Sometimes it fells as if everyone around me is losing weight on Ozempic. Not me, not ever, since just reading the label it’s evident that there is a clear warning of thyroid tumors. As in cancer. No thanks. If I ever get thyroid cancer, I don’t want to think I did something to help it along. I don’t smoke, I don’t take drugs and I keep my vices to wine and chocolate, for the most part. Still I want to lose someweight and embracec summer fun feeling fit, sleek and healthy but for me, that meens curbing my cravings the old fashioned way: Buyt prioritizin healthy foods, more sleep and less sugar (but not zero, since what’s the fun inthat?)
My opinion: these drugs can be a lifesaver and a game changer for people who truly, medically need them. But unless you are someone who has a medical condition or serious reason to be on Ozempic or other GLP-1 agonists, the risks outweigh the rewards. So what do the rest of us do? We live healthier.
As envious as I am of the incredible shrinking bodies all around me, I need to lose weight the old fashioned way: By cutting calories, eating more healthy foods and adding in strength training to my usual cardio workouts. No sugar, or salty chips on a munchy-driven Saturday afternoon (after a tough morning on the bike I often think I deserve such treats!) The good news? There is a way to lose weight without Ozempic or other GLP-1 agonist medications. It’s not a drug but a mindset shift.
As the former editor of Self magazine, I have always been a fan of “natural” healthy living, including natural beauty products, natural feeling personal style, and agenerally easy going natural approach to wellbeing – which means working out every morning, walking a lot and staying off medications.
I love to be fit, healthy and sporty. But on the way to my mid sixties, my hormones and body fluctuated and I now have an honest 15 pounds to lose, so I relate to anyone who has those stubborn layers or rolls. We are all in it together. I don’t weigh myself but I do want to look strong and sleek in my bathing suit. Right now there are a few extra bulges that are bothering me more than usual.
How you feel and present yourself to the world is entirely subjective of course, and I know that I can appreciate and love my body and also want to be consistently healthier and that includes needing to lose a little weight. That can be part of appreciating and loving your body – choosing to treat it to healthy fresh food and daily exercise every day, prioritizing quality sleep and living a relatively stress-free existence. Health is wealth and investing in your wellbeing is the best time and money you can ever spend. For me, rather than taking a diet drug, the smart move is a “wellthy” mindset shift. That means every decision should serve a healthy goal.
Wanting to Look and Feel Fit is a Major Motivation
Caring how you look isn’t a bad thing. Vanity is not a just a motivator but a signal, that something isn’t what it should be. Or that you can do better, by tweaking your habits (for me that means not drinking during the week, cutting out the chocolate and carby snacks, and strength training, rather than just admiring the weight set I bought and the rack I assembled by hand, while watch TV one night.) Of course health is the number one goal, but I don’t feel healthy when I am lumpy or puffy and my favorite jeans are tight to button close.
Other than fitting into my clothes and feeling less bloated, my number one motivation is to be healthy, to achieve longevity and to get back to “race shape” for my favorite triathlons, and running with extra weight is hard on my bad knee, which iss stiff and painful from arthritis, after a torn ACL meant surgery half a lifetime ago. Longevity, skiing with my future grandkids (god willing) and being cheerful and chipper for the next many years is the ultimate win. But not looking like or feeling like my best self is a more immediate signal that it’s time to kick myself into action and change my eating, and my diet mindset.
Ozempic Banishes Cravings But So Do These Behavioral Changes
Sometimes I get cravings (for sweets mostly but also salty chips) that are so strong that they interrupt my work, my actions and my resolve. I know there is a frozen Snickers bar in the freezer and it becon me at 3 p.m. But I now have a new way of banishing cravings without Ozempic or the like. I’ll share that with you in a minute.
First… What do you crave? For me, this time of year (spring and summer) it’s Cracker Jacks and chocolate chip cookie dough, or mint chocolate ice cream. I salivate just writing the words. But on the alternative-to-Ozempic weight loss plan I have to tell myself that these things are no longer on the menu, and that’s fine. It’s a mindset shift: I have created a new way of thinking that prioritizes health and fitness, strength and a toned body (and not bloated face!) over my usual high-calorie favorite foods. It’s something anyone can do and it works like this.
Ozempic is Off the Table for Anyone With Thyroid Issues
If you have any kind of thyroid history or family medical history of thyroid cancer, you can’t use a GLP-1 since the medications have been linked to higher risk of thyroid tumors, including cancer. That is not all they are linked to. Pancreatitis, gall bladder problems, vision problems and more. Plus they make you feel nauseus and vaguely sick most of the time.
For some people, with high markers for heart disease, pre-diabetes, and increased risk of stroke, losing 50 or more pounds can mean a new lease on life. The risks of taking GLP-1 meds are commensurate with the reward. For them (and I know several who feel grateful for having the option of getting medical help for their weight loss) these drugs are a lifesaver, literally. For me, needing to lose 15 to 20 pounds to get back to “race weight” and feeling great, simply changing my outlook to prioritize healthy eating and taking a stricter stance on calories and carbs is all that’s needed.
4 Proven Ways to Kick Cravings and Have More Energy
- Eat Protein at Every Meal
- Break the Sugar Cycle
- Get More Restful Sleep
- Exercise Daily
- Eat Protein at Every Meal or Snack. It’s often the case that when your body needs one nutrient you reach for another. If you need protein and healthy food, you may mistake that for a “just feed me” cue that means reaching for whatever is readily available, quick and will quell the hunger signals.
Eating more high-fiber foods such as salads, fruits and vegetables will keep your body full longer (since it takes longer to break these down than simple carbs). Complex carbs such as whole grains, legumes, and vegetables are akin to making your body untie knots to unlock the nutrients, as opposed to the simple carbs of white flour, granulated sugar, and sweets, which enter the blood stream faster but leave it just as quickly (either to be burned if you are working out. or stored as fat).
Fast-digesting protein (such as whey) takes your body one to two hours to break down, and slow-digesting protein (such as legumes and beans) take up to four hours to break down and fully absorb, maning you stay full longer as your body signals that it is getting fed for that full amount of time. Plus, if you eat plant-based proteins such as beans and legumes, which are both complex carbs and proteins, along with fats you slow down absorption even more.
2. Simple Sugar Is a Simple No-Go. This is true even though I am a carb and chocolate lover from way back. When you break the cycle though, it becomes less and less appealing. I liken this to any habit: drinking wine or liquor as the sun sets or you enjoy a wind-donw cocktail hour, or you are in the habit of chips before dinner (my husband always loves potato chips and that means I can’t banish them from the house).
Sugar is tricky since your body only holds a tablespoon in the bloodstream for ready use at any given time. Eat more than that and it gets locked up as fat. But then you get hungry again as blood sugar drops, and if you don’t give in to that craving, your body will eventually unlock the deep storage, but it is the last resort, so you have to actually tell yourself: Nope, I am not really hungry, just low blood sugar and I need to eat something healthy like veggies with a spoonfull of peanut butter, or an unsweetened yogurt or other snack low in sugar.
3. Sleep is Your Best Friend In The Fight Against Cravings. That is because not only is your brain sharper and your resolve stronger but you may be battling unseen gremlins, called Ghrelin, when you’re sleep deprived. As you sleep the body releases hormones that allow you to repair and rest, and those hormones also regulate appetite, addiction and the urge to eat. The helpful one is called Leptin, which works to quiet down your hunger hormones, and the unhelpful one is called Ghrelin which drives cravings, the urge to eat and food or other addictions.
When you’re tired and lacking adequate sleep (defined as 7 to 9 hours a night, starting before midnight), the body mistakes sleep deprivation with hunger, and tries to fuel your brain with nutrients when what it actually needs is to power down and get the restorative sleep you are depriving yourself of.
One other nasty gremlin-like thing about Ghrelin? It can slow down metabolism. This makes sense when you think about how your amazing body tries to save you from yourself. Not enough sleep equals not enough energy, so you save and are stingy with the energy (or nutrients) you supply it. More sleep equals more energy, lower appetite cravings and a faster metabolism. So power down the phone and get to bed. Your rested morning body will thank you by feeling energized and ready for that workout, and you will want to eat healthier all day long.
4. Exercise to Curb Cravings, Research Shows. A single session of high-intensity interval training and a 12-week high-intensity aerobic exercise program have been shown to curb the desire to eat high-calorie junk food, according to . This is likely because the brain feels less stressed after exercise, and is more able to resist a high-calorie food craving, or not experience one in the first place. Similar effects are seen after waliing or other moderate aerobic exercise or when they do regular strength training
Be Consistent and Keep It Up for 100 Days
For those of us not taking Ozempic, we need to prioritize a diverse diet of healthy plant-based foods, for the sake of our gut health, longterm disease prevention and weight loss. Luckily that type of Mediterranean style diet manages to do all three. Add in daily exercise (mix in cardio, strength and stretching) and you will see results. How long will it take to get leaner, healthier and lose weight? From experience, I have learned that It takes 100 days to achieve real change in the body.
You may not see instant results when you start exercising and eating healthy, but don’t get discouraged, because change is happening, even before you perceive it in the form of losing weight. Just keep plugging away since your body changes about 1 percent of its cells a day, so in 100 days you will be a whole new person. Trust the process and keep up. the consistency. For reach change, to achieve lasting results, 100 days is basically no time at all.
Bottom Line: Diet drugs can be lifesavers for those who need them, but for the rest of us, eating healthier, getting sleep and saying “no” sometimes to the cravings that are natural, human and part of life is another way to get fit for summer. Then again, I always enjoy the occasional mint chocolate chip cone on an active Saturday in the middle of summer. And that’s perfectly healthy too!
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