I did manage to lose 20 pounds this year, thanks to COVID in September and an extended clinical depression episode that began in November. Not sure how to write a book about that method.
Speak for yourself, Jeff. My experience was totally different. For example, I ended up lying in a recliner eating Doritos and watching There’s Something About Mary. Every part of that differs from your story.
Tirzepatide. Or semaglutide. They fix your hormones so you aren’t fighting your body. You still have to do all the right things but your body cooperates. Highly recommend — see my recent piece in which I talk about losing 50 pounds. It’s the one with the picture of me naked but holding a giant bag of flour.
I've lost 30+ since October. It really is a miracle. But as of right now, at least, nobody is going to prescribe it to the "I wanna lose 15 pounds to look good in a bathing suit" crowd, which it seems like Jeff belongs to (although I think there is really no reason people couldn't take it for that.)
There are "medical weight loss clinics" that will prescribe to anyone. Telehealth affiliated with either Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk will also hand you a scrip.
Makes sense. What's funny is that a lot of the people who could afford to pay four figures a month out of pocket probably also have gold plated insurance plans that cover it in cases where its medical necessity is questionable. (Kind of like how all those mega rich actors go to the Oscars and get gift bags worth $60,000 or whatever.)
I have a very good (and cheap!) health plan as I work in healthcare, but GLP-1s are currently only covered for diabetes. Employer-supported health plans mostly won’t cover it for weight loss, because most of the serious health problems from non-extreme obesity don’t crop up all that quickly, so they’re gambling that they won’t see any cost savings from not needing to cover more expensive treatment later in life.
Anybody can get a prescription, honestly. Paying for it is the hard part. I wouldn’t consider paying hundreds/more than a grand per month for life worth it for 15 pounds, personally.
My wife's Ozempic is covered by insurance, but I'm on Zepbound and pay $500/month by buying it direct from Lilly. Seems like a lot but we spend a whole lot less on restaurants and groceries so it almost makes up for it. Hopefully, insurance will pay eventually. It really is the only way to lose weight. I've tried everything. It also fixes other chronic issues.
It isn’t saving me any money because we already didn’t go to restaurants and were already purchasing mostly beans, veggies and lentils. I’m taking on a lot more side work to cover the cost. I’m trying to appeal my insurance coverage because I can’t keep up this pace forever. I am looking into some creative work-arounds. I was already driving a 20-year-old car, washing dishes by hand and hanging up laundry to dry. There’s just not much in our budget to cut and not many more hours a day I can work. (Always hoping for more paid subscribers—that would allow me to breathe.)
"The 'diets don’t work' people are wrong, you can change your body, I’ve done it, but it’s fucking hard. You really have to be in the right mental space and life situation for a sustained period of time in order to make it happen."
I don't think anybody really thinks that calorie restriction "doesn't work" in the sense that it doesn't mechanistically lower your body mass. They just think it "doesn't work" in that it's not a sustainable strategy, which (as you say) it isn't if you're not in the right mental space and life situation for a sustained period of time, which is an opportunity that comes rarely if ever.
That's something you could describe as diets "not working." People tending to revert to their original weights even after succeeding can be described as diets "not working." I think "fatties think eating less doesn't make you lose weight" is kind of an insulting strawman and nobody actually believes that. Nobody knows more about losing weight than fat people.
Good and funny piece though. A nice counter to a message that the internet won't stop shouting as us, which seems to be your wheelhouse.
Eating the right food for oneself (which will be different for different people, but definitely not just calorie restriction) and doing mini fasts so as to go in to regular ketosis, drinking plenty of water, and getting a regular good (not excessive) workout are keys! Gimmicks are unsustainable, but there IS a way that can work for most!
Can’t say enough good things about mini-fasts! GLP-1 meds make them a lot easier, too.
And it really is underappreciated how differently people of different genetic backgrounds can handle different foods. Not everybody has the same solution or the same pitfalls. (Nobody will believe me, but as someone pretty in tune with my body who gets regular lab work I swear sugar isn’t bad for me, except for its calorie density. And it is probably a coincidence but my actual surname has a sweetness-related etymology.)
Not eating for say, 14 hours or more (but at least 12, generally speaking), often centered on sleep time, to induce frequent ketoses (fat burning) without being hungery all the time, but still eating every day. I do this at least a couple of times a week and it's helped a lot, along with plenty of exercise, abundent water consumption and a quality diet for my own body.
Yeah, it's not sustainable because people can't function when they're hungry all the time.
Once the high of making good choices wears off, and your body sends the "I'm starving" signals, you feel horrible unless you eat. And people can only work, parent, etc, while feeling horrible for so long.
That's why frequent miny fasts of 12 to 16 hours (they can be centered onnsleep time) to induce ketoses and more exercise is key, and is sustainable while mere calorie restriction isn't for most. Diabetes makes this impractical however, although in that case smaller but still somewhat prolonged food breaks and more water and fiber consumption can often still help a lot, along with plenty of exercise.
It's your going the extra yard in descriptive metaphor jokes that keeps me reading. "Ribbon" eel. Also, I had to then look at some ribbon eels; they're quite beautiful.
Thank you I needed a good LOL for a change of pace. I’ll be seeing you and Jesse at the DC Improv. Dragging hubby along so please be extra funny to make me look good thank you!
I appreciate you adding this to the public record- fun read.
Off topic: I have a 4-person table for the 3/23 live show in DC (with Jesse Singal) that is up for grabs (I have a last minute conflict). If anyone is in DC and wants to go, message me! I'm sad to miss it.
To the best! I find that doing mini fasts centered on my sleep time is helpful, along with drinking plenty of water and a high fiber as well as relatively protein diet. Going into Ketoses on a regular bases is a key to loosing weight while not feeling miserable all the time! Then, the key is finding a sustainability routine.
I feel your pain, Jeff. I think my plan worked, but I went from 6”3” to 5’11. (Def lost weight, though).
And where in Gds creation can you buy a height gauge? Not Walmart! Not Target! And those fucking Stanley tape measures are never accurate - and they expand & contract at will, especially when I’m fishing.
I did manage to lose 20 pounds this year, thanks to COVID in September and an extended clinical depression episode that began in November. Not sure how to write a book about that method.
Good luck Schlocko.
Hope you feel better.....
I do, thanks. Drugs are wonderful. (That can be the title of my book.)
Never has anything spoken to so clearly *nibbles some more chocolate whilst slumped sideways on the sofa*
Speak for yourself, Jeff. My experience was totally different. For example, I ended up lying in a recliner eating Doritos and watching There’s Something About Mary. Every part of that differs from your story.
There is, in fact, a big difference between watching reasonable straight-man Ben Stiller and dumb, off-the-wall Ben Stiller.
Tirzepatide. Or semaglutide. They fix your hormones so you aren’t fighting your body. You still have to do all the right things but your body cooperates. Highly recommend — see my recent piece in which I talk about losing 50 pounds. It’s the one with the picture of me naked but holding a giant bag of flour.
I've lost 30+ since October. It really is a miracle. But as of right now, at least, nobody is going to prescribe it to the "I wanna lose 15 pounds to look good in a bathing suit" crowd, which it seems like Jeff belongs to (although I think there is really no reason people couldn't take it for that.)
There are "medical weight loss clinics" that will prescribe to anyone. Telehealth affiliated with either Eli Lilly or Novo Nordisk will also hand you a scrip.
Makes sense. What's funny is that a lot of the people who could afford to pay four figures a month out of pocket probably also have gold plated insurance plans that cover it in cases where its medical necessity is questionable. (Kind of like how all those mega rich actors go to the Oscars and get gift bags worth $60,000 or whatever.)
I have a very good (and cheap!) health plan as I work in healthcare, but GLP-1s are currently only covered for diabetes. Employer-supported health plans mostly won’t cover it for weight loss, because most of the serious health problems from non-extreme obesity don’t crop up all that quickly, so they’re gambling that they won’t see any cost savings from not needing to cover more expensive treatment later in life.
Anybody can get a prescription, honestly. Paying for it is the hard part. I wouldn’t consider paying hundreds/more than a grand per month for life worth it for 15 pounds, personally.
My wife's Ozempic is covered by insurance, but I'm on Zepbound and pay $500/month by buying it direct from Lilly. Seems like a lot but we spend a whole lot less on restaurants and groceries so it almost makes up for it. Hopefully, insurance will pay eventually. It really is the only way to lose weight. I've tried everything. It also fixes other chronic issues.
It isn’t saving me any money because we already didn’t go to restaurants and were already purchasing mostly beans, veggies and lentils. I’m taking on a lot more side work to cover the cost. I’m trying to appeal my insurance coverage because I can’t keep up this pace forever. I am looking into some creative work-arounds. I was already driving a 20-year-old car, washing dishes by hand and hanging up laundry to dry. There’s just not much in our budget to cut and not many more hours a day I can work. (Always hoping for more paid subscribers—that would allow me to breathe.)
Go to a reputable compounder like HIMS/HERS. I pay $199/month if I pay for a year’s supply up front.
FDA just killed this option.
Fucking RFKJr and Trump…
My PCP will not unless there is an underlying medical condition. And I honestly have severe reservation about weight loss clinics.
"The 'diets don’t work' people are wrong, you can change your body, I’ve done it, but it’s fucking hard. You really have to be in the right mental space and life situation for a sustained period of time in order to make it happen."
I don't think anybody really thinks that calorie restriction "doesn't work" in the sense that it doesn't mechanistically lower your body mass. They just think it "doesn't work" in that it's not a sustainable strategy, which (as you say) it isn't if you're not in the right mental space and life situation for a sustained period of time, which is an opportunity that comes rarely if ever.
That's something you could describe as diets "not working." People tending to revert to their original weights even after succeeding can be described as diets "not working." I think "fatties think eating less doesn't make you lose weight" is kind of an insulting strawman and nobody actually believes that. Nobody knows more about losing weight than fat people.
Good and funny piece though. A nice counter to a message that the internet won't stop shouting as us, which seems to be your wheelhouse.
Eating the right food for oneself (which will be different for different people, but definitely not just calorie restriction) and doing mini fasts so as to go in to regular ketosis, drinking plenty of water, and getting a regular good (not excessive) workout are keys! Gimmicks are unsustainable, but there IS a way that can work for most!
Can’t say enough good things about mini-fasts! GLP-1 meds make them a lot easier, too.
And it really is underappreciated how differently people of different genetic backgrounds can handle different foods. Not everybody has the same solution or the same pitfalls. (Nobody will believe me, but as someone pretty in tune with my body who gets regular lab work I swear sugar isn’t bad for me, except for its calorie density. And it is probably a coincidence but my actual surname has a sweetness-related etymology.)
What's a mini fast?
Not eating for say, 14 hours or more (but at least 12, generally speaking), often centered on sleep time, to induce frequent ketoses (fat burning) without being hungery all the time, but still eating every day. I do this at least a couple of times a week and it's helped a lot, along with plenty of exercise, abundent water consumption and a quality diet for my own body.
Yeah, it's not sustainable because people can't function when they're hungry all the time.
Once the high of making good choices wears off, and your body sends the "I'm starving" signals, you feel horrible unless you eat. And people can only work, parent, etc, while feeling horrible for so long.
That's why frequent miny fasts of 12 to 16 hours (they can be centered onnsleep time) to induce ketoses and more exercise is key, and is sustainable while mere calorie restriction isn't for most. Diabetes makes this impractical however, although in that case smaller but still somewhat prolonged food breaks and more water and fiber consumption can often still help a lot, along with plenty of exercise.
"...like a ribbon eel emerging from coral".
It's your going the extra yard in descriptive metaphor jokes that keeps me reading. "Ribbon" eel. Also, I had to then look at some ribbon eels; they're quite beautiful.
I hardly ever laugh out loud at writing, but "I would rather have eaten an elephant’s snatch than a watermelon" caused me to guffaw.
Thank you I needed a good LOL for a change of pace. I’ll be seeing you and Jesse at the DC Improv. Dragging hubby along so please be extra funny to make me look good thank you!
I appreciate you adding this to the public record- fun read.
Off topic: I have a 4-person table for the 3/23 live show in DC (with Jesse Singal) that is up for grabs (I have a last minute conflict). If anyone is in DC and wants to go, message me! I'm sad to miss it.
https://dcimprov-com.seatengine.com/shows/300393
crack work very well
See if you can help Jesse lose 60
To the best! I find that doing mini fasts centered on my sleep time is helpful, along with drinking plenty of water and a high fiber as well as relatively protein diet. Going into Ketoses on a regular bases is a key to loosing weight while not feeling miserable all the time! Then, the key is finding a sustainability routine.
Am I the only one who was expecting this to be another article about DOGE?
I feel your pain, Jeff. I think my plan worked, but I went from 6”3” to 5’11. (Def lost weight, though).
And where in Gds creation can you buy a height gauge? Not Walmart! Not Target! And those fucking Stanley tape measures are never accurate - and they expand & contract at will, especially when I’m fishing.
36h fast once a week, black coffee, lost 27lbs…easiest thing I have ever done!
self-Chernobyls made me laugh hard. I'm still chuckling. Also, eating an elephant snatch for breakfast is LOL funny 🤣