“I don’t know what to do. All my friends are on Ozempic, and they’re dropping weight like crazy. They look so good! I’m here because I want to go the holistic route, but part of me is really tempted to just do Ozempic too.”
These were the words of a new client whose primary goal was weight loss. I agreed with her that, yes, choosing the healthier but slower route for weight loss is less attractive because it takes longer and requires more work and dedication. There is always going to be a new, bright, shiny carrot dangling in our faces promising fast results WITHOUT the lifestyle changes that the more wholesome path demands. It is never my job as a health coach to try and talk someone into something or convince them that they should choose one path over another. It is my job to, first, listen, and, second, offer some perspectives that maybe the client hasn’t thought of. It is also my job to help them stay focused on why they sought out the holistic route in the first place, so they can make a decision based on their values rather than distractions.
As this particular client and I talked, I related a health and wellness journey to other aspects of life, such as starting a business or obtaining a gym membership. The decision to begin is the easy part. But achieving the desired result requires consistent hard work. This is why so many people say yes to starting a business or a gym membership but don’t stick with it long term. If it was easy, everyone would be successful at all of these things.
A health and wellness journey can feel daunting. It is not linear. It ebbs and flows, has unforeseen obstacles, and sometimes can feel lonely.
This is why having a good guide and support system is so important. In my program, 45 Days to Conscious Wellness, the very first video training focuses on identifying your support system, as well as identifying who in your circle won’t be supportive. Having clear knowledge of who falls into both of these categories enables you to keep more company with the people who want to see you win and is vital to your success as you begin a new wellness journey.
It is also important to stay focused on what is happening as you navigate the exciting but sometimes bumpy road towards your health goals.
There is a lot of education that happens along the way, as well as heightened knowledge of your body and how it responds to certain foods and events.
You become aware of habits, strengths, and weaknesses that affect much more than just your physical health.
You learn to identify and challenge subconscious beliefs that have formed your health habits thus far, and you learn how to establish new ones.
Through these experiences, you not only are reaching your health goals, but you are becoming empowered and confident in ways in which you didn’t know to ask for guidance.
You may have come seeking help with gut health or weight loss, but you leave feeling empowered in mental and emotional well-being, which makes your physical health achievements sustainable. Many of the obstacles you encounter and overcome along the way make you stronger in other parts of your life, such as career, relationships, and so on.
When you pursue a holistic approach to your physical health goals, it may be your subconscious seeking guidance for root causes that you're not consciously aware of. Trust it, and lean into it.
Those who seek an easier alternative, such as Ozempic, might achieve their desired weight loss more quickly, but it is not sustainable because they miss out on the layers of work that create lasting habit changes. They haven’t let go of unhealthy habits in pursuit of healthier ones, they’ve just begun taking a drug that subdues those habits in relation to food, but I guarantee you, those same habits are still existing loudly in other parts of their lives.
You know the saying, “How you do something is how you do everything”? Think of how this applies to eating habits, spending habits, relationship habits, etc. Here is a visualization that might help.
Think of your habits as a rose bush, with each habit being a different rose growing from the same bush.
The roses (habits) are all individual, with varying sizes and shades of colors, yet they possess similarities. When we look at the rose bush, we see many separate flowers (behaviors), but if we follow the behaviors to the tangled, messy roots, we realize they are all connected to the same seed. When we understand this, we can then understand how something like taking Ozempic is like plucking a rose from the bush. The visible evidence of the habit might be gone in that one particular area, but the roots remain strong and quickly push out more blossoms.
On the other hand, angrily yanking the bush from the ground is not any better of a solution. That leaves a nasty, gaping hole and disrupts all of the healthy, positive growth around it. It instills resentment that the bush was ever there in the first place, as well as fear of it returning.
A holistic approach, on the other hand, is one that understands the importance of digging gently into the surface, all the while being mindful of the discomfort that is being felt, of energy, of emotional wellbeing, and of the environment as a whole.
A holistic guide like myself seeks to unearth the roots with grace, compassion, curiosity, determination, and focus.
There is a shared goal between the guide and the client when getting to the root cause, and that goal is not to judge and criticize the roots, but to understand them and to gently make space for something else to grow. With this kinder yet more thorough method, a beautiful garden can grow because the earth is being nurtured, the holes are being filled, and rather than just letting the plants that have always been there continue to grow, a well-planned landscape is crafted. The plants that no longer serve the new plan are gently removed, and the seeds that fit the vision of the garden are planted.
The important thing to note here is the conscious choosing of the seeds that are planted. You can't plant daffodils and expect to see violets. The vision of what you want to see when the garden blooms consists of the healthy habits and lifestyle changes you plant. If you plant the seeds of these healthy habits and you nurture them, they will bloom, and you will end up with the landscape that you pictured. It won’t be a temporary quick fix because you will have done the work to remove the roots of anything unwanted and will have planted the seeds that produce your desired result.
As with a garden, a holistic health journey requires patience and continued nurturing. Eating healthy or moving our bodies for one week won’t bring drastic results, but repeating these things week after week will. Implementing mindfulness practices on occasion won’t keep down the weeds that can grow up in our minds, but a consistent mindfulness practice will.
Seeking out quick fixes like Ozempic can give the appearance of a healthy body and mind, but remember this - picking the flowers so no one can see them doesn’t change the roots.
Drugs like Ozempic change things on the surface, and some people will be ok with this. In these cases, it is important to know that to continue seeing these surface results, the takers must remain on the drug forever. If they go off it, the weight will come back because habits and lifestyle have not changed. It also has a list of pretty harsh side effects on health in general. It might make you skinny, but it can be tearing up your body on the inside.
I also find it incredibly scary that they continue to produce forms to be used on younger individuals. In this conversation, Dr. Mark Hyman discusses the possibility of it being used on children as young as 5 or 6 for weight control. Putting children and teens in a position to rely on drugs for the rest of their life in order to maintain a healthy weight is disgusting, wrong, and frankly, should be a crime. Where is the education on healthy habits that lead to a sustainable healthy lifestyle WITHOUT being reliant on a drug? I refuse to accept this as normal. We MUST do better for our children. This is not the solution for childhood obesity. There are other options, and there are lots of providers available to help. We must begin seeking them out as much as we seek the next quick fix drug.
Teaching our kids to reach for quick fixes in regards to weight loss is only teaching them to do the same in every other part of life.
It teaches them that results come fast and on demand, with minimal effort required. It teaches them laziness.
It teaches them to sacrifice other parts of their health to maintain a physical image, when, in fact, there are solutions that can care for all parts.
It teaches them that weight gain is merely a physical issue that can be fixed with a drug, completely disregarding the emotional and mental factors that can impact weight.
It teaches them to have eating disorders.
It teaches them that size matters when it comes to acceptance in this society.
It teaches them that there is no joy to be found in food, but that we must shut down our appetites and not want so much.
Is it the wanting that is so bad?
What if we started getting to the root of the wanting…what are they actually wanting? Is it actually more food they are seeking? Or is it more experiences, more joy, more love, more adventure, more learning?
What if we taught them to ask questions that explore their cravings or the urge to binge on their favorite snack?
Perhaps the craving for something sweet is actually a craving for more sweetness in life. Perhaps the urge to mindlessly indulge in a comfort food is actually reflecting a deeper desire for more comfort or satisfaction in some other area. Teaching our kids to shut down their appetite for food is also teaching them to shut down their appetite for life.
I’m not suggesting that we encourage overeating, just as I wouldn’t suggest that we encourage them to overspend or to indulge too greatly in any one area. I am suggesting that we encourage them to explore methods for getting to the root of their desires, whether for food or anything else, so they can make a decision that benefits their health. We can teach them to enjoy healthy, nourishing foods, balanced out by fulfilling experiences that feed their souls, and, in the process, to live lives enriched by the abundance of food, adventures, and moments that make life meaningful. What a brighter picture that paints for them than the one that encourages reliance on a drug.
This is how we begin to plant the seeds in our children’s gardens, laying the groundwork for a landscape of beautiful, healthy habits, and cutting down on the amount of root digging they will have to do later.
The habits and teachings we instill in them now around food and wellness in general have a tremendous impact on the amount of healing work they will have to do later.
Let’s plant wisely.
To hear a longer discussion with Dr. Mark Hyman on this topic, listen here. Dr. Hyman is a well-known physician and author specializing in functional medicine. He is a leader in the field of integrative health, focusing on treating the root causes of diseases through nutrition and lifestyle changes. He has written several bestselling books and frequently speaks on topics related to wellness and preventive medicine. He also founded the UltraWellness Center and has been involved in various initiatives to promote healthier living.
Functional Medicine, Root Cause Healing, Sustainable Health, Holistic Wellness, Health Journey, Beyond Quick Fixes, Mindful Living, Healthy Habits, Nutrition Matters, LifestyleMedicine
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