How Kristen Lost 55 Lbs With Zepbound After Breast Cancer and Years of Yo-Yo Dieting
Kristen found hope after cancer when Zepbound helped her overcome a lifelong weight struggle
Kristen Gryskevich, 51, found weight to be a struggle throughout her life, but when she gave birth to her two boys in 2001 and 2005 and her weight reached more than 220 lbs at 5 ‘9 lbs, she decided to try different strategies to shake the baby weight.
After turning 40, Kristen took up running and was able to complete six and a half marathons and multiple 5K races. Between running and eating a high-protein diet, her weight fell off. But the impact on her body and traveling for her son’s baseball games and tournaments made it difficult to stick with that routine.
“My knees struggled, and life got busy as we spent a lot of time on the road with travel baseball,” Kristen explains. “The weight slowly crept back on.”
Woman's World Answers
Kristen found herself in a pattern of yo-yo dieting
In 2019, Kristen started doing Orangetheory classes four to five times a week. Between diet and the classes, she was able to lose 30 lbs. When the pandemic hit in 2020 and workout studios closed, she found it difficult to keep up with her previous routine.
Kristen found herself in a repeated pattern of yo-yo dieting. Even when she wanted to get back into a routine and try another diet, she suddenly had even bigger health challenges to think about.
In August 2021, Kristen was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a lumpectomy and full reconstruction in September 2021.
“Because my cancer was ER-PR+, that meant that for the next 10 years, I need to take a hormone blocker so that the cancer does not come back,” explains Kristen. “Tamoxifen and no hormones made any sense of losing weight impossible. I tried anything and everything. I did fasting, I ate high protein, I logged everything that I was eating and I was walking. Nothing was happening and I was frustrated.”
Kristen lost 55 lbs with Zepbound
After surviving cancer and never seeing the numbers move on the scale, Kristen tried to accept her weight and live with it. But in March 2024, after learning about Zepbound and how it could work for weight loss, Kristen made an appointment with her doctor to see if it might be a good fit.
“I made an appointment with my doctor and was prepared for him to say no due to my history with cancer, but he agreed to try,” Kristen explains.
Kristen’s oncologist and her doctor felt okay letting her start with 2.5 mg for about two months and then slowly move up in dose every couple of months. The following month, she moved up to 5 mg and stayed at that dose for two months before moving to 7.5 mg, where she remained for the next six months. In October 2024, Kristen increased to 10 mg every two weeks after plateauing. But next month in May, she plans to move back down to 7.5 mg, as she wants to maintain. To date, Kristen has lost 55 lbs.
What is Zepbound & how does it work?
For some people, opting for weight loss medications makes a big difference in their overall journey, as was the case with Kristen. We spoke to experts to understand more about Zepbound and how it works to support people like Kristen with weight loss.
“Zepbound is the brand name for Tirzepatide, which is an injectable weight loss medication,” explains Paul Rosenberg, MD, a board-certified plastic surgeon and head plastic surgeon at the New Jersey Breast Reduction Center, where he often treats patients with GLPs before performing surgery after their weight loss. “It was originally developed for Type 2 diabetes under the brand name Mounjaro. It differs from (and in my opinion is far superior to) the other injectable weight loss medications in its dual-action mechanism, meaning that it attaches to both the GLP-1 (glucagon-like protein) and GIP glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) receptors, whereas most other weight loss drugs only target GLP-1. This dual action enhances appetite regulation and energy balance more effectively than single-pathway agents such as Ozempic (Semaglutide).”
How does Zepbound support weight loss?
Zepbound supports weight loss by mimicking the body’s natural hormonal processes related to weight regulation.
“Zepbound acts like your body’s natural GIP and GLP-1 hormones to help you feel full longer, curb your appetite, and reduce food cravings,” explains Christina Aungst, PharmD, Senior Pharmacy Editor at GoodRx. “It also helps lower blood sugar and limits how much sugar your liver makes – all of which can support weight loss. Zepbound works the same for both men and women. But it’s common for women to gain weight after menopause. Weight-loss medications, including Zepbound, may be one potential option to help you to lose weight after menopause.”
Why she finally feels like she’s in a good place with her weight
In addition to finding success with Zepbound, Kristen has also changed her eating habits, which she has found to be easy with Zepbound quieting her food noise. She prioritizes whole foods, protein, veggies and fruit while maintaining a calorie deficit. For breakfast, she may have a protein shake with protein yogurt, berries and protein granola. For lunch, she might have high-protein chicken soup, hummus and vegetables and fruit. When she gets home for the day, she may reach for Clean Simple Eats clear protein drink, and for dinner, grilled chicken and vegetables like broccoli are her go-tos. She generally avoids fatty and fried foods but will still have one of her favorites: pizza, in moderation.
Now that Kristen has her diet plan down, she plans to focus this summer on building more of a routine around working out, but she’s at a happy place with her weight and overall health.
“I feel great and finally something has worked for me,” says Kristen. “I would consider myself now a perfect healthy weight.”
Conversation
All comments are subject to our Community Guidelines. Woman's World does not endorse the opinions and views shared by our readers in our comment sections. Our comments section is a place where readers can engage in healthy, productive, lively, and respectful discussions. Offensive language, hate speech, personal attacks, and/or defamatory statements are not permitted. Advertising or spam is also prohibited.
