All these weight loss drugs... surely we are heading towards disaster?

[shellswirl]

So as we all know there are various weight loss drugs that have become very popular in recent months.

It seems like the whole of Hollywood is using it.

Even regular people are spending huge amounts of money on it from online pharmacies.

I get that these drugs might be useful for certain people with real medical conditions, but really a lot of people are using it as a quick fix to be thin.

With no consideration to side effects or future health. And without thinking about what happens when you stop it?

Surely the best way to lose weight involves no drugs. No fad diets. But exercising more, moving more, eating a balanced diet. Retraining your brain and finding food and exercise you enjoy.

I say this as an overweight person too! Surely there are other ways.

If every other person is taking these drugs won't there be a huge pool of people to monitor side effects etc?

Aibu to say the whole thing makes me feel very uneasy.

I have spent years trying to lose weight. Finally successful at keeping it off!
As I was diagnosed pre diabetic I had to stick to food lower in carbs if possible that was 5% or less sugar per 100g. The same 5% per 100g saturated fats for other health issue. Advised to cut down to half portions of

Foods like pasta, rice and bread eating wholemeal/brown versions. Only one small potato

Oops sent too soon! One smaller than usual potato with dinner or sweet potatoes (didn't like them!).
Half your plate had to be vegetables or salad. A quarter protein, a quarter carbs.
I went from a size 20 to a 10 in 20 months! I can't drink alcohol so no sugar from that. In fact my bmi was a bit too low at one time and I lost weight at Xmas. Spoke with a dietician who advised snacks! Am able to cheat now and keep my weight steady 53-54.5 kgs lately.
I feel great on it. Never thought I would ever be a 10. As best ever was size 14 when young.
My friend copied me and went down two sizes recently.
I was very motivated as I was afraid of being diabetic on top of other health problem.
Those weight loss drugs may be better now. But some used to give people the trots and what side effects do they have?

You’re right to be cautious- the decision to take these drugs should not be taken lightly. But many of us are clinicians, academics and experts in scientific fields- so we are confident that the benefits far outweigh the risks for each of us personally.

I truly commend and respect you for taking the difficult road- personally I have been there and got the T-shirt. I’m doing exactly the same regime but it’s easier and sustainable. I wouldn’t be getting the results without Mounjaro and I’m delighted at the massive improvement in all my health indicators in 3 months.

Never say never though. You may be desperate enough to use it if traditional methods don’t work for you. The scientific evidence will grow and you could change your mind.

@Moretti76 I didn't say before but I have a biochemistry degree. Im not sure what your point is? That your opinion is definitely correct because you have a good job? I think lots on here think I'm a bit of a tin hat wearing conspiracy nut... I am not.

From a personal level I am sure many on here do have a valid reason that has been well researched and discussed with their GP after many years of trying other methods.

But for every one of them there are going to be people that buy it online with zero research, celebs that quite frankly don't need it, people that lie of forms, people with eating disorders, and many people that use it to get to ridiculous small sizes... I read one persons account if it and she was taking about dropping to a size six.

I think it clearly needs to be much better regulated. And distributed to those that absolutely need it having tried other methods first

Just out of interest because I can’t remember all the posts - has anyone done this and kept it off for a while yet?

I think you need to do more research. It's certainly not "just the west". GLP-1 drugs have a huge market in Asia and the middle east. China is planning to introduce a bio-identical drug to Ozempic in the next couple of years.

The injection just helps with diet. It doesn’t magically dissolve fat or anything.

you might not have been told about it but I’m pretty sure you will know people that have tried them.

From what I saw @Moretti76 was just saying that they and others have considered the benefits & risks from an educated standpoint & feel the benefits far outweigh the risks for them.

they wouldn’t have known about your own education history, but have said that it’s ok you hold a different opinion but that this should be open to change over time as more evidence becomes available.

they just sounded like they were letting you know their view & the basis for it. I’m not sure why this seems to have offended you.

I’m 3 weeks off all of it. Still exercise 7 days per week to feel enormous congestion in the pelvic area 247. Scales on a Tuesday evening after an aerobics class at leisure centre said 97kg. Been a long time under 100.

I did look into the latest weight loss pen today though even though my personal thoughts are a scandal in the making in the years to come.

@Ladymuck2022 what dose/doses were you on?

I wonder how many of the posters preaching diet and exercise are in their 20s and 30s? Oh, how easy it was then to shift a stone or two. I never worried about putting on weight as I knew with only a short period of effort I could lose it again.

Now on the cusp of 50 and needing to lose about 5 stone it's not so easy. At the rate I can lose weight now using that method I'd be in my 60s before before getting close to a healthy weight, or quite possibly dead from a heart attack or stroke?

I'm now on week 6 of Mounjaro and have lost 10lbs and walked 18,000 steps today because I'm feeling better already. I'm out with friends tomorrow and not worrying about having to summon huge amounts of willpower to 'try' and not eat and drink too much.

If I carry on at this pace I could even be close to a healthy weight for my 50th birthday and actually be looking forward to my next decade of life.

I really don't get your point, because for you, you haven't found an alternative (otherwise you would have lost and be maintaining a healthy weight)? I'm not trying to pile on, but you must see the lack of logic of your answer?
But what MJ does is provide you with the tools to have a healthy diet and take exercise, it doesn't actually melt the fat off you it is a tool that helps you maintain a healthy diet without binging or eating crap.

Source of this bold
claim?

Again, out of interest, (I can’t and won’t take it due to ED history, though in some ways wish I could) do you have to exercise with it?

I ask because I have ME/CFS and Fibro so can’t exercise at all above my baseline daily movements. I’ve noticed a few people in some support groups say they’ve tried and some have had a little success but others not so much - so I was wondering about the exercise side of it.

@Ladymuck2022 what is the pelvic congestion? I don’t understand.

You should both exercise and follow a healthy eating plan.

@BeretRaspberry you don’t have to exercise on it. You can cut back cals on the medication to extent you’ll lose even if you are sedentary.
Lots on support thread are exercising more/increasing steps as feeling well, more energy, less aches and pains so easier to exercise. Lots doing weights/strength training as it’s recommended for women especially in 40 plus bracket.

@zaffa I'm not saying dieting isn't hard. It is and some days I overindulge. I don't really see it as a diet anymore, it's just a way of life. I'm not sure you can say it doesn't work though given you don't know what I was before.

I think I've said previously on thread below... I don't view weight as something static. I don't believe we were built for that. I put a huge amount of weight on during my twin pregnancy and actually it was encouraged as multiple births can come with some risk and weight gain in mum is related to outcomes apparently.

I've had perimenopause, being made redundant, grief, stress, health stuff, a big birthday and holiday etc

Hard isn't impossible though.

The truth is, eating a calorie deficit = you will 100% lose weight. It's maths.

I understand that this drug is essentially boosting your willpower and turning off the noise. And I get that some people will do better whilst on the tablets. Some people are so poorly that they need the drug and the benefits outweigh any bad. But that's NOT the point of this thread and never has been. It's the global obsession of everyone and their dog wanting to go on this stuff to drop a couple of stone.

I just am still optimistic I can do it on my own. That's me talking personally.

"It doesn't work" is a bit harsh because it definitely does. Of course it won't work if you go back to the wine and weekly takeaways as someone else on this thread posted.

It's like me saying these drugs don't work- because you'll pile on the weight again when you stop.

Same principle.

It makes me real sad when I think about my daughters when they are teenagers "nah don't bother with eating healthy, you'll fail if you try it without drugs. You'll defo fall off the wagon so what's the point. Take these drugs and you'll only fancy one meal a day... you'll need to take vitamins mind because you won't be able to fit in all the nutrients into that meal. Your a size 14 anyway - chances are your metabolism is fucked anyway so really why bother?! And great thing... forget the gym. Not needed. Just spend your cash on drugs instead"

Is that really where we are heading because it sounds like it is

The truth is, eating a calorie deficit = you will 100% lose weight. It's maths.

"It doesn't work" is a bit harsh because it definitely does. Of course it won't work if you go back to the wine and weekly takeaways as someone else on this thread posted.

It really isn’t that straightforward. Most fat phobes (and fat phobia can be internalised) spout a similar trope about ‘going back to old ways’.

I’ve posted this a couple of times now but it’s a really great explanation as to how the body and the brain works.

@shellswirl did some feel like this about electricity, cars over horses? Imagine the lard arses behind a wheel!

Statins, just eat healthier FFS! Microwaves! Imagine, ‘a ping & it’s done’! Lazy & God knows how bad! Cancer!

"nah don't bother with eating healthy, you'll fail if you try it without drugs. You'll defo fall off the wagon so what's the point. Take these drugs and you'll only fancy one meal a day... you'll need to take vitamins mind because you won't be able to fit in all the nutrients into that meal. Your a size 14 anyway - chances are your metabolism is fucked anyway so really why bother?! And great thing... forget the gym. Not needed. Just spend your cash on drugs instead"

no one has said any of this. I feel like you must be reading another thread, because this bears no resemblance to anything anyone on this thread has said.

That sounds incredibly tough. I’m sorry you lost your mum so young.

This makes complete sense though. I am the opposite end of the scale - infertility and can’t put weight on. Yet I eat a similar diet to my friend who is obese and can’t lose. It defies all logic.

@BeretRaspberry thank you for posting. It our body’s quest to get back to it’s highest ‘setting’ it sneakily employs ravenous hunger. Doesn’t this scupper mindful eating if the setting is too high?

Not necessarily. It just might mean your mindful eating means your body tells you it wants more than someone who is a lower weight or hasn’t dieted before.

When I first started recovery I gained weight to higher than ever I had ever been. My weight then settled and has stayed the same for a number of years now. Well I assume it has because I don’t weigh now but my clothes are the same size.

I’ve posted my story a few times before but I was always slim. I only dieted because it was the done thing back in the mid 90’s after having a baby. I’m the only one in my family who has ever dieted and the only one who is fat. People who say we don’t work hard enough at dieting (and any form of restriction with the goal of losing weight is dieting) really have no idea. I dedicated probably the best 20 years of my life to trying to control my weight.

I think PP means SW in the context of ED.

There is growing research into SW as one of the contributing factors towards binge eating as there is, essentially, no real portion control on free foods.

You don't see weight as something that's static, that's the problem.
It is something that should be pretty static. A healthy body tends to maintain a pretty static weight +/- a few kgs.

Pregnancy is totally different because our bodies are designed to put on weight for different reasons, and then after pregnancy some or all will drop off. I know some aren't that lucky of course.
My body gained the exact recommended amount and then dropped it very soon after. I didn't try to eat more and afterwards I didn't try to drop it. My body just did it and went back to my pre-pregnancy weight where it stayed static.

People are encouraged to gain X amount with twin pregnancies but for most wouldn't they naturally gain that amount and no conscious effort is required to put it on? unless of course the person is underweight or has pregnancy sickness and doesn't want to eat.

It doesn't work" is a bit harsh because it definitely does.

The problem is that you see yoyoing as success. You think it works because you can drop the weight, you might gain again but then you can drop it again.
Yo-yoing isn't a success or proof that it works.

Do you think that anyone is going to tell their daughters don't bother with healthy eating? I don't think that that's where we're heading at all.