Ozempic is Moving the Goalposts

Slowly, as predicted, the world is being taken over by Ozempic. I had my annual checkup two weeks ago, and my internist joked that he had a “fridge full of Ozempic” in the mini-fridge in the exam room (I witnessed it).  He asked if I wanted any. He was kidding- I think?

Truthfully, I have so many confusing feelings about it. 

My biggest worry is that we are creating a new standard. A standard for one body size. Even more than we had before. Thin has always been idealized and revered in my lifetime, but the average human efforts required to achieve extreme thinness were diets and exercise.

Extreme restriction, bulimia, compensatory behaviors- those we are well aware of. But this new injection or pill that is shrinking people is becoming more and more present. We have been armed with a weapon, a “Magic Pill” (Johann Hari’s book is my next read), that has created the ability to attain the unattainable quickly and dramatically. To drop sizes swiftly and surely and even quiet the noise in our heads about our bodies.

But here is the thing- I believe the core issue remains that we desire a body that should not always be attainable.

We are pushing for bodies that may not be in our best interest in terms of our individual physiology. Our culture screams at us that thinness is superior; it is coveted- and so much more desirable. But so often, what we endure to achieve this is not what is in the best interest of our health, both physical and mental.

The sheer emotional hardship of wanting to lose weight has hijacked more lives than we can possibly account for.  

The other practical piece is that I don’t want body size to become so narrow.

I don’t want the norm to be that everyone exists on a tiny weight continuum.

I value difference.

I value differences in perspectives, brains, and bodies. We forget that we have collectively planted this obsession with thin in our minds and within humanity. There is no scientific evidence that being underweight is better for us. Having some excess fat is correlated with a longer life span- not shorter.

I suddenly feel pressure to be immaculately thin in a way I haven’t before. It now feels as if Ozempic is changing the game.

If you have access to this drug- you can lose weight. Appetite will be reduced, you will have very little desire to eat, and your thoughts about food will virtually vanish. You will, at times, feel sick when you eat, lose muscle mass, and have less energy.

Yet- the most essential thing in our culture continues to be reinforced repeatedly, which is to be small. To be skinny.  To be thin. 

What is getting lost in this magic pill revolution is how we feel.  Truthfully, my body feels good. I feel strong, I feel fit, I have energy, I work hard, and I eat when I am hungry. After my annual checkup, where I was offered Ozempic, my bloodwork returned with everything green- which means all good.

But I look around me, and the barometer is different. Health is not what is being measured and valued. Thinness and appearance are. I know- I know they always have been- but this is worse.

Something is different.

It suddenly feels like living well, making sure we have movement/exercise in our lives, and doing our best to be healthy (Mostly Plants- Michael Pollen) is no longer enough. It oddly feels like the Anxious Generation (Jonathan Haidt), in food form. If we all put down our cell phones, we could regain our old interactive lives.

Injectables feel similar to me in the world of food. 

If we all stopped being obsessed with thinness, could we just relax into our respective bodies?

We keep moving the goalposts on ourselves, pushing ourselves to be thinner, faster, leaner, and smarter. When do we reconnect with contentment and joy?

Haidt says that free play is one of the essential missing pieces of children's lives today. We are doing the same thing to our bodies.

We are limiting the freedom of our bodies. We restrict and control our appetites and thirst instead of living and feeling intuitively. We are limiting our freedom. We are curbing our hunger and diminishing our wants and desires.

I also know that we are doing this because everyone is doing it- and the power of group behavior is the most potent thing we face as humans. Like controlling cell phones- acceptance of all types of bodies is a group effort. 

I want the goalposts to move back. Period.