18 Comments

Idiots 😳

.. but please stay away Ozempic .. it’s is horrible & rebound weight gain is real … & so is stomach paralysis requiring surgery … it has a BLACK BOX warning

They are prescribing it as a FOREVER medication at around $1,000 a month. Wait till Medicare starts paying.

Big BIG $$$). They are even giving now as 1st treatment to kids instead of diet & exercise 👿👿👿

please stay away from it .. it really messed up my ❤️..

I started intermittent fasting during Covid .. 12/12, everyday , forever .. I’ve found it easy & I’m down 50 lbs 🙏

Expand full comment
author

congrats on the weight loss! and thanks for the warning against ozempic based on personal experience

Expand full comment

And avoid corn fluctos, fake food (https://covidsteria.substack.com/p/fatsteria-best-gmo-and-fake-food-memes) and sugary drinks as much as you can e.g. drink tea with honey as a sweetener or natural fruit juices etc.

Expand full comment

Everything in our culture is fat. We are physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually fat; out of shape. Like Bill Murray trying to do 3 or 5 pushups in the very beginning of Stripes.

Losing weight and keeping it off is hard. Really hard. These influencers, while gross and unappealing to anyone, are speaking to the millions of Americans who prefer victimhood over effort.

Body Positivity Influencers is no different than any other DEI initiative, except that fat is something one does have significant control. The false victim narrative, the blaming of others, the hate-filled and hate-fueled energy, the demand for acceptance and 'reparations' (two seats on airplane for example) are all based in the same envy fueled little minds of misfits.

bsn

Expand full comment
author

I would take slight issue with the claim that "losing weight is hard." This might be a matter of semantics, but I don't believe it's actually very difficult. It doesn't require effort or skill as much as it requires commitment and self-discipline.

Expand full comment

Both commitment and self-discipline do require energy. Similar to 'willpower', the analogy of a gas tank is fairly accurate. Roy Baumeister talks about this in his book "Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength" willpower is a finite resource.

I put on weight in my late 20s/30s, and finally decided to drop some weight in 2013ish. The 'hard' I write about is from my own experience. I am a has been jock, career Soldier--exercise has been part of my life since I was probably 10-but there is absolutely no way you can outrun a Big Mac. Weight is about 90% diet.

I had never tried to control my eating prior to this caloric restriction we did. I nearly lost my fbomb mind. The hunger was almost constant. It wasn't until I began to find some traction--probably 30-45 days into this new way of eating, that I realized it wasn't as much hunger as an addiction. I was eating for all and every sorts of difficulties.

Even today, over a decade since I lost about 25 lbs, I have to be super vigilant about what I eat, when I eat, how much...all this is to say, it is hard like getting in shape is hard, like learning a language or a new skill is hard.

Years ago I heard someone say this about learning English, "Yeah man, learning English is hard. A lifetime of poverty is much harder." We were discussing immigrants in the US circa 1988.

Most of the US population has no relationship at all with commitment nor self-discipline. I guess my point is that those are two behaviors/values/lifestyles that are hard to learn, hard to keep up, and we have fewer and fewer models to follow.

Another analogy might be sprinting vs marathons. I prefer to sprint. Always have. Diligence, the trait that is most indicative of success, is a marathon trait. Losing weight is a marathon. Getting in shape is a marathon. Our culture is a sprint/fast food culture.

It is possible to lose weight, to stop tobacco, to sober up, to give up porn, to stop gambling, to finish school, etc etc etc--but for the vast majority of Americans, that is swimming outside of our culture. Crabs in the crab pot also try to pull us back in.

Ugh. Too long of a response. I understand your point--and it may be semantics--but after I experienced the difficulty in losing only 25lbs, I have a new found understanding of obesity and those who suffer from it. It is a choice. For sure.

BUT, it is a long, long road ahead for these people.

bsn

Expand full comment
author

marathon vs sprint is a good analogy

Expand full comment

I agree. It isn't "hard" not to buy biscuits and crisps and other junk and pretty much all that is requred is not to buy processed foods of any sort and you will lose weight . I think another trick for the weak willed is to buy some junk food as an occasional treat as if they try to avoid it altogether cravings could set in and they could revert to the junk food diet.

Expand full comment

I watched a Tucker interview with an ex pharma guy who said the whole body positivity movement is step 1 in a bigger advertising campaign for Ozempic .. big pharma & drs are evil 👿

Expand full comment

These porkers make me laugh, except when I am sitting anywhere near the blubbery stinkers. Bring back fat shaming and save lives and save the NHS a fortune as well.

Expand full comment

the body positivity schtick is almost certainly a combo of denial, self delusion and self pity. you know these larger folks know they are messed up, unattractive to most of the human race, likely to die early. we all have these beliefs to protect ourselves up to a normal point. these cases have gone over to the mental illness category. oh, btw--I am the best looking, smartest, kindest, person in New Jersey.

Expand full comment

This will not end well. I get overweight every winter, and take it off every summer. No way in hell am I inviting myself to stomach paralysis and whatever else I'm sure they're hiding from the public. I'll do it the hard way, thanks. Always have.

Expand full comment
author

adding a modest amount of weight in winter and shedding it in summer is probably not a big deal. Just based on intuition, it might even be biologically natural, although I haven't looked into it

Expand full comment

I am normally bang in the middle of the healthy BMI range but every Winter as sure as the sun rises most days I put on a couple of Kilos that take me above that midpoint and sure as the sun rises most days I lose that weight again by the end of March. Lots of animals living in cold climates survive only because they gain and lose weight seasonally so I expect cold adapted humans like Northern Europeans would do as well.

Expand full comment

Aside from the holidays, do you live in a cold climate? If the sidewalks etc are icy, then probably safer to do less walking-activities outside in winter...

Expand full comment

Reminds me of kerfuffle in deaf college Galludett when the students pitched a fit because new president wasn't deaf enough. Or deaf people getting outraged that people get operations to fix deafness, because, they quote, embrace their deafness and rail against those who consider it a handicap. No I'm not deaf, just played darts with deaf guys in a league and listened to their bullshit.

Expand full comment

Thanks, Ben.

I enjoyed reading your essay - I laughed.

The Valhalla Vitality sounds particularly aspirational - I'll have to save up.

I do wish these victims of their own human failings had a sense of humour. It might help them to moderate their appetities, justifications and exploitation.

Expand full comment

It never fails to amaze me how many people will just get a jab or drop a pill or medication without any thought about the possible side effects , idiots. So does this new wonder drug their desire for food and hence the weight loss, or they continue to be gluttons and yet lose lots of fat? The second scenario sounds exceedingly dangerous , alarm bells should go off before getting shot with this crap.

Expand full comment