A few months ago a friend of mine came to see us in San Diego. I hadn’t seen her for a few months since she had moved and she looked incredible. Her weight was where it was when we were in high school. She looked unreal. She was never very overweight. She struggled like we all do with dieting. Her weight went up and down. We tried keto, off keto, Atkins, off Atkins. Whatever was the fad, we tried it. Anyway, she looked great and she was kind enough to reveal that she was on Ozempic that she got from Henry’s Meds.

That was all I needed to hear. I had battled with weight issues in the past. I just wanted to know what it would feel like to be skinny. Sure, I did the research. I listened to the Joe Rogan episodes about it. It can do this. It affects that. You lose muscle. Your tendons get loose. I hear all the stuff. But then… I thought? How could it hurt if I get gave it a try? I avoided the unnecessary procedures with a GP. I decided not to talk to my doctor. Instead, I went that paid route. Henry’s meds $300 a month later… a box checking zoom call that took 10 minutes and the shots were in the mail!

The shots come. They have to be refrigerated and I get several dozen injectors. I had had been doing testosterone for years and had no problem with the short, thin needles that Ozempic required. Barely felt the shot going in.

Now? I did lose weight and QUICKLY. Within a few weeks I lost 10 pounds. The shape of my body was changing. My face thinned. My waist thinned. That part I was really pleased with. What happened next is the odd part. This shot that is in your belly COMPLETELY changed my brain. The best way I can describe it is like being on an SSRI. It feels like any of the number of Serotonin affecting drugs… I felt flat. Content. And without thought. The thought that was gone, was the regular thoughts of food. Whatever nerves or whatever brain chemistry that push the eating buttons were turned off. I was eating out of habit. But nothing particular tasted good, or bad or that I even wanted to eat at all. All the MENTAL energy that went to eating was gone. I stopped SEEING food and WANTING to eat it. I stopped FILLING my PLATE with food. I stopped EATING until I felt sick. I stopped EATING to kill time or quell my daily worries… and that WAS GREAT. But there was a downside.

I was MIND NUMBED. I didn’t have thoughts at all. I didn’t worry. I didn’t want to do ANYTHING. I didn’t CARE about my favorite sports. I was there but not there. I had low energy. I used to walk a mile or two a day and didn’t want to do that anymore.

But than ANOTHER thing happened. The one thing I was interested in was my faith. I started by being VERY interested in my Catholicism. It just felt like the mental activity I wanted to do. I didn’t just go to Church on Sunday but I started saying the Rosary. I didn’t just start saying the Rosary, I started saying the Rosary in Latin. I didn’t just start saying the Rosary in Latin, but started going to Mass in Latin. I just start going to Mass in Latin, but I starting listening to Gregorian chants in my car. I didn’t just start listening to Gregorian chants. I also went to Confession multiple times in a month. I didn’t just start going to Confession but also began READING The Bible regularly. And not just the Bible. I bought the The Interior Castle by St Teresa and The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. I had been consumed by faith.

What was odder about it, was I was aware. I knew that it was weird. I knew it was odd. But while taking the shot of Ozempic… it was ok. But after about 2 months… my weight wasn’t coming off but my personality was still odd. My wife started to get worried. She was supportive of new found faith. But the Latin was a trigger. It was all I could talk about. I started learning about different stories of the bible. Or different dogmatic items of the faith. I even had positive thoughts around becoming a monk. Or thinking about what it would look like to be a Deacon? These are thoughts, I promise everyone I have NEVER had.

About 3 weeks ago I stopped taking my shots… and wouldn’t you know it… the religiosity I had discovered had faded. I didn’t WANT say rosary’s every night. I wasn’t getting MOVED by reading about the Passion. I wasn’t being ENTHRALLED by reading the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6. It has all faded away.

Now? I am glad that I went through it. And I don’t think anything bad has happened. But it is FASCINATING that a middle-aged man took a DIABETES medication. He had a decent amount of Faith and COMPLETELY turned to God. And if we are doing this at SCALE for millions of Americans around the world… what is going to happen? Keep an eye on your friends who are taking GLP-1 and make sure they are themselves.