If you are on weight loss injections, what do you make of this article?

Years ago when I wanted to stop smoking many people had taken up vaping as a way to help them, as it was so much better for you than tobacco smoke.

This was when vaping was relatively new but loads of people had great success with stopping smoking.

However, there were lots of honest opinions on the negatives in the research and individuals experiences too.

These balanced responses were way better for me to make an informed decision.

Myself and other posters who are pointing out their individual experiences or research, are not jealous or speaking from our childhood trauma etc.
We are saying that these are great for some people but they’re not perfect.

They are not suitable for everyone.
They alone are not going to make you lose weight and keep it off.

I don’t understand why certain posters struggle to hear a balanced opinion.

Haven't read the full thread but I can imagine the gist.

I came off December 2024 after dropping 3 stone. Since then, I have maintained and actually lost another half a stone - without trying. Because I used the time on MJ to adjust my eating habits and build an exercise habit. I drink wine, eat what I want - if I want a McDonalds I'll have one - and my exercise is generally just walking and so far, 12 months of maintenance has been fine. No RAGING hunger, no weight piling back on. I know, that's very disappointing for a lot of people!

Weight is hugely related to lifestyle and the best cure is prevention. We should be starting with kids.
Id love to see the government pour money into healthy fit lifestyles rather than funding medication:

• nutritious school meals that actually provide enough healthy calories that they don't need to be bulked out with desserts as is the case at most schools
• far more accessible, publically subsidised leisure facilities. In my area swimming pools are increasingly less accessible, there aren't enough, there are very few sessions actually open to kids because the private providers don't want to pay enough life guards or heat the pools properly.
• providing fresh vegetables, cooking equipment & guidance & energy vouchers/cards to help low income families access better food.
• tax incentives for employers who offer subsidised healthy lunches in work cafeterias
• tax incentives for enployers to offer gym memberships etc as part of employment
• funding for school kitchens and cooking facilities - more cooking & home economics in schools
• funding for schools to offer free after school sports clubs
• safe cycle lanes

Yes it all costs money but it pays back in reduced healthcare costs

But you don't have any experience of it! Why are you even part of the discussion when you've never taken them? It's just weird. I don't know if my body is storing up some long term issues due to WLI but in the here and now there are ZERO drawbacks for me other than cost. That's just a fact.

Good question. Surgery is a major risk if a person is morbidly obese.

To be fair about the muscle mass thing - it would be a bit bloody weird if I had kept the muscle mass required to move 106kg me around the place once I was 80kg...

I know from my apple watch, that my sedentary calorie burn has dropped by 1/3rd (which tallies with what I eat/when I feel full) - which can also contribute a lot to putting the weight back on once you lose the fullness feedback that you get from the jabs.

You think a weight loss band is a better solution than WLI? Why??

@socks1107 It's great that you've been successful so far with weight loss without using WLI. The thing is, I have never been able to diet for long enough to lose the weight that I needed to lose which is what WLI has helped with. It's brilliant that you don't need that help. Others do. That doesn't mean they are "hooked" on them! That's really emotive and strong language to use.

I think you have as much need to consider and manage maintenance as people who have used WLI to lose the weight, given what we know about regain. What support do you need alongside what you're doing, so that you can maintain your weight loss long term?

The problem I have is I can't stop taking the medication that is causing my obesity. So if at all possible I will have to keep on the WL medication.

@AlaskaThunderfuckHiiiiiiiii I didn't say it had nothing to do with you, I asked how you think they could be better supported to be successful. I think obesity has something to do with all of us. Obesity related conditions are estimated to cost the NHS billions of pounds every year.

There needs to be more discussion about how best to deploy WLI and how to support people to succeed long term. That's what these threads should be about and that's why I asked how you thought your family members could be better supported.

if you're eating less, drinking less alcohol, not eating out, not getting takeaways, for many people the injections become affordable. And you have absolutely no right to anyone's financial information.

I didn’t start them a year ago because I knew deep down once I stopped using them I would regain some if not all the weight. This article has confirmed I made the right choice for me. My whole diet needed to change, exercise needed starting and I had to be honest with myself. I have lost three stone through calorie counting and will have to continue this for the rest of my life probably, but it has allowed me change my lifestyle hopefully for good without a £200-£300 bill per month alongside it. Pharmacies are now making a fortune and people are hooked on WLI so it’s a win win for them.
I have no doubt it has changed peoples lives ( I don’t know anyone on them to my knowledge) but I worry what that looks like for the re weight gain and mentally if they need to come off them and we do need to look at supporting people to maintain

I agree about staying slim. I hope people on my medication can benefit from GLP-1s in the future to stay slim.

However, regarding muscle mass I think it is pretty well known that with any weight loss plan you need to eat protein and do resistance exercise to maintain your muscle mass. My provider is big on this and provides advice, recipes and exercise videos in order to help people maintain their muscle mass and hopefully increase it too.

I have been on 5mg mounjaro for 6 months and lost 2.5 stone - losing slowly has been better for me and side effects minimal on a lower dose
When I get to my target weight I will try to reduce to 2.5mg and see how that goes before considering stopping altogether - I am prepared to stay on them long term if needed but hope they’ll get cheaper in time

I am judgemental and have been for some time of how they live their life but that’s up to them and I don’t get involved as they’re not really approachable in that sense but when I found out they were shelling out so much for the injections I’m just interested to know how it will work long term really and be involved in the discussion here but you’re right nothing to do with me

Certainly my friend could be better supported by being prescribed by her NHS practice! To no do so on budgetary grounds is incredibly short-sighted. She is already pre-diabetic. Was put on a liquid diet a year ago - which had its issues - but lost a great deal of weight and all of her stats improved significantly. A year later, it’s all back and more unfortunately. To deny her WLI is just kicking the financial burden down the road.

I think that unfortunately quite a lot of people are so desperate to lose weight that they will do the equivalent of ticking the T&Cs without reading them. The same level of support should be given to overweight and o see people as to those trying to stop smoking.

It doesn’t, does it? So maybe just leave them to lose weight 👍🏻

I think the problem is more that it's a medical condition that doesn't magically go away just because you've got thin now.

We wouldn't expect that of any other chronic illness. No-one tells type-1 diabetics 'well, you've been on the insulin for a year now, your blood sugar is under control, I'm sure it'll be fine if we stop it'

I think we need to accept that not all fat people are fat because of poor habits. Some are fat because that's how their body likes them to be - just like some people are skinny or muscled or any of 100 other varieties of human body shape. For people fighting against a body that wants to be fat, the jabs work, as long as you keep taking them. This is in contrast to people who are fat perhaps because of immobility, or other medications, or psychological issues, where losing the weight with the jabs, as long as you fix the other problems, would be more likely to keep it off.

I'm sure you don't mean to be so judgemental, but it sounds like you have nothing nice to say about your family member! How do you think that they could be better supported - or do you not want them to be successful. I can't tell from the way you are posting.

to be honest it makes not a jot of difference to me I’m just interested in how it will all work out longer term at such a high expense to them, yes it may become cheaper but both family members are already in precarious financial situations to be hanging it all on those

Ok, so your daughter's MIL sounds like she was unsupported and chose not to inform herself, despite being given all of the information - although to be fair you don't actually know that, you are speculating.

Despite all of that, she has been successful losing the weight and now has some decisions to make about how to maintain her weightloss.

Your husband is clearly very fortunate to be one of the lucky few who is receiving GLP medications via the NHS. The medication is the same, as it will be via an online provider though, so what is your concern for your morbidly obese friend?

How do you think your MIL and your morbidly obese friend could be better supported? That was afterall, the main point of the paper published this week, to consider how better we could do this.

Well, maybe let them lose the weight and then share your concerns.

Well done 😊

By taking more responsibility for their own health to some degree? The morbidly obese family member did not help themselves before the jabs, eating many takeaways, drinking to excess in alcohol, they work very part time on the side, drive their kids to school despite the school being around the corner etc, so to me the jabs in isolation are not the answer for this person,