0:06

to big questions. This

0:08

is Cal Fussman. There

0:11

was a quote from the late

0:13

comedian Robin Williams that always resonated

0:15

with me, even though it didn't

0:17

have anything to do with me.

0:20

Goes like this. If

0:22

you can remember the 60s,

0:24

you weren't there. The

0:26

idea being, of course, that

0:28

most everyone in the 60s

0:30

was on cloud nine

0:32

doing LSD. Smoking

0:35

hash and chestin mushrooms.

0:38

I was a little too young

0:40

for that, but even as the

0:42

70s arrived, I was never one

0:44

to partake. My mother smokes cigarettes,

0:46

and I never liked being around

0:48

the smoke, so that kept me

0:51

at a distance from reefer madness. In

0:53

fact, I've had very few experiences

0:55

with drugs. I even steered

0:58

clear of pharmaceuticals whenever I could.

1:00

I've moved around a great

1:02

deal in life, and ever since

1:04

I've been on my own,

1:06

I've never had a primary care

1:08

position. Maybe I was

1:10

just following my father's lead. He

1:12

didn't have one until he reached

1:14

his 80s, and he played tennis a

1:16

few times a week until he

1:18

was 87. But now, a

1:21

little past half time, and... I

1:23

need to check in for a

1:26

test or procedure. I'm asked

1:28

for medical records and I've

1:30

got virtually no proof of

1:32

history. So I decided

1:34

to assemble a dream team of

1:36

doctors and take a good

1:38

look at myself. My

1:46

pulse and blood pressure are normal.

1:49

I must admit, I put

1:51

on a few pounds recently. In

1:54

the past, I kept my weight

1:56

in check by doing crazy stuff

1:58

like challenging Julio Cesar Chavez to box

2:00

when he was a junior welterweight champ

2:02

of the world, running the

2:04

New York City Marathon, or

2:06

conquering the Spartan trifecta

2:09

that consists of three obstacle

2:11

races that go up

2:13

to 16 miles and include

2:15

a whole lot of

2:17

burpees. But I

2:19

haven't come up with any

2:21

of those challenges lately. And

2:24

I was presented with a solution

2:26

to those extra pounds that in

2:28

the past, I would have immediately

2:30

brushed aside with the back of

2:33

my hand. GLP

2:35

-1 drugs, like

2:37

Ozympic and

2:39

Wegovy and Monjaro.

2:42

One of my doctors said he himself had

2:45

tried a GLP -1 drug and that it

2:47

worked great. Simply curves

2:49

cravings by activating

2:51

the brain's I'm Full

2:53

signal. I have

2:55

great respect for this doctor and so

2:57

I didn't dismiss the idea without a

2:59

thought. Plus, it seems that

3:01

Manjaro is helping people lose

3:04

15 to 22 % of

3:06

their body weight. Potential side

3:08

effects of GLP drugs, about

3:10

10 -30 % of people report

3:12

nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation,

3:14

fatigue, osempic face, as rapid

3:16

face fat loss, serious or

3:18

rare side effects affecting a

3:21

much smaller percentage under 5%,

3:23

pancreatitis, gallbladder issues, kidney problems,

3:25

especially in dehydrated individuals, suicide,

3:27

ideation, under investigation, very rare

3:29

but being monitored, gastrointestinal obstruction

3:31

or delayed gastric emptying may

3:33

affect surgery prep. Anyway,

3:37

after walking out of one of

3:39

my new doctor's offices, I bumped

3:41

into an old friend who told

3:43

me he couldn't open a pint

3:45

of halo ice cream without eating

3:47

the entire pint in one sitting.

3:50

I knew those same cravings. So

3:52

many of us do. Then,

3:55

my wife told me to

3:57

listen to an Oprah Winfrey podcast

3:59

about these new drugs. Came

4:02

out back in January

4:04

of this year with Dr.

4:06

Anya. Yastroboth, a professor

4:08

at Yale School of Medicine.

4:11

Now, we all know about Oprah's

4:13

travails with weight over the decades.

4:15

It brought one of the most

4:18

successful people on the planet a

4:20

great deal of shame, and she

4:22

seems over the moon to have

4:24

found this remedy. I'd

4:26

have thought her podcast was

4:28

an advertisement for these GLP -1

4:30

drugs if the information in it

4:32

didn't make so much sense. Dr.

4:35

Yastapov's central point was

4:37

this. The food we

4:39

now eat is heavily processed. It's

4:42

changed. We don't sleep as

4:44

much as we used to or under

4:46

more stress. And all

4:49

of this has tricked our

4:51

brains into thinking that we

4:53

need to store more fat

4:55

to have more energy to

4:57

guarantee our survival, even though

4:59

we don't need more fat. And

5:02

it's why 75

5:04

% of American

5:06

adults are now

5:08

either overweight or

5:10

obese. Basically,

5:13

all these changes have made

5:15

our brain say, I

5:17

want more, more, more. Meaning,

5:21

we need a drug to tell our

5:23

brains to say, stop,

5:26

stop, stop. So

5:28

I asked chatGPT. What

5:30

is it in the brain

5:32

that's making my friend Steve eat

5:34

the whole pint of Halo

5:36

ice cream every time? And

5:39

chat GBT said great

5:41

question and a very

5:44

real experience for so

5:46

many people When someone

5:48

says I can never

5:50

stop at just one

5:52

bite What they're really

5:55

describing is the brain's

5:57

reward system getting hijacked

5:59

hijacked Well, here's

6:01

what's happening, Chachi BT said. When

6:04

he takes that first bite of ice

6:06

cream, especially something

6:08

sweet, cold, and

6:11

creamy, his brain

6:13

releases a surge of dopamine, the

6:16

neurotransmitter tied to pleasure,

6:19

reward, and motivation.

6:22

It says, that

6:24

felt good. Let's

6:26

go again. And

6:28

the more he eats, the

6:31

more that loop reinforces.

6:34

More will feel

6:36

even better. But

6:39

why, I say, doesn't

6:41

the stomach call out?

6:43

Wait a minute here, that's

6:45

too much. Well,

6:47

Chachi PT responded. Well,

6:51

the brain satiates signals, I hope

6:53

I got that right, from

6:55

the gut. Hormones,

6:58

and the vagus nerve, it

7:01

takes 10 to 20

7:03

minutes to kick in. By

7:05

the time the fullness

7:07

signal arrives, your friend

7:09

has already eaten most or

7:11

all of the pint. And

7:14

if finishing the pint becomes

7:16

a pattern, his brain

7:18

forms a habit loop. Every

7:21

time he opens the pint, it

7:23

becomes a trigger. His brain

7:25

says, Ah, we

7:28

know this path. Let's

7:30

finish it, just like

7:32

last time. If

7:34

your friend is using food for

7:36

comfort, for stress relief, or

7:38

even to eliminate boredom, that

7:41

makes the habit even harder to

7:43

break. If he's

7:45

struggling with that urge and

7:47

wondering why it feels out of

7:49

his control, tell him this. His

7:52

brain is doing exactly what

7:54

it was designed to do. in

7:56

a world full

7:59

of hyper -palatable

8:01

foods. Here's

8:03

why medications like Manjara

8:05

will help. They

8:07

don't just change hunger, they

8:10

dampen the dopamine fireworks

8:12

tied to food. So

8:14

that moment of, I

8:16

need the whole pint

8:18

becomes, I had a

8:20

taste. That was enough. I'm

8:23

good. Then...

8:26

asked, would you

8:28

like a simple metaphor that

8:30

explains this brain loop in a

8:32

story -like way? Sure,

8:34

I said, I'm sure Steve would

8:37

be happy to hear it. A

8:39

simple metaphor would be great. All

8:42

right, ChatGPT said, here's

8:45

a simple story -style metaphor

8:47

you can use, one

8:49

that lands gently but hits

8:52

the truth. It's

8:54

called the ice

8:56

cream train. Imagine,

8:59

your brain is like a train station.

9:02

Most of the time, trains, your

9:05

thoughts and choices, come

9:07

and go on schedule. You

9:10

decide when to board, where to

9:12

go, when to stop. But

9:14

one day, a new

9:16

train shows up. Shiny,

9:19

sleek, and fast. It's

9:22

called the Halo

9:24

Express. You

9:26

take one ride and

9:28

it feels amazing. Your

9:31

brain goes, whoa, that

9:33

was fun. So it builds

9:35

a special track just for

9:37

that train. And every

9:39

time you open that freezer, that

9:42

train roars into the station.

9:45

Hop on, we're going all

9:47

the way to the bottom of the pint. You

9:51

know it's better to get off

9:53

after a bite or two, but

9:55

by the time you think about

9:57

it, you're flying down the tracks,

10:00

fast, familiar, and

10:03

hard to stop. This

10:05

is how Monjaro

10:07

changes the story. Imagine

10:10

installing a new control

10:12

tower at the station. When

10:14

the Halo Express pulls

10:16

in, It doesn't get

10:19

the same priority anymore. The

10:22

new system signals, you

10:24

can take one ride and

10:26

step off. No rush, no

10:29

urgency, no crash. You're

10:32

still at the station. You

10:34

still see the train. But

10:37

suddenly, you're the

10:39

conductor again. Medications

10:41

like Manjaro don't kill the

10:43

joy, They just give

10:45

you back the break lever.

10:48

Now, ChatGPT likes to think it's

10:51

Quentin Tarantino every now and then,

10:53

so it's always asking me if

10:55

I'd like to see a different

10:57

version. Would you like

10:59

another with a different tone it

11:01

asks? Maybe something funnier? By

11:04

all means, I say. My

11:06

pal Steve loves humor. You've

11:08

got it, ChatGPT says.

11:11

Here's a lighter. more playful

11:14

version of the metaphor, still

11:16

rooted in truth, but with

11:18

wink. The great

11:20

ice cream heist, starring

11:22

your brain, I tell you,

11:24

that chatgy PT, give

11:26

it the stage, and it

11:28

just won't get off. So

11:31

picture this. You

11:33

open the freezer and bam,

11:36

your brain morphs into a getaway driver

11:38

in a heist movie. That

11:40

pint of halo top, It's

11:43

not just dessert. It's

11:45

the vault at the Bellagio.

11:48

In the first bite, that's the

11:50

moment the lasers go off

11:52

and the soundtrack kicks in.

11:54

Let's do this. You

11:57

swear you're only going in

11:59

for one spoonful. But

12:01

your brains like, buddy,

12:04

we've trained for this. You

12:06

know the drill. In, out,

12:09

finish the pint, No survivors.

12:12

Now, your dopamine crew

12:14

is hyped. The reward

12:16

center high -fiving Your

12:18

impulse control? He's tied

12:20

to a chair in a back room

12:23

yelling, wait, let's think

12:25

this through. Too

12:27

late. The

12:29

job's already done. Here's

12:32

how Manjaro the

12:35

script. Suddenly, your

12:37

brain's like a retired high

12:39

sky. Same ice

12:42

cream. Same

12:44

freezer. But now,

12:47

meh, I

12:49

better jobs. One

12:52

taste is enough

12:54

nostalgia. There's

12:56

no sirens. No

12:58

adrenaline. No,

13:01

I can't stop energy. Just

13:04

you savoring

13:06

a bite and

13:08

casually walking

13:10

away. Well,

13:16

now that you put it that way, I

13:19

gotta try. Just

13:21

to see what it feels like. Cheers!