Are Diabetes Meds the Answer to Long-Term Weight Loss?

I don't know about you, but I've been seeing a lot more TV commercials for diabetes drugs like Ozempic, Jardiance, and Metformin than ever before.

While many require these potentially life-saving medications to help manage their blood sugar, others are being prescribed these for weight loss or to 'cure' ob*sity (* used on purpose because using BMI terms is stigmatizing).

In light of this trend, I wanted to educate myself further, so I took a few masterclasses with a well-known fat activist and podcaster Dr. Asher Larmie (they/them) (@thefatdoctor). I was curious to know more about the current research, especially in terms of safety and long-term efficacy. I also wanted to know if others experienced what I had when I was taking one of these medications years ago.

Shortly before I discovered intuitive eating, I was prescribed a now-common medication to help boost the effectiveness of another medication I was taking. I wasn't told a possible side effect was weight loss. Like most of these other meds being prescribed, this medicine was created to help another condition, but they inadvertently realized that it also caused weight loss in most folks.

Approximately one month later, I started to feel the medicinal effects. I was elated. I also noticed that I was losing weight effortlessly. Around the same time, I started a vegetarian diet, so I assumed the weight loss was from that.

I dropped about 3-4 pants sizes within a few months.

This was before I knew about diet culture, weight science, and set point weight, so I thought my 'new' body was my 'real' body. As a chronic dieter, this wasn't the first time I'd felt this way, but this time I felt different for some reason.

A few years later I didn't need the medication anymore, so I stopped taking it.

Within a few months, I gained every pound back plus more. Big surprise, right? Not really! Even though I wasn't dieting when I was on the medication per se, my body responded as if I had been. I learned that the medication had temporarily changed my metabolism affecting my appetite and causing me to eat less. Dr. Larmie confirmed that this is exactly what happens with all the popular medications that they're now pushing in the media.

In an effort to regain 'control' of my body and cope with the shame associated with the rapid weight gain, I quickly slipped back into my disordered eating behaviors again.

Just like all the other times I had yo-yo dieted, I wondered what I had done wrong and desperately wanted to find a solution.

Of course, now I know that I'd done nothing wrong, but at that time, it was all-consuming. To this day, I occasionally wonder what physical damage I've done to my body from all the yo-yo dieting I've done. Do you ever wonder about that?

I understand for many, it is tempting to want to be in a smaller body. After all, our culture elevates smaller bodies, so feeling this way is natural. Weight stigma exists and for most, it's not easy to live in a larger/fat body. I acknowledge that many fear their weight may lead to a long-term illness or cause mobility issues, etc. especially as they advance in age.

What we need to always remember is that while weight loss may help reduce these health concerns, it's not a permanent solution and often backfires potentially leaving behind emotional, physical, and mental side effects. This is true with traditional dieting/restricting and also with the use of medications and/or injectables for weight loss purposes.

If you have considered taking medications and/or injectables to lose weight (and are not taking them to treat a diagnosed medical condition like diabetes or pre-diabetes), please do your research to understand how weight stigma is influencing many of these recommendations in the medical field. The research is grim and so are the potential physical and emotional side effects.

While we all have full body autonomy, I'm sharing my story so you can see the other side of this all the media hype.

The truth is, we cannot escape the emotional work that is needed to accept our bodies. I've had clients who have used Wegovy and become more obsessed than ever with their bodies. Plus, they feared their insurance would stop covering the prohibitively expensive medication so they were stressed all the time.

Know that there are tried and true frameworks and methods that I teach to help make the body acceptance process easier and more pleasurable. My clients have shared their experiences so others can see what's possible for them.

Have you been tempted to ask your doctor about any of these medications?

Ready to fast-track your recovery? Tap the Let’s Connect button below to schedule your free 20-minute connection call.

You don't have to do this alone.

What If Weight Loss Was the Answer?

Let's pretend for a moment. 

What if losing weight was the answer to

• Reversing, preventing, or maintaining a medical condition? 

• Making you feel 'better' (a.k.a. sexier, more attractive, more worthy or 'enough', etc.)

While it may be true that weight loss may help with medical conditions the problem is and always will be that intentional weight loss is not a permanent solution. 

So while many 'health' gurus argue that diets do work (often called 'lifestyle plans', etc.) because there is often weight loss when there is calorie restriction or extreme exercising, for most, these solutions aren't sustainable long-term.

For all of you who are saying something like...

I just think I look better and feel sexier when I'm thinner.

Feeling sexier or more 'attractive' is completely subjective. Feeling sexy or attractive is based on our thoughts about our bodies not on our feelings. Thoughts create feelings, not the other way around. So, if you can change your thoughts, your feelings will eventually catch up. 

Lastly, hingeing our size, weight, age, bank account, etc. to validate our worth is a losing battle because we'll always be trying to hit a moving target. Our self-worth is unconditional. 

I know that many of you may understand this logically but still struggle to reconcile this in your hearts. 

If this is you, I see you and want you to know that it's natural to feel this way because our culture values physical appearance more than most things. This is especially true for women. 

In the end, the answer is body acceptance, cultivating a radical self-compassion practice, and making more frequent deposits in our self-worth banks to name a few things. 

Ready to fast-track your body image recovery? Tap the Let’s Connect button below to schedule your free 20-minute connection call.

You don't have to do this alone.

Why Eating in Moderation is Code for Dieting

I want to talk about the illusion of moderation. 

People often say that intuitive eating is just 'eating in moderation'. I often cringe when I hear folks say this and here's why. 

While 'eating in moderation' usually allows all foods, that allowance often has strings attached. In other words, while there is an allowance, it's a conditional allowance that equates to emotional restriction. 

So, for example, folks allow themselves to eat ice cream, pizza, chips, bread, etc. but they may only allow a certain amount of it or only allow it under certain conditions. If they go beyond what they deem as a 'moderate' amount (whatever that is because 'moderation' is completely subjective) they'll create a narrative that they cannot be trusted around X food because it makes them feel out of control. 

Have you ever experienced this before? I know I have in years past! 

Having 'allowance clauses' around foods damages our relationships with food and body because they:

1. Erode trust in our body’s innate appetite regulation system - Given the opportunity (provided there is no extenuating circumstance), our bodies are fully capable of guiding our food choices, amounts, frequency, etc. When we interfere by trying to control our bodies, oftentimes they respond with dysregulated eating behaviors including bingeing, restrictive eating, frequently eating past a comfortable fullness, 'emotional' eating, etc. 
   

2. Create a sense of food scarcity - Imposed food scarcity often puts us back into the diet/binge cycle because our brains perceive that there is a limited amount of food so we better get it while it's available often causing the same eating behaviors mentioned in #1 above.
   
   I often remind my clients that the effects of scarcity on the human brain were seen during the COVID toilet paper debacle. In the U.S., toilet paper was scarce so many hoarded it like squirrels hoard acorns in the fall preparing for the winter because they were afraid there wouldn't be enough to go around! This is what happens when food is scarce too. 

This makes so much sense to me and is likely why I have such a visceral reaction when I hear people saying that they don't diet but instead 'eat in moderation'. 

I also understand that certain medical conditions sometimes require dietary modifications because I'm experiencing this myself. 

Do you know what makes medically necessary dietary modifications easier?

Investing the time and energy to heal our relationships with food, body, and movement. 

We can trust that our bodies will guide us so we don't need to have 'allowance clauses' around food even if there are medical conditions to contend with. 

How To Let Ourselves Off the Hook When We Eat Past a Comfortable Fullness

Once again, the holidays are around the corner which means that if we're lucky, many of our favorite holiday foods are too!

While eating past a comfortable fullness level can happen at any time of year, it's fair to say that it's more prominent during this time of year.

Eating past a comfortable fullness is never a nice feeling because of the physical sensations it causes in the body, but they do pass.

Do you know what makes these physical sensations worse?

Coupling them with judgment and stories about what eating past fullness means about us.

Many are unkind to themselves when they eat past a comfortable fullness and will describe themselves as 'disgusting', and 'out of control' and believe that they are a 'failure' or lack self-control as if they have done something truly terrible.

Let's get something straight. Eating past fullness happens to all of us sometimes. Remember, if you are new to intuitive eating, this will likely happen more often. This is natural after long periods of deprivation and rules around food.

Diet culture and religious dogma have taught us that eating past fullness is 'bad' and even 'gluttonous'. So many of us fear fullness and have internalized that it should be avoided at all costs.

The reality is that fullness is simply a physical sensation that the body experiences similar to feeling hot or cold, feeling sleepy, or needing to pee.

It's only when we attach judgment to the physical sensation that we get into murky waters.

Does that make sense?

Whatever the reason, if you are someone who judges yourself for eating past a comfortable fullness, I invite you to lean into this physical and emotional discomfort from a different perspective. Instead of jumping into judgment, neutrally observe the experience.

Even if your immediate response is judgment (which is okay), take a deep breath to notice how the judgment feels in your body and then lovingly and consciously choose something different. You may need to do this often, but that's totally okay too.

Even consider some compassionate, affirming statements like,

"I am aware that I'm full now, and that's okay."
"I'm noticing my discomfort and I'm choosing not to judge it."
"Eating past fullness is something I did, it's not something I am."

Statements like this remind us that we're not defined by these actions.

When we begin to untangle the physical sensations of fullness (or any other eating experience) from the layers of guilt, shame, and judgment, we open the door to learning more about ourselves, especially our patterns and habits.

Now, doesn't that sound like a more pleasant and satisfying place to be?

Do you struggle with eating past fullness and with the judgment that often follows it? I believe you can have a different experience. Remember, I'm here to take your hand if you need some guidance. This journey was not meant to be done alone.

One Simple Way to Create a Loving Relationship with Your Body

I was deeply affected by an Instagram post created by The Body Relationship™ Coach Ivy Felicia that said,

"We are constantly taught and programmed to focus our body size, beauty, and abilities but we often forget that our bodies are working every moment of every day to keep us alive and nourished. At any size, shape, or ability level our body is still doing its best."

I don't know about you, but it made me stop to ponder for a bit.

When was the last time you considered that your body is doing its best?

I agree with Ivy Felicia that most are so caught up in the day-to-day grind of body dissatisfaction and comparisonitis because of the exhausting societal pressures we're all under, it's sometimes easy to forget that our bodies are working hard for us every single day. This is harder for those who suffer from physical, emotional, or mental illnesses.

The truth is that it can be hard to recognize that our bodies are doing their very best when we are focusing solely on how they don't 'measure up' to societal expectations.

When we hyperfocus on our outsides, there will always be dissatisfaction because that's the way we've been conditioned. Sadly, this dissatisfaction often leads to shame, guilt, and often frustration. Can you relate?

What if we shifted our focus to appreciate that our bodies are doing their very best even when we don't always care for them the way we probably could?

I don't know about you, but when I think about my body in these terms, I feel a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude toward it.

We certainly cannot expect our perspective to change overnight, but by consciously choosing to shift our focus from criticism and comparison to appreciation and gratitude we can begin to connect with our bodies in more compassionate and loving ways.

If we come back to this concept over and over, it's likely that subtle shifts will begin to happen over time. That's how this work is...slow and steady.

For many, this is a whole new way of thinking and requires consistent practice, but imagine how our lives could change if we remembered to keep working toward this instead of focusing our energies on the perceived ways our bodies aren't measuring up.

I'm not naïve. I acknowledge that there are many things that will get in the way of this. To name a few, weight stigma, fatphobia, ageism, toxic beliefs, our inner critics, etc. but I still believe it's possible. If I didn't, I wouldn't be so committed to this work and my clients wouldn't experience the shifts that they do.

So, the next time you are comparing and dispairing about your body, I invite you to consider that your body is doing its very best to serve your needs.

Remember, it's okay if you can't do this on your own. I'm here to support you along the way if you need it.

Top 5 Reasons Practicing Self-Compassion Is So Hard for Ex-Dieters

Healing body, food, and movement relationships are nuanced. However, one of the things that I can honestly say all my clients struggle to embrace is self-compassion. 

Renowned self-compassion researcher, Dr. Kristin Neff, defines self-compassion as the act of turning compassion inward. Compassion is the ability we all have to show empathy, love, and concern to those who may be experiencing difficulties. Many of us are compassionate toward others but struggle to do this consistently with ourselves.

For many, practicing self-compassion is like learning a new language. It's hard, clunky, and doesn't come naturally. I know I felt that way when I first started to develop my self-compassion practice! 

Cultivating a self-compassion practice is essential for healing because it helps us meet ourselves where we are without judgment. This journey has many ups and downs and without kindness, empathy, and forgiveness it would be nearly impossible to experience the many benefits of healing. 

Instead of mercilessly judging and criticizing yourself for various inadequacies or shortcomings, self-compassion allows us to be kind and understanding when confronted with personal failings. So when we repeatedly eat past fullness, aren't engaging in consistent movement even though we know our bodies crave it, and aren't making self-care a priority, we can give ourselves support and encouragement rather than being unkind and judgmental. 

Over the years many clients have shared why they struggle with self-compassion. I'm sharing some of these reasons here.

1. Blame game - Even though many have read the books, listened to well-known anti-diet podcasts, and been at this for a while, they still blame themselves for their bodies changing, especially if they have gained weight since they quit dieting.

2. Modeling - Self-compassion wasn't modeled for them when they were growing up so practicing it doesn't come naturally to them. While self-compassion isn't something new, there wasn't as much emphasis on it in years past. If you're over 50, I'm sure you'd agree that 'tough love' was a more popular approach in our formative years.

3. Fear - Many fear that if they're 'too' self-compassionate they'll become 'lazy', self-indulgent, undisciplined, and unproductive. They’re afraid if they’re too soft on themselves, they’ll let themselves get away with anything. If you live in the U.S. you know that our country is obsessed with 'producing' and 'to-do' lists so stepping away from this model is not easy. This can be especially challenging for those who tie their self-worth to their to-do lists too!

4. Resistance - Studies show that there is often resistance to learning new things, especially when it benefits our personal growth. That's because the subconscious mind is very powerful and when we attempt to break up its normal patterns, there will be pushback!

5. Conditioning - Many are still conditioned to believe they should be 'strong' and maintain a “stiff upper lip” mentality even when they are in pain or experiencing discomfort. This is especially true for women who don't want to be accused of being 'high maintenance' or 'too much'.

Research undeniably shows that self-compassion enhances motivation, decreases depression and anxiety, decreases fear of failure, and encourages people to set personal goals because they know when they make mistakes they'll be met with kindness rather than criticism.

Now can you see how important self-compassion can be in this journey? 

You may be saying, "Yeah, that's all fine and good but it's still hard to practice it!" 

If that sounds like you, I'm not disagreeing with you! I KNOW it's not easy, however, it is still possible. Most if not all of my clients never imagined they'd be able to stop/diminish their habitual self-criticism but after coaching they were able to confidently begin dismantling their blame, fear, resistance, and conditioning to create new lives for themselves. It is truly amazing what happens when we are given a non-judgmental space to share and safely rebuild our beliefs. 

Do you struggle with self-compassion? If you do, know that you're not alone and you don't have to do this alone.