Ozempic

 I really don't know much about Ozempic and how it works, other than the fact that it was the all the rage in 2023 and that NovoNordisk made a boatload of money off of it, and it's sweeping the nation as a get-thin-quick drug. My barber used it and lost 40 pounds, by his own account. As a former chubby kid, I get it: I would have tried new drugs to try to get thin too if I didn't exercise my way out of it (it wasn't because I managed to eat less, I've always eaten big portions and just had to burn off more than I put in, so in that sense I got lucky that my metabolism saved me. Others are not so lucky. This week I came to my parents' home and all the old temptations of childhood are there: the fruity mochy, the crepes, the snacks lying around, the leftover pizza in the fridge, the yummy home-made food that my parents are so adept at (but likely put in a little too much salt/fat/sugar to sustain a healthy diet) and I've just been so tempted to get a litlte taste of everything. A little dabble here, a little dabble there. It's like everything at Costco that my cheap instincts allowed me to lay off are gathered here by my mom because she's fine with eating all kinds of stuff, and like MJ says, "the food is looking at me." It's a bad combo of having nothing to do and having food lay around. Probably what hurt me as a kid in a home full of treats, and what I don't deal with MJ: we just don't have excess junk food in the home; and I buy just the "Bare Necessities" (a Jungle Book song) of what we need. So self-discipline in not buying the bad food itself is my weight-loss drug. 

Ozempic has a different way of tackling weight loss: it attacks the appetite and one's desire to eat more; so supposedly I could have all these goodies all around my house, but I wouldn't want to eat it because the desire is gone. That's..... a pretty strong drug, and while it's good that such a drug exists for those who are obese and need to lose weight for their own health, I'm not sure of the long-term effects, and side effects of taking. Will you have to be on the drug forever? What happens if you stop taking the drug? I've heard some risky things about Ozempic..... as with any weight loss regime/diet/drug, the secret is to keep the weight off forever, and not have it come back. I always feel a little weird about needing to be on a drug to sustain yourself, like you're addicted to it. (although I guess most Americans are addicted to sugar, caffeine, etc.) I just think to lose weight is more of a mindset, you have to be iron-willed and just not bring that stuff into proximity: out of sight, out of mind. Of course, never having had weight problems in the first place is always the better solution, just like never trying drugs or starting bad habits. The best weight loss drug: not having to rely on drugs. Ozempic is the "break glass in case of emergency" fallback option.