MidLife Health, Wellness & Role of GLP1
3 Heart Attacks in 2 weeks. WAKE UP.
When I moved to Puerto Rico, I was beginning my own REera, chasing a slower lifestyle, sun, saltwater, joy, fishy friends I was in my RE era. REcreating my life. REbuilding myself. Living more honestly. No makeup. No salon hair. No manicures. I stopped policing my plate and my wine glass because restriction felt like betrayal, and I was all about authenticity. I was happy, laughing so hard with my pirate boyfriend that I woke up needing Advil. Here’s what I missed: I was 240 pounds. My blood pressure could have powered a rocket. My cholesterol panel? It came with an extreme cardiac risk sticker. I learned all of that after three heart attacks. They hit at home. More later on how poorly my decisions were, but I was incredibly lucky. Gratitude? Check. Trauma? Also check. After the third one, my denial died. Enter the cardiologist. Six daily meds: blood pressure medications, beta blockers, statins, blood thinners, and nitroglycerin in my bag (casual purse accessory). He put me on the Mediterranean diet for nine months. I followed it. I kept getting sicker. So I asked for a prescription for a GLP-1. His response: “I don’t believe in that sort of thing.” Translation: he hadn’t done his homework yet. I made a brave and bold choice. I decided to help my own damn self, researched the heck out of it, and chose a telehealth company, (Emerge, and I stayed with them the whole time- wonderful)and a compounding pharmacy to start Tirzepatide. I decided I’d rather be alive for my REbuild, than stubbornly dead-compliant with my Doctor's outdated advice. (spoiler alert...it worked out great). Then came Day 11.
The Day the Magic Showed Up & Showed Off!
I took a few bites of lunch, set my fork down, and for literally the first time in my life I felt satisfied. Not stuffed. Not physically full, just “done.” And here’s the wild part: that “done” was a thought, not a physical sensation. My whole life, “full” or "enough" meant bloat. This was new. Clean. Quiet. Odd. Something was missing, and it took me a good while to name it. The constant chatter about food I had lived with dropped to the background. We have come to call this "Food Noise." I was 56, and my normal for my whole LIFE was either chasing food or regretting food, or alcohol or shopping. Always in pursuit. Always negotiating. Always thinking about the next bite. People who could eat half a sandwich and walk away were unicorns to me, probably also good at paying taxes and keeping houseplants alive. Suddenly, I was one of them. Here is the plot twist no one tells you about: when food stops working as your comfort, distraction, reward, or stress sedative, the feelings show up. Not cute. Without the quick dopamine from food or wine running interference, my ADHD stepped into the light. So I had to learn who I am, raw. Hyper-distracted. A daydreamer. Emotional and highly sensitive. Curious as hell. Never settling for surface level in anything, whether that is a conversation or the ocean. The ADHD showed up and I finally understood “neurospicy.” Back then I did not even know what dopamine was, much less that I was chronically short of it. That is when the real REbuild began.
GLP1 without Hype
Science, Facts & Data combined with actual lived experience, This GLP1 guide explains how they work, the real risks and benefits for women in midlife, plateaus and peptides, and the mindset that makes changes stick. Practical, shame free, science aware, so you can make informed choices about metabolic health. Info on Ozembic = Wegovy = Semaglutide and Mounjaro = Zepbound = Tirzepitide plus current date on the upcoming new Retatrutide, the triple agonist that Ruthie takes for maintenance.
Food Noise vs Cravings vs Satiety & the ADHD connection
For years I thought “full” was a stomach feeling. Pressure. Bloat. The thing that makes you stop because you are uncomfortable or because a diet app says so. On GLP-1 I learned satiety can be a thought. A clear “done.” No drama. That one shift made everything else click. Food noise: the nonstop radio in my head about eating. Plans. Deals. Negotiations. I owned a restaurant. I could dream up food, talk about food, watch other people cook it, and then eat whatever I wanted. Dopamine fireworks. Of course the radio was loud. It was getting rewarded. Cravings: the urgent target. Chocolate at midnight. Shoes on. Keys. I have driven to a 7-Eleven in pajamas. That is not willpower failure. That is a brain chasing a hit. Here is what I did not know. My brain is neurospicy. My ADHD had been steering the reward system since childhood. Shopping habits. Menu obsession. The constant tilt toward “more.” I had a diagnosis since I was six and never connected it to food or the way I soothed myself. I did not even know what dopamine was, much less that I lived low on it.
Getting REacquainted with me & my brain. (kinda cool)
Research says GLP-1 rides the gut-brain highway and talks to the circuits that make food feel urgent. For me, someone finally turned down the static. Cravings lost voltage. The thought “I’m done” could finally be heard. So I got to meet the real me. Hyper distracted (squirrel). Daydreamer (wait, what were we talking about). Emotional and highly sensitive (yes, I cry at commercials). Insatiably curious. Surface level never satisfies, of anything. When food stopped being my coping mechanism, the feelings walked in unfiltered, unsubtle, not cute. Also not the end of the world. Why This Matters Noise = a thought loop on repeat. Craving = an urge, not a mandate. Hunger = a body cue, not an emergency. Satiety = the quiet “done” thought. Listen to it. Try This Now: ask “Brain or body?” If brain, pause for two minutes. If craving, give it a container. If you hear “done,” stop. That is satiety, not guilt or rules. That is you. Apparently this is how we are designed to work. If you have been chasing dopamine and not knowing why, now life can make a little more sense. I had to get REacquainted with myself. Cool, huh!
GLP1s; The Future of Metabolic Health (no, really)
For years I thought “full” was a stomach feeling. Pressure. Bloat. The thing that makes you stop because you are uncomfortable or because a diet app says so. On GLP-1 I learned satiety can be a thought. A clear “done.” No drama. That one shift made everything else click. Food noise: the nonstop radio in my head about eating. Plans. Deals. Negotiations. I owned a restaurant. I could dream up food, talk about food, watch other people cook it, and then eat whatever I wanted. Dopamine fireworks. Of course the radio was loud. It was getting rewarded. Cravings: the urgent target. Chocolate at midnight. Shoes on. Keys. I have driven to a 7-Eleven in pajamas. That is not willpower failure. That is a brain chasing a hit. Here is what I did not know. My brain is neurospicy. My ADHD had been steering the reward system since childhood. Shopping habits. Menu obsession. The constant tilt toward “more.” I had a diagnosis since I was six and never connected it to food or the way I soothed myself. I did not even know what dopamine was, much less that I lived low on it.
