Life

[payitforward]

Some seriously touching stories here. I haven't told any of mine, & it's too late for that this evening. But, if we are to have this thread, then I think it's right to participate in a full way. Very likely tomorrow....

[dobrojim]

https://carrienewcomer.substack.com/p/the-growing-edge-podcast-with-carrie?utm_source=podcast-email%2Csubstack&publication_id=623342&post_id=125572263&utm_medium=email#details

Interesting podcast that touches on this thread

[gambitx777]

Ya know I'm really glad I started this one! I makes my heart happy that we have such a caring community here!

Sent from my SM-G991U1 using RealGM mobile app

[Zonkerbl]

I spent a year in Argentina as an exchange student in the 1986 and then spent a year in Russia in 1996 teaching economics and I was struck each time how much more connection there was with family. My host brother in Argentina was a professional bball player living with his parents. In Russia all the babushkas were still sitting in the communal area watching the kids while the parents worked.

Now, in Russia it was actually illegal to move somewhere without the state's permission, so I think some of the communal nature of living in the former soviet union was state enforced, but it was an interesting contrast with the US where you are expected to move out at 18 and if you have a graduate degree you pretty much have to move out of your home state to find a job. I was really happy to move back to Ohio after taking advantage of remote work flexibility. Being near your friends and family that you grew up with is nice.

[payitforward]

My parents were from Vienna -- Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis. Most of my Mother's family got out. My Father's family wasn't so lucky.

Both of my paternal grandparents were gassed at Auschwitz. My aunt Kiki was as well: she was 19 years old.

My Father died when I was 4 -- of a liver disease he'd picked up in a French concentration camp (Vernet, in the Arrieges, look it up if you're interested).

Alhough she knew my Father was dying, my Mother gave him a second child in his last months of life (my younger sister). My Mother had a tremendous optimism, an extraordinary life force. She married again, & my sister & I were adopted by a new Father.

I grew up in a tough neighborhood of Chicago -- Uptown. There was a fair amount of anti-Semitism to contend with, & I learned to fight early.

One of the most valuable lessons I learned was that most guys fight by bull-rushing you. Very few will ball their fist & throw a hard punch at someone's face. I discovered that I would. It was a useful thing to know about oneself.

I had my last fistfight about a month before I turned 48; I'm not telling that story today (I won).

I've had -- & still have! -- a great life. & an eventful one! I hope you all are as lucky as I've been.

[Zonkerbl]

Ok, on a lighter note - I had started teleworking full time before COVID, no more biking 4 miles a day to and from work and I started to steadily gain weight. I remember complaining to a coworker about being 230 on the last trip I made to Lesotho in February 2020. Topped out at 265 last March, got diagnosed with type ii diabetes and my doc put me on Ozempic.

Man, I tell you what. It feels slow as hell but I am at 237 now. 28 lbs over 15 months is almost two lbs a month, that is INSANE given how hard it has been for me to lose weight on my own. I've actually started going out to the basketball court nearby and shooting hoops 3-4 times a week. I don't feel healthy exactly but I feel so much better than I did.

[payitforward]

That's great news, Zonk -- keep at it.
There's no doubt that Ozempic causes weight loss. Unfortunately, you can't get a doc to prescribe it for that alone -- has to be for diabetes.

[Zonkerbl]

That's great news, Zonk -- keep at it.
There's no doubt that Ozempic causes weight loss. Unfortunately, you can't get a doc to prescribe it for that alone -- has to be for diabetes.

Wegovy is the non diabetes version of Ozempic. Exactly the same drug, it's for people who are obese but don't have diabetes. Good luck getting your insurance to cover it though.

[gesa2]

That's great news, Zonk -- keep at it.
There's no doubt that Ozempic causes weight loss. Unfortunately, you can't get a doc to prescribe it for that alone -- has to be for diabetes.

Wegovy is the non diabetes version of Ozempic. Exactly the same drug, it's for people who are obese but don't have diabetes. Good luck getting your insurance to cover it though.

Or finding it in a pharmacy. Serious supply problems as it has blown up as a weight loss drug.
It’s taken forever but medicine is finally treating obesity as the chronic disease it is. Even Wegovy isn’t FDA approved for long term use, but hopefully that will change soon

(edited to fix a fat fingered spelled typo)

[Zonkerbl]

That's great news, Zonk -- keep at it.
There's no doubt that Ozempic causes weight loss. Unfortunately, you can't get a doc to prescribe it for that alone -- has to be for diabetes.

Wegovy is the non diabetes version of Ozempic. Exactly the same drug, it's for people who are obese but don't have diabetes. Good luck getting your insurance to cover it though.

Or finding it in a pharmacy. Serious supply problems as it has blown up as a weight loss drug.
It’s taken forever but medicine is finally treating obesity as the chronic disease it is. Even Wegovy isn’t FDA approved for long term use, but hopefully that will change soon

(edited to fix a fat fingered spelled typo)

I mean, the medical community has known about the biochemistry of weight loss since the seventies. They've known for decades that various hormones in the body regulate your appetite and your base (non exercising) calorie burn in a way that you can burn an extra 500 calories a day and then have your body basically claw it all back because it thinks it's starving. It's just wild that it's taken them this long to be like oh ok let's give people an extra bit of the "I am satiated" hormone to combat that chemical reaction and all of a sudden you can lose weight for free. Turns out it has nothing to do with how "good" you are at "resisting temptation" and "being a good christian" and all that puritanical bs. Turns out it was fricking biochemistry and NOTHING ELSE.

[dobrojim]

biochemistry is no joke and is rarely as simple as it might seem.

That said, I'm happy to hear of your successes (or console on your failures).
I'm fighting to get my weight hopefully to under 195. I'm close
to that now. I'm signed up for a 100km race in VT in mid July.
If I can't finish (20 hour time limit), it might be time to hang em up.
If I can finish that, I may sign up for one final attempt at my 10th
finish in the Stonemill 50 Mile run in November in Gaithersburg.
There is something very unsatisfying about 9 finishes. Kinda like
having 14 Boston finishes. Getting the 15th Boston finish could
be more problematic since I either have to raise a ton of bucks
to get a charity entry or qualify by time which is something
that used to be routine for me but well beyond what seems
possible anymore, a 4:05 marathon, on a replacement hip.

[Zonkerbl]

All through college I was 165. In my thirties I was 182 and would spend hours on the elliptical trying to get back down under 170. Just wouldn't happen, my body was having nothing to do with that ish. I don't think that's a good use of your time.

If you are at a reasonably healthy weight and you can still function without getting arthritis in your knees or get high blood pressure or diabetes, my understanding of what I've read about biochemistry is just roll with the weight you are at. Focus on being healthy, do the activities that you enjoy, don't worry about your weight.

I wouldn't stop running, I would scale it back maybe. My chiro said that I was working out too hard and injuring myself all the time, but the moment I scaled things back I started gaining weight hand over fist. Your body is used to a certain level of activity, and it's really hard, in my experience, to shift from activities you love, like playing basketball, to like safer, less injury prone but super boring stuff, like the elliptical. I could play basketball for two hours straight and love it because it was fun. 20 minutes on the elliptical is pure torture, even if I'm listening to music or a book on tape. So you don't work out as much and you gain weight.

The thing I would focus on is not gaining weight. If you are obsessed with trying to lose weight, your body will fight you, you will work out too hard and hurt yourself, and that is going to be a bigger and bigger problem as time goes by. As long as you aren't hurting yourself and your weight isn't going up, you are fine.

[dobrojim]

I walk >>>> way more than I run at this stage. Running reminds me of a past
it seems unlikely I will ever revisit in the present. IOW, it's not nearly
as satisfying as it once was.

My health is pretty decent even if there is a bit more around the middle than there
should be, it's not way out of hand. Then there are the man boobs of course.

But my weight is reasonably stable. Your weight profile vs age is pretty similar to my own.

[gesa2]

Wegovy is the non diabetes version of Ozempic. Exactly the same drug, it's for people who are obese but don't have diabetes. Good luck getting your insurance to cover it though.

Or finding it in a pharmacy. Serious supply problems as it has blown up as a weight loss drug.
It’s taken forever but medicine is finally treating obesity as the chronic disease it is. Even Wegovy isn’t FDA approved for long term use, but hopefully that will change soon

(edited to fix a fat fingered spelled typo)

I mean, the medical community has known about the biochemistry of weight loss since the seventies. They've known for decades that various hormones in the body regulate your appetite and your base (non exercising) calorie burn in a way that you can burn an extra 500 calories a day and then have your body basically claw it all back because it thinks it's starving. It's just wild that it's taken them this long to be like oh ok let's give people an extra bit of the "I am satiated" hormone to combat that chemical reaction and all of a sudden you can lose weight for free. Turns out it has nothing to do with how "good" you are at "resisting temptation" and "being a good christian" and all that puritanical bs. Turns out it was fricking biochemistry and NOTHING ELSE.

There’s plenty of that bias and blaming going on in individual practitioners, years ago and still now. Complicated by incentive measures for lots of us PCPs for harassing patients about it, despite the proof that short convos @weight loss without a formal weight loss program behind them don’t help at all.
We didn’t have any meds that showed a significant change to the biochemistry feedback loops until now.
Talking about it as a chronic disease didn’t help much when it was a chronic disease with no real cure.

[Zonkerbl]

Or finding it in a pharmacy. Serious supply problems as it has blown up as a weight loss drug.
It’s taken forever but medicine is finally treating obesity as the chronic disease it is. Even Wegovy isn’t FDA approved for long term use, but hopefully that will change soon

(edited to fix a fat fingered spelled typo)

I mean, the medical community has known about the biochemistry of weight loss since the seventies. They've known for decades that various hormones in the body regulate your appetite and your base (non exercising) calorie burn in a way that you can burn an extra 500 calories a day and then have your body basically claw it all back because it thinks it's starving. It's just wild that it's taken them this long to be like oh ok let's give people an extra bit of the "I am satiated" hormone to combat that chemical reaction and all of a sudden you can lose weight for free. Turns out it has nothing to do with how "good" you are at "resisting temptation" and "being a good christian" and all that puritanical bs. Turns out it was fricking biochemistry and NOTHING ELSE.

There’s plenty of that bias and blaming going on in individual practitioners, years ago and still now. Complicated by incentive measures for lots of us PCPs for harassing patients about it, despite the proof that short convos @weight loss without a formal weight loss program behind them don’t help at all.
We didn’t have any meds that showed a significant change to the biochemistry feedback loops until now.
Talking about it as a chronic disease didn’t help much when it was a chronic disease with no real cure.

that tracks.

[CobraCommander]

Glad y’all started this thread....

I got BS going on in my life like all of y’all - most of my issues are the creation of my own making.

The kid is great - healthy good looking morally upright and at a top university but I spent my entire adult focused on him and now I don’t know who I am without that “responsibility”. Seems minor compared to the issues people have been talking about but for the first time in my life I feel purposeless and it’s empty...

[montestewart]

Glad y’all started this thread....

I got BS going on in my life like all of y’all - most of my issues are the creation of my own making.

The kid is great - healthy good looking morally upright and at a top university but I spent my entire adult focused on him and now I don’t know who I am without that “responsibility”. Seems minor compared to the issues people have been talking about but for the first time in my life I feel purposeless and it’s empty...

I never had kids, but I think the void that you were describing is one I have encountered on occasion. Not too much though, because I’ve spent much of my adult life, helping other people, and there’s lots of opportunities to do so. Elderly people, indigent people, people with debilitating illnesses, so called “at risk youth,” etc.

There are several organizations in the DC area that deliver food to poor, and/or sick people. I do deliveries for Food and Friends, but I know there are others. Schools are always looking for volunteer tutors, sports leagues are always looking for additional adults to coach, or officiate, or just generally help out. You could take a big leap and become a foster parent, or a smaller leap, and volunteer to visit an elder community once a week. Or you can just help out relatives and friends in need, which is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever done with my law degree.

I’ve done all of the above, and that’s just scratching the surface of volunteer opportunities available. When I was growing up, I had a developmentally disabled cousin, and somehow through that I started volunteering within that community before I was a teenager. If I didn’t do those things, I’m not sure I could justify my existence.

I know my situation is not the same as raising a child and watching that child become an adult and move out. Just trying to relate to the feeling of a lack of purpose. Everyone has something to offer, and there’s a world full of people in need. If you raised a child, you have a lot of experience to offer.

[Zonkerbl]

Some Ozempic context

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/06/11/weight-loss-ozempic-wegovy-insurance/

[AFM]

Zonk come to DC I'll get you jacked as ****

[dobrojim]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/06/06/ozempic-weight-loss-ruth-marcus/

I thought this was a really good read. Title was

I lost 40 pounds on Ozempic. But I’m left with even more questions.

It's kinda long.