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I can apply this to myself (I have a sweet tooth). I am completely capable of skipping desserts and used to do it regularly. However every time I did this when I wanted to eat the dessert I faced a loss of short term utilons from wanting something but not getting it. Now I was perfectly capable of telling myself I'd get more long term utilons from not eating the kheer and so in the end I didn't mind too much, but the loss of short term utilons still stung.
After wrangling a prescription for tirzapetide I no longer even want to eat the dessert in the first place. I still get the benefit of the long term utilons but I don't have to pay the short term penalty either as there is no intrinsic desire to eat anymore. Even though the previous status quo of me deciding to skip dessert when I wanted to eat it was net positive for me the current situation is still an improvement.
I used to have an awful sweet tooth. After giving up desserts for Lent a few years in a row, it eventually went away. It seems to me that a certain level of self-denial and self-discipline can eventually change one’s attitudes and appetites without resort to drugs.
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