33 Things to Make Your Zepbound Journey More Joyful

You’ve talked to your doctor. You’ve made a big decision. You’re taking control of your health with Zepbound.

Now, what are you in for? And what will you need?

I can’t answer what it will be like for you…every body is different and reacts differently to medical treatment.

But, I can give you this list of 33 things that made my 15-month and 70-pound weight loss journey on Mounjaro (the name for Zepbound before it was approved for weight loss) easier and more joyful.

I’ve broken the list into six categories: Clothes, Eats, Drinks, Vitamins, Support, and Everything Else. But before I give you that information, here is a pro-tip to save you tons of money.

PRO TIP: There will be a savings card from Eli Lilly that can cut the cost of Zepbound to $25 a month for qualifying users. The link to sign up for that upcoming savings card is HERE.

For an easy shoppable list check out my Benable Page HERE or my Amazon Storefront HERE. A link to sign up for invite only Benable is HERE.

Clothes for Your Zepbound Weight Loss Journey

Let’s start with the fun stuff! You’re going to need a lot of new clothes! These pieces helped me through my WHOLE journey.

Good American Always Fit Jeans: Check them out HERE.

These bad boys fit four sizes with one pair. They’re great jeans that make me feel good. Which is rare when you’re constantly adjusting and reevaluating what fits your body–and what your body feels like–during weight loss.

The Always Fit Jean is also one of the few wardrobe pieces that lasted at least six months on this journey.

Snag these as soon as you see them in stock because they’ve sold out many times.

Lounging & Errand Clothes

Cozy clothes that are warm and cute to help make you feel good in mind and body when the side effects of emotions or physical sensations make you feel a little weird.

Sweatsuits are great to get you through a few sizes on your journey. Styles are endless now, from sport to chic. Amazon has a a huge variety for really great prices. I signed up for Amazon’s Try Before You Buy program and it was awesome to get to try before I bought it without having to go into a store and fumble with sizes and awkward interactions with shop attendants.

Find my favorite Amazon Sweatsuits HERE.

Black Compression Leggings, aka Mom’s Uniform

We obviously can’t forget my daily uniform. I like these Athleta compression leggings.

Compression leggings make me feel better about lessening loose skin possibilities and in my head makes everything happen faster.

Also, they trick me into feeling less cold? I don’t know why but this is a journey about doing what’s right for you. And it feels right for me!

Grab the Athleta leggings HERE.

Toasty Toes

One weird side effect of the drug for me was being cold. Especially the evening I took my shot and the next evening.

I wore compression socks with woolen socks over them to bed and was able to happily sleep…at least until the wild dreams kicked in…More on that HERE.

I really like THESE bombas socks and THESE woolen socks. The compression socks also made me feel like I was helping my body with ‘lymph drainage’ and sped up weight loss. I’m sure that any benefit was psychosomatic if it was true at all…but it’s all about following your own health path.

If you’re looking for new BAGS or SCARVES check out those two links for Mamalennial’s best finds of the season.

Health Community Connection for Zepbound Patients

This is a journey that can have a lot of ups and downs (not just the numbers on the scale). With everything from dealing with insurance to unqualified pop culture commenters takes on treatment, to adjusting to how your body feels and moves differently.

Online Community Support for Zepbound Patients

I think it’s crucial to have a solid community around you that is focused on this health-forward path. I wasn’t comfortable discussing my decision to get on a GLP-1 medicine with anyone in my real life. But I found great online community in TikTok. The GLP-1 community on tiktok is full of obesity doctors (some of whom were on Mounjaro), patients, pharmacy reps, and people that want to learn what taking the drug is like. If you’re not comfortable sharing with those around you in the 3-D world, tiktok is a solid option to get a community feel.

Telehealth with Obesity Informed Doctors for Zepbound Treatment

Perhaps the most important support I had was from a doctor educated on the medicine, obesity science, PCOS, and a variety of other conditions that impact weight loss success. I encountered resistance, disbelief about how I was presenting my information and symptoms, and appointment delays.

So, I turned to Alpha Medical, a telehealth group that specializes in treating women. I found the doctors patient in discussing (via patient portal emails) each medicine option, any changes I was interested in making, and even insurance hassles as the payment landscape changed over the year.

They also were very responsive with other unrelated health issues that popped up over the year. It’s hard to beat an on-call doctor that you don’t have to sit in a germ-filled waiting room to see.

Drinks Great for Easing My Zepbound Symptoms

Hydration is so important. It can’t be overstated. Here are the five drinks I’ve had on hand during this journey. In addition to these, I’ve been experimenting with teas as a substitute for times other folks are drinking or eating food that I’m not interested in sharing.

1. Fairlife Protein Shakes: This is a favorite brand in the community. Recommend subscribing to this delivery bimonthly from Amazon as it can otherwise be hard to find in flavors you want. Also, users seem to correlate higher protein intake with less hair loss in the tiktok community. Sign up for subscription HERE.
2. Premier Protein Shakes: Chocolate is my favorite. Can buy in bulk at Costco and on Amazon. Premier Protein shakes are available widely and have a lot of favors to choose from. This is how I start my day and I very rarely feel nauseous. Order these HERE and you won’t have to lug them through a parking lot.
3. Liquid I.V.s: This brand is a little more expensive for electrolyte powder- but I’ve never heard a bad review. Pick these up HERE.
4. Gatorade: I liked these chilled in the fridge and easy to grab. Electrolytes helped me so much. Great prices on these HERE.
5. Propel Powders: I like to have some of these in my purse to mix into water. It helps with my nausea. Check out flavors and order HERE.
6. Pure Peppermint Tea: This has been soothing. Link HERE.

Food, that’s Good Even When Nothing Looks Good on Zepbound

There were times on Mounjaro (now called Zepbound) when no food was really appetizing at all. I found these three things were flavors that I tolerated well and when incorporated onto larger plates with variety gave me a ‘safe food’ to wipe my pallet clean.

1. Saltine Crackers: Buy 4 boxes. You’ll go through them. Link HERE.
2. Tonkotsu Ramen: This brand of ramen is really yummy and a little more upscale. These are such a great base for easy tasty meal. Add chicken, pork, tofu or egg. Come with great spicy sauce packet. Satisfied my new salty tooth after my sweet tooth left the building. Link HERE.
3. Bone Broths: I liked these on their own as warm drinks, but I also loved the flavor these added to rice and potato based dishes I made for the whole family. Made those meals more appetizing. Link HERE.

Vitamins I Liked on Zepbound

These vitamins helped me feel better. Do I know they worked, like, scientifically? Not exactly. But the community as a whole in lots of different online forums seems to agree. Talk to your doctor about anything you’re pairing with your GLPs–whether it’s Zepbound, Mounjaro, Wegovy or Ozempic.

1. Collagen Gummies: Helped stop my hair loss. I liked the Vital Proteins and Nature Bound brands. They’ve both made a noticeable difference for me in stopping hair loss that occurs for some at higher doses. Link HERE.
2. Vitamin B Complex Vitamins: B Vitamins help me with energy the day after shot day. Linked HERE.
3. Vitamin D3 K2: I wasn’t eating as much and vitamins felt really important. Especially because I started in the fall when there was already less sun. Link HERE.
4. Gentle Iron: I ate a lot less meat because I felt full faster. Getting iron in was helpful. However, iron can constipate some people and so can the GLPs. So choose a gentle iron if you feel like iron is something you want to do after talking with your doctor. It worked best for me when paired with a probiotic. Link HERE.
5. Pure Vitamin E Oil: Great help for my skin. Link HERE.

Mental Health Aids for Zepbound Journey

In a world with tons of opinions about this particular medical treatment, it’s important to stay connected to yourself on your Zepbound Journey. Check out my list for great resources for goal setting, dream journals and reward charts on Benable HERE.

1. Dream Journal: You’ll have some wiiiild dreams after shots. It was helpful for me to jot them down.
2. Dream Dictionary: I also liked looking up the symbols and themes of my dream. It helped me process what my mind was letting go of as my body was shedding weight.
3. Reward Chart: Some days you feel really yucky. Having a reward chart to visualize the progress I was making was helpful.
4. Goal Setting Book: Almost immediately the food noise stopped and realized I had a ton more space in my brain for everything else I wanted to do. Get yourself something to help you sort your goals out with this new functional brain.
5. Goal Setting Journal: This can be an emotional journey with lots of varied reactions from the public and people close to you. Having a space to jot down your thoughts and feelings is important.

Last but not Least, Zepbound Essentials

Odds and ends that will come in handy on this health improvement journey. Talk to your doctor about anything you’re pairing with your GLPs. Check out my list of Zepbound Essentials on BENABLE HERE.

1. Alcohol Wipes: These are a MUST. Use this to wipe the skin before you inject yourself. Also, TikTok swears by smelling these to stop moments of acute nausea.
2. Pepto Bismol: Yeah. This was useful. And the chewables to go saved me a few times.
3. Probiotics: Keeping your gut healthy and moving is helpful for me because the medicine slows down your processing by design.
4. Camelback Water Bottle: The more water you drink the better. I love these water bottles. They last forever and you can replace all the small washable parts.
5. Measuring Tape: Measuring tapes are useful when you feel like the scale has stalled. Also, most telehealth obesity providers require your waist measurement in appointments.
6. Honeydew Hot Cream: This went viral in the mounjaro community on tiktok. Especially targeted at necks with loosening skin as folks lost weight quickly. Does it work? I mean…if I remember to use it, I feel like I can tell a difference in tightening. Bit a lot of people swear by it. LINKED HERE.