Beware of Magic Pills - The Weight Loss Drug Craze
It’s no secret the hottest topic right now is the emergence of weight loss drugs such as ozempic and other semaglutide that promise to help you lose weight fast. I’m still doing my research on it and have listened to podcasts, read articles, and even talked to people who have already had experiences with it. As a fitness professional for over 15 years now it is important to examine all angles when it comes to a subject in the space whether it be about a supplement or a movement. Below I weigh in on my thoughts with the drug and alternatives we can use instead that may be safer and more effective in the long run.
There’s no secret there is an obesity problem in this country and as I sit here in Starbucks writing this, a steady flow of people have been coming and going ordering a variety of items. A place like this has a variety of options ranging from healthy to off the charts bad for you and it can be overwhelming to make a good decision. That’s the thing about the world today we are faced with more decisions and decisions revolving around food/drugs each day, while there are more healthy options for us there’s probably twice as many bad options. When it comes to nutrition we have to understand what empty calories are vs quality satiating calories that will keep us fuller longer. The thing about a semaglutide is it’s signaling the brain that you are full when you really aren’t so in the long run if we don’t get to the root of our problem, the habits, then we will have to continually cycle through the drug increasing our risks from its exposure. One of my favorite sayings is think about it but don’t overthink it, which is how you should approach food. Educate yourself on what different foods do for you, roughly the number of calories is in each food, and then do your best to make good decisions each day. Every now and then we will have a bad day or craving, don’t let it beat you up because we are exposed to so much these days, just get back to compounding good habits.
While listening to the mind pump podcast a few weeks ago they made a good point that obesity does increase your risk of disease significantly so while there are adverse effects or risks associated with a semaglutide does losing body fat outweigh the risks? It’s a very valid point and one that should not be overlooked but they did bring up a good point that the appetite suppressant will lead to malnutrition, muscle loss, and bone density loss. Oftentimes on the drug when you eat you feel sick and have low energy which means low activity. Studying the body for years, it makes more sense to me to focus on putting nutritional food into our body so it can run optimally while steadily increasing our activity levels. The other thing that helps with weight loss and is underlooked is getting regular quality sleep because we are all over stimulated these days so if you establish a solid nightly routine and keep it consistent a lot of magic starts to happen. The thing about changing the body is it comes with changing your life and I mean that in multiple ways. When we change the habits in our life it’ll ultimately enhance our mood and energy levels which is life changing, you start to see everything in a different light.
To summarize my thoughts on Semaglutide, I think we are still in such early phases to know the long term effects of the drug and whether it ultimately will be a positive or negative thing long term. Some would argue being a gym owner I am just trying to argue the side of not using it to sell my service but truly we just want people to be healthy and happy while examining all angles and the effects they may have. No matter how you break it down we are using a drug to rewire our systems and how our body functions which I can’t help but think will have consequences. I’ll leave you with another one of my famous quotes, the right way isn't always easy and the easy way isn’t always right. No matter where you are in your journey just know you are stronger than you think, keep pushing!
