The Real Deal: Real Estate News wrote an article entitled “Weight-loss drugs could reshape commercial real estate: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro could hit fast food, alcohol, gym and spa spaces.”
As I read through the piece, I couldn’t help seeing myself in almost every aspect they were speaking about. The statistics they were building upon was that prescription usage of GLP-1s such as Ozempic and Wegovy increased 300% between early 2020 and the end of 2022. The increase will be interesting to see between the end of 2022 and the end of 2024, but I bet it will exceed another 300%.
With the meds, come many changes, the least of which is our HbA1c and our waistlines. Well, maybe not the least, but those occur because of other factors and it is those the initial article talks about. As I read through the piece, I ticked off the changes that have happened in my life and, because I wander the Internet, know they have happened for many others as well.
Food
The article specifically addresses fast food because of the real estate aspect, but I will talk about all things food. From packaged dinners, delivered food, meal plans, and increasing desire for fresh foods to the fast food aspect they were speaking of.
Regular Food
I’ve written a few times about my GLP-1 food choices, but do want to say my food desires have waxed and waned… and waxed again. I have a long history of going on food choice jags, eating almost only pizza for weeks or months at a time, then not eating it for several more months. I’ve done that with mac and cheese, veggie burgers, and cherry tomatoes, so there is no rhyme or reason behind any of it.
Since being on Mounjaro, my food jags are far shorter and limited in what I will eat. In the above post I wrote, I was on a Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice jag, then went completely off of that for a month or so. I was primarily eating Tyson’s grilled chicken (easy as all get to reach for), cottage cheese, and vegetable soup. Not terribly well-rounded, so I went back to the Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice.
Side note: I do not cook anymore. I did that and don’t want to any longer. Call me lazy if you want, but you don’t know all that goes behind this choice and I am not going to go into it, even if I am a pretty open book. If it isn’t raw or cooked in a microwave, I don’t eat it at home. It is why I was eating so much Uber Eats a couple of years ago, because someone else cooked it for me. Everyone gets to make their own choices and this is mine.
Food Delivery
Speaking of Uber Eats, this is yet another food real estate issue. I have learned I am not the only GLP-1er not eating food delivery anymore. I figured out how much I spent on Uber Eats from April 2021 to April 2022 when I quit eating Uber Eats cold turkey.
I had $2600 of orders.
I have joked that Uber Eats might go bankrupt just from my not eating them. I wonder if their bottom line might be affected because of GLP-1s. I’m sure someone is doing a study.
Fast Food
When I had my car, I used to eat fast food at least once a day. At least. Usually more. Even if all I did was stop to get McDonald’s super-size fries and eat them while I was driving to dinner with friends. I lived on fast food for decades. My now-vegan 42-year old son’s first word was “McDonald’s.” That on its own lets you know just how much I have lived in drive-thrus. Not just McDonald’s. Taco Bell (where I would get 4-6 stuffed burritos, no meat. Noooo, that would taint it. See me rolling my eyes?) Sometimes Burger King, KFC, Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme (18 donuts that I would eat within a couple of hours), Popeye’s, and Wendy’s were all places whose empty wrappers held space in my car.
People still drive around and need to eat. What could fast food places offer those of us who eat differently now? Yes, I know some people eat the same food, but just eat less, but what about those of us who find fried food abhorrent now? What might be created for us?
I like the idea of grilled chicken nuggets. I would eat those with my fingers on the run if I had to. Wendy’s doesn’t have grilled chicken sandwiches anymore (that I can see). They need to bring those back. I love when they do lettuce wraps instead of bread, too. Fruit cups without yogurt would be nice. Protein cookies, maybe? Protein chip offerings? Anything with added protein is a total win for fast food places.
Diet Coke
I used to drink 8-10 Diet Cokes a day. Not kidding. I had to go to Instacart and figure out how much money I averaged on Diet Coke and found I spent around $200 a month. I have taken that $200 and put it in my Savings Account. I will keep doing just that.
I joke that Coca-Cola must also be seeing dips in their bottom line because of me. What’s fun is I haven’t missed it at all. No withdrawal. No thinking I should get one except when I went to the Queen movie, but didn’t get that either because it was $14.00! I haven’t been to a restaurant since no-Diet Coke, but suspect that when I do, I will be ordering water with lemon.
I want to say that my kidneys are also much happier. I have Chronic Kidney Disease 3b and shouldn’t have been drinking Diet Coke all the decades I was drinking it. I have had pyelonephritis (a kidney infection) every three months for almost a year now. Since I quit Diet Coke, I have not had any symptoms at all. It’s only been a month, but my kidneys have hurt much less this month.
Alcohol
When I was ordering from Uber Eats, over that one year I was measuring, I bought six 750ml bottles of Amaretto to quell pain (that is gone now since losing weight). How good was that for my diabetes? I would drink the whole bottle in one night and each bottle had 2750 calories. That is 16,500 in those six bottles.
The last time I got some amaretto, not from Uber Eats, I had just started Mounjaro. Now, I’ve drunk amaretto since I was 17-years old and know what it tastes like in my mind’s memory banks. When I took a sip this time though, it was horrid! I was sure I’d gotten a bad bottle and smelled to see if something was wrong. Nothing. It smelled like the ambrosia that I knew. It was then I Googled “Alcohol taste and Mounjaro” and saw that others were having the same experience of their favorite alcohol tasting awful. Woo hoo! No need to drink 2750 calories a bottle anymore!
Athletic Gear, Gym, & Spa Spaces
I’d gone to get mani-pedis for a couple of decades. Loved them! As I got fatter and fatter, it was harder to get into the spa chair. Finally, right about two years ago, the owner of the spa took me aside and told me I could not get a spa pedicure there anymore because they were worried I was going to break the chair. I was probably right about 390 pounds. Humiliated, I never returned and let my toe and fingernails go au natural.
I didn’t think about going to get my toenails done until a couple of weeks ago. I knew I was going to fit, but should I go back to the same place? I decided to face the demon memory and walked to the spa. I didn’t know anyone there, but saw the chair I had been told I could not sit in and walked right to it. As I easily climbed in, it was shocking how much space there was on each side of my thighs. Previously, even under 375, it was extremely difficult for me to maneuver my legs to keep them together and close enough for the technician to work. This time, easy peasy.
While I don’t anticipate joining a gym, I was gifted the above Sketchers by my daughter who is also on Mounjaro. I wear them every day as I walk and love them!
Yesterday, I walked 2.5 miles and was flying with pride with every step. When people talk about “having to walk for exercise,” I counter with, “I walk because I can.” Having not walked for decades, it is pure joy to move my feet, see the outdoors, say hello to neighbors, and feel the earth under my feet.
I haven’t bought a lot of clothes for movement (my word for exercise), but do have several pairs of leggings and tank tops. Before last year, I had not owned, nor wore, leggings, pants, or shorts since I had the Gastric Bypass in 2001. I have gone through three sizes of leggings already in the last year, so am trying not to by more than two pairs at a time. But, look! I am buying stuff to move my body! Who would have guessed.
How About the Rest of You?
How have things in your life changed, you others on GLP-1s? Are you finding yourself eschewing food for walking shoes, too? I would love to hear how your lives have changed with the amazing medications that are saving our lives and helping us stay out of wheelchairs.
all photos by Barb Herrera, except Amaretto pic