Wegovy & the Illusion of Choice?

Lee1987

Lee1987

Member
Before semaglutide, my thinking about body weight went like this:

It's unfair that some have faster metabolisms, but I just need a better workout plan. The right macros will overcome my genetics.
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Result: decades of bouncing between 220 and 320 pounds.

After the shot:

Long-term dieting without medical help fails almost universally. It's delusional to think I'm special. I'm destined to be overweight without medication. Our bodies are programmed, and anyone who claims they're thin purely from willpower is lying.

Basically all of what we do comes from chemicals in our system, usually without our permission. The idea of free will is wrong, every feeling I'll ever have existed from day one of the universe.

Even if the universe is random, free will still makes no sense. Whether my actions were set in stone at the Big Bang, or by subatomic particles split seconds before I act, it doesn't matter – I'm not in control.

The belief in a separate, conscious observer is an illusion. I am my body, nothing more. Even the part that feels in charge is just another program. The me writing this is programmed. The you that's reading this is programmed. There's no pilot, just the plane.
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Down about 25 pounds so far.
 
I think the really important thing about these drugs is that they show us that being overweight isn’t about being a bad person, or just being unmotivated or greedy. It’s a problem with a complex system of hormones inside us. That’s huge! We don’t need to be "better" and feel bad that we aren’t, we need medical care. Do we blame people with type 1 for a dysfunctional pancreas? Do we shame epileptics for needing meds? Or tell someone with depression to just cheer up?

That is the big change in understanding. It’s not something we can fix by being "good." It’s a problem that we can now treat with medicine. After treatment, we can build better habits, but the treatment is what makes the work possible.
 
Our bodies are secretly running the show. My wife is naturally slim, and she was shocked when I lost 40 pounds in a few months (on tirzepatide) and I wasn't even trying that hard (my diet wasn't awful before, but I had to be PERFECT to even maintain, and I've cycled the same 50-100 pounds over and over).

We're prisoners of our biology, and you can't win against your hormones forever with willpower alone. Eventually, you'll lose.
 
I was already pretty convinced by Sam Harris that free will wasn't real before starting Wegovy. This drug just confirms it. Check him out if you haven't already. Here's a summary of his book: https://jamesclear.com/book-summaries/free-will

“The desire to do one thing and not another isn’t something we consciously create. It appears in our minds. Just because you can do what you want doesn’t mean you have free will. Why? Because you aren’t choosing what you want. You just want it. You can’t say where your desires come from, but you have them. Choosing to do what you want doesn't mean you have free will because your desires are given to you.”
 
YES!

I'm going to echo that. Before I turned 30, I was super healthy and thin, like my parents and grandparents.

Then, a few months after turning 30, my body fell apart – cancer and a cerebral venous sinus thrombosis.

Since then, I've developed tons of health issues (mostly autoimmune) and gained a lot of weight. I didn't change my diet. My body started attacking itself.

I've been on semaglutide for about a year and lost about 40 pounds. The weight loss is great, but my bloodwork for everything has also improved a lot. I think I'm absorbing my other meds better, but even the conditions without meds have improved.

I'm also digesting food differently. Before, food went through me super fast. I don't think I was absorbing anything. It didn't matter how little I ate or what I ate.

My experience has nothing to do with willpower or mindset, despite what I used to think and what doctors told me about eating better and exercising more.

*edit to add*

I don't think semaglutides are "miracle drugs" because that ignores the science, but they're going to change how we understand more than just obesity. I bet they'll teach us a lot about the autoimmune system, which we don't understand very well right now.
 
Every naturally skinny fitness influencer needs to sit down.

With PCOS and insulin resistance, I knew my weight was hormonal and genetic.

But God forbid we ate a carrot or didn't exercise enough (but not too much because muscles are bad for PCOS!)

PCOS makes you hungry. Having something to fix it chemically—that's all we wanted.
 
I bet you just needed to drink some water and you wouldn't be hungry. Or wait 15 minutes to realize you were full and didn't need more.

/s

The cake is a lie!
 
I think the overly processed foods in our modern diets have messed with our hormones and hunger signals, making it feel impossible to eat like we're supposed to. Feeling hungry even when full is the norm now. We need to radically change our diets to get our hormones back on track. And don't even get me started on restaurant portion sizes. Free bread before meals was never a good idea :)
 
A zillion percent. Wegovy has freed me from feeling ashamed and disgusted about not being able to "just stop eating." I hate that phrase, it's so condescending. Wegovy has also made me annoyed at people who can maintain their weight without trying and act smug about it. It’s not a virtue that their brain can do this on its own, and it’s not a moral failing that mine can’t.

I first thought about "who am I?" when I started mood stabilizers and realized how much a tiny bit of a molecule can change things. Take a pill, get a shot, change your brain. It’s crazy. But also, yay!
 
Thank god we have a thinker among us! I appreciate your insight and how you got there. I feel sorry for people who just blindly do things without thinking about the observer/self and which self is the one in charge.
 
I totally agree with Reta_King363, it's not about willpower! I used to sneak food constantly. I'd grab fast food and eat it in the car, then hide the trash because I was ashamed. It's amazing how quiet my brain is now.
 
It's amazing how much it quiets the noise in your head, isn't it? I can't believe how much mental energy I used to spend obsessing.
 
I forgot to buy discount Valentine's candy this year! Used to be a tradition to load up. Didn't even think about it until someone at work mentioned it.
 
InsulinResistant said:
I forgot to buy discount Valentine's candy this year! Used to be a tradition to load up. Didn't even think about it until someone at work mentioned it.
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OMG, me too! I saw the Easter candy on sale the other day and had zero urge. It was a little scary, tbh.
 
Metamucil might help—people use it a lot to slow digestion and feel fuller longer. Someone recommended it to me before I started my med and it's been solid.
 
started thursday! took forever to work up courage but the shot was easy. barely any nausea, inflammation's already melting. lost maybe 3 lbs (water and bloat). liking it so far—insulin resistance improving, inflammation dropping.
 
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