Michael Foote was having dinner with three friends at Soothr, a Thai restaurant at East Village in Manhattan when he realized that he was the only one he was eating normally.
“We had all asked a lot of food and we were sharing everything,” he said, “But I was eating a lot, while my friends gave only little bites.”
All their companions were using GLP-1 medicines, increasingly used for weight loss. Most people who take them report to feel less hungry and, when they eat, feel very satisfied after a few bites.
Foote, a lawyer, said that most of his friends use these medicines, which creates a new dynamic when they go out to eat.
They often ask for main entries and dishes to share; Friends give some bites and it ends the rest. “I have 1.93m, weight 95 kg and get very hungry,” said Foote, 36, laughing.
They still go out to dinner often, “even if for them it is a complete staging.” While sharing the bill – which they usually do – he is satisfied with the arrangement. “If I were a more conscious person, I would care to be the only one to eat like a little pig here,” he joked. “But I love food. Some people eat to live. I love to eat.”
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Morgan Stanley Research analysts estimate that 24 million people, or 7% of Americans, will be using a LPG-1 by 2035. With the growing popularity of these weight loss medications, those who use them and those who do not use tag dilemmas in restaurants and, in some cases, change their eating habits.
Those who use LPG-1 are finding out which types of restaurants feel comfortable attending; How to leave food on the plate without offending the chef or the companions; And how to make the most of the experience. Already those who do not use deal with the pros and cons of going out to eat with people who hardly eat.
“There is a social component in this,” said David Wiss, a nutritionist in Los Angeles with a doctorate in public health. “We are in a period of change and people are learning to deal with it.”
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Nine months ago, Will Farmer, London Talent Agent, began taking Mounjaro, a LPG-1 used out of the weight loss nomination. Shortly thereafter, he went to a 10 -course dinner for a work event and only managed to eat a little of each dish. “I ate a quarter of a Scottish egg,” he said. The restaurant even sent an email to the host of the event asking if everything was fine. “They were worried that I had found the food horrible,” said Farmer, 34.
Now it only eats in restaurants that serve dishes to share or small portions, not to be so obvious when the food doesn’t end. “If you go to a meat restaurant, it’s strange to leave most of the plate,” he explained. “But when everyone shares, the food disappears and there is no such individual shame to leave food on the plate.”
Lauren Wire, wine publicist and distilled in New York and self -declared gastronomy lover, loves going out to eat and order a lot of dishes. “I want to try everything,” he said.
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But as soon as it sits, it warns from the waiter to the friends who are using GLP-1. “The chef may even greet, or I may be in a date and earring that I will need a lunch box because I’m at Ozempic,” said Wire, 36. “I don’t want you to think I didn’t like the food, and I also want to normalize it.”
For her, it’s worth saving her leftovers: she likes to save money and enjoy the same amount of food longer.
Wire thinks that those who dine with her and do not use the medicines only wins. “I still ask so much, and they end up eating more of my food,” he said, laughing.
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Meetings that do not involve dinner have been the hardest for Joseph Suchodolski, a fashion consultant in New York who has been wearing Mounjaro for over two years to treat diabetes. He usually pinching during the day and often insists on having only one coffee in morning meetings.
But in a recent meeting in Los Angeles, he found that his companion also used LPG-1. “We both ordered breakfast and only moved food on the plate,” said Suchodolski, 38. When they finally revealed the reason, they began to laugh and open.
Wiss said it is important for new GLP-1 patients to think about dealing with social situations that come up when eating less in public. “When people stop drinking alcohol, for example, it is helpful to think about how to respond when they offer a drink or when the waiter is disappointed by not asking for wine,” he explained. “We are seeing this repeat with the food.”
Some people say the LPG-1 has improved the experience of eating out.
After fighting childhood obesity, Jackson Lemay, creator of content in Atlanta, used to be anxious to eat fast or others in restaurants. He worried about the menu before he arrived and blamed himself if he asked for something unhealthy or very big.
After using LPG-1 for a year and a half, this “noise of food” disappeared. “It made me feel more confident to eat in public,” said Lemay, 27. He never liked restaurants as much as now.
There are people who do not use medicines and refuse to dinner with those who use, although they are reluctant to say this publicly. They say they are ashamed of full dishes returned to the kitchen or feel insecure for eating more than the person in front of you.
But Nathaly del Carmen loves being close to people with a smaller appetite. The mother, sister and many friends of her use LPG-1, and she estimates that there is always at least one person on the table using the medicine when she goes out to dinner.
Del Carmen, Marketing Manager in New York, said he ends up imitating the behavior of those who use medicines, which makes her eat less and not feel pressure to finish food if she is not hungry. “This helps me control impulses,” he said.
Recent research shows that LPG-1 can also reduce alcohol appetite. Del Carmen, 31, said some friends who use medicines can’t take more than one or two doses without sick, which helps her to drink less. “They are the opposite of that friend who encourages you to drink more or take another Martini.”
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