40 Pounds Later

I used to think people on GLP-1s were taking the easy way out. Then, at 60, I became one of them.

It wasn’t an easy yes. The needle. The side effects. The cost. And whether I’d be on it for life.

I weighed 262 pounds at my doctor’s office in January. Over the months that followed, I lost 40 pounds.

I’ve always lived to eat. The drug turned down the wanting. What worried me was losing muscle along with the fat. My plan for that was the weight bench in my basement. I still haven’t used it.

40 Pounds Later is a short account of what happened along the way: the five-second countdown before every Saturday shot, the side effects I actually experienced, and what I pay out of pocket.

I also wrestle with things I haven’t settled. What does taking medication for decades mean? How much of the work did I really do? And do I still think it’s the easy way out?

The book includes 10 questions to bring to your doctor, with space to write down the answers.

I’m not a doctor or a fitness expert. I’m a husband, father, software guy, and pickleball player sharing what happened to me. This isn’t medical advice or an argument for anyone to take a GLP-1.

If you’re a man in your 50s or 60s who hasn’t made up his mind, I wrote this for you. It’s short enough to read in an evening.

About the author

I’m Jeff Holway. I’m 60, live in Connecticut, and spend my time playing pickleball and being a husband and dad. I enjoy pickleball so much I built an app for it, The Crew.

I’ve spent my career in software sales, not medicine. When I started a GLP-1, I was skeptical, nervous about the injections, and unsure what to expect.

Forty pounds later, I decided to write the book I wish I could have read before starting.

I’m not a doctor. Just a regular guy sharing what happened.