Virgie Tovar

Demolished cheese plate still life
at the cutest w

Marketing is not medicine. This 👆🏾 is an example of what I mean.

GLP-1 manufacturers are not above the FDA. So why is their marketing for a weight-loss drug that is 4-5 years old indicating lifelong usage when we simply do not yet have longitudinal data on large populations using these medications?

Other countries similar to the U.S. already regulate these medications far more aggressively. So it's not like there is no precedent for this.

GLP-1 marketing often relies on cavalier and misleading promises that GLP-1 manufacturers simply cannot guarantee.

Content note: weight-loss ideation, GLP-1s, Weight Watchers, eating disorders
_____________________________________________________
Weight-loss is often framed as a matter of personal choice, but what happens when weight-loss ads become an ambient, inescapable part of the lived environment, like Liz is describing about the ads on the NYC subway?

GLP-1 marketing normalizes rapid weight-loss and at-times extreme food restriction - things with known health risks - as wellness solutions and self-care. Meanwhile many people in eating disorder recovery are quietly trying not to relapse *on their way to work.*

I wanted to share Liz’s story - with permission - at the top of Season 2 because I think so many people are having these thoughts silently and feeling totally abandoned by the culture.

🎙️ We talk about this and much more on Season 2 of

Link in bio 👆🏾 | Available on Spotify + Substack

E2S1 out now on Spotify + Substack | Link in bio 👆🏾

Being a writer who sometimes gets to do journalism has taught me that headlines aren't the same as reality, the thing that gets the most clicks isn't the same as what matters, and the things that humans need the most - the simple stuff that makes us thrive - get just about zero attention or air time.

🖊WRITING WORKSHOP🖊
Keywords: exquisite co**se, body, letting of perfectionism, collaborative writing
In-person | June 16
in Reno
Link to register in bio 👆🏾

Working on Season 2 of rn 🎧

My projects are inspired by different things: sometimes curiosity, love, nerdery, or excitement. This podcast was inspired by being gobsmacked by the appalling lack of balanced, fair or appropriately critical coverage of GLP-1s in the newsmedia.

I just kept waiting for a science or a tech writer at any of the major outlets to cover the other side of this conversation - the obvious concerns for malnutrition, the implications for people with eating disorder backgrounds, the way that GLP-1 marketing was coming perilously close to promising a world with no fat people in it (which I believe is what we call eugenics).

Month after month after month. Waiting. Apparently as I was waiting, I was also venting a lot to friends 👀 and one frustrated friend suggested: you just have to stop waiting and do it yourself. Not the best news, but fair.

I'm excited to share Season 2 soon! You can listen to Season 1 on Substack or Spotify.

There’s not a lot of good news right now. So it felt amazing to hop on a call with REI's Director of Inclusive Design Strategy, Nani Vishwanath, and talk about how their Magma sleeping bag line now comes in 9 sizes *and* how creating more accessibility to nature resists the Western colonial image of the athlete.

My newest piece for Forbes is about REI’s new size-inclusive standards, and how the company is thinking deeply about who gets imagined as belonging outdoors in the first place. With over 1000 brand partners, the ripple effect of REI's standards is massive for the outdoor industry. To me, this is about doing the right things even when they're not trendy.

👆🏾 Link in bio 👆🏾

Tomorrow in Oakland!

👆🏾 Link in bio for details & registration