…is much like with most short-cuts. The change is superficial compared to doing things the hard way.
Meds like Ozempic or in the old days, amphetamines, provide an easy way to lose weight that avoids the more difficult path of changing one’s diet and getting more exercise. This has leads to the argument of whether thinness is more important than fitness.
A review article reported a sex difference where fitness was a stronger predictor than BMI of cancer mortality in males while the reverse was true for women. The same paper noted another study reporting that
As expected, inactive and overweight men exhibited the highest mortality rate, and active and normal-weight individuals enjoyed the lowest mortality rate. No significant difference in mortality rate was observed between men who were inactive and of normal weight and men who were active and overweight.Fat or Fit: What Is More Important? - PMC
Short story is that Ozempic and the like are fine if one just wants to fit in the old leisure suit one used to wear at discos. But to live longer, you still probably have to do the exercise.
There are drugs that I take daily and will until I die. Guaifenesin (Musinex) was by prescription when I started with it, now OTC. My doc wants me on astorvatin, I take duloxetine (used to take gabapentin) for nerve damage after back surgery. For some people the “temporary” benefits of weight loss probably outweigh the downsides of staying on a drug, even if that means staying on it forever. (If I don’t take the massive Musinex twice daily I clog up and can’t breathe, pollen season or not.)
As a 30-year Eli Lilly shareholder, I’m very excited about their new drug Mounjaro which is a turbocharged version of Ozempic that delivers even more dramatic weight loss results. It’s expected to be the industry’s first $100+ Billion/yr drug once it’s approved for weight loss, which should happen shortly. If every diabetic in the nation got a prescription at it’s current $15,000/yr list price, the revenue would be equal to about 10% of the nation’s Gross National Product – $2T to $3T per year. Maybe Medicare can negotiate a bulk discount?
I’m not in need of the mediation myself (I’m still the 6-2 185 lbs I was in college), but I’m happy to collect a portion of the skim if voters are willing to continue to support this kind of unlimited price gouging.
For those who are afraid of needles, Pfizer (my other big drug holding) is working on a tablet version of the drug which should be an even bigger seller.
When I did the Noom diet in 2021 I lost 50 lb. I was careful not to exercise. Yes I walked and stretched. I am very active. I was careful not to lift weights. I gain muscle fast. I gain fat faster because lifting weights increases my hunger.
I more than half behinded the Noom program. That was excellent. Most people fail again. The 50 lb was proof of exceptional results. The bloodwork got incredibly good.
Fast forward to allergy season two years later, I have gained five to six pounds of water weight. I am doing some resistance training add 2 lb. I have learned not to go daily to the gym. I get a lot out of a couple of times a week. Maybe three times a week. I am very active outside of the gym.
In the last two years and before the allergy seasonal common gain I have I was up a total of 5 lb. Meaning I had not gained back the weight in two years.
Now I am up 13 lb during allergy season. That is 5 plus pounds of water gain and 2 lb from the gym, than 5 I had been carrying. I have been sleeping really well but done a lot of late nights and struggled with the food as a result. I am up 1 to 3 lb from the food in a two month period.
The water gain will recede. I will have gained a full 8 lb or less in the last two years after a 50 lb weight loss.
Mentally this has been tough for the last two months. That is rewarding. I have geared up mentally to loses more than six pounds this year as we leave the allergy season.
In this area the allergy season ends June 14. An air conditioning company told me this when I asked when the pollen stops dropping. The idea being not to clean the air conditioner and only see more pollen drop on it.
Tomorrow is the end of allergy season in Connecticut.
For just about everyone else dieting does not work. Pills do not work. Meaning the weight rushes back on in the vast majority of cases. This includes bariatric surgery. The surgery can be very successful but if the patient fails later it is a tragedy.
I am sober now 30 years in August. I have not smoked in 34 years as of a week ago. No pot since I was age 21. It is a great road to be on…
Maybe. Allergy seasons have been getting longer and more intense over the past years due to climate change/global warming. We are seeing it here (MN) as a result.
Greening of the Earth and its drivers
Zhu et al. https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3004
"We show a persistent and widespread increase of growing season integrated LAI [Leaf Area Index] (greening) over 25% to 50% of the global vegetated area, whereas less than 4% of the globe shows decreasing LAI (browning).
“Factorial simulations with multiple global ecosystem models suggest that CO2 fertilization effects explain 70% of the observed greening trend, followed by nitrogen deposition (9%), climate change (8%) and land cover change (LCC) (4%).”
