The Uneducated PT Podcast - #61 Belinda Hogan - Ozempic Insights

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

In this episode of the uneducated pt podcast we speak to belinda hogan. Belinda started her instagram page two years ago on her ozempic journey and now she helps give other people information using her experience on the drug. We speak about what ozempic is, how it works, what kind of subscription you can get in ireland vs abroad. Fat shaming, food noise, misconceptions and much more. If you want more information on this topic follow belinda at Ozempic_insights. 

Hello and welcome to the uneducated PT podcast with me, your host, Carlo Rourke. The goal of this podcast is to bring on interest and knowledgeable people from all walks of life, learn a little something from each conversation and for you, the listener, just learn something from each episode. So don't forget to subscribe to the channel, press the box below, show some support and I'll see you on the next episode. Just to set context for the listeners, I suppose the most obvious but important question to ask is what is Ozzympic and why is that of Rhe?

relevant to your life. Okay. So I'll say first that I'm not an expert on OZempic or any GLP1 medication, but I am an expert on my own journey on these medications. Yes. Okay. So OZembek is a GLP1 medication. I have been taking it for two years, two months.

I have tried three different types. types of GLP ones. Yeah. O-Zempic, Tresepetide, no, Trilicity and Mungaro. I'm on Monjaro now. You're on Monjaro and At the bomb. Can I ask it just before it goes out of my head, what are the like key differences between all these medications?

Okay, so OZempic in Ireland would only go up to one milligram. Yeah. Okay. Everywhere else, OZempic is marketed and sold as Weigovie. as Weigovey as well. And that would go up to 2.4 milligrams. I can't really talk about Trilicity much. I took it and I might as well throw my money at the window.

And the question then. So like I'm going to ask all these questions for people who might be clueless on this. So what would be the difference between being on one milligram or, you know, 2.4 or whatever the differences are? And what's the difference and why would someone be on one milligram to 2.4? Okay, so the reason that it's like that over here in Ireland is because it's a diabetic medication and that's as far as it will go up for people with diabetes. Elsewhere, it is marketed as a weight loss drug.

That's why it would go up to 2.4 milligrams. And then we have Monjaro, which you can't get in Ireland. It is licensed, but it's not for sale for some reason. That goes up to 15 milligrams, which is huge. Now, there is another one coming out. I can't even say the name of it. It's in the phase three stage of testing. And that is going to skyrocket everything.

Yeah. Yeah. Have you found true even like your research that the drugs are only getting better and better in terms of more effective, less side effects, etc., etc.? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And what's coming down the road, Carl, is going to be life-changing for people. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. There's loads of things that I want to touch on. that even in terms of obviously people's personal experiences, but also from a society standpoint, from a healthcare system, all that stuff. So we'll go into that. But before we do, can you just talk to me about your relationship with dieting and weight loss before the medication? Yeah. So I have spent the past three decades, 30 years, in a cycle of dieting and a cycle of relapsing. I never knew any of this kind of terminology until I,

had the space to actually sit back and think about it when I started taking the drug. So I dieted for 30 solid years now, Carl, I cannot tell you the amount of diets that I've been on. It's over 100. I relapsed. I relapsed 100% of the time. And relapse for most people would look like you lost, say, a couple of stone, you put the couple of stone on and then you regained even more on top of that couple of stone. So you're just in this awful awful toxic cycle with dieting and you can imagine

how your relationship with food looks like coming out of all that a very helpless feeling I would imagine oh absolutely honestly and it's only in the past two years that I've been able to reflect back on how my life was

because it's so good now but it was an awful time and it is an awful time for anybody out there that suffers with that, you know, especially food noise as well, trying to run your life and diet with food noise is...

Can you explain the concept of food noise? Because I think for a lot of people who don't understand how these medications work and don't understand who have never had to go on a diet before, who have just always been able to maintain a certain body weight and it's never been difficult. And so they might say things like, oh, well, just eat less,

you know what a bit or just go on a diet. and to them it feels that simple because that's their reality. Their reality is it's never, food's never really being an issue. So for someone who doesn't understand what the concept of when you talk about food noise, what essentially do you mean when you say that? Okay. So I'll just go through an average day then of somebody that has lived or is living with food noise

and I'm sure there's millions of people out there that can relate to it. So you wake up in the morning and if you're in a phase of dieting, your in your life. The first thing you think about when you get up is what am I going to eat this morning that's going to be low in calories. That's not going to make me want to hate myself after I've eaten it and is not going to hinder my progress at the end of the week. And then the anxiety in your stomach sets in about are you going to be able to pull that off? You're going to be able to do that. Now that could happen to you four to five times a day. And in between doing, and in between having your meals or your snacks or whatever,

every single waking thought is consumed by those thoughts. And it's not because you're greedy or you're hungry or your, you know, anything like that. It's because you just don't know how to stop it and you don't know how to fix it. And until mine stopped, Carl, I didn't even know I had it. I thought everyone in the world was walking around like that. I just thought that's how life is supposed to be. I knew it's easier for some people to lose weight and more difficult for others,

but I never believe for one minute that I shouldn't have been like that, that that shouldn't have been the way I was living my life. Yeah, that's so funny because it's like you, that was your reality and you probably thought that that was everyone else's reality and it's the same vice versa, it's people who don't have food noise,

think that's their reality and think it's everyone else's reality as well. Yeah, absolutely, yeah. Yeah. It's crazy, really. And again, like, it's getting rid of it and quieting the noise. Yeah. Is very profound as well.

It's a huge, massive shift emotionally. I was about to say, I'm sure, I'm sure psychologically it's quite a quite a difficult thing, yeah. Yeah. But especially to have no guidance around it. Yeah. Yeah. And especially taking these drugs and not realizing what they're going to do for you. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. And I think that's a big thing that should be spoken about is like the emotional support on a weight loss journey is massive. I remember, I know you have put up his content in the past, Johann Harry. I remember him speaking on a podcast about, yeah, I think he was speaking about how. So when he lost all the weight that he needed or wanted to lose and he no longer had that kind of food noise, that urge to over-eat and how he went to eat something that was maybe his favorite indulgence. Let's say it was cake or whatever and he had it and he wasn't able to finish it.

And like emotionally and psychologically what that did to him, like there is a huge wave of depression because what people don't understand is even if you're overeating a certain food and that's, you know, ending up with an outcome of being overweight, like it's still serving a purpose. Like food has given you some sort of emotional. relief and when you can no longer have that emotional relief anymore, like you could feel terrible and like you could get everything that you want in terms of, you know, losing the weight that you wanted, but still maybe feel terrible because there's, there's psychological things that you haven't actually dealt with yet. People are only thinking about the physical rewards, but don't think about the psychological benefits that something like overeating or enjoying a piece of cake or whatever it is that could actually do for a person. Yeah, and I'll give you an example. of that as well Carl. So I would have also used food to soothe myself. I would have used food to celebrate. I would have used food for any excuse. So I remember I was on the medication for about two months and life was going along fine and then I got extremely anxious about something that had

nothing to do with food or whatever. And I stood in the middle of the kitchen and I just didn't know what was wrong with me because I have reached for food to soothe my anxiety for 30 solid years. Every time without fail. And it took me about two days to figure out what happened to me in that moment, you know? And the other side of it as well is you do go into a period of mourning when you go on this medication. because if you're on this medication for obesity, which is what it's meant to be for, you got to the point of being obese

from overeating, obviously, you know? And I know there's metabolic reasons there as well. You know, we are all trying to just do our best at the moment. But when you have enjoyed all that food and you're, it's, you can't eat it anymore. And you're just there, well, what do I do now? Yeah. What, what, like, I really enjoyed food car.

I loved my food. I loved going to different restaurants and all the rest of it. Like, I went out Saturday night for dinner. I had chicken wings and wedges and I had to bring them home and eat them the next day, you know? And that was one of my most favorite, favorite things to do was to go out and eat and really enjoy it. But that's not there anymore. It's almost like you kind of lose a little bit of your identity. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Unless you have support. Yes. And that brings us back to the emotional support side of things that like it's obviously not as simple as oh take these drugs you'll lose way all your issues will be solved. Unfortunately, that's not that's not the case. You know and unfortunately this drug is not a cure. It is just to help you manage and maintain. So as soon as you go off this drug, the same as if you're. on a cholesterol tablet, your cholesterol will come back up. If you come off this drug, then your obesity may very well come back. It's not 100% guaranteed it will come back. It depends on the work

you do within the time you're using the drug. And if you want to come off it, I have no intentions of coming off it. They can pry it from my cold out hands, Carol, because I will never go back to being the way I was previous. And that's a really good point. And what I wanted to touch on there is exactly what you spoke about in terms of like this misconception that, oh, you just take the drug and, you know, then you're fixed or whatever and where this is something that helps aid your new lifestyle for the rest of your life. And you actually spoke about, I remember hearing you say that, oh, Zempic isn't a diet. So can you explain to the listeners what you actually mean by that? Yeah. So I can just give you another example.

So in my two years of using a GLP one medication, I've lost, I think I'm up against 80 pounds now. Yeah. But in that time, I have consistently gone to Pilates. I have consistently gone swimming in aquaerobics and walking. And I have consistently thought myself about nutrition, which I would never, ever, ever have been given in the slimming rooms that I spent 30 years in. Yeah. Okay. So that's all of that work I did.

Okay. And if somebody walked up to me and said, oh, how did you do all that, Belinda? I would have given him that answer. And then at the end of it, if I had said, oh, and I also take Manjaro to help me with my hormone out the door. That's the way out of it. So GLP 1 of Zempic, swimming, walking, Pilates, nutrition. The GLP one is just a tool. That's all it is.

You cannot take that drug and expect the weight to come off you when you literally are doing nothing for yourself to help yourself. And this is one of the biggest misconceptions that I see online and I'm sure you see online and I'm sure it drives you crazy is that we have these people who are like

it's this or that it's lifestyle or it's you know GLP ones. It's like there's no reason why the two will the two actually fit together so well anyway because if you're taking, yeah, if you're taking these GLP ones, you know, and it's help aiding your weight loss. And therefore now, you know, you feel lighter on your feet. It's easier for you to go for a walk. You're less self-conscious. Maybe, you know, you go and do things that before you wouldn't have done because you felt like you might have been shamed for your weight, which is a big reason as to why people don't exercise.

And it's a big reason to why fat shame does not help anyone. It's like you're actually able to encourage more of these lifestyle. habits and behaviours through the drugs but a lot of people online seem to think that it's like oh well if you want to lose weight just exercise or just go for a run or just eat less and it's like you know it's not one or the other it's one compliments the other

yes exactly and and the thing with it as well with the medication is that when you take it and you suffered previously with binge eating or overeating or whatever how how that helped me was. So previous to Ozmpic, if I was hungry,

I would have ran in the door and I would have picked up anything I wanted to eat. Anything that was handy, a packet of crisps, penguin bar at the fridge, the usual bread. Carol, I say if you had cut me open, I would have bled bread. Days. I was so obsessed with bread.

I know it's an Irish thing anyway. Yeah. But, and then what I noticed about six weeks into it, I was able to walk in the door and because I wasn't starving I was able to make better choices. It gave me that space.

It gave me that peace of mind. It took away that anxiety for me. And that is the essence of how it can change lives. That's a huge. When you said that word, it gave you that space. And I always even talk about, to clients about, you know,

finding that pause between your, your food decisions because a lot of times when we are so rampantly hungry we end up making poorer food choices that we wouldn't probably make otherwise because this way we have the time to say oh you know what I can give myself 20 minutes to

make you know that that omelette or that sandwich or whatever it is and have a little bit more fibre and a little bit more protein into it. One thing you also said is that through taking these drugs obviously lifestyle decisions in terms of exercise and movement and aquaeroyal and all this things.

But you also said about even like your curiosity in terms of nutrition and exploring that a little bit more. I'm curious to know, have you found since taking the drugs that, you know, your relationship with food has improved drastically since? Drastically.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's huge. Just going back to what I said, I had spent maybe probably 25 of the 30 years in and out of slimming rooms sitting in rooms where I was told I can eat all of this food and I will never gain a pound of weight, never been thought anything about nutrition. Also, not having the independent thought to go and find out about it because I thought that

was what was going to fix me in that moment. And I came out of those rooms with just the worst relationship to food that anyone could have. It was awful. And then when I started taking the GLP1, I had to, well, obviously I was given the space and the time to be able to make better decision. So then I thought to myself, well, the side effects are going to not be great on this anyway. So I started looking at my nutrition. I had a dietitian at the time as well to help me figure out how to make the side effects less harsh. Yeah. And through fibre and through clean.

eating and water and just everything. Yeah. And then I'm just so into it now, you know. And obviously, as something, obviously your appetite will reduce in these medications. Have you found, has it been more difficult for you to try keep your protein intake up and your fibre intake up?

Because obviously that helps you to be satiated as well. Or was it a case that it's probably, improved anyway just because you're more aware of that oh maybe when I'm making up this plate I'm going to make sure that there's a degree of protein at the degree of fiber on this plate so how has course like I've never had I've never had those thoughts before ever you know previous to ozempic and now every single day I know exactly what's going into my body I mean exactly I know this morning that the bowl of food that I had had 29 grams of protein and it had a whopping 16 grams of fibre.

Yeah, because you've much more awareness around your food decisions because it's something that's obviously really important now. Really important for you, yeah. Yeah, yeah. And plus I'm 48, I'll be 49 soon and I need to look after myself. My whole goal now, Carl, is not about, it's not about, well, obviously, I should lose a little bit more weight, but it's longevity. Yeah.

And it's future-proofing my body. So when I'm 80 years of age, I can walk up that stairs. I can get myself out at the bed. My bones aren't going to break if I have an accident or if I fall over or whatever, you know. And that's what it's about for me now as well. And I think that's what it's for most people. And I think that a misconception is that people think that,

oh, they take the, I know there probably is a subset of the population who do take it in terms of vanity weight. But like people who are suffering with obesity, like it's quality of life that they're looking for. That they're after, yeah. That they're after. Yeah.

Like if you, if you wage 20, 25 stone and somebody said to you, you know, you can be 15 stone or whatever. But like, you know, you're not going to be skinny and you're not going to be absolutely gorgeous or whatever. Nobody would give a shit. No. You take it. You take the hand off them. You would take, yeah, like the, the drastic improvement in your quality of life from that is monumental.

Yeah. And sleep wise as well. And your mental health and your emotions and your, you know, everything. Yeah. Yeah. It's fantastic. Can I ask you a question? So how difficult is it at the moment to get a subscription in Ireland for these medications?

Because that's something that I'm unaware of. Yeah. Like I don't know the ins and outs of how you get on these drugs, who qualifies for these drugs, all these things. Yeah. So if you have diabetes, you can go into your doctor and you can get Ozempic on your long-term illness book. Everybody that has diabetes is entitled to it. And also there's another one called Saxenda. That's quite popular in Ireland.

So if you have a really good doctor and you are obese and you have, you've known your doctor for years, you have a good relationship and you go and ask him for the medication, if he's any good, he'll help you. And he can do it. Some of them just choose not to. But I think the really important thing is to be able to go in there and advocate for yourself, advocate for your health, advocate for your longevity, advocate for a future proof in your life, not to just go. go in and say, oh, can you give me a Ozempic? Go into your doctor and be listened to and have your facts about you because they can prescribe you Saxenda, even if they won't prescribe you Ozempic. Okay. And what about in other countries, is it more, it's easier to access or is it more difficult have you looked into that?

Well, you also can't get Mangaro in Ireland. So I get mine from the north of Ireland. Okay. You know, yeah. So like your doctor can write you out a physical old school prescription for it and you can send it up the north. I know a couple of girls that have had that done. My doctor wouldn't do it. Actually, my doctor wouldn't give me anything.

I went online when I started first. I was getting my Ozempic off of an online doctor. Yeah. Why is it that they refused? Is it due to demand or? Well, at the time, because it was just. bursting onto the scene as well. There was massive worldwide shortages.

Novenorges couldn't keep up with it. That's the manufacturers. But it's still, the doctors are not eager to prescribe it. But over in, say, the UK, for instance, you can literally sit at your computer for 10 minutes and have Mangaro up to 15 milligrams deliver to your door the next day.

Anyone can. Just easier access. Yeah. Yeah. And I don't condone, I don't, I don't think that's right either. Yes, because obviously there will be some, well, my listeners are, I would like to think, very well balanced. But let's say there is one or two that, that would if they could. Yeah, yeah.

So there will be some people that there will be push back saying things like, oh, it's, it can get delivered too easy and there will be people misusing it. And so like can you let's just to play devil's advocate for the people online who will say whatever. Like what are the arguments the arguments against not using these medications? And in what situation would you be like, oh, that person shouldn't be using weight loss drugs? Yeah. I think if you if you're not somebody that is obese and has suffered with obesity your whole life. I think you probably don't need to be doing that drastic of an action because it is and it does come with its risks and it does come with side effects as well and also Carl it's like I just don't understand how it can be that widely available there are people out there dying of anorexia yeah yeah yeah and bulimia yeah so yeah it needs there needs to be actual proper consultations with a professional typically be prescribed. Yeah. I took part in a documentary about just under a year and a half ago. And it was a crew came over from the UK and they were doing the dark side and the bright side kind of thing on Ozempic. They had interviewed two people with diabetes, seen how that had helped them. Their bloods were great, all the rest of it. They came and they interviewed me about how it had helped my life through having suffered with obesity for three decades. And then they went to Spain to talk to a girl who had anorexia that would have just gotten the drug herself for no problem at all.

Yeah. Yeah. So that's why it needs to be more regulated 100%. And I think it will be. I think that we're going to see the out the fallout from it. You know, and yeah. The difficult thing is like at the same time, you can't stop people from doing things that is going to be damaged. into their health if they are determined to do so.

And I think... But it should be... We should be looking after them a bit more. Yeah, yeah. I 100% agree on that. Yeah. At the same time then, like, the issue that I see online is that people will complain about the drugs,

like they're a net negative because they hear a certain individual story like that. When there's that story, but then there's probably over a thousand net positive. positive stories. Like we seen the thing in the United States where obesity had decreased for the first time in ever, or in the last 20, 30 years since it's been on the rise. And like what that can do in terms of healthcare

and the amount of money that will save people and the amount of like, like to be able to to stop that obesity rates from rising, the amount of diseases that will fall off as a, a as a byproduct of that is unbelievable. I think there is 220 underlying issues that you can have from having obesity.

That's absolutely crazy. That's why I would like I always always no matter who I speak to. I always try and advocate for these medications to be not used as a cure but even as a preventative measure to getting diabetes. Yeah. Like Carl, it's

getting really dangerous out there. There's people going into the doctor having their bloods done and the doctors are saying, you're not, no, your bloods aren't quite there yet for diabetes to get Ozmpic for free. Like, what do you think they're doing? It's just a couple more pounds or half more stone and no, God, it could be, I could have diabetes and.

Yeah, let me put myself at more risk of health complications so therefore I can actually get the help that I need. I need. Yeah. And like you said, yeah, prevention is obviously always better than a cure. Yeah. Yeah, it makes sense. You touched on as well that the drugs can come with kind of side effects and negative implications as well.

For someone who hasn't taken these drugs or isn't, it doesn't know about them, what are some of the difficulties that come alongside all the benefits that come from it? Okay. So I'll just tell you what exactly a GLP1 medication is and what it does to you then first. So GLP1 stands for glycogen-like peptide. So these medications, they mimic a natural hormone in your body. And it mimics the hormone in your brain and it works on your gut and it also works on your pancreas. So what they do, what's really important is they control your hunger, they help you lose weight. and what what it does is it slows down the emptying of your stomach.

Yeah. Okay. And they also act on, the hormones act on the hunger centers in your brain that make you feel fuller sooner. Yeah. That reduces that food noise that we were speaking about. Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And then in your pancreas, the gLP ones help to release the right amount of insulin.

when you eat so it lowers your blood sugar levels as well so with those kind of things come either chronic diarrhea where you can't leave the house or chronic constipation yeah

headaches dizziness maybe what else bloatedness things like that they're the big ones they're the big ones has there been cases where the side effects have been so severe that people would have to go off the medication? Oh, I've spoken to hundreds of people.

Really? You weren't able to cope with them at all. Yeah. And then I've spoke to people that have gone out, got two pensions of Ozempic. She's taken one. Her husband's taken the other. And they've injected them with themselves with one milligram and have ended up in the hospital. Really?

Because you can't, you have to start on a very, very, very tiny dose of this medication. Yeah, you build up your, do you, you build up your tolerance over time. Yeah. And obviously, I presume the more, the more weight that you lose, the more you have to increase the dosage because you'll hit weight loss plateaus. Yes, I've been in a plateau for months now. I've recently just broken it. Yeah.

So through, going back to the beginning and looking at my nutrition again and counting my calories and knowing exactly what I'm doing, you know. Yeah, can I ask you about that? So let's say someone's on the medication now at the moment, because I'm sure there will be listeners who are on the medication, they might be only starting for the first time. What would your advice be to them people? Because like weight loss plateaus are a normal thing.

And like sometimes I like to reframe it as, okay, you're in, you're at maintenance now and, you know, maintenance is, yeah, it's an important, it's an important part of the journey to actually to just maintain what you've already achieved. because like you said at the very start, you went through these 30 years of losing weight, losing weight putting on more weight, losing weight putting on more weight. And, you know, that weight cycling can really start to take its toll on people.

So to be able to actually just maintain... And the metabolism. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So to be able to just maintain the weight that you've lost for a couple of months or whatever. Like, that's like, that's a really positive thing. Yeah, of course. And you know what it is as well within that plateau, Carl?

You're not putting on any weight. Exactly. You're maintaining. Yeah. Which, like, that's the way I had to look at it because I'd never maintained in my life. I never maintained anything. Yeah. You know?

And while you're maintaining, you're also still incorporating the healthy lifestyle behaviours and habits and learning more about your nutrition, getting fitter, getting stronger, moving your body more. And, like, all them things are like, they're all wins that we don't see because they're not, you know, the scale weight going down. Yeah, exactly. And we have to keep thinking like that as well. You have to have a massive mind shift. Yeah.

for those for those periods in your journey, um, to, to be able to move forward as well. Yeah, you know, so what was the question? Sorry.

Yeah. Sorry. So for anyone who's, for anyone who's in a way last. Yeah. Yeah. So I'll go over anyone who's starting first. Shall I?

Yeah. Um, just the most important thing is that you have to start on the very lowest dose. If you don't start on the lowest dose, then you are going to become sick. What is the, what is the lowest dose? So the lowest dose with us.

Sempec is 0.25 milligrams. And the lowest dose with Monjaro is 2.5 milligrams. Okay. Huge difference. Yeah. So you'd never, you would, you would never really start on Monjaro. Yeah, you would, absolutely. You would.

Yeah. Yeah, but you have to remember that would, that would be your first introduction to it. So you're still starting at the lowest. Yes. Now, if I had started on Manjaro, I would be way further along in my journey. like way further along. It's a much better drug. It's a much cleaner drug.

It's much more widely available. So yeah, no matter what drug you get, always start on the lowest dose. You have to stay on the lowest dose for four weeks, then titrate up to the next dose. Stay on that for four weeks. And then so on and so on. You stay on the one dose for four weeks every single time.

And while you're starting and while you're starting to titrate up, you have to concentrate on your food. You have to make sure that you keep your food clean. You have to make sure that you hydrate yourself properly. You have to make sure that you get out and walk or something. Purely because that will ease your side effects, you know, and having to look at your protein and your fiber will really, really help you as well because constipation is the worst side effects, side effect,

and it's the most common side effect as well. I think I'd done a post once on constipation and it was the biggest reel I ever did or the biggest real anyone ever seen like it. The biggest thing that people are struggling with, yeah. It's constipation, yeah. And yeah, so just kind of be mindful of all of those things. And I know, like, I say them now,

but I'm only given this advice looking back on knowing what I should have done. Like I didn't have a clue when I started out, Carl. there was hardly any people on Instagram talking about their stories. You know, it's taken a good few years now to people, for people to come out of the woodwork and say that they are taking these medications, you know, and there's a lot of people, like, I have nearly 17,000 on Instagram and I can guarantee you only about 30 of those people would actually own up to being on a GLP one medication.

Why do you think there is still this kind of taboo, to boo around this topic or around people taking it. Stigma. Yeah. Yeah. For me, I would never not talk about it because I want everybody to know about this drug.

I think that anyone that needs this drug should have it immediately yesterday. But I can understand why people don't want to, I think. It's a question that I wanted to ask you because it's something that actually bothers me the most about this topic is people. people so invested in a way that has no relevance even speaking about it. So it's like someone who's never really struggled with their way,

seemed to get so triggered about people actually using these drugs. And like, it's, it, it enrages people. Yeah. And my, my big, my biggest issue is it's, it's under the guise of, oh, I care about this person. Therefore, I'm warning them about the, the side effects with this drug and you know you can tell

that they don't even understand how the drugs work yeah they know nothing they know nothing like the hate that I get online for actually just being on this drug and just existing yeah in my life taking this medication and trying to advocate for it for people that need it it's chronic

like fortunately I don't give a shit yeah well like they're not the type of people do though yeah yeah well that's I think that's that's that's the issue is that like And like it goes back to what we spoke about earlier is like, you know, if you want someone to incorporate a healthy lifestyle, the last thing you should be doing is creating shame around that because no one's going to want to go out for a run if they feel like they're going to be made fun of. No one's going to, you know, share their weight loss journey if they feel like they're going to get hate for it. No one's going to share the benefits that they're receiving on these drugs if if they feel that they're going to get a backlash from it from like. Yeah.

And like it just like there there is no place really for judgment and shame around a weight loss journey. I've never seen it. There's never been any benefits to it whatsoever. Yeah. Yeah, true. But it's there. It's there. And it's blinding.

Yeah. It's blinding. Yeah. And it's something, you know, I know that there's like body positivity movements and that we're all out here advocating to live healthier and live longer and live better. But people just get so enraged when they think that you have. help through medication. I just don't understand it. Yeah.

I don't understand it. It makes no sense to me at all. It's like they get angry at people for for being overweight and then they get angry at people for wanting to lose right. And then they're angry at them for taking up space in the gym and oh my goodness. Yeah.

Yeah. It just doesn't make sense to me. What are some other things that you see online maybe misconceptions around the drug that you hear people talk about that bothers? yeah. Yeah, well, it's not bothers me so much. It's just a false narrative that it is a miracle.

It is an absolute miracle drug. Now, like I'm sitting here now and I feel like it's a miracle. I'm sitting here and living this life. Yeah. Now, that's okay in that context. But like, I wouldn't be here now sitting here if I hadn't incorporated a healthy lifestyle around that medication. I would not, you know what I mean? it's still again just a tool

it was all over social media not social media but the newspapers and things like that when I started on it and the impression that I was given was absolutely you're going to take this drug and you're going to lose so much weight and that's not true you know you'll lose you'll lose weight I mean what's a healthy amount of weight

to be losing a pound two pound you know a week or whatever first few weeks you definitely drop quite quickly in pounds and then it levels off. It levels off. And if you're not watching your nutrition and you're not being active, then it's not going to keep working for you.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Well, it's like we spoke about. It's like, you know, it's not the medication or lifestyle, like the two are combined together. And one is actually encouraging you to get out for your walks and to eat more fiber. So therefore you're not constipated

on taking these medications or minimising the impact. So now you're thinking about things that you probably never thought about before like am I getting more fibre in this meal, am I getting more protein in this meal, am I getting out for my walk, whatever it is, again, feeling more comfortable and confident

to maybe walk into the gym for the first time and do some sort of resistance training. Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. Because like I said at the beginning, it gives you that space, it gives you that time to breathe and it gives you, like if you can imagine being absolutely focused on one solid thing for 30 years in your mind.

That's all you're thinking about and suddenly it's gone. And then your whole world opens up. Well, this is a question actually that I wanted to ask you because I think this is something that people kind of gloss over in terms of weight loss. And especially if you're someone who has food noise their whole life and now that's gone. It's like, well, that's brain space is now freed up. to do things outside of focusing on probably food, nutrition and your weight. So what has this medication done for you in terms of not body weight or healthy lifestyle,

but even in terms of other areas of your life that may have been neglected before or may, you may not have even had the energy or the brain space to be able to do so. have you noticed a difference in the quality of your relationships, the quality of your personal growth business? Like obviously, like you having time to push out all this content to have your own podcast. I mean, these are all probably things that you probably didn't feel. Yeah.

Yeah, I would never have done anything like that. Also, my cognitive ability has gone through the roof now as well. Yeah. No, it's amazing. Yeah. I plan on writing a book soon as well, you know. and I'm going to do it. And when I was in food fog and food addiction and binging and self-loathing,

do you think I would have picked up a computer and started writing about anything? Absolutely not. I would never have gone into the swimming pool. I would never have gone like six, seven kilometre walk with my dog and not cared. Yeah, yeah. It really does ripple into all other areas of your life. Yeah. And your relationships as well.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Because it's like if you if you're lacking self-esteem or lacking confidence, like there's no way that you can bring your best forward to relationships either because you're you're in your head probably about what other people think about you and not actually present in conversation with them people. Yeah. Yeah. Like even when I started up my Instagram page, Ozemic Insights, when I started that first, that was going to be a faceless account. Yes. I had just had posts with writing. on them, just kind of documenting it for myself. Yeah. And all of a sudden, then it kind of started getting traction. And then I kind of felt like I better put my face out there. And then it just grew and grew and grew and now I love it.

Absolutely love it. Yeah. And the podcast is phenomenal as well. Just the dose with Patty and Belinda. And I feel very lucky to have met Patty as well because he's just. How did you, how did you and Patty meet? I've never met him in my life. Yeah.

But you've both gone through similar similar journeys, is it? So I met Paddy God almighty a few months ago is all and we just had he was on the biggest loser thing Yes

Yeah over in the UK And he had gone through that And he had the same journey All through his life that I've had as well And we just really clicked And yeah it's brilliant Brilliant Yeah

We really bounce off each other And he's very much He knows a lot more about the actual drugs. He knows a lot more about what's going on in the news with what's happening with drugs going forward, medications going forward and all that. And I can just blab along about the day-to-day stuff.

It will be very exciting to see as these drugs advanced that like there's less and less side effects. So like you said, that there are some people who have had to come. Like it's terrible. If you're someone, let's say, suffering with obesity and you actually can't stick to that drug because the side effects are too severe, like you're in a crossroads really there

it's like neither option is great for you but even the Monjaro now if you're starting on the Manjaroids there's less side effects yeah and the next one to come there'll be hardly any side effects

and then I think in a couple of years time there'll be a tablet we can take yeah you know rather than injecting yourself do you think they will get to a stage where it's like because how how frequently do you have to take the injections

sorry I never asked that question yeah so Zempeg and Monjaro or you take it once a week on the same day, preferably the same time. But if you're on Saxenda, it's every day, which is a pain. Which is a lot,

a lot to be dealing with. And then hopefully, obviously, that frequency reduces over time because... Yeah, and then we'll get a tablet and stuff as well. Yeah. Okay. And if anyone wanted to reach out to you

or like, where can people go to find out more information or to keep up to date with, you know, all the work that you do? I know you have the podcast. What's the podcast called again? The Dose with Paddy and Belinda. Deadly.

And you also have a community on your Instagram, isn't it that people can? Yeah, I have a subscription page on my Instagram as well. My Instagram is OZemPEC Insights. And Patty is, he's going to kill me now because I always get this wrong. He's Mr. Monjaro on TikTok. And over on, over on Instagram, he is. well we can look we can we can we can we can we can find out and we can he's gonna I'm sure I'm sure if if if the listeners are are gonna follow you for for information

they're probably gonna get tagged along with with Paddy as well I'd imagine yeah hang on no I have to say it though car because he absolutely murder me and I think you know that having the kind of insight from the male point of view and the insight from the female point yeah it's important yeah it's really yeah it's really important, isn't it? Because, yeah. Can I ask you a question, actually, I never asked. So, like, throughout this two-year journey, like, obviously, you're creating a community where people can ask questions and feel supported and get information. Did you have that when you were going through the last two years? No, I had absolutely nothing. And it's Mangaro Paddy. Monjaro Paddy.

We'll make sure to plug that. Yeah. So can I ask you about that? Because like, like, like we spoke about in terms of emotional support, but having a community where, you know, like you said, like you and Patty have kind of bonded over, having similar experiences and having similar values. And it's like, that's invaluable when it comes to staying on this journey.

Yeah. Yeah. And the longevity on it as well. Like I had nobody. There was nobody I knew in real life that was on taking this medication. And not even diabetics. I didn't know any diabetics that were taking. it either because I did kind of ask around and stuff.

So I spent six months kind of on my own figuring out where to kind of go for information. He can Google all you want to all day and go on to Reddit and just your head of be melted. Yeah, it's not the same. It's like anything when people are going on a weight loss journey for the first time, you could Google something, but like who knows what's going to come up. And this is why there's so much conflicting information out there. All the time, yeah. Yes, to be able to have to be able to have someone that you trust.

to a degree that's like, okay, this person sounds like they were in a similar situation to me. I've experienced

all them things that this person is talking about. Like when you can build that trust with someone, it makes life a lot easier because it's less things to have to kind of worry about

and like it's not information overload because it's like someone's actually taken, someone's done the work and you just need to relay it now. Yeah. And also the thing as well was like there were obviously

accounts on Instagram and TikTok and all that, but I couldn't relate to any of them. Yes. And I didn't, they weren't authentic. They were women standing in front of the camera, had taken in a shot with no fat on their body. So I couldn't relate to that. Yeah. And even the girls that, like, I could relate to a little bit, I didn't find them authentic.

Yeah. So, and I think that's really important as well. It's massive. And that's, and that's why when we spoke about when you're going on this journey, the, the emotional aspect of it is really important. And to have people who you feel understand where you're coming from and how you feel like, because like what's that all saying, it's like people don't care what you know until they know that you care. And if you have someone who you know has been in a similar situation to you, it makes it a lot easier to take in that information and to then

act out that information because you have trust with this person. That's it. Yeah. And that's why I started the subscription group because I wanted to condense the people. that really, really wanted to kind of build a little community and to be able to reach out to other people. They're all becoming best friends over there now, you know? And as I say, when anybody ever joins it, not one person here is a professional. Like, none of us know, none of us are,

what did I say previously? None of us know everything about it. We're all here. We're all just learning our way through in the darn. you know and helping each other out but nobody nobody is an expert yeah but I think it's I think it's really important that like you end up becoming the person that you needed in terms of that support system and that community so look you're doing an unbelievable job I'm delighted to have you on today and yeah like you said no problem with Alblin that and if people wanted to

keep track so yeah there's the podcast and there's also the community and then maybe if people wanted to reach out and just ask you a question. What's the Instagram handle that they can? The Instagram handle is Ozempic Insights. Ozempic Insights, okay, and we'll have all that up on the show notes. Belinda, thank you very much for today. I really appreciate your time. I'm so delighted to come on. Thanks and you're doing

a brilliant job, mate. You're killing it. I appreciate it. Thanks for your time today. Thanks for watching. If you like that episode and you want to see more content like this, make sure you're subscribed and I'll see you on the next one.