Latest / This Is My Journey | The GLP-1 Podcast / S2 E2: Life After the Prescription: Why GLP-1 Community and Support Matter (with Aja Beckett, Shotsy)

Transcript

S2 E2: Life After the Prescription: Why GLP-1 Community and Support Matter (with Aja Beckett, Shotsy) · This Is My Journey | The GLP-1 Podcast

• 0:00
  So this week we're diving into something that has become more and more obvious to anyone on GLP-1. Getting the medication is only the beginning and what really decides long-term success is everything that happens afterwards. So recent UK data shows that digital real-world GLP-1 supported weight loss program with more than 8,000 users. The average person stayed engaged for around six months. One in three stopped because of cost or side effects.
• 0:24
  So this shows to me how difficult it can be to stay consistent without the right support. So another UK survey found that awareness of GLP-1 medications is now more than 85% among people who have tried to lose weight in the past year. Yet most say...
• 0:42
  they have very little access to proper guidance around the start of that treatment. So today we are talking about the part that often gets forgotten, the emotions, the behavior change, the community, and why so many people feel lost after starting the medication. So let's roll the intro and I'll introduce you to today's amazing guest.
• 1:06
  Welcome to This Is My Journey, the podcast where real people share real stories of transformation, resilience, and growth. I'm Mark, and after navigating my own path through major lifestyle change, I created this space to open up honest conversations around identity,
• 1:24
  mindset and what it really takes to evolve. So along the way, we'll also hear from professionals, from pharmacists to psychologists and fitness experts who help us make sense of the science and support behind these journeys. So whether you're just starting out deep in the process or you're finding your footing after big change, you are not alone. This is your place. This is my journey. Let's walk it together.
• 1:51
  Welcome back to This is My Journey. And my guest today, Asa Beka, founder of Shotzi app, truly understands that gap. So after beginning her own GLP-1 journey, she realized that while the medication helped with the weight loss, the real challenge came once she stepped beyond that prescription. So she discovered there was almost no guidance, no community and no place for people to navigate the
• 2:13
  the real emotional and physical lifestyle changes that come with this journey. So she created Shotzi, a digital health platform designed specifically for people using GLP-1 medications. So Shotzi now has more than 600,000 downloads across the US and Canada, with over 250,000 monthly active members using medications.
• 2:33
  you know, things like Ozempic, Wagovi, Panjaro. And yeah, Aja's mission is so powerful, which is why I'm so excited to have her on the podcast today to replace stigma with education, community, and just self-compassion to make long-term success more accessible for anyone on a GLP-1. So Aja, before we get into anything, what you're building here with, you know, the Shotzi app, thank you so much for joining me today.
• 2:58
  Thank you so much, Mark. I'm so happy to be here. And I'm such a fan of your show and the mission that you have to support people who are on this journey. Yeah, like you said, I am a GLP-1 patient myself. I have always struggled with obesity my entire adult life, starting as a teenager, I guess.
• 3:14
  I'm also an iOS engineer. Two years ago, I was working at the New York Times on one of their iOS apps. So when I started taking ZepBound, which is a version of Manjaro that's indicated for weight loss in the United States, I immediately saw that there was a real need for a mobile app, a digital tool that could help with that post-prescription support gap that she mentioned. So it's been an incredible journey. And yeah, I'm happy to get to talk more about it.
• 3:43
  Yeah, no, I'm super excited to get into this discussion and thanks so much for the kind words and stuff about the show. Yeah, it's been a labor of love, but yeah, I think we're just, I have a million questions to ask you. So if you're happy enough, I just want to get straight into them and pick your brain. So really just at what point did you feel that something was missing just in terms of like the support and education and community element of, you know, this GLP One journey?
• 4:11
  When I talk about, you know, struggling with obesity, you know, being a person who has that diagnosis, you know, that came with decades, attempting to diet, kind of going through all of these different fads, you know, the different popular things at the time. So I've tried everything. I think I went through, you know, Weight Watchers and calorie counting and keto and intermittent fasting and mindful eating and all the things, right? All them things, all them? So many things, right? And I would, you know, every time I would, you know,
• 4:41
  buckle down and, you know, force myself to lose 20 or 30 pounds. You know, one time I even lost 70 pounds. Sorry, I don't have all of the conversions. You're okay. I walk in the mall, so I'm all good. Yeah. But, but, but I was never able to, you know, to achieve lasting results. So, you know, it was always just an enormous struggle. It would take up my entire, you know, all of my thinking would be around struggling to stay on whatever diet I was, I was doing. And, and inevitably I would fall off the wagon and the weight would come back and
• 5:10
  You know, I think when I finally got, you know, it was difficult to get a prescription for the GLP-1 and to actually, you know, there's shortages and it's so expensive. But once I finally had the box in my hand,
• 5:22
  I think a lot of what I needed help with was the emotional experience of having so much baggage around this. I think especially because I had so much hope and it took so much to get access to the medication, that I think there was a lot of fear that this was going to be another failure. So I was really looking for anything that would help.
• 5:48
  you know, help me feel more reassured, like help me feel like I was doing the right thing, that this wasn't going to be another crushing disappointment. And there just were not any resources. Yeah. No, the emotional side, I think of this journey is so, for me, it was so underrated in terms of, you know, the support, even when I started to, so you started just before I had started these medications. But yeah, I think so many people, I think because of that talk about
• 6:17
  things like that just after even starting the GLP one, because, you know, they don't know where to turn to. And even that community side is just, for me, it was really hard to find, you know, it was really hard to find for you from what you're saying there. So, you know, why do you think for you that gap exists, you know, and what are the biggest challenges people face once that medication begins? So obviously we're talking about the emotional side there, but like, what else?
• 6:41
  Yeah. Well, so then obviously there's the practical side as well. There are lots of logistical considerations with these. This is a new way of getting healthy. We don't really have an existing, I think, framework for how different this is from kind of a traditional diet. Like it's not
• 6:58
  It's not really like a battle of willpower. It's really more about making sure that you're taking steps to get the most out of the medication and to reduce, you know, any unpleasant cytotox as much as possible. And also to set realistic expectations and manage that emotional experience. So, you know, I was fortunate to find a very active community on Reddit. Have to give them a big shout out. That was amazing.
• 7:18
  Amazing. Yeah. Yeah. And I did. I mean, that was just a wonderful resource. I think that continues to be a wonderful resource for, you know, for people sharing their stories and, you know, to be able to, to, you know, read experiences from people who are maybe, you know, six months or a year further along in the process to understand, you know, what's working for them and what you might want to do. But, you know, a lot of what's missing day to day for people after they, after they get this prescription from their healthcare provider is, you know, what's missing.
• 7:43
  is help with navigating kind of those daily choices to, again, you know, get more out of the medication and reduce side effects. And so, you know, obviously it's important to keep track of, you know, when you're due for your shot. And, you know, with seven days between, it can actually start to get better
• 7:58
  difficult to remember as time goes on, like, when am I supposed to take it? And if you're traveling or, you know, if anything comes up, it's really helpful to have a record in your pocket for, you know, how long it is until your next shot and get reminders on that. But then it's also incredibly helpful, I think, to have a tool that helps you understand the impact that the medication has on your body so that you can start to understand when and where you might be able to reduce side effects.
• 8:23
  And to be able to have better conversations with your healthcare provider about the dosage level that you're taking. GLP-1s are so unique compared to other medications in that the dosing level is based primarily on how the patient is feeling. Yeah.
• 8:39
  I don't know of another medication where the doctor is basing the decision on your sort of reported experience with it versus checking your labs and measuring amounts in your blistering. Instead, it's really like, oh, does it feel like you should go up a dose? Does it feel like you should go down a dose? Let's experiment. And so the more I think that we understand what to look for and patterns to notice, the better we can have those conversations.
• 9:09
  it's something I have never thought about before. You literally just sparked something in my head saying that. And I'm like, I have never thought about that before. But yeah, you're so right. So yeah, no, it's all really interesting stuff here that you're saying. So, you know, like we just said there, you know, you have spoken very openly about the emotional side of this journey. And yeah, why do you think, you know, there is still so much stigma around this medication? And, you know, how can we help?
• 9:37
  people on this journey like us you know feel less ashamed and more supported yeah the stigma around not just these medications but of course obesity and weight in general has i mean you know these these this condition has been moralized for i think generations right yeah but especially in the last at least in my lifetime it yeah
• 9:58
  You know, so much, so much moral judgment is, is placed on people in larger bodies. And I mean, I think, you know, those of us who have experienced life in, you know, a slimmer body and a larger body, like, you know, that, that sort of the world treats you very differently. Oh, 100%. And so it's, you know, I, I think.
• 10:18
  I don't want to contribute any sort of victim blaming, right? Like we're, you know, we're sort of responding, I think, somewhat accurately to what the world is giving us when, you know, when we're constantly judged. Like, of course, you know, of course we're going to feel that.
• 10:31
  But, you know, I think the solution here is for us to, you know, reframe this as, you know, this is a healthcare condition. This is a treatment for this condition. You know, this is not, you know, people who struggle with their weight are not lazy. We're, you know, we're not bad people. We're not less, you know, important than people who don't struggle with their weight. You know, we just, we have a condition that needs treatment.
• 11:01
  you know, we're able to achieve the, you know, the health outcomes that people without this condition are fortunate, you know, to be born with. And so, yeah, I think, I think that there are a lot of
• 11:15
  I think there's a lot of aspects of society that benefit, I think, from obesity being a marginalized condition. And I think that maybe some of the pushback that we see in the fear mongering, you know, might be coming from people who are afraid to lose that privilege that they have, you know, being in sort of naturally, you know, smaller bodies. I would totally agree with everything you're saying there. It can be quite obvious sometimes, I think. And
• 11:43
  know, I've, I've, you know, you touched on there just about, I think the treatment aspect and I, for me personally, like I have noticed the treatment, you know, and how people treat you being on this medication versus being off this medication, you know, and as a bigger person and a smaller person now, you know, definitely, you know, the treatment there is completely different and it says a lot about our society, I think, and, you know, how obesity for example is treated, but
• 12:11
  Yeah, I think that's, that's a big, massive conversation on its own. You know, I want to kind of get a little bit more into the app and Shotzi and, and all about, you know, that your baby basically, and you have more and I, this literally floored me whenever I read it, more than a quarter of a million monthly users. So what have you learned from, you know, seeing that many people navigate this journey in real time? Like.
• 12:39
  you know, I'm really, really keen to hear like what you have picked up through the app. Yeah, it's an interesting, you know, it's an interesting position to be in. I built Shotzi just for myself, right? Like I had a need for a tool to help me keep track of my shots and keep track of side effects. I really wanted to be able to understand how the medication level changes from week to week because I could tell that I was feeling very different from day to day, but, you know, I couldn't mentally really keep track
• 13:09
  of how that related to like, oh, okay, if I, you know, I took the, you know, I took the dose on Sunday, though, and now it's Thursday, where am I in my cycle? Like, you know, or, or, you know, if I was feeling more side effects, if I was feeling more hunger, I was, you know, struggling to kind of make sense of everything. And, and so I built this little, you know, tool for myself, because that's what I do. I build apps.
• 13:32
  And I shared it with that Reddit community that I was part of, and I had no idea it was going to take off like it did. Amazing. It just immediately, you know, I think even just during the beta test, when it was, you know, a small private group, even in the beta test, it was the way people were responding to it was much more, you know,
• 13:50
  It was clearly resonating with people more than I realized it was going to. And then once it was launched to the public, it just immediately, yeah, people were sharing it with their friends, posting it all over the place. And so, yeah, it grew very quickly just through word of mouth, which was so wonderful to get to see. And then eventually I got to put my job, which was, you know, it's a whole new adventure.
• 14:10
  And so, yeah, it's been a complete life-changing experience for me to not only be on the GLP-1 journey and to experience a whole new, I guess, healthy life that I didn't have access to before, but then also to be in this position where I have a team now and every day we get to just sit down and figure out how can we build a better app? How can we improve this experience for other people like me who are on a GLP-1? It's just incredibly exciting to get to do this. It's exactly, it's kind of a dream come true, right?
• 14:40
  But to answer your question on, you know, what have we learned? What are we seeing? It's, you know, on one hand, there's a lot we don't know because Shanti is privacy first. And so, especially on iOS, we don't have any access to people's data. It's all locked to their Apple ID. We have no visibility into what they're entering. And so we don't have sort of that, you know, that perspective on what's happening.
• 15:04
  like with people's data, like we don't know how many people are taking blood or what they're experiencing. And that's so important to me. Like, again, as a person, I'm the first user of the app and I know, like, I don't want, people enter very sensitive information into this app. And it's, you know, it's important to me that this not be another one of those predatory, you know,
• 15:22
  kinds of tools that actually really just want to sell your data to somebody. So on one hand, there's a lot that we don't know. And on the other hand, people email us all day, every day. We have a very active customer support team. And so, and people are very, you know, we love talking to our users and people have really wonderful feedback and suggestions. And so, you know, the things we know, like we know that the, you know, the, the logistical tracking is very important, but we also know that the emotional experience around the
• 15:48
  you know, taking GLP-1s, making huge changes to your relationship with food and other, like any other compulsive behaviors that you might have been struggling with prior is very, you know, it's a very emotional process. And even for something that is primarily, you know, a health tracking app,
• 16:06
  It's really important for us to continue to understand the emotional impact that something like, you know, this is, I mean, to get very specific, we just updated the app. And one of the things that we were working on.
• 16:19
  on the tab that shows your doses, which is called jabs in the UK and Ireland, we show a little chart for how much your weight has changed during the course of each job, right? So if it's seven days, then start to end. If you weigh in frequently, what was your weight? And then what was the total change? And that is a very important number for people.
• 16:40
  And I understand, right? Like those of us who've been through a lot of ups and downs with weight loss over many years, you get very attached to that number on the scale. It starts to mean more than I think people who don't experience this realize. Yeah.
• 16:55
  for this tool, it's really important that we get that, that we display the numbers that people, in the format that they're expecting, with the accuracy level that they're expecting. And so we went back and forth with our wonderful beta testers as we were making this update to the app. How many...
• 17:11
  you know, how many decimal places should there be? And should it have trailing zeros? And, you know, is it, you know, making sure that it's working correctly with stones and pounds, and that it's working correctly with kilos. And it's, it's just like, it's so important that everything about the tool be designed to support the, the, you know, the experience, the emotional experience that people are having around this. And even something as, you know, sort of seemingly simple and straightforward as,
• 17:35
  You know, how much did your weight change from here to there? There's a lot of deeper questions that that ends up uncovering, like, you know, what do you consider to be start the start date? And anyhow, so not to get too in the weeds, but but, you know, I think there every aspect of the app has been designed with these types of considerations in mind. And I think that is why people have responded so much to it, because I think it's rare to.
• 17:57
  I think it's rare to use a tool that is actually built by people who deeply understand, you know, what all the buttons and numbers and charts actually mean to people and why they're important and why it, you know, why it matters. Yeah. Oh, you've, you've,
• 18:11
  touched again and I think it's the core part of, I suppose, Shotzi and one of the main aspects and we've mentioned it here already, that emotional side is really, it's so important and it's just as important to me that, I think they're all very equal, that obviously the physical side of this loss, you know, we all have, but the emotional side, the emotional
• 18:32
  the mental side, they're all, all these different, you know, holistic parts are all super important. And I think, you know, the app itself addresses them very, very well. And I think, you know, all I can do is relate it to my own experience. And I think, you know,
• 18:46
  I know exactly what you're talking about there when you're talking about like seeing them charts and stuff and all that. Like it does make you think, you know, okay, so what did I do there? Like why did I lose that much? Like what was I doing right that time? And it is really, it can be encouraging as well. I think, you know, seeing all that sort of data and stuff and it does push you because when you start seeing things move and the charts going higher or you're losing more, it gives you more motivation. So, you know, it's definitely, it's definitely a really good tool that way too.
• 19:13
  I know you've mentioned a lot there about it, but let's maybe chat a little bit more for anybody that has never used it or, you know, and they're maybe only hearing about it for the first time now, you talking about it. You know, how does...
• 19:26
  you know, what does the app itself actually do? So what can you do on it? And, you know, how can it support things like, you know, behavioral change, you know, the community aspect, just your own accountability. Obviously, you've mentioned a little bit about that there with like the charts and things. And just, I suppose, GLP One education in general.
• 19:44
  Yeah. So what ShotSeq does today is very much about helping you easily keep track of and then visualize all of the data and the metrics and the numbers around the GLP-1 experience. So we have a very robust system for being able to enter your treatments, including...
• 20:01
  you know, tracking the locations of your injections and then automatically suggesting the next rotation so you can tell it, you know, what injection sites you like to use and what order you want to use them in. And then it will automatically toculate the next one when you're due for your next job. And I'm just...
• 20:16
  And then it also allows for, you know, not only the manufacturer recommended doses, but then also any custom doses that you might be using. Because we know that a lot of people work with their doctors to come up with alternative dosing schedules. That was one of the first things I did with my doctor was work out a plan with her to use an in-between dose. Because going from, you know, on ZepBound or Manjaro, going from 2.5 to 5 was going to be, I could tell it was going to be too strong for me. You know, so it's very important that Chasi be able to handle...
• 20:44
  the real world use that people are taking with these medications. And then it charts out, it uses the information that you enter to give you charts on estimated medication levels. So it doesn't measure how much of the GLP-1 is in your system, but uses the results from clinical trial data to calculate an estimated average for how much might be in your system based on how much you took and went, and then how that medication sort of builds from week to week.
• 21:13
  GLP-1 medications stay in your system for four or five weeks. And so each week, the dose you're taking is building on the remaining concentration from the previous three or four weeks of doses. And I think that can be really hard to understand, but it does have a big impact on how we're feeling day to day. And so, yeah, I think that's, I mean, one of the most helpful things I think Shotsi does is help you see a chart like hour by hour with these estimated levels and then use that to kind of
• 21:37
  start to look for patterns. Like, okay, when it's at the peak, how am I feeling? When it's at the lowest point, how am I feeling? And then there are additional tools in the app that let you enter and track side effects. So we have pre-populated side effects that are common, but then you can also enter your own custom side effects if there are additional things you want to track. And then also health metrics. So obviously your weight, but then also calories and other nutrition macros, you know, your protein, your fiber, your carbs, water consumption. It's really helpful to keep track of. Yeah.
• 22:07
  what you're eating, and it'll pull that in automatically if you're already tracking it in another app, or if you're tracking your weight with one of the smart scales, then it'll pull that in automatically through Apple Health or Google Health. And then, you know, all of this, all of this data that you're tracking and entering, it just makes lots of different charts. We joke that it should be called Chartsy because a lot of what people love about it is being able to see it. And I think, you know, it's kind of funny that, you know, we talk a lot about the emotional journey and the emotional and sort of the empathetic aspect of the app, but,
• 22:36
  But a lot of how that is represented is actually through numbers and charts, because I think that's a lot of what's missing is having that day to day, like something to touch, something to interact with. And even though this is a very emotional and very personal experience.
• 22:51
  I think it actually really makes sense for some of that to be represented through this more, you know, kind of science-based approach or data visualization approach. Because I think that represents a part of what's so different about the GLP-1 experience compared to, you know, something like a more traditional diet where, you know, you just have to sort of force yourself to eat less and, you know, eat less, move more.
• 23:14
  And that's not a very scientific process. But this is so different. You know, we take this medication, it treats this condition that we have, and it changes this experience that we have with food and with our bodies and with our thinking. And so we're, you know, I think the role that we play as patients taking these medications, I think kind of demands a more...
• 23:36
  analytical approach to the tracking. And, you know, again, I think that's kind of what draws people to Shotzi is that we understand that, you know, our role here is not to motivate people to be, you know, to have more willpower because we don't need to. The medications treat the condition in a way that doesn't really require willpower anymore. But that we are able to
• 23:59
  I think be supportive through a lot of the fear and uncertainty and the parts that are unpleasant, you know, side effects can be very unpleasant. And the more that you understand it, the more that you understand the cause and effect of these things and sort of how your personal system is responding to everything, the, you know, the more confident you can feel, the, you know, the better experience you can have, the better conversations you can have with your doctor. I feel like I'm just rambling. I'm sorry, I'm going to stop. Oh, no, you're okay. You're okay. No, I'm so interested in listening to it because it's very much like, you know,
• 24:26
  I don't want to downplay it by saying this because it's not this at all. But, you know, I suppose for people maybe listening, it is like it's like your GLP one diary almost that's like, you know, you're able to to track your day to day, your, you know, all your medication. And I think, you know, I think it's beans just when you're saying, you know, we are visual, you know, some of us, yes, are very like
• 24:49
  statistics driven and whatever. But I think for the most part, a lot of people like the visual and like the visual of, of seeing, you know, maybe a change that you've made and how it's benefited you. And, and, you know, for me, it's, that's the way I would look at it. And, and even on my journey, like, you know.
• 25:08
  back when I started, you know, I hadn't heard of Shotzi. I did have heard of it obviously since I had started my journey, but at the very right start, you know, everything I was doing was all, you know, on pen and paper kind of thing, just writing down and as, as every other diet that I had done. And, and just as you mentioned Weight Watchers and, you know,
• 25:26
  you know, Herbalife and all these different, you know, other schemes, essentially, or weight loss programs out there. So, yeah, I think this time, this has been very, very different. And, you know, I think you almost should treat it, you know, this is our health, this is, you know, our life. Something like this app.
• 25:47
  really helps with, I think, you know, you've been able to track from a, I suppose, like a longevity point of view, you know, seeing all your, your stats helps you move forward and, and, and, you know, you know, shows you what's working, what's not working and, and allows you to carry that into the rest of your life essentially. And, um, yeah, I think it's, it's a really, we have a term here, a really great piece of kit, I would say. So, uh, so yeah, so, so yeah, no, it's, that's, that's, that's brilliant. So
• 26:17
  What are some, you know, because obviously you've mentioned there, and it's kind of a running theme sort of throughout this, you know, what are some of the emotional or identity changes you have seen, you know, people struggling with most when they have lost weight? Yeah, you know, that is a big aspect of this journey, isn't it? And I think so much of it is positive, right? Like, I mean, obviously, that's why we're doing this. That's why we give ourselves injections every week. We're not doing it just, you know, for fun.
• 26:45
  But yeah, I think anytime you make such a big change or so many big changes, I think it can really be a kind of a big shift in identity and can bring up some sort of unexpected new challenges. You know, I think a lot of people, I think for one, a lot of people talk about, you know, letting go of old coping mechanisms, old habits around coping, especially with, you know, with food or whatever other, you know, unwanted kind of behaviors that they're looking to address with the GLP-1s.
• 27:11
  I know I experienced kind of a bit of a gap early on where I would still walk to the kitchen and open the fridge. I think we've all done that. Yeah. You know, I wasn't hungry. I didn't want anything. But I was just so used to doing it that I would find myself kind of continuing to, you know, open the cupboards, look for snacks. And then just like remember like, oh, wait, no. I just don't want that.
• 27:34
  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And again, I mean, that's a, you know, it's kind of funny. It's kind of a, it was a positive experience. But I think for a few months early on, I think I did experience, and I think a lot of people do experience a bit of,
• 27:47
  you know, that transition period. And it doesn't last forever. But I did, I did notice like, oh, you know, there's an absence of something that used to bring me a lot of joy or whatever it was. It wasn't really joy, but it was, it was a dopamine rush. It was, it was a positive feeling. And suddenly I wasn't really attuned to that anymore. Like a bag of Doritos couldn't make me happy the way it used to. That was just kind of gone. And again, like, you know, I don't want to,
• 28:15
  I think there's a lot of fear-mongering around this. And for me, I was kind of expecting it because I have seen people talking about that on the Reddit community and I was doing a lot of research, but I think it can kind of catch people by surprise, like, oh, you know, there's something missing. And I think you do want to kind of take steps to fill that gap, right? So I had a therapist at the time and I was talking to her about it. And so we made a plan to sort of intentionally replace that big chunk of my thinking and my life that had been occupied by, you know, seeking these dopamine strategies
• 28:44
  hits from food she's like okay well you know what else can you do that's going to be you know more appealing now and so we made a plan to i started i got back into reading i didn't you know i had kind of stopped reading for fun and i i loved you know i loved listening to audiobooks and reading books and so i intentionally you know got back into that and i got back into skiing i love to ski and and and now actually skiing is much more enjoyable than it was in a larger body because it's just physically a lot easier now yeah and and then i also made more of an effort
• 29:14
  Which is maybe kind of obvious. But I have to say, I mean, it did work. Like, I, you know, I think I very quickly got through that sort of transition where, okay, you know, I'm not going to get as much, I'm not going to get those constant hits of snacking and, you know, drinking the soda or whatever. But instead, I'm going to use that time and energy to, you know, get back into these other things that I do really love and enjoy. And, yeah.
• 29:37
  And yeah, so I think, you know, there's kind of that immediate need to sort of reframe your, yeah, like, what are you going to do when you're no longer, you know, addicted to junk food? And then longer term, I think another thing that a lot of people experience is, obviously there can be a lot of body dysmorphia or just, you know, you're, you know, just like it can be, yeah, there's just so many feelings around kind of your reflection in the mirror and how you look at photos and things. Yeah.
• 30:04
  For me, I think it ended up being really positive. And I know it's not, you know, I think some people have a hard time making sense of the transition. But for me, I definitely noticed that I started to feel more connected to my body and more connected to my reflection in the mirror.
• 30:21
  And I think that was a really positive identity shift for me was, you know, starting to feel more like I was actually in a partnership with my body instead of it being like something that deserves punishment or, you know, the enemy that I was fighting. Instead, it was like, okay, you know, like I'm, you know, I'm happy. Like, you know, we're in this together.
• 30:39
  And, and that's, you know, that's been a very welcome change in identity. And I think that's, you know, that can be such a powerful part of this experience for people. And I, I hope that, I hope that that's the end result for everybody is, you know, everybody deserves to feel, you know, really powerful and connected to their bodies at any size. Yeah.
• 30:56
  But I know for me, it definitely got easier to access that as my health improved. Yeah, I think it just ultimately, I think it just takes time, doesn't it? Just seeing yourself every day. And I think just because that transition can be quite, quite quick for some people. But I think for a lot of us, I know for me personally, just that quick, you know, journey was
• 31:22
  my brain just couldn't catch up with the fact that I was the person that I am in the mirror now. So I think, you know, I know a lot of people are very similar. You're very similar. It just takes time, I think, to just become accustomed to how you're looking now and things like that. But so moving on, we've kind of not too much left, but from the things that I kind of wanted to ask you. But yeah, there is a lot of, you know, confusion online about these medications. You know, for you, what are, you know,
• 31:48
  a quick roundup of, you know, the myths that you feel have, you know, you really have to correct over and over and over again because I see so many all the time that are just complete and utter rubbish, you know, so.
• 32:03
  Yeah, I mean, I know that there's a lot of fear mongering. I know that there's a lot of, it seems like every week there's a new, you know, scare tactic. You know, it's going to, it was a Zempic face for a while. And I don't know what it is, all these things. I don't pay a lot of attention to it. I mean, you know, the position I'm in is we're, you know, we're focused on how we can improve the app and better support our users. But, and our users understand, you know, of course that stuff is all just kind of noise. Yeah.
• 32:30
  I don't know. You know, there's just so many reasons why I think people want to try to take this away to people who need it. And I hope that this is just another blip
• 32:44
  you know, in the long arc of justice here. I know that earlier treatments for other conditions, right? Like, I think a lot of the mental health drugs that really started to, you know, treat conditions 10 or 20 years ago, 30 years ago, I know that those were initially met with similar, you know, sort of fear-mongering and stigma and things.
• 33:03
  And now, of course, we understand, like, yes, these are, you know, these are health conditions just like any others. And the people who need them deserve to have these conditions treated. You know, I've just been ignoring a lot of it because I assume that, you know, we're all going to be having a very different conversation about them in three or four years. But, you know, I think for me, the thing that I keep having to explain over and over is that this, how this GLP-1 experience is different from...
• 33:26
  the sort of the diets that came before it and how it's not this, you know, white knuckle battle against your brain and your body. How it, you know, if the treatment is working well for you and if you have, you know, the right, the right dosage level, it can feel like, you know, you're finally all on the same team, you know, your brain and your body. You know what you need to do. And finally, you're able to actually do it.
• 33:50
  Yeah, well, I'm hoping that, you know, over time, I think definitely, even if I compared last year to this year, I definitely think there's more of a, and even recently there with the World Health Organization coming out and making a lot of these statements about, you know, taking that on and things. I think that's.
• 34:06
  a really positive, you know, step forward in terms of the medical aspect. So, yeah, so as you say, hopefully it'll just all start to improve as time goes on. Because as I always say, like you don't have these types of conversations around other medications, like blood pressure medication, for example, you know, you don't have any of that conversation. So, so yeah, just, I suppose, just quickly, just from your own perspective, what do you think, you know, from your personal experience, what were them key ingredients to your success in terms of, you know, the GLP one and, you know, your journey?
• 34:36
  Yeah. Well, yeah. I mean, in terms of, you know, what leads to success and what you see really, you know, driving positive outcomes, we know that it's important that people make lifestyle modifications in addition to studying the GLP-1. And I think for a lot of people, you know, especially people like me who have been through a lot of the, you know, calorie tracking and macro tracking and everything,
• 35:02
  you know what you need to do you know what it looks like to eat a healthy meal you know kind of how to eat a nutritious meal but it's you know the condition has just gotten in the way of being able to do that sustainably over time and so the knowledge is there but it's you know it's kind of unlocked the ability to to actually you know maintain the the behavior change i think for a
• 35:26
  haven't done as many of the alternative methods here. It's really important to get that knowledge and to understand, you know, it's important to eat protein. It's important to eat a variety of nutrients. Your food should be colorful. Yeah.
• 35:41
  And, you know, hydration is important and fiber is important. And also when it comes to reducing side effects, there are definitely correlations between what you're eating and then what you're experiencing with side effects. And so, you know, I think there is kind of a misconception that all you have to do is take the shot or, you know, take the job and then everything else will just, you just ignore it. And of course, that's not true. You have a much better experience if you are also modifying your diet and, you know, and getting exercise.
• 36:11
  That's a place where having a tool like Shotzi or, you know, having more understanding is really important because when you hear, you know, a lot of people do stop taking the medication. And I think oftentimes it's because of the support gap, like they don't have the information that they need to, you know, they, you know, maybe, you know, maybe they experience more nausea than they really otherwise would if somebody had helped them understand like, okay, you know, you're going to want to take it easy. Like, you know, your first, your first few weeks, like...
• 36:39
  don't go overboard with the pepperoni pizza because, you know, you might, you know, that might affect you in a way that you don't like. Yeah. Which is not to say like, you know, it's not that, you know, you're not never going to eat pepperoni pizza or whatever. It's just that you might want to take it easy until you know how your body based numbers are gone. And if you, if you don't have that information, then, you know, you could, you could end up sort of feeling like these medications aren't working or, or that it's not worth the trade off. And so.
• 37:05
  I think, you know, the more, again, kind of coming back to this, like, building confidence by building understanding and clarity around it. I think that's a big part of what we are trying to contribute to the community is helping people navigate this huge, complicated journey by helping them understand how all of this works and kind of how they can get the best possible experience by, you know, thinking about their dosage level, by thinking about the impact of their nutrition on their side effects.
• 37:35
  And also, I think something that was really important to me was, and something that we want to do more with Shotsi, is help people understand that you do still need to eat. Even if you don't want to, like, it is important to fuel your body and to get, you know, a good set of nutrients. And so I think having strategies around, you know, what are you going to eat on the days when you don't feel like eating? And how are you going to sort of think about your nutrition as a whole from week to week? I think it's so important because, you know, you don't want to go a whole day without eating anything.
• 38:04
  And I think most people find that there are plenty of strategies once they learn, you know, kind of what the options are that help them kind of make effective choices from day to day. No, I think definitely that's what Shotzi does very well in terms of, you know, everything that you're saying there. So I think...
• 38:22
  you know anybody that maybe hasn't got using it yet or hasn't added it into their day-to-day life i think is it would be a really smart move on my my part to tell you to definitely get it downloaded and try it out because it's it's something that can really help you and to be used as a as a tool on your journey i think it's it's for everything that you've mentioned there it's it's does it all so well so
• 38:49
  So, yeah, just really to sort of wrap things up then, if somebody listening to this has just started their journey and feels just really overwhelmed, because I know we've all felt that, you know, starting our journeys with a JLP one, what is that one piece of advice to take us out that you'd want them to hear today?
• 39:10
  You know, something that I keep coming back to is there's an old quote from a basketball coach here in the U.S. that everything you want is on the other side of hard. And for me, before I started taking one of these medications, like I was afraid of needles.
• 39:26
  I was afraid of side effects. I was afraid of losing my love of food and just changing who I was as a person. And I'm so glad that I pushed through that because being on this side of it and getting to live the life that I live now and to get to experience the...
• 39:42
  just all these things that I'm capable of now, I'm really proud of myself. And I'm really proud of anybody who's able to push through that fear and that challenge. And, you know, it can be difficult to learn how to, you know, give yourself a weekly injection. And I think that for me at least, and I think for so many people, it's so worth it, but it really, you know, I just have to, I have to remember that sometimes, you know, you just have to kind of push through that fear and then you can finally unlock all of the things that you've been hoping for. Yeah.
• 40:09
  I think so many people, because so many people think this is the easy way out when actually it's hard. It's a hard journey to do because there's so many different elements to it that you maybe wouldn't.
• 40:19
  have considered as part of a normal diet or, or, but, but yes, no, everything you have said has been, it's been so interesting listening to you and hearing your whole journey and what led you to Shotzi and all about the app. And, you know, thank you so much for giving up your time and coming on and chatting to me because I know anybody listening here is going to be like straight after let's get this downloaded and, and, and our lives, because I think it's, it's such an, a.
• 40:44
  I think being able to track all that element of your journey is super important for progress and just for reassurance as well, I think, just in terms that you're doing the right thing. Because when you start seeing them numbers going down on that scale, it's like that's the encouragement you need to continue. And I think that's the beauty of what this medication does for people like us who maybe suffer with obesity or whatever. Yeah.
• 41:09
  Yes, just thank you so much. And yes, I wish you all the best for the future of the app. Yeah, Mark, thank you so much. It's been such a pleasure to get to talk to you about this. And I really, again, you know, I'm just so appreciative of what you're doing, you know, for the community, for helping, you know, people feel more connected and helping normalize this incredible new world that we're living in. So yeah, so thank you so much. And it's really been a pleasure. I got you.