Body Positivity and Weight Loss Drugs

So I was minding my own business. And scrolling through the internet as as one does, and came upon a Wall Street Journal article talked about the collision of two things that I really don’t care for body positivity, and weight loss drugs. So before I go any further I want to talk about or share with you let you know that this is really, this is really about love. I believe that true love is accountability. I’ve never been, and I’m not and never will be somebody who will say, you’re just great, you’re perfect just the way you are. I’m not a person who’s gonna say, oh, that’s just so and so that’s just the way so and so is No, I am aware of the limitless nature of human potential. I see people do incredible things every day. I believe in the human spirit, all of these things triumph of the individual. I love greatness. And I detest the opposite of it. mediocrity, complacency, I just, I can’t stand it, I think it’s a horrible thing. I think the potential is one of the worst things in the world. And then the flip side is to see people perform at the highest level and to do things that maybe they’ve realized they could do, or they thought that they couldn’t do. It’s, I think that’s the best thing. I love seeing really fit people at the gym. I think that that’s great. But more. So I love seeing people who are out of shape, who are working out. When I drive past somebody who is overweight and they’re running or go for a walk, I think that that’s awesome. Because that means that these people are working on making changes to their lifestyle, to their habits, all of these things to become a healthier, better version of themselves. So that’s where I’m coming from, for I start being negative, so I don’t like to be negative. I don’t know if that’s true or not. I like being positive. I don’t mind being negative. I don’t want to be critical. Anyway. Two things I don’t like body positivity. And these new weight loss drugs, this Wall Street Journal article that came out talking about how these two things are apparently not compatible with one another. And I will link the article in the notes so you could check it out. But pretty interesting that this body positivity movement. How however long it’s been around, I think that we’re all aware of it. And plus size models and all this stuff. I think it is a terrible trend. I think it is preposterous, I think it is. The emperor has no clothes, kind of a thing. I don’t think that anybody truly believes that it’s a good thing. But there’s probably some people out there, and the people out there who do think it’s a good thing or people who are making money off of it. So I don’t like body positivity again and mentioned, you know, You’re perfect just the way you are. That’s a fine song. But it’s terrible life advice. I believe that our prime directive as human beings, the driving force behind our existence, is that we must realize our ultimate potential. That’s what I believe. So that is the spirit that drives me to get up early, to do uncomfortable things, and to do it every day. To make sure that I am actualizing and becoming the best possible version of me now. That’s what I think you might think I’m nuts. You might think I’m wrong. It’s fine. Great. So body positivity. I also believe that there’s a right and wrong, I believe that there is true and false. And that spirit. Is it harmful to a human being to be overweight? Yes, it is. Is it harmful to human beings health to be obese? Yes, it is. Is diabetes bad? Yes. Does being overweight lead to that? Yes. Does it lead to heart disease? Yes. Does it lead to chronic conditions? Yes. So I’m not going to tell somebody who’s experiencing those catastrophic health events, that they’re fine just the way they are and they should feel good about It that flies in the face of everything that I know to be true and everything that I believe. So there’s that. And then I read about how you can’t keep ozempic and other weight loss drugs on the shelf, they’re just selling like hotcakes. And all of a sudden, what happened to body positivity? Well, it turns out that people are more interested in not being horribly overweight. And when they have the opportunity to take some kind of medication or have a medical intervention to do that, they’re more interested in doing that. So those two things are certainly at odds. Harmful beauty standards? aside, the dangers of ozempic aside, that’s just what is happening. So a lot of people are abandoning, it seems, the body positivity, the idea, the movement, all of those things in favor of being thin via weight loss drugs, not interested in changing lifestyle, not interested in, in developing what it takes to actually be a healthy person, they’re interested in taking a pill to lose weight. So there’s that. I spend time thinking about what I rather do people want to be wealthy, or do you want to appear to be wealthy? And that’s a very interesting thing that I’ve spent a good amount of time thinking about. This is similar. It’s Do you want to be healthy, or do you want to appear to be healthy. And if you are somebody who is kind of falls into the camp that I’ve been talking about, well, if you’ve taken a weight loss drug, you’re somebody who just wants to appear to be healthy, because it’s out of the frying pan out of the fire into the frying pan out of the frying pan into the fire. That’s what going from being obese to losing weight, what those Empik really is. And I keep referring to the medication by its by its name, I know there’s many of them. And hopefully, some are better than others. But the reality of it is that these weight loss drugs are terrible for you. You’re not just losing bad weight, you’re not just losing fat, you are losing connective tissue, you are losing bone density, you are losing muscle mass, what these drugs do is it catalyzes a horrible, horrible, horrible, horrible condition called sarcopenia. sarcopenia is typically what happens when we get old. And we start to essentially waste away. You know, old people become small, become very frail. They suffer from osteoporosis, and all these terrible things. Well, that’s, that’s what these weight loss drugs are doing to you, you might not know it, if you are taking them, you must, you really ought to be aware. Not good, very bad. So it really is a function of if you are not going to make a substantive change in your life through lifestyle, changing nutrition, changing exercise habits, you’re really picking your poison. Don’t want to be overweight. Do I want to start the sarcopenia process when I am a young person? I mean, think about it, your teenager, your parents, and you’re putting kids on these drugs, these the effects of sarcopenia you can’t undo them. They’re permanent. You can’t get bone density back once you lose it. So this is a it’s a very, very, very scary thing to me. So but play it out. Better to be obese or better to have sarcopenia. That’s a pretty tricky one. How’s life going to be 10 years from now? 20 years from now 30 years from now I want you to play it out. play out the logical conclusion to your behavior. What’s the best possible scenario? Lose weight, you’re skinny. Okay. Well, with being overweight and obese, I don’t think that there’s a best possible scenario. But the worst possible scenario or just just do logical. It’s spoiler alert. It’s just not a healthy none of these are solutions. body positivity is not a solution to anything. Weight Loss drugs are not a solution to anything. You’re trading your problems.

instead, instead, why not? Why not actually address the problems and start making some change. And I want to be positive here because again, I know, you go on the internet, and you look at before and after pictures of people that made the commitment and they wanted to lose weight, change the bodies, change the lives, they do it all the time, I find those to be credibly inspiring and motivating. And whatever your reasoning is, for making change, that’s a pretty powerful one. I am have been really focused on changing my health and my diet, nutrition and exercise over the past several years. And that’s because I want to be strong, and be able to be as active as I can be, for as long as I can be. I’ve got three kids now. And the baby is three weeks old. So I know as a 44 year old, that I better, I better start working out, I better start getting stronger, I better start getting more flexible, so I have more energy. So I have the ability to chase these kids around. And then have a great standard of life I’m interested in and having a long life but also having a great life. So I want I want lifespan, I want health span, two really, really important things. What about you? So I think that if you are there’s somebody who odds are because I needed it, we all need to be improving our lifestyle and improving the choices that we’re making, and all that kind of stuff. There’s six things that I want to go through with you briefly. So number one is, what do you want? By the same the only way to live, how you want us to know how you want to live? What do you want? Do you want the ability to be more active? Do you want the ability to be able to play with your kids? Do you want the ability to pick up a hobby to play pickleball? Whatever? What do you want? You need to figure that out? Then whatever it is that you want to do? Number two is Do you know how to do those things? So if you’re trying to become a more active, healthier person, if you want a healthier body? It’s it’s a lot. There’s no two ways about it. Nutrition. There’s a lot going on there. So do you need to learn about your nutrition? Do you need to learn about how to eat correctly macros and all that stuff? Do you know how to do that? Do you know how to exercise? And it seems so obvious, but it’s not? Maybe you’re not aware if you lack literacy in those areas. So where can you get the resources that you need? If you’re watching this on YouTube, there are an infinite number of reads literally an infinite number of videos on all of these. And perhaps that is that’s kind of part of the problem. But just get started with it, start learning about it. Number three is the really heavy one. Because we need to get down to what your beliefs are, what your actual beliefs are about your body, about exercise, about eating, because we make decisions emotionally about most everything. And if we’re not aware of the way that we’re feeling about things, well, it’s going to have a profoundly negative effect and is probably responsible for why it is that you are the way that you are today. So if you are overweight, i i bet wager that you have a negative relationship with food. You think about how we interact with food. When we’re kids, we got ice cream, or we did something good or it’s a celebration. It’s just we have this emotional connection with food or perhaps there’s trauma that you’ve been carrying around with you with food. But just exploring that, and then when it comes to exercise, do you think that you’re somebody who is an athlete? Are you athletic? I personally, although I’m not competing in any kind of a sport, I identify as an athlete, I identify as a competitor. I’m not competing against anybody else other than me, time, all these things, but that’s what I am. I don’t know, do you? Do you know how to silly as it sounds? Do you know how to go for a run? Do you understand how to stretch? Do you understand how to lift weights? You know, it’s totally fine. If you don’t, these are foreign things. If you’ve never done them, then you won’t know how to do it. You need to get the resources. So figure out what your beliefs are about these things. Number four is make a plan. Is it possible to lose 100 pounds in a year? It’s possible but unlikely. can you lose 100 pounds in three years? Yes, I think You really could. So think about whatever it is you want to do in three year increments, because making huge substantive changes can happen fast. But I want these changes to be sustainable for you. So make a three year plan. And just know, we’re going to wish that things came a lot faster. But these changes take time, especially as we get older gets just a lot harder. So give yourself the grace, execute on your three year plan. Number five is get the support that you need. I mean, self discipline, I love it. It’s one of my favorite things in the whole world. But that’s like a muscle. It’s a skill. If I don’t possess it right now. Well, I’m not automatically going to have it. So structure first, then self discipline. So where can we get the support? Perhaps we can find somebody that we can work out with, perhaps there’s a meal prep service that we can invest in, maybe we can join a gym and get a trainer? Maybe there’s there’s communities of people that can help you with diet and exercise all these things? And the answer is there certainly are. It’s just a matter of seeking them out finding them. And then finally, number six is, is start executing on your plan. As you do that, all these wonderful things happen. You develop confidence, you develop self discipline, you develop belief, and you develop habits, which will help you to create sustainable, lifelong habits. And that’s really what, what we’re looking for. So again, figure out what you want. fill in any gaps of knowledge literacy. So do you know how to do it? What are your beliefs about nutrition, food, eating, exercising, working out, put a plan together for three years, which you need to be doing every day, find the support that you need, and then start just getting into work. Start doing the work, not glamorous, not supposed to be? Do uncomfortable things know that it’s going to take time. And then one day, you’ll look back and you think that whole body positivity thing that was pretty silly. I was just kind of making excuses and trying to make myself feel okay. And I don’t want you to feel bad about yourself. Not I don’t I don’t want you to feel bad. But I also don’t want you to feel like it’s okay. But it’s not. It’s not healthy. And when we start to take shortcuts with taking drugs or interventions like that, these do more harm than I think that they do good. That’s probably pretty neck and neck. Anyway, you’re somebody who who can have the life that you want. You are deserving of a great life, but you’re not entitled to it requires work. Lifespan healthspan requires work requires sacrifice. But you can do it. You can absolutely do it. So start doing it. Remember, do your part. Doing your best

Transcribed by https://otter.ai