Written by: Hannah Yasharoff
In the age of Ozempic, Thanksgiving might look a lot different than it did last year. And as if holidays with food at the forefront haven’t been complicated enough, experts predict this year, it’s only going to get more tricky.
Drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro have made weight loss an all-too frequent topic this year.
And those conversations may leave many feeling damned-if-they-do and damned-if-they-don’t: Take one drug and be judged for not losing weight “the right way.” But decide against it, and face questions about why you wouldn’t take the opportunity.
“I expect this will be a very difficult year for body talk,” Sheila Addison, Ph.D., LMFT, tells The Messenger, citing “extremely pervasive” Ozempic rhetoric that she says is “full of fatphobic assumptions.”
As Thanksgiving approaches, here’s how experts recommend navigating body conversations — without dropping a string of four-letter words or feeling like the holiday is totally ruined.
Prepare yourself ahead of time
Before heading home or to a family member’s place for the holidays, put together a mini game plan. What can you do to relax, take care and be kind to yourself before, during and after a stress-inducing visit?
“Try to prepare yourself before going into situations you believe you’re likely to hear distressing comments by brainstorming some skills to keep you grounded and thinking of ways to nurture yourself in those moments,” Erin Birely, LCPC, alumni services coordinator at The Renfrew Center, a clinic that helps people recover from eating disorders, tells The Messenger via email.
