Weight-loss drugs are a very hot topic right now. They seem like they may be the miracle we've been waiting for. Are they? Or is there more to it? This is certainly a multi-faceted issue.
I recently received an email from the founder of The Institute for the Psychology of Eating that spoke well on the topic and mirrors my thoughts. I decided to share it with you today. It follows.
Have you noticed the new era we’ve entered when it comes to weight loss … specifically, weight loss drugs?
I definitely have!
And I know that many people in our eating psychology community have been taking notice, as well.
The spike in popularity of weight loss drugs has recently hit a truly unprecedented level.
Weight loss drugs have been dominating the news and the internet like no other time in the history of pharmaceuticals.
Success stories seem to be everywhere, and there’s a lot of excitement about the possibility of losing weight with the help of a weight-loss drug.
I truly understand. On its face, what’s not to like about popping a pill to lose weight?
Quite a number of people have asked me to offer an opinion on weight loss drugs, so today I’d like to take a few moments and share some thoughts with you.
I have to admit that I’m of two distinct minds when it comes to the topic of weight loss drugs, and whether they have a place in our weight loss toolbox.
On the one hand, I feel very uneasy about all the hype that’s been built up around these drugs. And I’m concerned about the hopes and dreams that so many people place on these chemicals.
It’s easy to have unrealistic expectations of these drugs, particularly about how we imagine we’ll feel when we actually lose weight. This is something that I think is all too often overlooked: traditional strategies to lose weight focus on our “outer” desired goal, without simultaneously addressing the myriad thoughts, feelings, and beliefs we hold about our body weight.
I think a lot of people take a weight loss drug not simply to lose weight. We want to feel good about ourselves, and we unconsciously hope that losing weight will give us confidence, and finally make us feel successful and worthy of good things in life.
But as I often share, that kind of positive regard for ourselves and our life can only come from exploring and healing our inner world.
I’ll also say, that another part of my internal conflict over weight loss drugs is that they don’t quite feel in harmony with how to best nourish and care for the human body.
Few people talk about this, but there’s a rather sad graveyard of failed prescription weight loss drugs that were taken off the market because of their harmful side effects.
As someone who has dedicated my life to health and healing, it’s hard for me to give a green light to drugs that are not “curative” for weight loss - meaning, you must continue taking these drugs for life, and that have such a big side effect profile.
Google around and you’ll see what I mean.
Ultimately, my wish for you is to experience vibrant health and achieve your natural weight. I worry that weight loss drugs, with their known - and unknown - effects on your body can interfere with that, and potentially lead to more problems down the road.
Which is also to say, it’s important to recognize that when we decide to take a weight loss drug, we’re participating in a bit of a medical experiment. There’s still so much we don’t know about the effects of these drugs on the human body.
We don’t have a clear idea of what the effects of these newer weight loss drugs will be 5, 10 or 15 years down the road. Maybe this time around there won’t be any adverse side effects that necessitate the drug being pulled from the marketplace. (Thus far, by the way, this has never been the case.)
But here’s the other side:
There’s another part of me that understands that for so many of us, having more weight than we want is a huge source of unhappiness and emotional pain.
We live in a world that’s filled with weight hate, and that programs us to believe that anything short of a “perfect” body - slender and fat free - is simply unacceptable.
Collectively, we haven’t been taught how to build true confidence in ourselves, no matter our size and shape.
Instead, we’ve been conditioned since childhood to believe that an ideal body is the only way we can ever feel good about ourselves, and have the freedom to pursue our dreams in life.
So we diet, we exercise, we diet some more, and if we can’t reach our goal weight - which is oddly the case for a majority of people - then we end up feeling like a failure.
I understand why a weight loss drug is so appealing. It makes perfect sense. Why can’t this whole weight loss thing just be easy?
We deserve to feel good about who we are and how we look.
However, it’s my opinion that focusing solely on weight loss - whether through weight loss drugs or other means - doesn’t set us up for feeling good about ourselves. It may in the short term, but over the longer term, I think most of us recognize that our confidence and belief in ourselves must come from a deeper place.
As I see it, if you’re looking to lose weight, then you’re on your own unique weight-loss journey.
And that journey is here to help you learn and grow. It’s a great teacher.
Sometimes, that journey has moments of sunshine. And other times, we are challenged and in the dark about what to do. We’re all doing the best that we can, and we’re finding our way through all the ups and downs of life.
The good news is, we have personal choice. We have options. Certainly, weight loss drugs are among those options.
For me, if my friend or loved one was considering taking a weight loss drug, I would gently try to talk them out of it.
And if they chose to take it, I would support them and encourage them to track their body, track their health, and I would sincerely hope for the best.
Because the reality is, we’re all doing our best to be happy.
I hope this is helpful for wherever you are on your own weight loss journey.
If this post resonated with you, please consider sharing it to spread the word. It might be of use to someone you know.
If you’d like to learn more about this topic, click HERE to book a session with me.
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