FORE! Thoughts on Ozempic

I played golf on Friday on my home course. My score was unremarkable. I had one birdie thanks to a killer 18 foot putt. I cobbled together a few pars, but I also picked up on two holes. Two! I've been playing this game for a solid ten years now. While I have certainly improved from those beginner days, I wonder to what degree I have come to accept, the type of golfer I am.

I work at my game—I take lessons on a quarterly basis. I try to play most weekends. I get in a whole lot of golf when I'm on break, especially in the summer. But yes, I can and will keep my day job. Still, I would like to shave a few strokes off every round. I want more GIRs. I hope those will make room for a string of pars and an occasional birdie. That would take a whole lot of work and yet, I have an answer to my problem: a new drug. 

Though quite costly, the only confirmed side effect of this drug is that once a person stops taking it, their game will return to what it once was. (A trial examined people who had taken the golf drug once a week for 68 weeks and then stopped using it. After a year, participants gained back two thirds strokes they lost). A good number of golfers taking this drug report that they are less interested in golf— but they play anyway. Of note, the improvement is fast. The index will drop in a short amount of time. The results are obvious, thanks to the World Handicap System. 

What I find interesting about this drug is that most golfers won't admit that it is the reason their game has gotten better. When asked "how did you get so good?" they tell other club members “It’s not one thing, it’s everything.” and it is the result of "willpower." While that may be true for some of the men and women out there at the club, the majority of us are getting older—not younger. We have to work harder to keep muscle mass, maintain balance and flexibility. However, this drug is just the trick. Long term effects are unknown, but the bottom line is why put off for tomorrow what you can achieve today?!

If this story sounds like an extended metaphor, it should. According to the New York Times The Daily podcast, no other drug has become a household name faster than Ozempic. Odds are you know someone who is taking it.

I want to be very clear about this: all metaphors are limited. Some of comparisons help a reader recall, remember, understand and appreciate an idea on a much deeper level. Other parts of a metaphor fall short. Still, I find value in using them in writing and teaching.

Second, I also want to acknowledge Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications for weight loss related to diabetes and obesity have truly helped people. Praise God! I value the work of modern medicine and am by no means anti-drug.

Third the purpose of this blog is to express my concerns and raise a few ethical questions about it. I welcome yours. I'll start with a story....

I've talked to one friend about her experience with Ozempic. I wondered if she was taking it, but I didn't bring it up because it's her business. In our conversation, she opened up about her "why" for taking it. I asked about her hopes and her fears—as related to taking the drug. She admitted that she had not told her husband she was taking the drug and for a brief period of time last summer, she went off of it. She gained the weight back.

To my surprise, she asked me what I thought. I would have left the conversation at that but she wanted to further engage in a dialogue. Since we were sharing honestly with one another, I relayed my questions—ethical ones, a few causes and yes, my concerns. 

On a macro level, it makes me very sad that our culture places so much attention and emphasis on thinness—yes, being thin. While thinness is still an obsession, in the last ten to twenty years, I thought we made significant strides toward body positivity. We have seen this in ads, mannequins, totem  characters and yet we really don't. Yes, fat shaming is intolerable, but to be overweight is a heavy burden—both physically and socially. Moving away from this culture of thinness might be a losing battle. There are explicit and implicit messages everywhere you look. Social media doesn't help.

Of further concern to me is the way that Ozempic recalibrates the paradigm for thinness. People who are healthy and fit now look heavy. This distorted view of how we see ourselves is the enemy of self-acceptance and self-love. I think we should always be seeking to improve ourselves in every way possible. I believe that we will have to make sacrifices along the way to do that. That road is not easy. It takes patience, self discipline and support. We will have setbacks. We might even fall. So what's the solution? Take a drug? 

The emphasis on a our physical appearance, especially thinness recalculates how we see beauty, too. Physical attractiveness is entirely skin deep and light weight. But each of us has our flaws—physical and otherwise. To be self assured and to comfortable in your own skin, that's a big part of beauty. Last year, the US Surgeon General issued a public health statement on loneliness in our culture. Will there be one in the future about self acceptance? 

On the personal level, what bothers me most the willingness take a drug to solve a problem that for some people is NOT a problem. My friend does not have a weight problem. She's always been active and like me, would love to drop a dress size. At our age, the weight is getting harder and harder to keep off. (I do want to thank for all the sisters who warned me that the Traveling Pants would start to get tight...and tighter). My friend isn't unlike a number of people taking the drug. They carry and extra 10, 20 maybe 25 pounds.…take an injection 2x a week and those extra lbs are gone. As written in the New York Times, “These drugs were not designed for normal-weight people who want to get down to be super thin.” None of this sits right with me.

I got this questionnaire today!

While my friend was honest with me, she wasn't honest with her husband. The ethics teacher in me says I hope she will be—for the sake of integrity. It's hard to be honest in "some" areas of our lives and not others. We've all experienced this truth; I know I have. I would like to know how taking Ozempic affects how she sees other people. I'd be curious to know if she's seen subtle changes.

My friend does not play golf, if she did, I would continue to speak vis a vi the golf metaphor. Play in a foursome with people who make you feel good about who you are—both on and off the course. Whether or not you are fitting into that golf skirt from seven years ago is not the point—it never was. If you shoot an 80 today, great. If you shoot 95, that's fine too. Don't be afraid to move to the appropriate tee. Life is just too short... I don't think there's a drug to change that. 

Ozempic has taken me on a moral journey I did not expect to take at my age. As completely tempting as it would be to drop that dress size, plus, I feel too committed to the principles of working toward my best self all while doing what I can to accept myself for who I am. I think this is something I have to model for high school students and athletes, and my nieces. I've read a number of articles about the topic and my biggest gripe is the power we have given over to a drug. Whether or not we want to admit it, this drug is changing a person physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually. That's worth careful consideration. Fore!

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