GLP-1 Over 60: Why This Feels Different Now Part 1

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What does it mean to start GLP-1 treatment later in life… after years of trying to make weight loss work?

In this episode, Kim and Kat talk with Dr. Lindsey Ogle, an obesity specialist, and Deb Cooperman, an obesity care advocate and content creator, about starting GLP-1 treatment in your 60s and why the experience can feel different this time around.

As more adults over 60 explore GLP-1 medications, Deb shares her story openly, from decades of diet culture and early messaging about weight to grief, food noise, and navigating obesity treatment later in life. And we also discuss the upcoming coverage of GLP-1s for obesity on Medicare (and maybe Medicaid) in July 2026. Dr. Ogle helps connect those experiences to the science, including expectations, side effects, protein, muscle preservation, and what support can look like as we age.

What we cover:

- GLP-1 weight loss over 60
- Food noise and obesity beyond willpower
- Diet culture and lifelong messaging around weight
- Grief, stress, and emotional eating
- Protein, muscle preservation, and aging on GLP-1s
- Side effects and realistic expectations

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Transcript

SPEAKER_04 0:00

Hey Plus Science Community, before we jump into the podcast, do me a favor, like, subscribe, and share if you haven't already. This helps us get referred up in the algorithm so we can find more people that need our help and guidance from our doctors. Thanks so much for supporting the show. Let's jump in. If you're like most of us, you've been denied a GDOP1 at least once. But did you know that less than 1% of denied claims are ever even appealed? Even though the data suggests that over 60% of appeals are often approved, that means that people who should be paying $25 a month are instead paying thousands of dollars a year out of pocket. Not necessarily because appeals don't work, but because the process is confusing and time consuming. But that's where Honest Care comes in. You go to their site and then you just start with a quick assessment. And then Honest Care will build your appeal with the clinical and medical arguments that your insurer needs to hear and then guide you through submitting it. If you've been denied, don't stop there because most appeals must be filed within 90 days. So don't wait. Go to findonestcare.com slash Kim to get your free assessment today. That's findhonestcare dot com slash Kim. Are you interested in understanding GOP1 medications like Osymphic, Wokovi, or Manjaro? Then join us on the Plus Side, cracking the Obesity Code, the groundbreaking podcast helping people change their lives one episode at a time.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

The Plus Sides Podcast is a disruptor.

SPEAKER_04 1:24

We're breaking down barriers, smashing stereotypes, and sharing inspiring stories that'll leave you feeling informed and empowered. Join us every week to learn from doctors who are specialists around GLP1 medications, like OSINVIP, Pogovia Manjaro. We'll provide you with science and facts to validate these incredible stories. But that's not all. We'll also bring you the voices of the GLP1 Manjaro TikTok community, real people who face the challenges of obesity-related diseases and disorders and discover the incredible plus sides of GLP1 medications. Our episodes are filled with heartwarming stories, laughter, and moments of triumph. You'll connect with our amazing community members who are reclaiming their health and experiencing their fullest lives. Are you ready to embark on a journey of discovery and empowerment? Tune in to the Plus Sides, Cracking the Obesity Code, and together we'll change the narrative around obesity and in the stigma. Subscribe now on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform and join our incredible community. Let's celebrate the plus sides of life together because every story deserves to be heard. Every life deserves to shine, and everyone deserves access to expert knowledge and medication. The Plus Sides Podcast. You're not alone. It's not your fault.

SPEAKER_01 2:41

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SPEAKER_05 3:12

Welcome, welcome. Hi. Hi, Kat. Hi, welcome back for the first time. First time. Well, we're we're so glad to be with you guys today. So I might be a little rusty. That would just, you know, give me some grace. I'd appreciate it. But if you're new here, uh I'm Kim and this is Kat. And uh this podcast is called The Plus Sides, and it's an education and advocacy podcast all about metabolic disease. And um we focus really on understanding, trying to understand the disease of obesity, um, and truly so that you can get to a place where you can forgive yourself and you can heal and be the healthiest you you can be. And so we bring that to you um with stories from community as well as um doctors that know what they're talking about because Cat and I, we don't. So we have this is the sort that source of truth, okay? This this podcast is um very reputable, it's multi-award winning. It's ranked in the top 1% of all podcasts in the world. So you can know you're getting you know information from a very sound source. We also talk about GLP1s, and I've had obesity uh the majority of my life and always struggled. Uh, and then when I tried a GLP one and food noise turned off for me, it literally was like earth shattering. Like I thought I was having a stroke. And from there, I needed to learn everything. And so my girl cat over here within for years. I was like, going to a podcast. So, and that's how this all came to be, you know, and it just changed a lot of things for us. And um, you know, I think what I've learned is more than anything is that this actually doesn't have anything to do with weight loss. It has to do with health gain. Uh, and that's a it's a weird thing to wrap your mind around, especially if you've been bathed in diet culture like many of us have. So we're so glad to have you. Kat, who are you? What do you do? What's going on? Yeah, we're still fighting the good fight against diet culture. We're trying. Well, hey, I'm Kat. Um, you can find me on the TikTok Kat Carter7, um, Instagram, Mrs. Kat Carter. Um, I have lost a hundred um LBs in three years. I would call it a very notorious slow loser, um, or call myself a slow loser. Um, but uh I'm glad. I'm really um, you know, when we first started this podcast, uh I I was kind of a whiny baby. I want food around it. I want to, no, no, I um I'm really glad. And I if you are a slow loser out there, um, understand that I I I truly believe I have less saggy skin because it was so slow when it came down. Um and uh I feel like I have less body dysmorphia because it came down so slow. Um, so there are lots of lots of benefits to losing it slow. And I don't, and like uh Kim has said many times, I don't know what a goal is. I think I'm going to like figure out a dress. I might want to hit the direction. Slack. Remember when Hannah said I need unit of measurement, right? So that could be a dress, it could be a hand, right? She but everybody says if you're gonna have a unit of measurement, don't have it be anything stretchy. Because everything I stretch into these days. A dress is stretchy, but let me tell you, I know my stretch sometimes with those small, small dresses. Sure. Um, but it's just it's a particular dress, and I think that's gonna be I think that I might be 20 pounds that might push me into it. Maybe that's I don't know. I'm gonna figure that I think that's that would be a nice goal, but I've decided not to set one until I get to try red if you're dying. And then I'll think about that. I'm not sure if I want to try that yet. I don't know I don't I don't know. I'm still waiting. That's because you're little. That's because you're a little cat right now. I am the smallest size you can find at a plus size department. Me too, but but uh but I'm also much bigger than you, so I don't know. It's weird, right? Sizes Rust was a gift from a friend. It still has the the tag on it. She said it's I'm not gonna ever here have it for your cruise. And um it's still it's yeah, you know, I'm about to put it on and it's like like this. Well, I think right, guy with a little code. Slow losing slow losing is where it's at. Keep working it out. Work out uh my recommendation also is you know, if if you haven't, but starting your fitness journey early does help as well. Um, it might people say arguably like it might slow things down. I don't know, but all I'm I mean is slow losing is where it's at. Also, HRT helped towards the end. When you have metabolic disease, there's no cure right now, right? All we have are treatments and we need our community. And you want to be like, I think if we always are trying to like focus on this like BMI number, right, that someone else made up that isn't a squat about us, you know, and then it's like, what are we doing? Right? We have to figure out what works for us, right? Whether that's address or it's just how we feel, right? And I I hear people say all the time, and we'll talk about it today, I just need to lose 20 more. I just need to lose 50 more. If I could just get 50 more off, but I have gone years and nothing's come off since then, or I've gone up 10 or things like that. Like we are very units of measuring with that scale. And I think we should talk about, you know, different ways to measure what success equals. I think one with our doctors, like in terms of figuring out all of this, and I think two, um, you know, really with ourselves, because this is how this is a mental journey. Okie donkey. So we may talk about um grief today and how grief affects weight. Um, and uh so just like if bad new losses, just kind of be prepared for that. Um you guys know my sister passed away recently. And so we may talk about that some. So I just want you to be prepared. Um, but we're so glad to have you here and let's get started. Let's do it. All right. Well, hello, welcome, welcome.

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Hi, welcome back you guys. Thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_05 9:09

So, what Kat and I we usually do is we'll go on mute and just let you tell your story. And then when you feel like you've taken the space, is that what you want to say? We'll ask if you're open to questions and talking, and then we go from there. Does that sound okay?

SPEAKER_03 9:22

Yeah, that sounds fine. If I if I ramble, you know, you guys are always saying, you know, you're ADHD, me too. So if I start to ramble or go way too far off, you can always pop in and go, uh, Deb, back to topic. Because it might happen. It might happen. It's been known to that. I'm uh I'm Deb Cooperman, and I s probably have had an issue with food, my body, weight for almost as long as I can remember. I was a picky eater as a child and really quite skinny. Um, and when I hit puberty, um, I hit puberty early. I'm a sister who is a year, two weeks in a day older than I am. And um she hit puberty about a year and a half after I did. And so when I hit it at about 12, I started to develop, I got my period early, I started getting hips. Um, I think it kind of weirded my parents out a little bit to see me because I still was a string bean or still seemed all of a sudden, boom, I had a little mini rack. And uh, and then at the same time I started to, I see laughing, ha ha, rack. Um, yeah, and I at the same time I started to have a very mild case of scoliosis. And my doctor wanted me to come into the office every month so that he could measure and see what was going on with with the curvature in my spine. Um, because apparently, you know, when you're starting to really sprout, that can, it can go either way. It could get worse or it could potentially self-correct. At that time, I was about five, six, and now I always say five eight, but I'm, you know, sixty-five, so I've probably shrunk a little bit. Um but um at the time I was about five, six, and I was they were doing measuring me, they were measuring me and they were putting me on a scale and measuring the curve in my spine. And I remember between two different months of going that I went up about five pounds. And uh, you know, I was, I think the up was at about 134, 135 at 5'6. But for some reason, I remember going home and my father saying, We might want to put you on a diet. And that was to me, that uh always think of that as the start of it all, because they did, my parents did put me on a bit of a a diet, nothing extreme, but I watched everybody else in my house eat slightly different things than I did. And while that was happening, I just remember all I did was think about food. As soon as they took it away or removed some of the options that I had and put me on an exercise plan and things like that, all of a sudden all I was doing was thinking about food. And I've said it before, I'll say it a million times. I never really got fat until I got put on a diet. Um, once I got put on a diet, I was going up and down and up and down. And every time I would lose a little bit, I would not lose as much as before. And when I gain, I'd always gain a little bit more. You know, the story. The story is everybody's, you know, is everybody's story. And the older I got, the more I packed on. But one thing I do know is that I don't remember when it started, but I do know that I never really felt full. I always felt like a bottomless pit. As a teenager, as a person in my 20s growing up, I just felt like a bottomless pit. I could eat to, you know, I I never never felt full. I would sometimes feel uncomfortable, but I would never have, I used to say to my husband, it never lands. You know, I never felt like it landed in my stomach. And so um, it was always a challenge for me when I would go on something that was restrictive. I would just always be hungry, always thinking about food, always thinking about it. Um and uh I was good at restricting for a while, but then I would, you know, a rubber band. It was like I would stretch and stretch and stretch, restrict, restrict, restrict, and then I would hang right the completely opposite direction. And this continued, you know, teen years, 20s, and on and on and on. And I had a couple of times in my life where I had some degree of success in terms of trying to release uh weight and um would get to semi-normal weight, never remotely saw anything. I think one time I got into the 140s, um, but I remember I was obsessed. I was thinking about it all the time, and I was keeping track of everything, and I found that old journal, I'm a journal keeper, and I found that old journal. Oh my God, to see what I was eating and what I was or not eating, it's just terrifying what I put myself through in order to get to that place. And um, and I tried every diet under the sun, you know, you name it, I tried it. Um I say babysitting money and bought like over-the-counter appetite things. I would, yeah, I would just nuts, just nutty things that I would do to try to control the out-of-controlness that was me. And um I think I always felt like there was something terribly wrong with me, but I never thought that it was something that was medical. I always thought that there was something wrong with me, inherently wrong with me as a human being. I couldn't, I why could everybody else do this stuff? Why could everybody else everybody else in my family was relatively trim. My dad used to occasionally put on some, but as soon as he would put on some weight and he would start to get a little puffy in the face, he'd be like, okay, no more chocolate, no more this, and he'd be fine for a while. You know, that was like they were disciplined and they had willpower, and I was the family fuck up because I couldn't control it. And um, sorry, Kim's dad. Um yeah, sorry, Kim's dad. I just felt like I couldn't get it together, and um anything that I was able to accomplish, it was always colored by this thing that I couldn't do and I couldn't control, and I was out of control. And um so you know, this went on for years, but about I want to say about four and a half, five years ago, Kim knows this story. I um during COVID, my sister um uh became ill, and my sister had cancer and it was pretty hellacious. And my usual coping mechanisms and my usual ability to restrict and hold myself, I couldn't even do it for a day. I used to be able to, you know, hang on and I'd hold for a day, and then I'd hold for two days, and I'd hold. I couldn't even hold for a day. It was just my coping mechanism for the stress and the regulation of my own emotions and how horrible it was. And this was COVID's going on at the same time, and it was just the pressure and the stress. At the same time, my father's dealing with a uh a disease, we couldn't figure out what was going on with him. And that was that was how I how I was coping, you know, just uh self-soothing. Um and I guess I got up to my highest. Um, I was closing in on probably on 250. Um and never never made it there, but I was closing in on it. I could, I could see it. And the clothes that I were wearing were getting tight, and I was like, oh, you're never gonna go over, you know, uh this this size. And I was about to go up to the next. And um, yeah, it was it was just it was just horrible, and um it continued to be horrible. And um I lost my sister, and then nine months later I lost my dad. I say that like I lost them. Like, where did they go? Oh, yeah, they went to the cosmic soup. They're in the cosmic soup now, that's where they are. Um, and so yeah. Um and I look, I um just couldn't get it back, couldn't get it together. And I don't remember when I heard about the treatment, but um in the beginning I didn't think I was somebody who qualified. I didn't think it was for me or you know, it wasn't diabetics, it was, you know, whatever. I don't even think that they were talking about, you know, obesity at the time. Um, but then it started to infiltrate, and I'm not sure exactly how it began to infiltrate, but somehow it broke through in my brain, and I started to think, well, maybe, maybe I'm maybe I could qualify. And uh I went to see my doctor, and I thought she used to, we used to have these conversations, and she'd say, gosh, I really wish you could take off a little bit of, you know, weight. And I'd say, Yeah, I would like to too. And she would say things like, Well, you know, the usual, just eat a little less of this, you know, like do exercise. I'd be like, I do those things. But the thing was, the truth is, yes, I would do those things, but I also couldn't control, like my body would not let me stay away. I was always constantly craving. And so I would, and I always thought I was caving. I was the loser who would cave and would, you know, eat things that were not appropriate, were not good, that I should have known better, and I would go for and I would just eat. And I wasn't nourishing myself, like I was eating crap. I was eating a lot of crap. I know a lot of people who say, Oh no, I always ate well. I was like, no, I did not eat well. I ate crap. I ate a lot of crap. Um, and I did also eat good stuff, but I ate a lot of crap. Um and I kept thinking, you know, I try, I do, but I can't, I can't sustain it. And I remember going to see her and thinking, she's gonna tell me about these medications, she's gonna tell me. And she didn't. And so I thought, well, she didn't say anything about it, and she's never seen me larger. So maybe it's not for me. Maybe it's not. And then a friend's husband went on it and he started talking about it and said that it wasn't um I whatever it was that he said, I can't even remember the exact conversation. But whatever it was, I thought that sounds exactly like me. Exactly like me. And he never used to talk about this stuff, like we'd sit around together and we'd talk, but he never would say anything. And I wouldn't say anything either. I would, I would pretend. Like people would be sitting and I would eat, like they would pick, I would pick, oh no, I'm full now. I'd be like, no, I'm when I leave the party, I'm gonna be snorfing on the way home. I'm gonna be whatever. And but he started being honest about it. And when I heard him, I thought, okay, maybe it is me. And so I made an appointment to speak with my doctor, and uh, and I said to her, Do you think this would be for me? And she said, I think that'd be great for you. I thought, Why didn't you bring it up? Why did you never bring it up, lady? Um, and later she did tell me that she thought it was still kind of new to as a treatment for obesity, and she was a little nervous about it, and you know, blah, blah, all those kind of different reasons. But I said, please, please never hesitate. If you have patients in the future, please never hesitate. And I wasn't it my insurance didn't cover it. I'm, you know, I'm on brand and I pay out of pocket, and I wish that was going to my You know, retirement fund. But for right now, it's, you know, coming out of my retirement fund. But I figure maybe I'll live a little bit longer and we'll have more time to, you know, my little business will that could could bring in a little bit more money, and so retirement won't be so horrible. But um yeah, so as soon as I started, like within days, food noise went away. And I I didn't even know that food noise was a thing until it went away. I mean, I heard somebody mention food noise, I think, and I knew exactly what it was when I heard the words, and then it went away, and I was like, Oh oh my god, like I can go to the grocery store and I don't want to go get muffins. Um and and I, for the first time in in my life that I can remember, I really did say, Oh, I'm I've had enough. Like that feels like enough. Like something landed for the first time, it landed. And uh I was I can't say I was a super fast responder, but I definitely had the response in the brain and in the s in the satiety, and that made such a huge difference to me. It's such a huge difference. And um I did begin to release uh weight, and the thing that amazes me is that it was not white knuckling. Um I began to want to nourish myself. Like I still like what I call fun food. I still like fun food, but I also don't go after fun food the way I used to go after fun food. To me, now fun food is a Bilt Bar, you know, like a Bilt Bar or a Ninja Creamy. You know, I'm I'm like I've I've shifted my focus. And um I think the thing that is uh the most interesting to me is the I the physical shift is amazing, but the identity shift has been really incredible, but also hard because I will often uh ask the question of myself like who who am I? Like who is that? Who is that person who uh wanted to join a gym, who used to think of a gym or working out as punishment, and now says, no, I should probably go because this is gonna be good for me. What? Who are you? Um and these are the the like on constantly asking these questions now. Who are you now? And then the other thing that I'm doing now is because capacity has changed. My head isn't constantly thinking about where am I gonna get the next fix, basically. Where am I gonna get the next fix? Where am I gonna calm my nervous system by, you know, snarfing that my capacity is larger, that the the absolute devastation of losing my sister and then my father in rapid succession and then being my father's um executor and having to deal with all of the details. Hello, ADHD brain. Oh, please, that was just horror. That I didn't have the bandwidth for anything. And now not only do I have bandwidth, I can now think about my old business again and what do I, how do I want to do that? And um, and now I want to do it in a whole different way. I just have capacity. I believe now that that I might be able to s sustain this in a way that I never I know it's the medication that's that's given me the gift, but as long as I'm able to stay on it, as long as and and I will find a way, as long as I'm able to stay on it, I think that this has completely changed my life, and that my life now at 65 is something that I never could have dreamed of. I mean, I always feel better in my body and feel more confident and feel like I could trust myself around food and feel that freedom, but I didn't ever believe that it would be true. And now I believe that it may be true. And um Yeah, so it's just it's it's changed my life. It's given me a new perspective, a new possibility. Um and I'm so grateful. I've said I've become I've become an evangelist. I immediately, as soon as I, as soon as I started sharing about my experience, like I just became an evangelist, right? And I immediately, and you guys found me. I mean, you found me, Kim. I think you're the one who introduced me to the Danish um, you know, uh documentary guys, because because I immediately said, I want to be an advocate. I want to do because I see how hard it is for some people to get this. I want to be an advocate. And then within like, I don't know how long, you you got in touch with me, said, They're these guys. Yeah. And and Amanda also got in touch with me. And I think Mike got in touch with me. And it was like, everybody's getting in touch with me. Like, you gotta talk to these guys. And I thought, I don't want people to know about this. And then I thought, oh, wait a minute, you said you wanted to be an advocate, so put your money where you're freaking, you know.

SPEAKER_05 27:51

I remember immediately that you were like, listen, this is crazy. Like, you're making videos about it. And I was like, it's so fun to watch the new people. When they first, like, I just I'm I'm such a little secret scroll about it because I'm just like, and then I also like to watch them transition. Like when they start and they're very dye culture focused, right? They're very like, I'm an old wig, and this is my shot, this is my putting. And then the and then the shift happens where they're like, oh my God, I think maybe I was just a sick person that needed medicine and make kind of start making that connection, right? And then when that happens, like I see their content change. So it's probably the coolest thing about this is just being able to see an impulse. And a lot of times I I wait because I I see people that I'm like, that person tells a great story. And I and I I know people would resonate. And I specifically look for people that are not like me, right? Or not like Kent, right? And different ages, right? Digital graphics, because we want this BC doesn't care about any of those things. It's really cool to see people's like light bulb go off. Like some people get it really early, which is like I feel like you did. And other people it's like, it's like a couple doses in. Some people it's like they get midway through, you know, and then but everybody's different. I think that's kind of what's so fun to watch on social. So many people come, you know, to social.

SPEAKER_03 29:14

The only reason I got on TikTok was because that was where everybody was congregated. I was uh I was an Instagram person. I was over there, and that was where I was spending most of my um, you know, social media time. And and then all of a sudden it was like, well, everybody's over there on that Tiki Talk. And I was like, I don't even have an account. And they wouldn't let me walk. It wouldn't even let me, she knows he couldn't watch anything unless you had an account. So I had account and it was private. I stalked for a while. Um but gotta do stalked Kim.

SPEAKER_05 29:43

Ryan stopped. I didn't I didn't stop Kim, but like I reached, I DMed her. I was like, Kim, you're on it too. I kept it under wraps for like two or three months. I was like, Yeah. Oh she's on it too. Sorry, Kim's dad.

SPEAKER_03 29:54

Oh, she's on it too. You just become like, oh, visa the I need I was just wanted, all I wanted to do was talk about it because it was I've said it before. I felt like Dorothy walking out of Sepia, Kansas into Technicolor Oz. I felt like my whole life had been this one way, and I believed that that was true. It was the it was the freedom, and that was the word I kept using in the beginning. It was just this feeling of freedom that I did not know existed. I couldn't believe it existed. And I just I went through a period, we were talking grief, but a different kind of grief. But I went through a period of grief for I mean, at the time I I had I was 60, I just turned 64. Yeah. And I was thinking like 13-year-old Deb, 20 Deb, 30s Deb, 40s, 50s Deb. Like all of these years of me struggling and fighting and fighting and what a farg and waste, right? Fargain.

SPEAKER_02 31:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 31:12

Yeah, that's my word, my fargain, what a farg and waste, right? Yeah. Um, you can't be mad at that, Kimstad. It really was. I just was so heartbroken.

SPEAKER_04 31:22

If you're like most of us, you've been denied a GLP one at least once. But did you know that less than one percent of denied claims are ever even appealed? Even though the data suggests that over 60% of appeals are often approved, that means that people who should be paying $25 a month are instead paying thousands of dollars a year out of pocket. Not necessarily because appeals don't work, but because the process is confusing and time consuming. But that's where Honest Care comes in. You go to their site and then you just start with a quick assessment, and then Honest Care will build your appeal with the clinical and medical arguments that your insurer needs to hear, and then guide you through submitting it. If you've been denied, don't stop there because most appeals must be filed within 90 days. So don't wait. Go to findhonest care.com slash Kim to get your free assessment today. That's findhonestcare.com slash Kim.

SPEAKER_03 32:16

For past me who fought and fought and never knew and and thought, what what could my life have been if I had had this in my twenties or even in my teens, you know, all any of those times, any of those times.

SPEAKER_05 32:32

A lot of people have said that too. Um, when when they talk about because when we first started the show, you know, Wagobi had been approved for um for adolescent. And um, and we had Dr. Rosen on our show, and he was like, Oh no, there's like bariatric surgery for adolescents. I was like, that's a thing. And he was like, that's a thing. And then he said that people were getting upset, saying, like, kind of keep those shots away from my kid, right? Um, and that other people were okay with like having kids go through this bariatric surgery, right, at this young age. And he was like, maybe we should just consider before we, and he's a surgeon, before we do surgery on an adolescent that will change their biology forever, that we try some medicine that they could stop if they wanted to. You've said like a lot of things I think will resonate with a lot of people. And I grew like specifically, I know you're close to my mom's age. Um, you're younger, but my mom, she really didn't have weight problems, but she will talk about the noise and how she's always had that. But she her weight problems were like 20 pounds. But my dad got sick, and then my sister got sick, like within a year of each other. And she said the only thing that helped her was food. But she would tell me all the time, I don't care. It's the only thing that gives me pleasure, and I don't care. And my mom would never say that. I should give mom. Right. I just don't like the caregiver too, because my sister had to go through chemo. My mom didn't have wasn't working, she's older, right? And so she went, she was with my sister most of the time through chemo radiation. Then my other sister and I tapped in, right? But um, and then my dad, same, right? So it it was like it really difficult. And I think that grief does play a role in, you know, how we cope. Um, I think it would be interesting to understand how that affects from a biological perspective, right? Um, because it makes me curious, because my mom crossed over the obesity threshold, but she wasn't, you know, BMI's bullshit. But but she really she didn't have before then, right? That's just it's interesting, right? That sometimes people deal with obesity like later in life and they have these different experiences. And then, but I again, like you're talking about, I think um, I don't know, my my mom definitely got full, but like food and managing hunger and food was a cornerstone, like a pillar in my life from a very young age, you know? And honestly, it wasn't in a it wasn't in a in a bad way. Like my mom never was like, you need to be thin. It was never like that. It was more like I'm teaching you how to eat. You know what I mean? Like it was more like that. And so I never felt, you know what I mean, like less loved or something because I was large. When like even we talk about when kiddos go through hard times, right? One of the things that they control, right, during those times of trauma or times of trying to get control is food, right? Right. Yeah, from a very young age. That's the only thing that you control is what you consume. Yeah. If anything that there's so much, that's why there's like a lot of P I would say PTSD. There's just trauma and there's a lot. You were talking a lot about like sort of the constriction right of things, Dev. And like I, you know, I will tell you when all of this started, I mean, this has been going a while for my sister, but we're at the end, you know, um, I lost 10 pounds because I I could not eat. I could not eat. I was like, you know, you go through these, and then the next week I was like, I'm eating everything. The T MDS took at grocery shops, and I was like, I'm getting whatever I want, and I don't care. You know? Well, you Dr. Joy made a uh post about that too. Like, you know, eating, you know what? You are gonna comfort yourself, and I'm gonna, I'm going to have this. This it looked delicious in her video, her grilled cheese that she made. I'm going to have this. I'm going to have all this because I'm going to take care of myself. And right now I need to have some comfort food. So I'm curious, like when you started to have this piece changed, you talked a lot about this capacity piece. You'll talk about um, I think sort of the idea or how I perceive it as deciding who you want to be. Like having sort of the power, like of deciding who you want to be, right? Like, or what you want next, or where you want to spend your time. Like it's gonna, it gives you like sort of puts you in the driver's seat, right, where you can do that. And just like you said, like thinking about your business differently and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_03 37:03

Absolutely. I was just so consumed by trying not to be a failure, you know, and and doing what I could to keep my head above water, um, that I didn't I didn't have energy for anything else. I had this for all all my life. It's one of the first things I realized. I remember when I told my brother that I'd gone on this medication. It's just my brother, my brother and and me now are the only two left in my family of origin. And I remember um talking to him and telling him that I had done this. And I realized, and I was saying to him, you know, I just wish dad could see. Because my father used to say to me all the time, you are, you have so much fire and energy and pizzazz, and you can do whatever you set your mind to. Why not this? I don't understand why not this. And I would always say to him, I don't know. I don't know. And he didn't understand, I didn't understand. I'll like try on clothes and I create bags, bags of stuff that I'm donating to a uh shelter. Um and I put on a coat that was my mom's. Now, my mom was this tiny little thing. Now, we're you know, I'm certainly not a tiny thing, but it fit me. And I just like I look around, I don't know what I believe about what comes. I call it the cosmic soup. I don't know what where they are or what's there. I like that the cosmic soup. Yeah, because I feel like I I'm not a religious person. I don't have, you know, I I don't have a religion, um, but I have a spiritual bent, and I like to think that the energy continues, and I like to think that that they're they're there in some form, not necessarily as dad or as Suzanne, but they're somehow they're there. And so I just remember standing there and going, God, I hope you can see this. Like I'm I'm like I'm well now. I'm well now. And I and it's not just about the fact that I'm smaller. It's that I have that piece of freedom. It's that I have that capacity. It's that all this time I thought, I've said it before, you know, I thought it was here that I was mentally like something was It was my biology. Like my biology was just my body wouldn't let me. And now I have a medication that is regulating these things, and my body is going, okay, let's do this. Let's do this. It's not without work, but the work the work isn't the work before was like like absolutely hanging on for dear life and and white knuckling, yeah. White knuckling so much and and constantly being hungry and always being nervous and anxious and Yeah. And now it's just like, okay. All right, let's do the things I'm supposed to do.

SPEAKER_05 40:22

Let's do the things that they supposed to do. I think we need new words. So like I think that we shouldn't use the word diet anymore. I think we should say nutrition or something else, right? I don't think we should say exercise anymore. I think we should say move or movement, move your body with whatever makes you give you joy, right? Something like the activity. I don't even care. Um, and like I will tell you too, like this whole idea of the work, right? Why does there have to be work to like like with eating and movement? Like we I think we put this like idea of it being and you have to do the work and therefore you have to earn it.

SPEAKER_03 41:00

And if you're not doing things, yeah, I like that because that's semantic. That that is a challenging bit of semantics. I'm I'm a writer, I'm a journaler. To me, journaling is a practice. It's a it's a way that I get to know myself, it's a way I get to ask the questions and and see what answers reveal themselves when I when I play on the page. And so I wonder if there's like a practice to nourishing ourselves. Like we're we're in the practice of relearning and re-nourishing ourselves because that is one thing I'm telling you. Look, diet culture bug me up in a big way. When I got older, I started to realize like I knew better. I would be out with friends, and someone would say something like, Oh, oh, could we order French fries? Should we can we order some French fries? Oh, I want to be bad. And I'd say, you're not bad for having French fries. You're not a bad person. It's just freaking food. And yet here I was huge and feeling terrible about myself. But I knew like I could, I could uncollapse diet culture from the fact that I felt terrible, right? Like I could uncol I could rip those apart and see diet culture for what it was, because I would get so upset watching friends say, Oh, I'm I'm being good tonight. Oh, I'm being good tonight. Or I would see people say something about, and yet at the same time, I still had it running me on some level. There was part of me that would say, um, you know, somebody would talk about, oh, well, I gotta go, I gotta go run the burn this off. I just had such and such. I'm gonna burn this off. My husband used to say that. And my husband has never been, like he's never had a weight problem since I've known him, never known him to have a weight problem. Yeah. Um, or have an issue with food noise or anything like that. But he would he would eat, you know, something, you know, that was a little rich.

SPEAKER_05 43:14

Having to work to earn to eat. I I I want to break that open. Like I I really wanted you on the show too, because you think like this. Like you you deconstruct things. There's a piece to that, right? And I and I I I think so much, and like I've talked about it like the work that I feel like I've done on this journey. It has been discovering who I am and wanna be, right? And trying to heal and forgive myself and for for the way I spoke for myself. And then I think also forgive others who didn't know and are trying to do better. And but the mental gymnastics that I'm able to do now that my disease is being treated. I feel like it's only possible because it is, you know? And so, like those deconstructions like that you talked about that you were able to do, maybe I should have been journaling. So I started posting posting on Facebook. I was telling you guys earlier. And um while my sister is in the hospital, my sister worked for Meta actually. Interesting. There are no coincidences. Um, and one of my videos started going crazy over there. And um, but I went and and our our page grew from like 500 to like 15,000, 14,000, something like that, like in like in a couple of weeks. And when I was looking at the comments, and I you know they were so awful. And I I can't even tell you. And like the things that not only people were saying about me, but things that people were saying about themselves. Like it was, it is my fault. I couldn't put the fork down, like things like that. I you know, um, it is my fault. I didn't exercise, it is my fault. I made bad food choices, like um, it is not a disease and just all those things.

SPEAKER_03 45:06

But we don't we're we are, I I think even though we have been you guys a little way longer than I have, but we are at the, you know, if you look at the course of history, we are at the very forefront of this change because of this new science, right? And I know this new science has been around for a while, but it is exploding in a different way. There are brand new medications, they're exploding, they're changing the conversation in ways that are are brand new, and people have been so drilled in. They have they've been inculcated into this culture, they believe it to be true, and you hear people, even in our community, who say, How did I let myself get that far? Because we don't see, we don't, we can't break apart, even though we know better now. We we know now that it wasn't that it was it was a metabolic muck-up, and that now we're being treated, and that yes, we were putting the food in our mouth, and yes, we were making the choices. But what drove those choices? What caused those things? What was the engine behind all that? And now we know what the engine is. A lot of people don't know what the engine is yet, and so they're still talking to themselves in that language, right? In the language that has been drilled into us for forever.

SPEAKER_05 46:45

Yeah, but like Deb, even now, and can I talk about she'll actually catch me and I'll catch her. Like, I'll be like, we'll do it. It'll happen any better. Gotta do this, gotta this, I do that. We'll both do it. And then we'll kind of reel each other back in. You know, like, wait a minute, you know, you can have some cake and you can go try and do bar the right right amount. I had a big fat brownie today. Like, I would nobody would say that to me. Like, Kim, how can you be successful in all these things that you're fat?

SPEAKER_03 47:16

Oh, you're my dad, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:19

But I definitely would say that to myself. Yes. And yes. And I and I I remember even thinking like when this happened, like that same thought, and I know people listening are hearing this too, which is why I want to make sure it wasn't missed. Like, because that piece of it where you realize, right, that that wasn't your fault is really, really important. There's honestly, if you learn nothing else from this, disease is never your fault. My I'm gonna get a little vulnerable. My sister uh was writing a memoir and it was on the last chapter of a memoir before she passed. And she shared that with my sister and I. And she also sent me a chapter that she had called me and we had worked on, like together, she would get blocked. And she'd be like, I'm trying to say things like this and this, and we would we would get unblocked and just talk about it together. And she recorded it and she sent it to me before she got sick in the hospital this time. And there is a point where she's talking about her disease, and she says, If anybody says that cancer is your fault, anybody says any disease is your fault, it's bullshit, and you need to hear me in this moment. And it made me realize when I listen back to that, Deb, that it's the same fucking thing. Sorry, Dad, it is the same thing, it's disease, it's disease. Illness is not your fault. But if we think about it like weight and we think about it like diet, and we think about it like work and we think about it like that, then yes, we're going to internalize that, right? And so I think that when I talk to people, I don't talk about weight loss, right? Like I talk about healing with it and whatever that needs to be. But I have been learning that, you know what I mean, like with my pants on fire, like through this whole thing, because honestly, the infrastructure really isn't set up to support this.

SPEAKER_03 49:09

Yeah. But I think one of the things that I think is is interesting is right, like you want to talk about about healing and you want to talk about the change in identity and recognizing, you know, new things about ourselves. But I truly believe that there is no way I would have gotten those things if I hadn't been desperate to have a medication help me lose the Fargan weight. I came to this medication because I was tired of fighting my body and I wanted to lose the Fargan weight, and I thought this would help me lose the weight. And so that's why I wanted it. I think for that. And then and then I realized and then I think you I still look am I happy that I'm down 20 something four percent of my body weight? Like what? Like it's not even a year. It's not even a year. Whoa. Yes, I am happy, happy, happy. I love it. I feel better, I move more comfortably, um, I put on my mother's coat, you know, all these things. I'm going to my niece's wedding and I'm not worried about hiding behind people when the pictures are being taken. Like I feel welcome in my own life instead of hiding from my life, which is what I used to do. I used to um equivocate. Is that the word I want? I think that's it. I I I I would not be fully present. And I'm a person who's all about like get present, man, be in your life, embrace it, do your do your shit, you know, like live out loud, people's, you know, blah, blah, whatever. And there was this part of me that was like, oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, hide, hide, hide. Um so I wouldn't have I wouldn't have had it. I wouldn't have had it if I didn't want what that medicine promised in the beginning. Now I hate that they call it weight loss medication. That is a that is a marketing, that is an evil bit of marketing. That is an evil bit of right, because I have a marketing background too, Kim, but but that freaking what the hell did they do by calling it that? Of course, that's getting people to want to go, that's getting people to pay. That's what you have to do.

SPEAKER_05 51:49

Because that at the top of the funnel, that is what people understand. And they only understand that, right? Because of diet culture, they only understand that because doctors, you know, have been saying forever that that is the problem, the weight, right? As opposed to the disease, because it wasn't recognized right until what 2013, I think. I was thinking about the Facebook thing like and I looked at like I guess I was like, I who are these people that are saying these things? So you can look at your stats and like demographic, but I was noticing it's 50s, 60s, and 70s. So that's the age demographic of those people, which I was like, there's this whole other piece over here, right? I hope. Now they have the podcast, right? Now we've got 14,000 people that never knew that this podcast existed reported it. No, right, right.

SPEAKER_03 52:39

And we also know, Kim, as you have said, and you have said, Kat, there are people because of this bridge program that's coming in. It's one of the things that I'm really hopeful that, you know, hey, I just turned 65. Like maybe I can use my own experience as, you know, uh a newly minted old fart, right? Um, that newly minted old fart. Right. Well, you know, well, I've you know, yeah, I've I've been in old fart for a while, but but that these people are gonna come in because it's gonna be available to them.

SPEAKER_02 53:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

You know, they're gonna come in through Medicare and they're gonna be able to get these medications, and they are still going to be thinking of it as something that they did wrong, and then all of a sudden this stuff is gonna explode their brains. Oh, yeah. Because they're gonna suddenly not have food noise, and they're gonna not, they're going to have satiety, and they're gonna they're they're gonna need help on so many levels, not just to kind of hold their hands in how to better take care of themselves physically, but emotionally, because I think it was bad for me at 64. You imagine these people who are in that talking to your post about this stuff. No, I'm the bad person, I'm the one who ate the food, I'm the one who did the stuff. And then they're gonna realize, oh, wait a minute. That's your internalized bias, right? Yes, right. Oh God, I can't wait for the AOC and go into that with Dr. Robin Pashby. Oh, I can't wait, right? Yes.

SPEAKER_05 54:22

Oh, this has been great. I think what might be good now is to invite our our doctor friend to talk about all the stuff, right, that we're experiencing, right, is like why it's happening, right? Because uh, there's biology to this, and we're not doctors. So let's invite in our doctor. So we were having a love fest.

SPEAKER_06 54:44

Thank you so much for having me back on, and I loved listening to everything you guys were talking about, and I it was so beautifully said. You guys clearly have taken all the time to reflect on your own experiences and connected with so many people and their experiences, and it really shows. And so I just I enjoyed listening to the conversation.

SPEAKER_05 55:05

The good news is that most of the time when we have the doctors on, they understand that like it's a big conversation, and that's one of the problems with short processes, right? Is that this is an important conversation about something that's big with lots of nuance because obesity is very complicated, you know? So that's why we, you know, we we have it a this way so that we can, you know, talk and and learn. People can walk away with feeling, right? Like that's the call walk away feeling better. And um for those who haven't seen the other episodes you've been on, um, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and how you help people?

SPEAKER_06 55:40

Yeah, so I'm Dr. Lindsay Olgal, and I'm board certified in both family medicine and obesity medicine. And I feel so fortunate that I was introduced to obesity medicine during my family medicine training. I went into family medicine because I was passionate about preventative health. And my whole goal was to help my future patients achieve and maintain their health so they could live longer and better lives. And during my residency program, we had some available elective rotations, and I worked with an obesity medicine physician, and she was based in Denver. And so she introduced me to the field. And what I saw that was happening in her clinic was so different than what was happening in my primary care residency clinic. These patients were actually improving their chronic conditions and they were feeling better and their lives were improving in so many different ways. Whereas in a lot of primary care, we're just kind of managing all of these chronic conditions and managing them independently as different conditions where so many are results or related to uh obesity. And so by going into this field and and working in obesity medicine now, I can really kind of focus on more of the underlying concern and treat almost just one thing that then touches every other aspect of that person's life. And I think Deb did such a great job at explaining her story and just sharing how with, you know, finally treating her disease that has now expanded her life. And that's my favorite thing when I hear about my patients. I love hearing when they are starting to do more activities and um just engage in their life more. Um, that's my favorite thing to hear. And again, that's originally why I went into family medicine, and I just feel so lucky to now be an obesity medicine physician.

SPEAKER_05 57:47

I love it. Yeah, I mean, we're so thankful to have you. Obviously, we have we don't have enough specialists. Um, we don't even have enough doctors, honestly, to treat the amount of people that have this disease. Uh so the more I think like presence and education and and you taking the time to make the content that you make, it's so important and it hits so many people that you may have never touched, you know. So, like, thanks for doing that at Brick on the Show and letting us fly well off of that as well, you know.

SPEAKER_04 58:12

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SPEAKER_01 59:18

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SPEAKER_04 59:48

If you can do it on one of the two episodes of this couple of Minjaro, then join us on Plus Type, cracking the obesity code, the groundbreaking podcast helping people change their lives one episode at a time. The Plus Side Podcast is Disruptor. We're breaking down barriers, smashing stereotypes, and sharing inspiring stories that'll leave you feeling informed and empowered. Join us every week to learn from doctors who are specialists around GLP1 medications like Ozin Fit Pagovia Manjaro. We'll provide you with science and fact to validate these incredible stories. But that's not all. We'll also bring you the voices of the GLP1 Manjaro TikTok community. Real people who face the challenges of obesity-related diseases and disorders and discovered the incredible plus sides of GLP1 medications. Our episodes are filled with heartwarming stories, laughter, and moments of triumph. You'll connect with our amazing community members who are reclaiming their health and experiencing their fullest lives. Are you ready to embark on a journey of discovery and empowerment? Tune in to the Plus Sides Cracking the Obesity Code, and together we'll change the narrative around obesity and in the stigma. Subscribe now on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform and join our incredible community. Let's celebrate the plus sides of life together because every story deserves to be heard. Every life deserves to shine, and everyone deserves access to expert knowledge and medication. The Plus Sides Podcast. You're not alone. It's not your fault.