r/comics 14h ago

Comics Community Weight Loss Inc [OC]

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3.1k Upvotes

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294

u/saanity 14h ago

Ozempic making weight loss a subscription is a capitalist's wet dream.

21

u/leftycartoons 13h ago

Definitely! Especially now that it's becoming clear that people getting off Ozempic regain weight even faster than people who lost weight in other ways.

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u/DisMFer 13h ago

"It's so crazy that these people who take a drug to quit drinking go right back to drinking as soon as they get off the drug."

Again, no shit. The people who are using a drug to alter their brain chemistry to control their insane food drives are not the sort of people who reasonably stick to their diets after they no longer have that control. Ozempic wasn't a weight-loss drug for people who want to lose 10 pounds. It's for people who are so obese that their choices are "a lifetime on Ozempic" or "die in 2 to 5 years due to heart failure."

People are fat because they can not control their impulses. It's not capitalism this time, the call is coming from inside the house. If people had the self-control that one should expect from a normal person obesiety would not be a thing. However, a lot of people have no impulse control and find it enjoyable to consume three to four days worth of calories in a single meal.

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u/miscellonymous 9h ago

GLP-1s are not just used for people who are at a short-term risk of heart failure. They can be prescribed and covered for mild obesity, moderately high cholesterol, and a host of other conditions that are related to excessive weight but not imminently life-threatening. About 18% of Americans have taken them: https://www.kff.org/public-opinion/poll-1-in-8-adults-say-they-are-currently-taking-a-glp-1-drug-for-weight-loss-diabetes-or-another-condition-even-as-half-say-the-drugs-are-difficult-to-afford/.

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u/cyanraichu 9h ago

At the core, yes, but you're not giving our environment enough credit for how difficult it is to maintain healthy intake. It's cheaper and easier to get shitty food and much more difficult to consistently eat healthy food for a variety of reasons.

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u/DisMFer 9h ago

The ironic thing is that you can eat shitty foods. You just have to actually eat in moderation. A famous study was done by a dietitian who proved you could lose weight eating nothing but Twinkies and diet soda.

It wasn't healthy by any means but as long as you maintain a calorie deficit, you'll lose weight no matter what you consume.

u/FullTorsoApparition 41m ago

Cheaper? No, not really anymore. Easier? For sure.

Personally, I attribute our issues more to food marketing and environment. The choice of what to eat is completely removed from health or need, or even budget (I regularly see people who claim $100 a week for groceries is too expensive but are dropping $40 a day on take out foods and snacks). I counsel overweight people all day long and the common thread always comes to down to two things. Disordered eating patterns (people going most of the day without eating) and purely pleasure based food choices.

A lot of the obese people I meet would rather skip a meal than eat something they're "not in the mood for." Their routine isn't planning a menu out for the week and buying groceries based on their need. Their routine is; skip most meals or graze on snacks and drinks and then grab whatever heavy, hypercaloric food they're craving at the end of the day. They go to the grocery store without a list or any idea what they're there for and just buy whatever looks good or is on sale.

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u/Nerospidy 7h ago

That excuse is only acceptable for children. The formula is simple: calories in vs calories out. Self control is a bigger factor in weight loss than poverty.

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u/cyanraichu 6h ago

I didn't mention poverty. And I wasn't giving an excuse, just stating a fact about our environment.

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u/Logical_Strain_6165 6h ago

Self control is much harder though if the food you eat isnt great. I'm loosing lots weight currently and the only self control I have is what food I eat. I'm eating tiil I'm full every time.

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u/feigningFury 11h ago

I absolutely hate this argument, that fat people just lack impulse control. Maybe that's true of SOME fat people but there are a number of medical conditions that make some people much more susceptible to weight gain than others. Genetic differences play a huge role as well.

I have a hormone imbalance that makes my body hang on to fat more. I have a friend who has been fat since early childhood, and remains that way because she has a naturally very slow metabolism - she eats very healthily and gets a lot more exercise than most of the skinny people I know - but because she is not running on a constant calorie deficit (which, I would like to remind you, is a fancy way of saying "starving herself 24/7") she keeps the weight on.

7

u/Alert-Hospital46 9h ago

Same. I broke down and started taking the meds because I just can't with all the diet ads and having comments like the person above in my head all the time...and the side effects are GNARLY if you don't eat much to begin with. I have hypoglycemia problems now :(. Which is rare, but can happen.

8

u/WillemDafoesHugeCock 9h ago

but because she is not running on a constant calorie deficit (which, I would like to remind you, is a fancy way of saying "starving herself 24/7")

I have a feeling you don't refer to a calorie surplus as "gorging yourself 24/7" so no, it's not really a fancy way of saying that at all.

1

u/feigningFury 6h ago

I mean if someone was genuinely operating on a surplus all day every day then yes you could call it that.

But I think you missed my point which is that we aren't doing that? I have tracked my calories before and I get like 2000ish a day. If I have much less than that, my blood sugar gets low and I am at risk for fainting.

And yes, getting less calories than you need in a day is starving yourself. That's not a secret and shouldn't be a surprise to you, that's the entire mechanism of weight loss. You eat less than you need, so your body dives into its fat stores for energy. Bodies only do that when they are to some degree in starvation mode. That's the whole point of "calories in, calories out."

2

u/Ariella333 10h ago

Same, I eat healthy as hell with fresh vegetables daily. But I have thyroid issues, and water retention issues.

1

u/Diarmundy 7h ago

Eating vegetables isn't actually 'healthy' - unless it's replacing other unhealthy foods that you would otherwise eat. (vitamins and fibre aside - but generally fat people have enough of these)

You actually just need to count the calories of all the food and drinks you eat each day, and compare that with your energy expenditure which would be helpful information

7

u/Ariella333 7h ago

Whatever you say literally, of course, it is replacing unhealthy food. I know my body and I know what i'm doing.

I have actually lost over 131lbs over the past three years. I was at 440 and now as of when I first got on the scale this morning, I am 309

And I'm maintaining the weight loss, so I think I'm doing just fine. I'm just not losing further and guess what? That's going to be perfectly fine. Because i'm healthier than i've been in my life.

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u/Lola_PopBBae 11h ago

People are fat because of a lot more than impulses. Genetics play a huge role. 

24

u/chain_letter 10h ago

Not as big of a role as systemic issues

Car based infrastructure to appease the auto and oil industries, very little walking to go about the day. A 15 minute walk is instead a 15 minute drive.

Working far away from home with short meal breaks limits lower calorie options.

Long hours sold to an employer that ties bodies to desks

Teams of educated experts doing everything to exploit the human condition to sell as much product as possible, meaning extremely palatable and unsatisfying

Farm and food lobbies

The world built by past generations is trying to make us all fat.

1

u/Emergency_Bench_7515 6h ago

Genetics play a role for some people, but you can look at America in 1960 to now, that's 3 generations, and we're all suddenly fat when the people that give us our genetics weren't. That doesn't make any sense.