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Really! Dieting Was A Thing In History?
Medieval Recipes & Eating Right in Renaissance. Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro — expensive weight loss drugs that are all the rage now.
Did you know that our perspective on body weight has flipped, entirely? You see, in human history, those who were fat were those who could afford to eat well. So weight was actually a sign of wealth and status. But later, starting in the 18th century, this perspective began to change. There are stories of fat people being gawked at. They were pointed at so that people could feel morally superior to them, for supposedly being weak and not being disciplined enough to eat less and eat right.
I go on 2–3 long walks a week. It’s a pretty routine affair. I walk down a steep hill close to our house and then walk back up. That’s all there is to it.
On a recent day, my routine unexpectedly changed. Two things happened.
First, for whatever reason, I decided that on the way back I would walk backward up the hill. While this gave me a much better view of the area around me, it also made my walk much harder. It was now a full-blown exercise session and I was sweating.
The second thing that happened on that day was that I happened to listen to a WSJ podcast about Ozempic…
