Amanda lost 26 pounds and broke free from the weight roller coaster after ESG

I had completely given up hope that I would ever lose weight and keep it off. I’ve been on a weight roller coaster since I was a teenager. I’d lose 20 pounds and gain 30 pounds. Over and over again. I even lost 90 pounds once on medication. As soon as I came off the medicine, I gained 100 pounds. It didn’t matter what I did. I’ve tried so many different diets and I’d completely given up hope of ever losing weight and keeping it off. I stopped trying, ate what I wanted, and gave into every binge. At my heaviest I was 278 pounds. I started binge eating when I was 16 years old. I couldn’t control it and every time I would confess my binging to a doctor or a weight loss counselor their first question was always, “Do you purge too?” When I assured them that I didn’t and they looked relieved, I always felt like a failure because I couldn’t make myself throw up. I was prediabetic, had sleep apnea, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and more.

In the early Spring of 2025, my new endocrinologist looked at my lab results and said, “Amanda, this number isn’t “pre” diabetes, it IS DIABETES!” He said before he diagnosed it, he wanted to give me 3 months to improve my labs. I knew I had to do something, or my weight was going to kill me. In July 2025, I heard about Everself. I completed a consultation, during which I realized that it wasn’t the right time for me. I knew I had to do something but had no clue where to start. Then I saw a commercial for an app that would help me try GLP-1. Through them, I started Zepbound in September 2025.

This journey hasn’t been easy, and I knew exactly what would happen when I stopped taking Zepbound. I’ve done it before. I’d talk to people who were also on GLP1 and I’d asked them, “What’s your plan for when you come off the medicine?” Every one of them said some variation of, “I’ll figure that out later.” Or “I’m hoping by the time I get there that I won’t want to eat as much.” Hope is a powerful thing, but the reality is much darker sometimes. Remember, I’ve been here before, I’ve lost a significant amount of weight, and it never lasted. I knew I needed a new plan, and I needed it now, not after I was already off the medicine. So, I started researching and praying. One name kept coming up repeatedly, Everself. So, I thought, why not. I’ll just see. I started researching and comparing ESG to gastric bypass. I decided quickly that I’d rather have the ESG. So, I did another consultation and I scheduled my procedure for April 2026.

My procedure went smoothly, but about a week later I was out at a comedy show with my husband and I started having intense pains in my stomach that felt different from the after-procedure pain I had experienced. I ended up in the emergency room because of it. Even while I was 5 hours from Dr. Merritt and her team, they were calling and texting asking my ER doctor questions, even though it was way after office hours. I ended up on bed rest for a week. And they were still calling me every day to make sure I was getting enough protein and staying hydrated. I struggled with the liquid phase of my diet. I’ve lost weight after my ESG procedure, but that’s not why I chose to have it done. I had ESG because I knew that I needed something to get me off the weight roller coaster I’d been riding my entire adult life. I’m not chasing another diet anymore. I’m learning how to have a different relationship with food one meal, one choice, one day at a time. That has taken hard work, honesty, and commitment. ESG wasn’t the finish line for me. It gave me a tool, but I’ve had to put in the work every single day. I’m still learning, but for the first time in over 30 years, I don’t feel like I’m trapped on that roller coaster anymore!