You look good, i mean it
You Look Good, I mean it!
Condescending words from mostly innocent bystanders. Do they know the agony I go through while I build up the courage to jab myself on a weekly basis? Do they know that I get so nauseous I have to stay in bed some days? Do they know the stigma and backlash I receive all because I chose to put my health first?
I’ve been overweight for as long as I can remember. I was always the chubby kid in school. I didn’t have a hard time making friends and have consistently been a social butterfly but my confidence, self acceptance, and body image issues have nothing to do with that. Growing up in the 90’s/2000’s meant I had the ‘SlimFast’ experience, something I don’t wish upon anyone. The whole diet fad of my youth gave me an aversion to counting calories as an adult, but ironically, eating was never the issue for me.
As many diets as I have been on, as much exercise as I’ve done, I have always had a hard time losing weight. I was misdiagnosed with a thyroid issue for about 10 years - I was convinced this was why I looked and felt the way that I did. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that I decided to dig deeper into my health issues and saw a doctor who mentioned PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian syndrome…meaning multiple cysts that live on my ovaries - yikes) as an alternative to the thyroid issues pushed on me. After the correct tests were done, the PCOS diagnosis was confirmed but this was only half the battle. It hasn’t been until recently that more accessible doctors have decided to actually understand what it is to have PCOS and how to treat it correctly, and now GLP-1’s have entered the chat.
With PCOS came an insulin resistance diagnosis, not quite diabetes but edging on the border of dangerous territory. GLP-1’s, known to treat diabetics, are also commonly used to help PCOS sufferers with all of the wonderful symptoms this syndrome has to offer. When my doctor suggested I go on Mounjaro, I knew I had to give it a shot (literally). I tried it for a month in 2023 and then my insurance decided not to pay for it again (yay health insurance in the US).
After loopholes and switching insurance carriers, I was successful in getting coverage this past May. Since then I have hit the 30lb weightloss mark and I am feeling much better, which should be a win (and don’t get me wrong, it is!) but I also face a whole new challenge: the chit chat behind my back and the sly “she’s taking the easy way out” comments. Family members who send me articles on the dangers of the ‘Ozempic’ craze and how I should be careful about what I put in my body. People shaming me for placing confidence in a fairly new medication that is seen as glamorizing rapid weight loss. Trust me when I say this is not my experience.
The medicine that has given me a new lease on life is so stigmatized because it has gotten into the wrong hands. The Kardashians of the world seem to always ruin it for everyone, right? The stories that don’t get enough press are the ones I have witnessed myself. I have seen this medicine change the lives of people close to me, lowering blood glucose levels and A1C’s left and right, reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol (just to name a few benefits). It's not just about the skinny factor of it all, and I want to scream that from the rooftops.
What I want anyone who reads this to take away from my words is that this medicine is changing lives for the better, for people who truly deserve it, and for people who have been dismissed for so long because their medical issues were misdiagnosed or chalked up to laziness. Next time you want to compliment someone on their weight loss, try “You look radiant” instead.
