When I was younger, I had body dysmorphia because I was a muscular young female. I had been playing basketball since 5th grade, loved being outside, and started lifting at 14. Since I have been an athlete, am active, and have lifted weights, I have always weighed more than most females my age. As a 7th grader, I weighed 114 lbs, and as a senior, I weighed 162 lbs. I always thought I wasn’t attractive because of that number, and I grew up with ugly duckling syndrome. What I now appreciate about my muscular physique is that it led me to be a power forward on the high school varsity basketball team, and I bench-pressed 135 lbs as a senior (freaking badass). I had the confidence to take a lifting class with the football team, and it’s given me the career that I have now. The negative mindset I had back then led me not to value myself as I should have in college, making questionable choices, and leading me to have less self-respect in my 20s. I have been in your shoes when it comes to the scale, but why do we give a number so much power over our mental health and how we see ourselves? Why aren’t we seeing muscle as power rather than valuing being thin? Why are we risking our overall health and well-being on expensive medications or procedures that aren’t sustainable? Why aren’t we just using the basics of a healthy lifestyle to take care of our bodies and help us reach our health goals?
Let me tell you what that number on the scale means to me as a health and wellness professional, and how it relates to your overall health and well-being…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! That number on the scale is your total body weight, which is comprised of your total body water, bones and minerals, muscle mass, and body fat. If you weigh more than the BMI scale indicates, that tells me one of two things. You are either muscular as shit, or you do have more body fat than we would like for overall health. A healthy woman is a good weight when her body fat is within 18-28% of her total body weight. A healthy man is at a good weight when his body fat is within 10-20% of his total body weight. Weight alone does not indicate health or illness; you need to look at body composition. BMI is garbage if you have a lot of muscle (I hope I live to see the day when that measurement gets trashed). The only benefit of being a lean person with a high BMI is that you can get things covered by health insurance that you wouldn’t normally because they categorize you as obese over 30, what a joke! A body builder with 7% bodyfat is always considered obese according to the BMI scale because of all their muscle. Does that person sound unhealthy to you with only 7% body fat???? C’mon, people, stop letting the number on the scale dictate your mental health and put your health at risk by thinking you have to be thin to be healthy. This is outdated information!
Americans have spent $50 billion dollars on Ozempic or trizepatides and when combined with GLP-1 medications, it skyrockets to a whopping $71 billion in 2023. Businesses are making money off of you by making you think that this is the only way that you will lose body fat because they don’t understand the basics of exercise and nutrition science. They are making money off of your emotions and making you think this is the only way that you can combat obesity. It’s just simply not true.
We are decreasing our longevity by resorting to harmful medications that cost, on average, $900 or $1,000 per month out of pocket. This same medication could cause nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, stomach pain, dizziness, fatigue, complete loss of appetite, headaches and in severe cases…thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, gallbladder issues, and permanent vision changes? Why are we being told that we need to cut out the “food noise” when that is our body’s natural way of telling us that it needs fuel through food?!?! That is your appetite, people! That is our body’s way of signaling that you are running out of fuel and need to eat! We shouldn’t be cutting out the “noise”; we should be listening to it
Marketing specialists are saying that people can lose up to 80 lbs while using this drug. Do you think they also mentioned that 40 lbs of it is pure muscle, that it decreases your bone density and functional ability, and that it decreases your resting metabolism rate by 200 calories? Do they mention that because this drug suppresses your appetite completely, you will not be able to eat anything, resulting in lethargy, headaches, dizziness, muscle atrophy, and feeling like shit because your body isn’t getting any nutrients at all? Does that sound like fun to you? All for that number on the scale to go down?
If you are utilizing these medications to help with A1C control, great, just make sure that the dosage you are on doesn’t completely suppress your appetite, putting your overall health and well-being on the line. YOU HAVE TO EAT TO HAVE ENERGY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE! Eating also helps maintain your muscle mass and reduce overall body fat.
If you want to lose body fat and fit into your clothes better, stop spending your money on these crazy “solutions.” You have the power to lose body fat naturally and have more money for retirement or the things that you love. The basics of exercise and nutrition science work, but you have to put them into action and be consistent. I created a tool just for people like you who need a plan to follow. It is my Health and Fitness Ebook. You will have access to tools to determine how many calories you need per day and your macronutrient breakdown, based on your body and goals. You will have access to a digital 6-week fitness program I created to increase your lean body mass and rev up your metabolism again. When you start the fitness program, you will have access to me 24/7 for guidance, support, and accountability to improve program compliance. The book is meant to help others build the building blocks of a sustainable, healthy lifestyle, setting you up with a solid foundation to sustain for the rest of your life. People are gaining body fat and yo-yo dieting because they aren’t consistent, and no one is holding them accountable.
There is a natural, less expensive way to achieve results, and you will feel AMAZING during the process with no harmful side effects.
My goal for this blog is to be honest and real with people who have weight loss goals about the dangers of these drugs and how costly they are emotionally, physically, and mentally. It’s not worth it, and there is another way. It just takes you incorporating the basics of a healthy lifestyle to achieve optimal health and well-being along with a coach to help support you through the journey to keep you on track.
As always, I am here for 1:1 consultations if you want to discuss your personal health journey. I wish you all the happiness and health in the future.
Coach Lynde