2 days ago
MARTEL MAXWELL: Dundee 'weight-loss wave' has me tempted by shortcuts
As summer approaches and holidays are planned, it is not unusual to notice a friend – or maybe two – looking fabulous.
You do a double take when you see them – they look younger, fresher and thinner.
The kind of dramatic weight loss that is transformative. Middle-age spread, pot belly, and puffy face gone.
But here's the thing. And it's quite a thing. I'm double taking all the time.
Give me any gathering of people in Dundee – school pick-up, kids' football match or a night out – and it's like a Slimming World magazine.
Many will have found that oft elusive motivation to shed pounds (we all know how it works), to eat less and move more.
Others – and not just the ones who admit to it – will have taken the short cut of injecting the new, increasingly-prominent, weight-loss drugs which suppress appetite and work to shift excess fat.
More power to both camps – no judgement. But it's getting a bit Twilighty.
It's like body snatchers are sneaking down to Dundee as night falls, replacing the lumpy and bumpy with Instagram-edited version of themselves – all flat stomachs and cheekbones.
Regular readers of my column will know I've touched on this before, including last year when I discussed the Ozempic boom.
I told you about a friend who admitted she was on the weight-loss jabs.
She all but tapped her nose as we looked around the ladies' charity lunch we were at and said: 'Mark my words, women here are on it.'
She told me she'd developed a sixth sense in telling who was on the medication.
My friend was brilliantly honest, explaining how she paid for the jabs and how she couldn't shift the middle-aged spread which had taken her from a size 10 to 14.
No clothes fitted and it was getting her down.
She quickly lost a stone with the jabs but also admitted they affected her mood and made her a bit sick for the first few weeks.
Another friend who's gone from a size 16 to 10 says she has had no side effects.
She has more energy and claims the jabs took away her desire to drink as much alcohol, which was becoming a daily few glasses of wine after work.
Fast forward eight months and sudden transformations are everywhere.
I have also noticed an increase in people committing to sport, which is great.
One friend is wild swimming twice a week while another is running ultra marathons.
And one has even started her own CrossFit business – PeaceFit in Wormit.
Many mutual friends attend her classes and look awesome – stronger, fitter and toned.
I've noticed couples losing weight together.
Going back to the jabs, I suppose it's too easy for the muffin tops like me to point a finger and say everyone's on them.
But who wouldn't want a quick fix? A stone down for summer? The reintroduction of a bikini following a decade of covering up after kids and – if I'm entirely honest – dieting and sporadic exercise interspersed with occasional gluttony…
I'm tempted myself.
However, if something seems too good to be true, maybe, just maybe, it is.
The jury is still out, with research pointing to the possibility of health complications involved with the jabs.
This can be counter-argued with the fact obesity can cause diabetes, heart problems and cancer.
Shifting weight if you're over 40 has the magical plus of shifting a few years in appearance too – puffy faces and pot bellies begone.
Some of the people I'm seeing seem to have had a magical elixir of youth.
If I sound envious, I probably am.
Let me know if you've seen a younger, slimmer Dundee – and maybe even if you've taken a shortcut yourself.
Bon appétit!
