What do we REALLY think about the weight loss jabs?

I can see on an individual level it's great, people making real changes to their health in ways that had evaded them for years of struggling with diets.

But I do feel uneasy on a societal/economic level that we have created an obesogenic society where companies made vast profits from selling us hyperpalatable foods that are designed to be hard to stop eating. And then pharmaceutical companies come along and sell us medications to deal with the inevitable consequences of that. Plus these medications are not just expensive but require people to take them for life - a drug manufacturer's absolute dream product! And of course then the food companies start selling us products to make sure people get enough fibre, micronutrients and protein when eating less.

It's a similar problem to the way in which we are constantly encouraged to buy products to make our day to day lives involve less effort and activity, and then encouraged to buy gym memberships and sports kit to make us exercise to offset the impacts of this inactivity!

Again and again companies get us to pay for the things that create the problem and then start selling us the solution. It all seems unnecessarily complicated and expensive as a society, signs of a system that is geared to maximise profit and not wellbeing.

I'd never criticise anyone for going on WLI if they need to lose weight, the harm of obesity clearly seems to outweigh the side effects of WLI. But as a society I do worry about how we've got to the point where so many people need this.

Do you understand that some medications can be safely used for multiple purposes?

hilarious. Why? Because they got thin?! And how would you know? I mean with me, 5 1/2 stone later when I take my clothes off, it's obvious something has happened. But how would you know I did that with injections rather than without?

What’s ridiculous is thinking you know anything about it. What’s your area of research? Tons of medicines are used to treat other medical conditions that they were not originally licensed for. it’s nothing new 😂

J.e.a.l.o.u.s.y.

If you're not a fan of the jabs, that's fine. However, scaremongering people into believing there's some massive thing waiting to happen isn't cool. The research 'is there' to have helped many people to choose a route that helps them and makes a huge difference to their lives.

gosh. what an amazing person you are. Well done you.

Sigh.

I work in this field. And have experience of people who have lost very significant amounts of weight and changed their health outcomes unbelievably.

Do you? Well done boo. Jeezus if the research shows that obesity is a complex disease process then let's go with that. Not Betty on the Internet.

I lost 3 stone in a year using Mounjaro. Not a fast weight loss compared to some but it’s been a great tool and I’ve had no side effects. I still drink alcohol and enjoy eating out and enjoy my food when I eat it. I just can happily ignore food if I want to and it’s stopped me snacking.
Not everyone using the jabs is aiming to be super skinny. I’m still slightly overweight, I could do with losing another stone, but at 60 I don’t want to be too thin. They’ve also stopped working for me, no matter what I do I can’t seem to lose any more weight. I tried going up to the next dose but it made me feel sick, and I don’t think the side effects are worth it.
It’s not a one size fits all drug. But it does make losing weight easier, and the half a stone I lost in the first few weeks was a huge motivator.
I can’t understand why people are so judgemental.

Mounjaro has done for me what no other diet ever has. Stopped me thinking about food constantly. I even like having my photo taken now!

Are yiu a researcher? Because there is tons of research that shows you are completely fucking wrong.

Personally I think weight loss can be done without them, but it's hard, and requires alot of effort. I set a health goal, instead of a vanity one. In 15 months I've lost nearly 4 stone, by counting calories, increasing protein and fibre , and walking more and starting gym.
Not fast or sexy, and bloody dull weighing all your food. But it has taught me what fills me up, what is nutritionally balanced, and the effect food has on my weight.
I have a friend on them who is losing weight more rapidly, but has little appetite and picks cake and junk food. Fine when appetite is low and can only eat half a portion, but I question if the habits will be there when she stops

Its ridiculous to think that taking diabetes medication without having diabetes would be safe in the long term. And the research isnt there yet for us to claim they are safe

I’m not medically trained but work in healthcare/trials. I truly believe these drugs could be transformative for the health of our nation and eventually the NHS. Yes it would be better if we were able to lose weight naturally or not be overweight in the first place, but here we are.
However the only people I know who have lost weight on it didn’t have that much to lose in the first place. That’s doesn’t sit as well with me.

I was going to leave my thoughts, but this pretty much sums up what I wanted to say. The sooner obesity is recognised by society, and not just (some) medical professionals, as a chronic illness, the sooner we can all stop thinking that everyone should manage it by diet alone and that the struggle to do so is penance for their moral failings and greed. Of course some people manage without medication, but they aren’t ‘better’, just different.

Well I think you should use mindfulness and meditation for your ADHD not those horrible meds...(as a medic would actually say that amphetamine based meds are fat riskier than GLP1 ones)...how does that feel eh? You just didn't work hard enough to sort your ADHD out ?
The underlying cause of obesity is medical (be it genetic/biological/psychological) its jot a fucking moral failing.

I’m not a fan of the jabs at all. There are healthier ways of doing it but you sound nuts. Please stay off Facebook

I honestly don't know enough or understand about the disease that is obesity, so I can't comment.

I was just quoting his opinion.

I agree with pp that WLIs aren’t addressing the underlying causes of obesity. A quick read of the many threads on the WLI threads will show that lots of users have binge eating disorder. The injections will do nothing to treat that.
I’ve always been a normal weight with lots of food noise although I mainly didn’t act on that because otherwise I’d have gained weight. I’ve been as much as a BMI of 25 but have maintained one of 20 for several years. I learnt to say no to my head. Now I’m on ADHD medication that food noise is much less and I can happily go all day without eating but shouldn’t so force myself to eat. I eat whatever I fancy but limit UPFs and make what I can from scratch. I exercise a lot every day because I don’t drive and have to walk everywhere. I’m rarely still. Having my breakfast is the longest I’ll sit down for on any day.
WLI are a relatively quick fix for the obese who don’t want to put in the hard psychological work to sort out their problems plus and very important plus, they’ve fucked up their metabolism by yo-yo dieting and being obese in the first place so it’s really hard to lose weight once you are obese. I think WLI should be prescribed alongside intensive psychological therapy but that’s never going to happen. I think it’s very important not to be one overweight in the first place. That takes hard work for a lot of people and humans tend to take the easy route.

I think they’re a great tool. I have been overweight for years (although not high enough BMI to qualify for weight loss injections) and have tried to lose it naturally so many times but never succeed. I have recently started taking medication for something else but a side effect of the medication is that it suppresses appetite and has switched off the ‘food noise’ in my head, not to the extent that weight loss jabs do but enough that I am now able to stick to a healthy meal plan.

Not craving sweet foods or wanting to eat when I’m not even hungry has been a huge change for me, I used to snack all evening and trying to ignore the cravings was a huge effort and really unenjoyable. Now I hardly think about food. I’ve steadily lost just over a stone over 2 months and now have a BMI at the top end of healthy. If the jabs do the same and even more so I can absolutely see the benefit of them.

If you genuinely want to hear what someone in the medical field thinks, Google Giles Yeo and listen to his Hunger Game podcast.

OMG. This is ridiculous. I have changed my life completely on the jabs! But my brain and genetics are rhe same. So yes I will stay on them for life.
Would you like to stop insulin? Asthma inhalers? Heart meds? Antidepressants? ADHD meds? Why not? Did they not try hard enough to "change"?
Why did we need rhem in the 1st place? BECAUSE OBESITY IS A CHRONIC MEDICAL DISEASE . Not a moral failing.

YABU because of the COVID jab conspiracy theory. 😂

I can only speak from my own experience, and I’m not medically trained. I have co-morbidities that really shouldn’t have meant I used MJ, but I have lost 13 stone 6lb in 16 months!
It has literally changed my life my mental health, my physical health, everything. I now go to the gym/swim 4 times a week. I can run around after the baby and my teen, socialise, and I genuinely feel like I have my life back at 45.
I feel so fit now. I can walk for miles, and my health conditions have improved too. My asthma is so much better controlled, and my blood pressure is perfect now.
This is just my experience, but honestly, I feel like I’ve got my life back.