I know exactly what you mean. I've talked to a number of people who have had great success with GLP-1s. My younger sister is one - obese and T2 diabetic, as is common in my family and I was headed there myself. The last time I saw her she had really slimmed down remarkably. I commented on it and she told me she was on one of the magic meds. I'm happy for her, and I have thought of doing the same for my own rather portly deportment. I am, however, trying to reduce my intake of and dependence on drugs. On top of that, I've been increasingly unhappy with the end result of two decades of sitting in a chair at home in front of multiple screens. The turning point came when I got on my back to shimmy under my truck to get a couple of bolts loose, and getting back up had me nearly bedridden with pain for a couple days. I was like a damn turtle on my back. I decided on a different approach. Since then I've been either walking or occasionally riding a bike daily. I started out with a goal of half an hour a day of exercise, then bumped it up to 45 minutes. At the end of this month I plan to increase it to an hour a day.
I've also taken my MD's advice - finally - and completely eliminated refined sugars from my diet. Big step for me, as a lifelong carb addict; it's been hard passing up the multitude of cookies and snack bars my wife insists on making (bloody grandkids!). I tried keto a couple years ago; it worked really well, but is not sustainable for me. My wife had her gall bladder removed and can't take the fat content, and it's very difficult and inconvenient to have one person trying to stick to keto another unable to. So, I've done what I can and not touched anything with refined sugar in a couple of months now (the exception has been a couple teaspoons of maple syrup I made from my own maple trees). My next step is eliminating white bread and a couple other things.
My Apple Watch and the Fitness app have been a huge help. It's good to get the reminders and to be able to see my performance - how much exercise, how many days in a row, heart rate, all of it. It's a great motivator. I've gone from "occasionally" taking a walk to doing it daily, at least 6 days a week. I'm down 12# since the beginning of the year, but more importantly I've gotten rid of a lot of back pain and lethargy. Not all of it; I'm 64 years old after all. But I can see and feel the effects, and I like it.
I know not everyone would be successful doing it this way. I didn't think I would, to be honest, and of course it's only been a couple of months so time will tell how well it works out. I figure a GLP-1 would be great if I were still working and didn't have the time to devote to exercise and activity - it is time consuming and at times exhausting. I'm retired now, though, so i've got the time.
