/p>\n

Dose time<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve tried taking my injection at basically every time imaginable. I don\u2019t think that much about it now; it\u2019s kind of second nature. So typically I\u2019ll do it on a Monday, or if I forget, I\u2019ll do it on a Tuesday. I get absolutely zero side effects, especially now that I\u2019m on a baby dose. But I never did have side effects, really. I do try to take it in the morning, because it does make me alert. It won\u2019t give me insomnia exactly, but if I take it at night, I\u2019ll just be up wanting to do things.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s do lunch<\/p>\n

Before starting tirzepatide, I would absolutely do the drive-through for lunch, and I would binge because I wouldn\u2019t have had breakfast. I\u2019m talking two cheeseburgers, large French fries and a Coke. Then I\u2019d get the insulin spike and crash, leading to the 2 p.m. groggy stage. And I live in Miami, where part of the Hispanic culture is that at 2 p.m., everyone has an espresso shot. I was like, \u201cI don\u2019t want to; I have acid reflux, but I have to survive the slump!\u201d And then, of course, I couldn\u2019t sleep at night because I had that afternoon espresso shot. I don\u2019t know how I lived like that for so many years.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m a person of habit, so I have the same two meals every day. I\u2019ve always been that way, and I think it\u2019s why I tried so many fad diets (and all the multi-level marketing schemes<\/a>): I knew I could do a shake every day as a meal replacement. I can follow structure and routine \u2014 I need it. But now I\u2019m free, and I can ask myself, \u201cWhat do I want to eat?\u201d Most days that\u2019s a turkey or ham sandwich with tater tots that I make at home. I often can\u2019t finish my whole lunch, but that\u2019s fine. I\u2019ll get hungry in an hour or two and have the rest, or grab some cheese sticks or Goldfish crackers.<\/p>\n

Happy hour<\/p>\n

The difference in my \u201chappy hour\u201d activities is night and day. I am actually a tequila connoisseur. My husband and I have taken trips to Tequila, Mexico, and we easily have more than 120 craft tequilas in our house. Sometimes I felt caught up in the culture of having a drink if I\u2019d had a big day. But often my husband and I would have half an ounce of one of the tequilas we\u2019ve collected and sip on that, comparing notes about what flavors we tasted. It wasn\u2019t about getting drunk, just enjoying the experience. But still, I probably drank every day.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Tatiana De La Rosa just wanted to lose weight when she started taking compounded tirzepatide \u2014 she didn’t realize it came with many more benefits. (Photo illustration: Yahoo News; photos: courtesy of Tatiana De La Rosa, Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That has disappeared since starting a GLP-1 medication<\/a>. It\u2019s not that I\u2019ve learned it\u2019s bad \u2014 we\u2019re well aware of the dangers of alcohol<\/a> \u2014 I just don\u2019t have the urge at all since starting tirzepatide. I\u2019ll still have a drink now and then, but going from daily to maybe once a month is a big deal. And since I\u2019m not drinking much, my husband isn\u2019t either. For the Fourth of July weekend, my husband made me a margarita from scratch, and we realized he probably hadn\u2019t made me one in months! Our friends are like, \u201cWow, we don\u2019t even recognize you.\u201d But we still go out to dinner, or to barbecues, or our friends will come over to swim in our pool. Our social life is the same; we\u2019re just drinking less.<\/p>\n

Dinner bell<\/p>\n

My food noise has always been centered around carbs and dinner. I always felt like, if I didn\u2019t have carbs, I hadn\u2019t even had dinner. I used to be so preoccupied and worried about whether there would be enough food for me to feel full because that feeling of satiety was my comfort zone. At the same time, I would try to meal-plan \u2014 especially dinner \u2014 to try to control my carb consumption<\/a>. I would tell myself that I could have as much greens and chicken as I want, but I couldn\u2019t have carbs after 6 p.m. I had to give myself a pep talk in order to not have two servings.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s gone. I have no idea what will be for dinner today. My husband is the primary cook in our household, and he\u2019s super health-conscious \u2014 we survive because of him! So what we eat hasn\u2019t really changed. We don\u2019t fry things; We use the air fryer<\/a> or grill and we cook with avocado oil<\/a>. We\u2019ll have salmon or chicken breast with mashed potatoes and a vegetable. But I\u2019m just not stressed around planning it anymore. I no longer feel the need to measure a cup of mashed potatoes, and if I want a little bit more, I\u2019ll have it. I\u2019m just much more in tune with my hunger cues, and I respect my satiety.<\/p>\n

And I get to enjoy my food more. My daughter likes to cook too, and the other day she made a chicken marsala with roasted asparagus and couscous. In the past, I would have been worried I\u2019d starve because there weren\u2019t enough carbs, but instead I was just so excited to try it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Make a move<\/p>\n

I grew up playing volleyball and running, but in my adulthood, that changed. I used to be what I call a \u201cbinge exerciser.\u201d I would start working out and exercise hard-core for 30 days and lose 1 pound and it just sucked. So then I wouldn\u2019t do anything.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t repeat that cycle on tirzepatide. During the eight months when I was losing the bulk of the weight, I just walked<\/a> for 30 minutes a day, and I reached my goal weight in that time. Now I lift weights two or three times a week, but I don\u2019t do it because I need to continue losing weight. I\u2019m just cognizant of the benefits. My husband has always gone to the gym a lot, and he would tell me I needed to work out to build muscle, and I\u2019d just say, \u201cI don\u2019t care!\u201d But now I\u2019ve learned that muscle-building is important for longevity<\/a>. It was painful at first, but your body has muscle memory. Mine is like, \u201cOh, I remember this!\u201d<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s get the bill<\/p>\n

Compounded tirzepatide<\/a> isn\u2019t cheap. At first, I was paying $650 a month for it. But now that there are more telehealth providers and there have been advancements in the field, I pay about half that.<\/p>\n

Even with that additional cost, I\u2019m still saving more money than I was before starting the medication. I think eating out is the key. My life was always centered around food, so that\u2019s a big change for me. My family and I used to eat out four times a week, which is a lot for anyone in the United States. We\u2019d easily spend $100 to $150 for the four of us each time we ate out.<\/p>\n

Now we mostly eat at home and I buy things in bulk. For example, I was at Costco and looking at a $30 slab of salmon. I can\u2019t believe that in the past we would spend so much money. My husband, kids and I would go out for dinner and each order salmon. Now we just cook it at home. I\u2019m now saving probably $400 a month on outings, and around $200 a month on groceries<\/a>, because I don’t buy two tubs of ice cream every two weeks now.<\/p>\n