She felt twice her age—until she lost 63 pounds with Found

In her 40 years, Heather Swenson, a resident of Massachusetts, has conquered many daunting life obstacles with a steadfast mixture of resolve, grit, and hard work.

Unemployment. Homelessness. A drug-addicted mother and abusive stepfather. Life as a single mother. Others may have given up or given in. But Heather found a way to overcome them all, finding steady employment, creating a comfortable home, and raising two daughters of whom she is proud.

And yet, there was that one thing, a force so powerful it seemed to defy Heather’s determination.

When her weight climbed toward 300 pounds, Heather realized it was finally time to face reality and fight what she had always accepted as fate. 

“One day, I sat down and had a serious conversation with myself,” she recalls. She was angry, depressed, and defeated, and she knew she had to take control. She told herself: “You’re a single mother with a family to support, and you have to be at your best. You’ve made it through so many things in life, and there’s no way you can lose a fight against food!”

That was the pivotal moment that motivated her to change. 

Heather’s backstory

On a first-ever Florida family vacation with her two daughters last year—one for which she carefully saved for years—Heather yearned to document and preserve the memories with photos. But just as she avoided the mirror, she eschewed the camera, fearing a reminder of reality. “I was bigger than I’d ever been and just hated how I looked,” she confesses. “How sad is that, a vacation with no pictures to look back on?” 

And worse, Heather’s jobs—one as a certified nursing assistant, the other as a waitress—were becoming increasingly challenging. Her enthusiasm, coupled with her outgoing personality, gave her what she needed to perform the jobs, but her body slowed her down. The pure physicality of it all—carrying, lifting, and moving patients—left her exhausted at the end of the day, with little strength for much else. 

At just 40, Heather felt twice her age, her knees constantly aching from carrying around excess weight. She struggled to stand up after sitting, and climbing the stairs was challenging. “I had to pull myself up by the handrail, using my arms,” she recalls, her knees too swollen and painful to assist.

Stuck in a cycle of bad eating habits—“I never realized that soda counted toward your calorie intake!” Heather continued to make poor food choices and indulge her cravings. She recalls baking an apple pie, compulsively taking forkfuls on her way to the bathroom in the middle of the night and into the next morning. By the next afternoon, the only evidence of the pie was an empty pan, a full stomach, and shame. “I knew it was wrong and wanted to stop so badly…but I just couldn’t help myself,” she says.

Determined to get healthier, Heather tried the gym—but her stiff body and self-conscious spirit kept her away. Diet pills, juice cleanses, keto gummies, and “just about any diet or thing I could find online” proved to be just quick fixes. The pounds came off sometimes, but they swiftly piled back on, often totaling more than what was lost.  “My weight affected everything in my life; I was so self-conscious all the time. My sisters live close by, but I hadn’t visited them for at least a year, for fear of them seeing how big I’d gotten.”

Moving forward

Heather was out of options—that is, until a conversation with her sister revealed a possible solution. Both her sister and a friend had lost weight with Found. Heather was intrigued and hopeful. After researching the program, she knew it was what she needed to do to lose the weight that had challenged her for so long.

From the moment she committed to Found on January 1, 2024, Heather has “gone all in and never stopped.” To date, she has lost 63 pounds* and is well on her way to her goal weight of 175 pounds. She praises “the learning, the coaching, and the ‘habit changers’ (like swapping water for soda)” for her weight loss. “Now I can run up the stairs and do squats while exercising. It’s an amazing feeling!”

Along with lifestyle changes, Heather credits zonisamide, an antiepileptic drug prescribed off-label for weight loss, for reducing her appetite and quashing her constant food cravings. (Note: Zonisamide isn’t advised for people with certain conditions or risk factors. People who are allergic to sulfa drugs should not take zonisamide. Find detailed side effect and risk information on our zonisamide medication page.) 

These days, whether she's at the gym, on a walk, or “turning on Spotify and dancing with my arm weights,” Heather says her lighter body has made her mind lighter, too: She has now overcome an obstacle that had frustrated her and been out of reach for so long.

About Found

Found is among the largest medically-supported telehealth weight care clinics in the country, having served more than 250,000 members to date. To discover your MetabolicPrint™ and start your journey with Found, take our quiz.

*Heather is a real user who was paid for this appearance. Individual results vary. Found clinicians work with patients to determine the best option for each subscriber, but the ultimate decision as to whether a patient is qualified for a medication rests with the provider. This content does not provide medical advice and does not substitute for a consultation with a doctor or healthcare provider.