Very interesting post! I just had a conversation about this with the hubby about an hour ago! He was put on Wegovy a couple of weeks ago due to being overweight and borderline for diabetes. I do OMAD intermittent fasting about five days a week. I have observed his eating habits, but I wanted him to openly verbalize that what he is doing is what I do through IF. He said “Ever since starting this medication, I am only eating once a day, and I don’t feel hungry throughout the rest of the day.” I responded with “So you are basically doing what I am doing—OMAD IF.” He said YES. I will state that I have told him that I am concerned about the long-term use of this medication for him. I also told him that as soon as he decides to get off of Wegovy, the better so he can join me doing OMAD.
What I see is that any media that is making mention of intermittent fasting alternatives that can be sold in a can, box, program, or a random study that ends in a maybe with no solid facts to back it up, is just non IF practicioners giving you reasons to steer clear of the IF practice.
When we dial in our diets, stay active, sleep good and drink plenty of water, I feel that those things are the basics to help reap the benefits of intermittent fasting.
I think it’s a pretty simple answer. You can’t make money off of people not eating. Medication makes money, special low carb bars/snacks make money, diet/sugar free drinks make money. Workout programs make money. Fasting costs nothing, don’t eat and drink water? Where’s the profit for the diet/food industry? Once people figure out how to market products for IF it’ll be talked about more.
Is a short term fix. They’ll all gain back the weight when they stop taking it.
Same as people that do 30 days fasts and then go back to eating the way they did.
Long term change is what’s required to keep it off.
Sorry but all my brain keeps hearing is “If you or your loved ones have been injured by taking Wegovy or Osembic, call our law firm at 1-800-StopTrustingBigPharmaWithYourLife”.
These “miracle” drugs are always great until they aren’t. And I trust the advice of celebrities who promote them about as much as I trust local drug pushers (doctors).
Im. Not a doctor so I won’t comment too much on the similarities between IF and semaglutide.
As to why it’s so popular right now…
a lot of celebrities are endorsing it right now, so it’s trendy. The same reason certain plastic surgeries become really popular all of a sudden, at least semaglutide provides a positive health outcome for overweight people though.
It’s relatively new for weight loss.
people like silver bullets because they’re easy.
It’s a product to sell, so it can actually be marketed. For IF there’s some books, sure, but there’s no recurring product to sell so no one has anything to market and advertise.
IF itself did have a media blitz a few years ago, but that died down. The same will happen with these drugs even if they are effective simply because it won’t be new anymore.
My personal take on this especially having had success with IF is that I’d rather not take the drug route. IF saves me money rather than cost me money and has provided me with the tools and mindset to keep the weight going down and off by myself. If you take semaglutide you’ll eventually go off of it, and then it’s effects stop right away and you’re on your own again. At least with IF I got over that hurdle early.
Just a random thought but here we go lol. I think it comes down to control. For example I know many people don’t like IF and I think it’s because you never know how much someone may cut their food down. Yeah many people might do well on it but what about those that might end up with an eating disorder? If you’re doing injectables then you’re way more supervised when it comes to weight loss.
I use ozempic (doctor prescribed) and it helps me fast so I’m losing weight quite fast. It just helps you with your apetite, if you eat out of boredom it doesn’t help much. And as all other diets work, if you stop putting in the work you gain it back. It’s a long treatment ( 1 year in my case) and by then you’ve lost enough weight and your stomach shrinks so you can keep the weight off
IF is misunderstood by many and imo it’s overhyped. IF isn’t a diet it’s just a pattern of eating. When you’re IFing you’re usually eating less food causing your stomach to shrink over time making you more satiated with less food. Semaglutide is popular because it takes no effort. Everyone wants the easy way out. Truth be told there is no magic pill or easy way out. Everything has consequences. So, just eat healthy and exercise and you won’t even have to worry about the lazy man’s weight loss drug. Also other drugs will make you lose weight also and are much more fun lol.
Edit: There’s also a conspiracy theory behind why semaglutide is being pushed so hard. In the recent events of covid there seems to have been an influx of cardiac related issues. Semaglutide has properties that benefit the heart.