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Happy Sunday FS friends,
So as part of my Food Addiction program, we had a Zoom call with a Doctor who is an accredited obesity expert that runs an obesity program down east. The talk revolved around how obesity is a chronic disease, how the new medications are changing lives for obese people and how just taking a medication alone doesn't solve the problem. It is a disease that requires a multi pronged approach which aside from the meds also requires long term lifestyle changes, food counselling, introspection regarding our relationship with food, some cognitive behaviour therapy and a willingness to love oneself enough to make those changes. All of this should be done with medical monitoring (which I have) and a solid support network which I certainly have found here on FS.
She also talked about the stigma of medications. The widespread perception that somehow taking Contrave or Ozempic or similar is cheating. How obese people are stigmatised for being weak willed and that the simple solution is to just eat less and move more. As a person who has been on diets since childhood, I can attest to just how hard this can be. I remember one in the 90's - the Dr Bernstein program - expensive, B12 shots, extremely limited options as to intake 600-700 cals/day, regular weigh ins and verging on abusive treatment. I did everything they asked of me and yes I did lose a little bit of weight, but not at the rate they wanted. Ketosis just wasn't something my body wanted to go into. At the time they accused me of cheating. Well I hadn't. A few months in, my dad passed suddenly and stress around that ended my participation in that particular program. It was more than I could reasonably handle. I knew other people that had success with it, however every single one of them gained back and more. It became clear that living such a restricted diet is not sustainable nor did it build habits for long term success.
I look at my own journey this go round. The first few months, I was obsessing over spearmint gummies and cinnamon buns. Dreaming of food. However, my want to control blood pressure and get off medications was a strong motivator to stay the course. Did not want to stroke out and leave my furbabies in limbo.
Once I started Ozempic, everything changed. For the first time in my life, food wasn't yelling at me 24/7. There is such peace in the silence. Is the weight magically melting away because of the drug? No. What it does let me do though is make better decisions as to what I put in my mouth as the urgency is gone. That I actually feel satiated after eating has also been a novel experience. I'm trying to tackle my issues through the food addiction program, the gym and am working hard to love myself more. That some of my issues have been rooted in biochemistry all along has been a bit of a vindication. I had totally bought into the whole weak willed, less than societal norm regarding obese people. To find out that there was so much more to this disease than I ever imagined has been spirit lifting and incentive to keep on at it, one day at a time. Easy? No. Easier? Yes.
Over and out
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1196 kcal
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Líp: 39,09g | Prot: 123,93g | Carbs : 105,53g.
Pequeno Almoço: Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Protein Powder Creamy Chocolate Fudge, GNC Wheybolic Classic Vanilla. Almoço: Clover Leaf Seafoods Flaked Light Tuna Garlic and Hot Pepper, Everything Veggie Salad, Kraft Classic Caesar Dressing. Jantar: Chicken Stew with Root vegetables. Snacks/Outros: Dastony Hazelnut Butter, Honeycrisp Apples, GNC Wheybolic Classic Vanilla, Orgain Organic Protein Plant Based Protein Powder Creamy Chocolate Fudge. mais...
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