The Weight of Choice: Surgery, Support, and Transformation

In this final episode of Bekah's journey, Janice, Lauren and Nikki chat about physical and emotional complexities of undergoing weight loss surgery and using GLP-1 medications. Bekah describes the recovery process, which includes strict dietary phases and permanent changes to how the body processes food. A major theme of the conversation is the social judgment patients face, ranging from accusations of taking an "easy way out" to intrusive comments about their changing appearances. The panel emphasize that success requires a strong support system, specifically mentioning the importance of encouraging friends and understanding partners who prioritize health over aesthetics. Ultimately, the narrative frames these medical interventions as lifesaving tools that empower individuals to overcome genetic predispositions and reclaim their physical vitality.

Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:14

Hey everyone, welcome to the Voice Notes Podcast. I am Janice, your host, and with me are my co-hosts and besties, Lauren and Nikki. Each week, we bring you a relaxed chat with different takes on music, entertainment, fitness, and just all around life. So whether you're driving, you're at work, you're at the gym, or just lounging, let's get into it. So, how do you feel when you hear people say um you took the easy way out?

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Your journey. I have had interesting things where people were like, Well, I don't know if that's for me, but they've done it in a very condescending way. Okay, then it's not for you. Um, I'm also like, well, I have lost the weight, and we're having this conversation, so you figure out what works for you. It's it's immensely hard. You've changed your body forever.

SPEAKER_05 1:06

Knowing what it was going to take after the procedure, I mean, Kean was like, Are you sure you're up for this? Are you ready? Like, what do they tell you? So the the one thing that got me was the fact that you have to be on chicken or bone broth for like the first six weeks, I think.

SPEAKER_02 1:24

Uh no, it's uh it depends on your surgeon. Yeah. So um it's it's about two weeks to a month, and then you're slowly adding soft foods. So, you know, ricotta bakes, uh anything mashed potatoes, anything soft, a lot of protein shakes. Yeah. A lot of protein shakes.

SPEAKER_05 1:40

But just imagine you are a person who you're free to eat whatever, and now this is the only thing that you can because you're healing. You have to allow your stomach to heal. Like you cut your stomach.

SPEAKER_04 1:52

You can't stomach it though, either. So, but you don't want to eat anything like you normally do, right?

SPEAKER_02 2:00

I had a friend telling me, Oh, yeah, like three days later, a friend was trying to eat chicken parm, and she's like, What are you doing? Oh my god. And um, which I will say, um, the biggest help has been like fellow ladies who have been very supportive. Yeah. But I have a good friend that also had the surgery, and she just gave me all these. She sent me a really cute stomach pillow. Oh. And like a whole like little care basket. And um just giving tips and tricks, but she would be like, Yeah, girl, what are you doing? Like, you cannot eat any chicken. Um, but you because you only can do uh a little bit at a time. So at first I'm drinking chicken broth in that cup so I can like not overdo it on accident and then end up sure, you know, inject on it. But I I like I said it's a tool and it's only as good as you use it. So people who are so determined that they want to eat that thing, that's where I get upset about not having enough therapy or nutritionist sessions. Right. It's a life-saving surgery, in my opinion. I think a lot of people, their bad relationships with food, they will kill themselves if they keep going in that direction. Because people don't realize, you know, the having like the diabetes because of the weight, like it leads to so many other things that you maybe wouldn't have gotten until you were much older if it runs a family, or there's so many things that um I I always say like you make a choice. Um, I could keep gaining weight and keep being unhealthy. I've made a choice to go that direction, have those health issues, or make this health decision and I deal with these changes, but they're gonna have all these benefits. So it it was, you know, if someone's saying, like, oh, and you took the easy way out, or first of all, it's not your body, uh, you don't know how hard it is to maintain this. Yeah, um, the fact that eating is I can't drink milkshakes anymore, cannot stomach them. I used to love them. Um, there's certain stuff I cannot stomach for the life of me, but it is worth being healthier. Exactly. It's worth that I can run down the street if I want and have like all this energy. Like, I did not realize how different I was living until after I started going down on the scale.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Like, I've had the reverse of it too, where people the assumption is that I did a GLP one, or the assumption is that that's and that's also the reverse of it too. And and like, oh, are you sick? Have you been sick? That was my favorite one. I was like, no. And then I told people what I did, and I've had the reaction of like, I can't do that, it's super boring. I've had that super boring, yeah. Like like weight lifting and and like macros. I'm not kidding.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

I've I've had the reverse of it too, and I'm like people are so like busybody.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Like, I'll see you at the gym.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Do you boo-boo? Like, yeah, I but I would never like take the take the stance of being like it's your body, and I'm not gonna tell you, I don't want someone telling me what to do with my body, and I'm gonna tell you what to do with your body. So, whatever you do, just do the better. Like you're bettering yourself, like you're choosing a healthier route for yourself as opposed to choosing alternative. Yeah, so like, but I don't understand like the the comfortability of like making a statement like that because it was like it's none of it is easy.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

If you're heavy, they have something to say. If you're losing weight, they have something to say, and I think you know, it's it's like I got it so much when I was heavy, and then the moment I'm doing making a choice for myself that has nothing to do with them, uh whoever. Um people have something to say about the methods, or you know, what are you doing now? Well, exactly. And it's it's it's very annoying, it's very intrusive.

SPEAKER_03 5:16

Yeah. Um did you ever have someone go, but you're not gonna be you? I've had that. Like you wouldn't be you, no, I didn't get that. So I also have had you've changed since.

SPEAKER_04 5:26

You've changed, yes, you changed.

SPEAKER_02 5:28

You changed.

SPEAKER_04 5:29

So you've changed.

SPEAKER_02 5:30

You're more confident, or maybe I'm taking more photos, and I'm like, um, it's my my business. And if I'm enjoying I realize because I lost the weight that I didn't have a lot of photos. Now I want to take more because I want to have those memories that I've I've missed out on because I was feeling maybe insecure. And you know, I want to just take it from here up because I didn't like how here down looked, or I was hiding behind people, pumping my head out. Like I could see that because now I like I've healed some and now I'm seeing the patterns that I have that was kind of making my life less enjoyable. Of course. And now that I've noticed it, I can't unsee it. Sure. So, like, instead of light. Instead of people like being happy for your joy, they're like exactly it's like they're critical of your joy, and um, it's a very interesting critical, jealous, resentment, and security. You keep going down, you know. You have people who are like, Oh, you think you're all that now, and it's like, yeah, you know, actually, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:22

Like, actually, every day I do every day, exactly what I think.

SPEAKER_02 6:26

It couldn't be me. And I'm like, no, you're right, couldn't like you it couldn't be.

SPEAKER_03 6:30

Couldn't be me. Okay, I didn't think that it could either, but that's just true.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

Like, if you feel like it's very, very hard to eat in a deficit or follow a certain plan. And this has been the product of repetition and repeat. Like repeat, repeat, repeat.

SPEAKER_03 6:42

I watch and repeat.

SPEAKER_02 6:43

I watch and repeat. Yep. It's it's I I'm walking, I'm working out, I'm eating very healthy. Um, I'm big on Mediterranean style of eating. That's how I cook at home. Um, but I'm still gonna have a steak, like a steak and mashed potatoes if I want it, because I I love steak.

SPEAKER_03 6:59

Macro is great on that, actually.

SPEAKER_02 7:01

It is. Macro is fantastic.

SPEAKER_03 7:03

I don't even need my green.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

I'm big on like I go to the store, I make Michael butchered for me. Yeah, you're like grillers, smoker. She's a smoker. I'm like, it can't be that hard. I can figure this out. This is my hobby. Because you know, like you get in your 30s and you're just like, oh, it's a hobby, you're bird watching this, that, and I'm like, I'm a smoker. And people are like, is that Michael's like, he's never touched it.

SPEAKER_03 7:30

It's incredible when she makes it, I'm like, oh my god.

SPEAKER_02 7:34

I'm still figuring out brisket, but like it's my new like fixation.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

And I just love that you enjoy it. Oh, you really do enjoy it. What do you guys do? They go outside, they have a beer, and they smoke the meat. I'm like, I'm gonna do the same except it's gonna be a margarita and I'm gonna can at the same time. Exactly. It's so much fun, and it's delicious.

SPEAKER_05 7:52

Yeah. So let's talk about support system. Okay. What's your support system like?

SPEAKER_02 7:56

Oh, it's incredible. Um I think that's been um one of the biggest things that have made my weight loss successful is other than my determination, having supportive friends that um literally will text me, like, how are you doing? Like, and we'll like just like um not bully each other, but be like, okay, are you being lazy? Are you not being lazy? Like, are you like um what are you eating? Like in just a supportive like uh environment that it's like celebration. Yeah. Like every little thing, like you're killing it, you're working so hard, that recognition that every like every little win matters. And having friends to celebrate that has been huge because you know, having so many like people say negative stuff, I always I'm like, well, you're not my friend though, so it shouldn't matter. You're not you're not my friend, yeah. If you're saying something kind of negative power aggressive, I don't need to listen to it because I I got that now. I'm there where I'm like, if you're stay talking garbage, you also don't know me, so I don't need to give it any weight. But having friends who counteract that in such a huge way has been amazing. Awesome. Um my parents, um they've been phenomenal through it. They know that like I'm I'm the primary like helper for my parents and my brother. So I have a lot of responsibility with that. Like I'd be I'm their signee, I'm I'm everything. So their their mindset is like if I'm healthy, it makes it easier on Rebecca that she's not gonna be having to do so much when we do get older. So it it like the whole family started to shifting in a healthy way.

SPEAKER_03 9:33

I think it's a butterfly effect because your energy begets other energy, and you're like, well, we're not gonna talk like that anymore, and I'm not gonna eat like that anymore, and like and you're not doing you're not doing it to put the pressure on people, but you're like, but this, but you like you say you took the ownership and you're like, this is what I'm gonna do. Yeah, and then they if if somebody is in support of you, they'll be like, and they love you, they're gonna follow it better.

SPEAKER_04 9:56

Yeah, they see the benefits of it, they see how practical it is, how successful it is for physical, absolutely mental, emotional health.

SPEAKER_05 10:04

Yeah, I just feel like people see themselves out when they realize that their negativity or their thought process or how they're feeling about this, and whether they agree what you did or didn't do, and how how you're living out of the roots out. It's like a roots, absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 10:21

I've seen huge shifts in like even like some people that maybe I would hang out in the past. I could see like maybe there were comments and I didn't vibe with that, and over time, like I went another way, there and there's no love loss, but yeah, it's not going, it's not a good thing. You just don't need to be in my space anymore. Exactly. I'm like, you're not you're not supportive of where I want to be in my life, and you're not aiding to that. And and I I think there's things you have to figure out for yourself, yeah. But I don't want the projection. It's not a good thing. And I'm not gonna be friends with someone who's gonna make me go back to the street.

SPEAKER_03 10:52

You're the product of the six people you spend the most time with. That's like a fundamentals of proximity principle. So, like, exactly right. Like you have and you have your network around you, and exactly to your point, people who it has it has by the way, everything to do with the person and not you, by the way. Like, oh yes, you know, like this, right? Like in the room, like, and if you don't know this and you're listening, it has everything to do with them and not you. Because they see the reflection, and then they're like, they no longer, whatever they're projecting, whatever it doesn't match up, and you're like, deuces, I'm gonna keep doing this. Yeah, and then um similarly, there was a person who was like very passive aggressive in my life, and then I just stopped because I was like, I don't I never am passive aggressive to you, and and then I just was like same thing, just like kind of fell off, and I was like, Well, we're done.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

I'm a very like cheerleader supportive friendly I love seeing people win. It's like I just I get obsessed with people's passions or then like oh yeah, since you're doing it, yeah. So when I feel like that energy vampire or someone's doing that to me, energy vampire, that's the energy vampire personal because I'm like, I will support you, but now I'm seeing a shift because maybe I'm achieving something that you're not there yet. Yeah, meanwhile, I would support you to get there. Right. You're not doing that for me. This would also rub off on you, too. That's the whole goal. But you're not reciprocating here, I have seen like where it it's like instead it that's what did they say about comparison? It's like instead of it like them wanting to get there, instead they get resentful. And I've not seen that happen. Um, and you know, I I just align myself to be like, what they want to do for themselves, but they're not there yet.

SPEAKER_04 12:24

And it's okay.

SPEAKER_02 12:26

Exactly. And um to a point where um my my biggest support is is my husband. I did want to make sure I got there. Um because I always say, like, he loved me at whatever size. We got comments, like people were like, I can't understand how they're together when we first got together. We got weirdo comments, and um the man loved me down, okay? And he was like, I could be 400 pounds, I could be whatever. He was he just loves me for me, and so whenever I've had like a direction for losing the weight or whatever, he's just like, Okay, do you do what you need to do? Do what you gotta do. He's never trying to make me like, Why are you changing how you eat? Why are you changing this or that? No, it's always been 100% support and just understanding like uh my my mood swings with my like my meeting less, and he's like, Oh, okay, you need a sandwich now. And he'll be the one to be like, Okay, if he he'll pick up if I'm backsliding into certain habits, and then he'll like be supportive to be like, hey, you need to eat Rebecca. Like he'll be like, it's time and um kind of correct me in in moments where I'm being a little obsessive in a adjustment. Yeah, yeah. But it's nice to have a partner who um it's an it's not an image, it's about you. Right. So having someone also give me the peace to focus on myself, I've had a time to the time to get to where I am.

SPEAKER_05 13:50

Yeah, so we're gonna end it soon, um, this topic soon. But the one thing I do want to cover is the fact that bariatric surgeons now are concerned because of the GLP ones. It's taken away their business. Yeah. Yeah. People don't need to because these GLPs is almost like having the bariatric surgery, right? Interesting.

SPEAKER_02 14:09

So I wish it was around. I would have probably done that first before nobody. You've done the GLP one? Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:15

Well, I don't think it was never meant to be. It's just that it was discovered that people who had diabetes if you were pre-diabetic, the ozempic. Yeah, that was ozempic. All of a sudden, it spermed the classic one.

SPEAKER_02 14:28

So the regular people I should say, family members um, I found out because I had two family members, I think it was Victosa, it's a diabetic medication. And um they lost weight using that, and they like told my dad randomly about it, and I was like, What? They're using it was such a shock. I was like, there's a medicine that people are using. And yeah, so I had two family members.

SPEAKER_03 14:47

I tell you that OZEP is a good one. It was a diabetic drug first. We talked about it, it was empic and wagovi were with the two.

SPEAKER_05 14:54

Yeah, the two originals, bounds.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

They're all the they are all the diabetic drugs. Yes. Which spurred spurred the class of GLP one.

SPEAKER_05 15:04

No, because OZEP is the true diabetic drug. That's the original one. And the one that Becca spoke of. The Wagovi, Manjaro, Zetbound. Those are the GLP ones. Really weight loss driven. Okay, okay. But they're from the classic. Because I've I've researched it to see if I could like purchase it. I can't afford that thing. Wow. Because it's a month month-month thing. So my personal journey, I um, you know, I will say is that um about three years ago I was diagnosed with diabetes. So my heaviest was um 229. Okay. Um, and even though I'm 5'6, I'm a little taller than you, I got very heavy. The majority of that weight gain was because of alcohol. That was my coping mechanism. Got very sick, and I found an excellent doctor, and he's like, You need to stop now. And he says, I'm putting you on Ozepic, you have to take the meth form, and I'm still on met form until this day, because all my family has diabetes. Yeah. So both sides of the family. Oh, really? Both? So you have predispositions. Oh wow. Everybody from my mom to like my aunt to my uncle. Heavily on my right side. Heavily. Yeah. So uh put me on the Ozepic. Did I lose a lot of weight? Absolutely. It was fantastic, okay? Um, but my insurance said, You're good now. So no longer have it. And they no longer covered it. They no longer cover it. Because I know that I've read that it is not a long-term. It is not long term.

SPEAKER_03 16:30

They won't do long term.

SPEAKER_05 16:31

So I'm gonna tell you guys who are on GLP1 journeys, okay? The minute you stop it, that weight is gonna come back because that's what's happening to me. Oh not only is my menopause causing me the weight gain, right? Because that's that's the norm.

SPEAKER_03 16:44

We still need people for the menopause episode. Please come through.

SPEAKER_05 16:48

I'll be the first to say, yeah, it was great seeing the weight gain.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

You see the complications with menopause with it.

SPEAKER_05 16:54

Doctors who now women are in this whole menopause, they're prescribing the GLPs. Oh, are they doing like microdosing?

SPEAKER_03 17:00

Because I know microdosing is a big one right now. The microdose is a big one. They also have an oral version of it too, where you no longer injection. That's right, the way Gobi has the first. And so people are looking at that. I think on my soapbox about it, and you and you and I know this because we've gone back and forth with this. Please research it for anybody that's gonna do it, like research it heavily because of where it comes from and the derivative of it. Yes. And what it's going to do to your intestinal tract. Yes. Please, if you have IBS, Crohn's, anything like that, please be fully transparent with your doctors about it. And the same thing to do with um, there's even more stuff coming out now about anxiety, like it's kicking off anxiety attacks in people, it's kicking off absorption issues because the digestion is slowed down to such a stop, obviously. Um, but you're not absorbing anything. So I know people who like osteoporosis is now going up. I know that like joints are going up. I cannot take it because of the autoimmune stuff. I haven't even looked into it, but the much that I've read on it, I wouldn't even I would be disqualified in the first visit.

SPEAKER_05 17:53

Well, I can personally speak for the GLP once because I was on it. Um, I was on it for two years. Two years. You did two years? Two years. Wow. Okay. I have never felt better really when I was doing the Ozempic because of because don't forget, yeah, there's a lot of things that I had to cut back on. So I had to cut back on my alcohol. Sure. Yeah. The the food that I was you know eating, I wasn't eating much already. It was more liquid. Right? Like, yeah, the A1C was so high. It dropped down. I'm telling you, he was so proud of me, and I was going to the gym. I am going to say that, and I'm gonna say it again. I'm gonna say it real loud. I was going to the gym. So you were exercising too? Absolutely. Sure. And again, I will attest to the trainers that I paid a lot of money for and they were helping me, and I love them and thank them till this day for that. My journey, however, I have discovered is more mental. No GLP one can get me to where I need to be. True. However, however, I will say that during those two years, I was constantly asked if I was on a GLP one. Isn't that irritating? And I was so embarrassed to say yes. Why? Because of the stigma that was behind all these GLP ones, the Ozempic especially, and the celebrities. I blame the celebrity world for it.

SPEAKER_02 19:08

So people make it like a cheat code and it's not.

SPEAKER_05 19:11

Yeah, and it's not. I literally need it. It was a health issue. It's a disability from the beginning, but then again, we don't have none of their business. You don't have to explain to anyone. I'm like, I'm gonna hide it in my fridge because if anyone opens the fridge, I don't want to see any that people see it because you have to refrigerate it, right? I my family doesn't even know they're gonna know now that I was on a GLP1 for two years. And listen, but you were pre-diabetic. Here's the thing, but you were the only one diabetic? My family here. I think I had told you guys in the beginning because I was diabetic, I was diabetes. But you weren't gonna have the surgery outside because I was gonna get the surgery. So outside again, and I just want to go back to this. Yeah. When the insurance company said no, I got very angry. We went to breakfast. Oh we went to dinner, we went to dinner too. Angry. Just tears of heat. I was like, that was a good other. Yeah, because to me, health care, yeah. You you're going by the ABCs of this is what you need in order for this, but you're not realizing look at where I am getting to, look at my health. So now guess what? It's gonna be more expensive because I'm gonna have more doctor's bills or whatever medications to try to control something.

SPEAKER_02 20:26

They want you to get to a point where do you want me to be? It's like you have now all these health issues, and you're so far gone, and you're so like I said, Oh, I'll have you do it. I was 285. Yeah, that that's a lot of weight. Yeah, but I had to get to that point for them to be like, yeah, sure, sure, you've got to get the surgery, obviously. And I'm like, you know, like I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_04 20:45

And then you're gonna consider me now? Yeah. Um at that again, there's a challenge here.

SPEAKER_05 20:51

I got that sick, I ended up going to the doctor, and that's what he put me on. It has not been easy. Yeah, it has not been easy. So now it's the spiraling effect again now happening because here I got down to and I only got down to 179, guys. Like I was not thinner than that.

SPEAKER_03 21:09

Excuse me. That's not an only deal. I know that's a big deal.

SPEAKER_05 21:13

Because people think like you gotta be like 130, 140. But you have weightlift, okay? So like we have people doing trade. Yes, yes, and we switched things just to get another 200. Yes, yeah. That was the winning celebrated when I saw one million.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

We were so happy. We know how happy you were. Yes.

SPEAKER_03 21:32

A million years ago, and a timeline no longer exists. One of my long history of being on diets, the best I ever had done was I had moved out and I went and did LA weight loss. Remember LA weight loss? Okay. LA weight loss. Remember that? Yeah. So I did that because I was headed to uh I have a really bad hypoglycemia. I was headed to like diabetic. And when I the state that I lived in used to give you a blood test. So if you went to LA weight loss, they would be like, Okay, a nurse is gonna come and do your blood work. Okay. So I was like, I'm 5'4, same thing. I was like, because Remember the first 20 pounds I lost, I had just broken like 200. So I was like, I must have been like 225 at 5'4, right? And I've never ever really talked about this. And the first 20 pounds I I lost doing LA weight loss was insane because I was like, 'cause I was like, oh my god, 20 pounds and I was eating great. And doing that, I lost 60 pounds total. This is going back like 20, I mean, this is like 2003, 2004. Yeah. 60 pounds on a five foot four frame is like insane, right? So when I broke the same thing, broke 170 and I got to like 165. Don't minimize that. Because that is like that is such a massive moment. And I will tell you that, like, having the history that I had with food and diet, I knew what it was to be uh in shape. Leave it at that. That was not healthy though, because I was really young when that happened. So that's where you learn that like your image directly relates to your worth, which is completely side-handed and not right. Then I got heavy and I was invisible. And then all of a sudden I lost 60 pounds and I was visible again.

SPEAKER_05 23:05

And everyone loves you again. Everybody loves you when you lose 60 pounds. Oh, let's go out. Let's do this. Let's do that.

SPEAKER_03 23:09

LA weight loss was the first program I ever had done where you ate three meals a day, you had two snacks. Um they were very, very conscious of like your energy level, how much work like what were you doing for work? I was I was working in a restaurant at that time, I was bartending, so my job was really physical. So don't minimize that because breaking that number is such a huge deal. And you're trying to chase that number in some ways, but you also have to make space for like your life. Like, what is your stress level? What is your level of activity? What is your are you eating? Like, are you eating, like you said?

SPEAKER_05 23:42

There's the correlation. What's the correlation? I don't have a healthy relationship with food. Sure. So while I want you to eat, Nick, because I would get a meal and I'll be like, you need to eat. I need to like try myself. Because I'm like, well, what are you doing? Like, I will bypass breakfast. I'll bypass breakfast. Oh, you gotta eat breakfast. And it's like the best meal of the day.

SPEAKER_02 24:01

That's hard. I hate breakfast. I used to hate it too, but you gotta do it. So it's like making yourself have something. Yeah, that's the mindset.

SPEAKER_03 24:08

I don't eat breakfast. Okay. But you put collagen in your coffee. I do. There you go. Thanks to L. Plus the collagen.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

Yeah, small wins, small wins. That make me eat because like I I have this thing where also that's on the other side of things, I have AHDs, so I have things times where I don't want to touch certain foods. So hence why I get bored of food. I have to change things up because I will not eat. Do you eat um vibrant?

SPEAKER_03 24:34

Because I get a friend of mine gets on me because she's like I can I eat what you eat for breakfast. I will definitely eat dinner for breakfast.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Oh, absolutely. I do dinner for breakfast all the time. I can have candy. I have cereal sandwiches and I've got to be a little bit.

SPEAKER_04 24:47

I maybe have cereal all day long. I can't do it.

SPEAKER_05 24:52

I cannot have dinner for breakfast. Oh, dinner for breakfast. She's all of her protein. I said, you are not. She's like, do you have breakfast? She's like, Do you want one?

SPEAKER_03 25:03

And I'm like, no. I will buy it. Like, especially ice cold fish. Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 25:11

I don't eat a smoked salmon. Absolutely. I'm a notorious. I'm a deep fish girl. I love my omega-3s, so I will go and get sardines and eat them for breakfast. I do not like sardines, I'm sorry. Absolutely. I don't eat that. I I you know I have my little healthy tuna and I love tuna. Mix it up. I get my little seedweed and I make little absolutely not. With a bunch of pickles and pickled onions. Oh yeah. Savory girl.

SPEAKER_01 25:40

We can definitely hang. Kimchi girl.

SPEAKER_05 25:43

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:44

Kimchi, yep.

SPEAKER_05 25:45

So I just I wanted to put that out there as far as the GLPs because I know that it's just a hot tick. I can't afford it. It's expensive.

SPEAKER_04 25:53

This is it a monthly thing?

SPEAKER_05 25:54

Yeah, it's a good thing. It's a monthly thing. And it's like months. And it's come for you. Listen, I even went on row because, you know, Serena and Charles Barby is like popular. Oh yeah, yeah. I saw the commercial. It is so expensive. And I'm like, Yeah, I think that's what is it?

SPEAKER_02 26:09

It's like um they say, oh, $99 a month. No, it's like $150 to $450. What do they give you for that?

SPEAKER_05 26:15

It's they put either the semaglutide or the terzepitide and they mix it. They compound it with like whatever else they mix it with. But they mix it, it's a compound pharmacy, they ship it to you, you inject yourself. Oh. But it's almost it's the same thing as if you had the manjar or whatever. There's so many ponds. Yeah, so it's brand versus I see it as more of a generic, but it's really not generic. It's just that they're trying to save you money on the brand because it's expensive. Because I went to Eli Eli Eli Lilly's website. Like, oh right, you know, they give you a coupon, right? And I call CVS. I'm like, oh, so I got a savings coupon, and I'm like wondering, like, can you price this out for me? Yeah for Ozempic, $1,299. For the month? Outside their damn mind.

SPEAKER_01 27:02

I was like, oh my, thank you. I'll get back to you.

SPEAKER_02 27:05

Yeah, no, it's not a mortgage. No, it's literally so expensive. Yeah. That's triple my rent.

SPEAKER_05 27:11

That's why they're saying it's $4.50 a month. That's cheap. I'm not gonna lie, if I had the money, I would do it because of course it's it's you want it so bad.

SPEAKER_03 27:21

I just have a speech with somebody too. Like a friend of mine, she's um she's one of our listeners. What's up? And we were talking about like, you know, walking and things like that. And and I said, you know, the drinking thing is a real thing when you back it down. Like to your point, you don't realize like how many calories are in the drink. Then your taste changed. Yeah, I don't even care if the word skinny is in it. And I still don't know. But I will make you guys a skinny margarita that you will love. So I'll take that.

SPEAKER_02 27:46

But that's what I was saying. Like I got more into like dirty martinis and stuff like that. We love our dirty martinis. Um, or just I changed completely how I drink socially because I I I mean I have a friend that makes killer rum punches, but that is sugar, oh my god, sugar, sugar, sugar. I'm not a sweet person, but you know, they make it and you're like, oh, this is fun. Yeah. And then I was like, I'm getting I'm I'm gaining weight. Yeah. Yeah. And so yeah, just changing those tinkering with those little things makes a huge difference. It makes a huge difference. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 28:19

Like, I've had friends call, like, friend of a friend, and they're like, she called me one day and she was just like breaking down about weight. And I was like, and we were on the phone for like 45 minutes, and I'm like, listen, I'm like, you know, I I told her the trainer I work with, I told her I was like, I met them at a really different time in his life, so like my relationship with that program is different. Like, I'm at a rate that doesn't exist because I was with him when he had like three clients. But I I basically like boiled it down for them, and I'm like, at the end of the day, you have to want to do this. Yeah, that's what I said. That's the thing. That's it, because they were like talking about like the pills and this, and I was like, people do what they want to do. So if you really have to commit, like the commitment is for real, for real. And it will be sustainable. Yeah. Because you want to do it. Yeah, exactly. But they want to feel like what I said, yeah, she said.

SPEAKER_05 29:05

It's exactly what Becca says. You get to that point where you just feel so uncomfortable that you are done, and that's where I'm at. I'm uncomfortable, I'm done doing what I gotta do. Oh, but thank you. Yeah, but you know, it's it's that it's I want to feel comfortable in my clothes. Yeah, just as long as I feel comfortable in my clothes, I'm good.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

And comfortable within yourself. Yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 29:23

I have to accept the fact that I'm not going to be a size four and a size six. I will never be that ever. Because you're tall too. Like, I am tall. Well, I'm between five, six, five, seven. Sometimes I'm told I'm five, six, sometimes I'm told I'm five's seven. So I between you two, five, six and a half. Like five, six and a half, you don't want to be size four. I don't, but you know what? And and we didn't cover this, um, but you know, I I'm very big on what I see. Okay. Social media? I have to cut back on social media. And I've had I have cut back because the one thing they have told me is stop following pages of people, women that do not look like you. Yep. And I said, okay, I'm gonna do that. So I started good.

SPEAKER_00 30:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 30:09

Now what I get, and the one thing I do when it comes to clothing, I follow mid mid um mid-sized, curvy girls who try on clothes and I love it because I will purchase it from Amazon or I'll purchase it from other stores. You need to see people that look like you.

SPEAKER_03 30:24

Exactly. And I'm like, this is great. The women on the magazines don't look like the women on the magazines. Like these influencers, not listen, if you're an influencer, I'm not knocking you, I'm just saying, like, do you, okay? But like there's a real there's a real conversation with like somebody who is first off got the genetic jackpot of being like five, nine, like you know, 110 pounds, whatever like genetics you got you got given. That's wonderful, but not everybody is like that. But not everybody has that, like it's like the whole thing. And it's okay. It's all that's gonna be only standard, beauty. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 30:56

Yes, and it's all their standards. It's nice to see an alpha and be like, I would look good in that actually. I'm gonna I'm gonna try it on. And seeing people with you know curvier bodies, sure, short, tall, whatever. Absolutely. I want to see it. I want to know what it's like. You do you have my boobs? Okay, I want a top like that. You know, is my butt gonna fit into those pants or is it gonna look funny? You know, like especially when you lose a lot of weight, you're you it distributes differently on everybody. So like I want to know that I feel comfortable in a dress and not like just be thinking about the person I don't like about myself. Yeah, because we all have something. Yeah, but like I agree, like it's taking away, it's easy to forget that social media is curated. Yeah, it's what people are putting out there, it's not their actual life. Of course. Um, it's easy to make a whole like image off of someone in a certain perspective or um have a weird parasocial dynamic. So, like it's very good to like separate that. So if you're doing that, I think you're already making some gets to getting there.

SPEAKER_04 31:54

I am getting there, and of course, and it's gonna be a process. Remember that though, it's not gonna be overnight because you didn't get to this how you feel now overnight. It was a long time. So to get away from that and to get become balanced with it, but you want to take a process.

SPEAKER_03 32:09

I just have to see how far you came too. Like, here's the thing you know, you have to also curate and look and be like exactly. I'm not where I was then. Yeah, I know that about you. I've known you since 2010. Like I get it, like vice versa. Like, I you have to see how far you've come, and do you have farther to go? That is a hundred percent up to you if you have farther to go. If you're happy where you are, then do it and whatever. Like, do your thing. But exactly to Becca's point, social media is curated, it is smoke and mirrors. Yeah, they will pay influencers to do like flat tummy tees and and like these cleanses and all these things. They're like, you've only tried it once.

SPEAKER_02 32:44

Yeah, they do have a flat tummy. Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 32:47

You've never like worked out a tea in your life.

SPEAKER_04 32:51

And having my IP here, I'm like, oh, you look beautiful. Yeah, I write keep going. Um you can also reset your algorithm.

SPEAKER_03 33:00

You know that in Instagram.

SPEAKER_04 33:02

Good, just keep resetting it.

SPEAKER_03 33:03

Keep resetting it. And I ain't I ain't arguing with you on a voluntary platform. I say off the people arguing with you on a voluntary platform. You don't want to be here, get off.

SPEAKER_01 33:15

If you don't like my page, don't follow it. You don't like the podcast, don't listen. Don't listen. Keep following us. If you like us, listen, you don't answer it. You don't have to donate. But if you do donate, no one's forcing you to be doing it. Nobody is making you do anything.

SPEAKER_05 33:34

However, I would like to say that if you do like us here at the Voice Moves, we have to share. Please follow, please share. Please you know, those likes, those that helps us. So send us a message. Please, yeah, thank you. And thank you for being listeners. Exactly. Becca, I'm so happy here. Thank you for sharing your journey. So happy to explore your vulnerability. And um, you know, we all have a little bit of that, you know, whether it's trauma from our childhood to things that we're going through now, but your story has helped a lot. And I hope it helps others. We love having you.

SPEAKER_04 34:11

We love that you shared in that safe space here.

SPEAKER_05 34:13

And if you are a listener and you're thinking about bariatric surgery or you're thinking about a GLP one, we are here. If you'd like to discuss our own personal journey. We all have stories to tell. And we thank you for being here. And we're still gonna we're still gonna keep you here. Yes, we're gonna talk about a couple of other days.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

Okay, without further ado, please bring us to. All we need is just one word.

SPEAKER_04 34:39

Denzel.

SPEAKER_03 34:42

Oh my god! Now we had a we had a concess we had a consensus because when I couldn't sleep one night and it was two in the morning on TV, 365 Black, which is my local station, they had training day on. Oh my god. And I was watching the TV edit of it, okay? And so I texted you like two in the morning and I was like, can we talk about how hot Denzel is in training day? We can always talk about how hot and hot I didn't know.

SPEAKER_04 35:06

Denzel is in training day. And that was when he won his um Academy Award, his Oscar. Yeah. He did, right? Yeah. He should have won for Malcolm X, but yeah. Oh, I don't know. We digress. But anyway, Denzel, um, my actual favorite actor ever. Yep. Um, going back to uh glory. Yep, yeah. Um he's looked the same forever. He looks fantastic. I believe he's in his 70s. 71. 71. 71. 71, married to July Palmetta, uh, 1983. Wow. So that's what uh 48. He looks the same. Yeah, he's never changed. Fantastic. He has age like fine wine. He's 6'1.

SPEAKER_05 35:46

I just love his demeanor and his stand when it comes to paparazzi. Oh yeah. When he's in like when he's actually at a sporting event, yeah, for sure. Like he doesn't play. No, like you don't. Dude, like, step back, step back. This is my space. Yeah. Like, let's just get this right. I love it. He's always been daddy.

SPEAKER_04 36:02

All his interviews have been great. Yeah, he's just so classy. He's always just been like so real and genuine. Like eye contact.

SPEAKER_03 36:09

When he talks about his eye contact, it's unbelievable.

SPEAKER_04 36:12

And he crosses so many genres. He has like so many different actors and young people and like different races and everything that he always interacts with, and he's just always present. Um, he has four kids.

SPEAKER_03 36:24

Four kids. Denzel could read the phone book. Let's work the phone book analysis. Double A's. But it was like the thing about nemetism.

SPEAKER_02 36:34

It's like it either works or it doesn't. Yeah. And I feel like it's not working for him yet.

SPEAKER_03 36:39

He was but Denzel's in his own category. Yes, he is. Denzel has been. So is has always one way.

SPEAKER_05 36:45

Which was the movie with the hospital where the boy's John Q. John Q. Amazing. I was gonna say don't.

SPEAKER_04 36:51

John, don't you? Don't go. When you go over the Puerto Rico. The best movie of all time. Remember the title. Of course.

SPEAKER_05 37:00

Oh, he that I have, yes. TC Williams was great.

SPEAKER_04 37:03

TC Williams High. He's a beautiful choice. He's definitely great. He's beautiful chocolate man. Beautiful chocolate man. He's my he's my absolute favorite. He is actually hotel shit.

SPEAKER_03 37:11

And don't name your children Denzel unless I look like Denzel washes. Of course.

SPEAKER_04 37:14

Give me somebody named Denzel. They have to be worthy of them. You've got to know.

SPEAKER_05 37:18

Yeah. Denzel. Oh, what a good pick. Ha ha ha dada bouy. And that's a wrap. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone you know. Make sure to follow us on our Instagram page at the underscore voice notes podcast. And remember voice notes are just podcasts with zero editing. See you next week.