Nice story! But am I reading correctly that this man is only eating 1200 kcal a day? Could that in combination with increased activity not also be a cause of stagnating weight loss?
I am a bit overweight at 10 stones 4 pounds and 8 ounces, and only a bit over 5ft tall! and have dieted on and off since my teens, with temporary success, and with varying levels of physical activity. I tried vegetarian/low calorie dieting in my twenties and lost weight but felt very tired, then low-fat/high carbohydrate dieting, counting fat grams (getting a bulky middle and dry skin), then whole grain eating with a fairly restricted range of foods (the same whole grains with tinned salmon or tuna fish and packs of frozen mixed vegetables) plus lots of endurance exercise in the form of cycling (this appeared successful as I remained fit and slim for years until I began to relax my diet and eat other than ‘healthy’ food), followed by ‘rapid’ low-calorie/low-carbohydrate dieting (never again!) then alternate day fasting/ two-day fasting/ overnight fasting/ morning fasting combined with a mixture of previously tried diets (very temporary results and a feeling of chronic stress), then Dr Diana Schwartzbein’s balanced diet with controlled portions of carbs (the best ‘diet’ for me but I didn’t stick with it) then a higher protein diet with mostly vegetables and fruit for carbs (controlled my hunger and gave me a slimmer middle but did nothing for my temper). Finally, I gave up, but shifted tentatively towards ‘intuitive eating’. Finally again - I have been attempting to combine intuitive eating, but with Dr Schwartzbein’s balanced diet, but with more complex and starchy carbs as per her advice. So, I have gained a few pounds, am sleeping better, feel more energetic and motivated, and cry more than on a high protein/low-carb diet!
Healthcare needs to get comfortable balancing diet and GLP-1. GLP-1 give people a good head start. A challenge is we have drained quality in food, so the temptation to UPF is hard to avoid. And that just triggers the upward growth in weight. As Dr. Robert Lustig keeps saying, we need to fix food. Which we are working on. We can't cure chronic disease without fixing food.
I respectfully disagree. I check vitamin and mineral levels and antioxidant levels in my patients in my lifestylemedicine practice where I focus on culinary medicine. I teach my patients how to wash their produce to remove a good percentage of the pesticides. Even when they shop at the cheapest grocery stores and buy non-organic they’re usually able to fulfill all vitamin and mineral as well as antioxidant needs without supplements when they learn how to eat. I focus on a Whole Foods approach - high fiber with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. The problem is that Americans to include providers do not know what they are supposed to eat. I highly recommend that you refer your patients to culinary medicine specialists who are trained to treat and prevent disease using food. Check out culinarymedicine.org and scroll down to the bottom to see the directory with your provider options for your state.
Nutrition and lifestyle are two areas that we fail in miserably when it comes to medical education. We are seeing the effects of this in the present adolescent population and treating those who have suffered through the lack of attention to poor habits of eating and exercise for years. Unfortunately, the response for many of the medical community is another pill(Not specifically talking about the one in this article) instead of working on the causes. thanks for sharing this it was a good read.
In 12 steps, we say I cannot stop once I’ve started and I cannot stop from starting again. Craving is not physical hunger. Craving is the addicted mind. OK I do have another option. That is absolutely incredible and that is a program by Psychiatrist Dr. Judson Brewer called eat right now. You can check it out and do it for free for seven days. I knew one day 2 .
We got almost no training and addiction so we look at everything in terms of a medical standpoint just like a surgeon see every solution as a surgical standpoint. 12 step programs understand that the solution is the three legged stool – emotional, physical, spiritual. There is a solution.
Having been a yo-yo dieter for the majority of my life, about 10 years ago, I was turned onto a program called slimpod, an audio download that is a combination of neuroscience, hypnotherapy and NLP.
After listening to it for 12 weeks, I dropped all the weight I wanted to lose without having to count calories or measure anything. I also stopped looking at my scales, which was the biggest achievement for me because I was addicted to that particular activity.
They have thousands of people on a Facebook group who have lost significant amounts of weight but more importantly, changed their attitude towards food so that they only prefer to eat healthily.
I live in the UK where this particular program is currently being trialled with the national health service in conjunction with the new weight loss medications because you can’t lose weight and keep it off without changing your mindset.
Congratulations Dan! Great story. I was also on the weight loss yo-yo for most of my adult life. It only got worse after developing heart issues (where I came to be a patient of Doctor P, before he left the humid Midwest to be a surfer dude!!). I developed Afib and high blood pressure among other issues. Ended up having a cardiac catheterization and 2 ablation procedures to finally get my PVCs under manageable control. Immediately after that I blew out my left knee. I roughly spent three years sitting in a chair from zero energy and unable to walk without pain. The results were predictable. MANY lbs of weight gain. I was so heavy that I became diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Was prescribed low dose Ozempic which controlled my A1C but did nothing for my weight loss. I finally talked my PCP into Mounjaro again with no luck. I finally twisted my PCP’s arm hard enough to stand up to the insurance company (because of my heart history) and start bumping up the Mounjaro dosage. Since May 7, 2024 I have lost 88 lbs and am currently within 13 lbs of my ideal goal weight. Like Dan, I now am healthy enough to walk 2 miles every day, do low impact yoga to improve hip flexion and use an under desk elliptical to keep my knees and quads moving. I eat healthy (fruits, nuts, vegetables etc. and avoid chocolate, beer, beer, soda. )Obviously I feel better than I have in years and the best part is I feel deprived of NOTHING and also am simply not hungry. Improved health combined with determination and the GLP-1 has made all the difference in my life.
I am a retired physician who has been super morbidly obese, tried every diet known to man and some of my own design. They all allowed me to lose weight, only to regain it plus more. This is a common story for compulsive overeaters. It wasn’t until I walked into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous 36 years ago that I realized there was hope for me as I heard a varient of my story from the dozens of people in the room, many of whom were happy (I certainly wasn’t at 450#) and THIN. Not all overweight people are compulsive overeaters just as many people who drink too much are not alcoholics. However a substantial number of obese people do have an apparent addiction and use food as their drug of choice. Just as AA uses the Big Book so does OA. We use the same 12 step program as AA, GA, etc and it works if you work it. I have been maintaining a healthy weight now thanks to the OA program. When my internist asked me how I lost my weight and I told him, I also asked him to give my phone number to any of his patients who might benefit from hearing my story. I also told my cardiologist, pulmonologist and nephrologist. Total number of calls I’ve gotten from their patients over the years = zero. Doctors have no trouble referring alcoholics to AA but seem to be totally ignorant of OA. I follow your blog but can’t remember your mentioning OA in regards to obesity management. The medical profession needs to be aware that there is a proven method that will allow a significant portion of their obese patients to recover without medication or quack diets.
I enjoyed this article. When I was reading, I kept saying, cut the carbs, cut the carbs. We need essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, some vitamins and minerals and nothing else to survive. There are no essential carbohydrates, none, zero needed for humans to function. With exercise, protein, veggies and some fruits, otherwise minimal carbs and little or no added sugar, you will lose weight and be very healthy and not be hungry.
Amen James. I am 5 years low carb / keto with a sustained 60 lb weight loss (5’7”, 167 lbs, 62 y/o m). I eat what I want and do not practice portion control or calorie counting. 30-45 minutes of brisk walking daily.
Great story thanks. Does anyone think when sema is available in pill form it will be helpful to those who want to take a half dose? Therefore expanding the usefulness?
Lower cost would really expand the usefulness. Unfortunately, the Lilly representative interviewed for NBC news last night when asked if their oral GLP-1a would be cheaper did not answer yes.
And, there are a certain number of patients reluctant to be injected every two weeks.
That’s the problem with using GLP-1 agonists for weight loss: when you go off the drug, the cravings - and the weight - come back.
Bariatric surgery is probably cheaper.
Nice story! But am I reading correctly that this man is only eating 1200 kcal a day? Could that in combination with increased activity not also be a cause of stagnating weight loss?
I am a bit overweight at 10 stones 4 pounds and 8 ounces, and only a bit over 5ft tall! and have dieted on and off since my teens, with temporary success, and with varying levels of physical activity. I tried vegetarian/low calorie dieting in my twenties and lost weight but felt very tired, then low-fat/high carbohydrate dieting, counting fat grams (getting a bulky middle and dry skin), then whole grain eating with a fairly restricted range of foods (the same whole grains with tinned salmon or tuna fish and packs of frozen mixed vegetables) plus lots of endurance exercise in the form of cycling (this appeared successful as I remained fit and slim for years until I began to relax my diet and eat other than ‘healthy’ food), followed by ‘rapid’ low-calorie/low-carbohydrate dieting (never again!) then alternate day fasting/ two-day fasting/ overnight fasting/ morning fasting combined with a mixture of previously tried diets (very temporary results and a feeling of chronic stress), then Dr Diana Schwartzbein’s balanced diet with controlled portions of carbs (the best ‘diet’ for me but I didn’t stick with it) then a higher protein diet with mostly vegetables and fruit for carbs (controlled my hunger and gave me a slimmer middle but did nothing for my temper). Finally, I gave up, but shifted tentatively towards ‘intuitive eating’. Finally again - I have been attempting to combine intuitive eating, but with Dr Schwartzbein’s balanced diet, but with more complex and starchy carbs as per her advice. So, I have gained a few pounds, am sleeping better, feel more energetic and motivated, and cry more than on a high protein/low-carb diet!
Helpful story.
Healthcare needs to get comfortable balancing diet and GLP-1. GLP-1 give people a good head start. A challenge is we have drained quality in food, so the temptation to UPF is hard to avoid. And that just triggers the upward growth in weight. As Dr. Robert Lustig keeps saying, we need to fix food. Which we are working on. We can't cure chronic disease without fixing food.
I respectfully disagree. I check vitamin and mineral levels and antioxidant levels in my patients in my lifestylemedicine practice where I focus on culinary medicine. I teach my patients how to wash their produce to remove a good percentage of the pesticides. Even when they shop at the cheapest grocery stores and buy non-organic they’re usually able to fulfill all vitamin and mineral as well as antioxidant needs without supplements when they learn how to eat. I focus on a Whole Foods approach - high fiber with lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans. The problem is that Americans to include providers do not know what they are supposed to eat. I highly recommend that you refer your patients to culinary medicine specialists who are trained to treat and prevent disease using food. Check out culinarymedicine.org and scroll down to the bottom to see the directory with your provider options for your state.
Nutrition and lifestyle are two areas that we fail in miserably when it comes to medical education. We are seeing the effects of this in the present adolescent population and treating those who have suffered through the lack of attention to poor habits of eating and exercise for years. Unfortunately, the response for many of the medical community is another pill(Not specifically talking about the one in this article) instead of working on the causes. thanks for sharing this it was a good read.
In 12 steps, we say I cannot stop once I’ve started and I cannot stop from starting again. Craving is not physical hunger. Craving is the addicted mind. OK I do have another option. That is absolutely incredible and that is a program by Psychiatrist Dr. Judson Brewer called eat right now. You can check it out and do it for free for seven days. I knew one day 2 .
Friend of Bill W.
We got almost no training and addiction so we look at everything in terms of a medical standpoint just like a surgeon see every solution as a surgical standpoint. 12 step programs understand that the solution is the three legged stool – emotional, physical, spiritual. There is a solution.
Friend of Bill W.
Having been a yo-yo dieter for the majority of my life, about 10 years ago, I was turned onto a program called slimpod, an audio download that is a combination of neuroscience, hypnotherapy and NLP.
After listening to it for 12 weeks, I dropped all the weight I wanted to lose without having to count calories or measure anything. I also stopped looking at my scales, which was the biggest achievement for me because I was addicted to that particular activity.
They have thousands of people on a Facebook group who have lost significant amounts of weight but more importantly, changed their attitude towards food so that they only prefer to eat healthily.
I live in the UK where this particular program is currently being trialled with the national health service in conjunction with the new weight loss medications because you can’t lose weight and keep it off without changing your mindset.
Congratulations Dan! Great story. I was also on the weight loss yo-yo for most of my adult life. It only got worse after developing heart issues (where I came to be a patient of Doctor P, before he left the humid Midwest to be a surfer dude!!). I developed Afib and high blood pressure among other issues. Ended up having a cardiac catheterization and 2 ablation procedures to finally get my PVCs under manageable control. Immediately after that I blew out my left knee. I roughly spent three years sitting in a chair from zero energy and unable to walk without pain. The results were predictable. MANY lbs of weight gain. I was so heavy that I became diagnosed as pre-diabetic. Was prescribed low dose Ozempic which controlled my A1C but did nothing for my weight loss. I finally talked my PCP into Mounjaro again with no luck. I finally twisted my PCP’s arm hard enough to stand up to the insurance company (because of my heart history) and start bumping up the Mounjaro dosage. Since May 7, 2024 I have lost 88 lbs and am currently within 13 lbs of my ideal goal weight. Like Dan, I now am healthy enough to walk 2 miles every day, do low impact yoga to improve hip flexion and use an under desk elliptical to keep my knees and quads moving. I eat healthy (fruits, nuts, vegetables etc. and avoid chocolate, beer, beer, soda. )Obviously I feel better than I have in years and the best part is I feel deprived of NOTHING and also am simply not hungry. Improved health combined with determination and the GLP-1 has made all the difference in my life.
I am a retired physician who has been super morbidly obese, tried every diet known to man and some of my own design. They all allowed me to lose weight, only to regain it plus more. This is a common story for compulsive overeaters. It wasn’t until I walked into the rooms of Overeaters Anonymous 36 years ago that I realized there was hope for me as I heard a varient of my story from the dozens of people in the room, many of whom were happy (I certainly wasn’t at 450#) and THIN. Not all overweight people are compulsive overeaters just as many people who drink too much are not alcoholics. However a substantial number of obese people do have an apparent addiction and use food as their drug of choice. Just as AA uses the Big Book so does OA. We use the same 12 step program as AA, GA, etc and it works if you work it. I have been maintaining a healthy weight now thanks to the OA program. When my internist asked me how I lost my weight and I told him, I also asked him to give my phone number to any of his patients who might benefit from hearing my story. I also told my cardiologist, pulmonologist and nephrologist. Total number of calls I’ve gotten from their patients over the years = zero. Doctors have no trouble referring alcoholics to AA but seem to be totally ignorant of OA. I follow your blog but can’t remember your mentioning OA in regards to obesity management. The medical profession needs to be aware that there is a proven method that will allow a significant portion of their obese patients to recover without medication or quack diets.
Thank you,
Anonymous
I enjoyed this article. When I was reading, I kept saying, cut the carbs, cut the carbs. We need essential amino acids, essential fatty acids, some vitamins and minerals and nothing else to survive. There are no essential carbohydrates, none, zero needed for humans to function. With exercise, protein, veggies and some fruits, otherwise minimal carbs and little or no added sugar, you will lose weight and be very healthy and not be hungry.
Amen James. I am 5 years low carb / keto with a sustained 60 lb weight loss (5’7”, 167 lbs, 62 y/o m). I eat what I want and do not practice portion control or calorie counting. 30-45 minutes of brisk walking daily.
Much easier and so less likely to fail.
Great story thanks. Does anyone think when sema is available in pill form it will be helpful to those who want to take a half dose? Therefore expanding the usefulness?
It is called rybelsus however, side effects limit how high the dose can be pushed so weight loss will be minimal at current dosing
Lower cost would really expand the usefulness. Unfortunately, the Lilly representative interviewed for NBC news last night when asked if their oral GLP-1a would be cheaper did not answer yes.
And, there are a certain number of patients reluctant to be injected every two weeks.