People who think weight loss injections are cheating

[AuntieDote]

I've seen this viewpoint over multiple threads recently, and I'm just really curious to understand it a bit more because it makes no sense to me whatsoever.

What do you think people using the injections are cheating at?

As in - what's the competition and who are they gaining an unfair advantage over? What do you think the rules of being allowed to lose weight are/ should be?

Is it more important to you that overweight people/ those struggling with obesity lose the weight, become healthier, reduce the burden on the NHS, stop taking up more than their allocated amount of space in the world, or just stop doing whatever it is that upsets people so much about the existence of fat people -- or is it more important that they struggle and suffer whilst doing so?

Or would you secretly prefer them to remain fat so you can feel superior?

Is it that you feel you've worked really hard to either lose weight, keep it off or never put it on in the first place, so nobody else should be allowed to achieve this without the same amount of struggle?

What do you think the weight loss injections actually do, and do you not recognise that those on them are also doing all the usual things people who are trying to lose weight e.g. modify their eating, exercise etc? Does it not count that they're doing these things because it's made easier in some ways by the drug?

What types of weight loss support or tools are not 'cheating'? e.g. I used hypnosis once and it worked for a bit, to the point that I felt pretty much the same way I do with the injections i.e. reduction in food noise and compulsion to snack etc. It didn't last anything like as long, but it worked for a time - was that cheating?

Would it still be cheating if they weren't as effective as they are?

FWIW, I really couldn't care less if people think I'm cheating - who cares? Who does it impact only me and my bank balance? If someone said here, press this button and you'll be a healthy BMI overnight and stay there forever I'd press it with both hands and not give a shit about how anyone felt about it.

But it's just the logic of it that baffles me - I've never seen it as a competition and have never felt like getting to or being a healthy weight only counts if it's done in a certain way - I suppose I'm not much interested in what size anyone else is or what they do to get that way, so I can't imagine for a second ever thinking another person was 'cheating' - only ever being happy for them if they're happy and hopefully healthy too.

No bloody idea. I can tell you now, I'm sat in the gym having just done 2 hours of working out. I do that 3x a week. My lunch is in a pack up in the car where I'll sit to eat it and crack on with all my other jobs for the day. I fit in 10k steps somehow, despite barely hitting 1.5k back before I started this.
I show up every god damn day, and work really fucking hard. As hard (actually, way harder!) than I have at any other weight loss I've done before (I've lost 4st, regained, lost 5.5st, regained etc). This time I've taken 19 months to lose 6.5st, and I've made the lifestyle changes and habits to last a lifetime. I'm close to target and Saxenda has only played a small part in that. But it was the part that gave me space to make the changes. My metabolic age went from 54, to 34. I'm 40 for reference. I am strong. I'm fit. I'm amazing, and fuck if anyone feels it's cheating. Because the sacrifices and effort I make are MORE thanks to Saxenda ❤️. It's been life changing. Literally. My life is totally different now.

Ps. I love my new body, and I'm damn well showing it what this woman is capable of! Medication isn't bloody cheating, the same as going to the gym and doing my 10k steps and living on 1300 cals aren't!

It's utterly ridiculous and more than a little pathetic.

Cheating?
Therefore weight is a competition?

That says a lot more about the saddos who bitch about the injections than it does about the people using them.

It's tragic that some people's sense of superiority at "being slim" is being eroded by people trying to improve their lives.

You hit the nail on the head with this, OP:

Is it more important to you that overweight people/ those struggling with obesity lose the weight, become healthier, reduce the burden on the NHS, stop taking up more than their allocated amount of space in the world, or just stop doing whatever it is that upsets people so much about the existence of fat people -- or is it more important that they struggle and suffer whilst doing so?

It's all about the struggle - and people who think this way don't acknowledge or understand any struggles that fat people have had in their attempts to lose weight beforehand. They seem to believe that fat people are having a lovely time enjoying food and should be made to be miserable. That's all there is to it. Anyway this thread will fill up with the most horrendous ignorant WLI bingo, but you've got the answer, honestly - it's people who cannot bear to see anyone else succeed at anything and don't possess a shred of empathy.

Because you must suffer to be beautiful and all these injections mean you're just not being put through enough pain to get to a healthy weight.

Honestly I suspect psychologists will be having a field day with this unexpected response from those that are naturally slim, or have busted a gut and denied themselves for years. They have lost their highground. After all, if anyone can be slim now, how is it of any value?

I don't think it's cheating, but like any drug there are side efects, some will be long term and serious.
So it's something people need to consider and balance with the health advantages of weight loss.

Isn’t it too early for wli bingo? I mean the thread just started,

I just think it's worth picking up on this @Sassysoonwins -

busted a gut and denied themselves for years.

Just to say a huge number of obese people have also done this. Yoyo dieting makes people fatter, do it over and over again over a long period of time and you end up obese. A lot of fat people have actually spent years busting a gut in the gym and denying themselves - it takes a lot of effort to lose several stones over and over again, (just like it takes a lot of effort to maintain a slim weight over years as well, I'm not trying to take anyone's badge of honour from them!) - so they have actually done a lot of the penance that judgemental people seem to think is required.

I don’t see it as cheating. But my worry is when they come off it - long term behaviours and attitude to food. (Often there is a reason for overeating which hasn’t been addressed)

My aunt is overweight- she always has been, I believe it to be triggered from her childhood experiences. She had a gastric bypass (or something similar) around 8 years ago. Lost the weight initially, started to go to gym and exercise. But the gremlins that caused the initial weight returned behaviours returned and overtime the weight has increased. She will be a candidate for the jab due to other health conditions but even she says before I start that journey she wants to address the why first otherwise the cycle could just return of losing weight and the gaining :(

I prefer to lose weight by dieting but I can see how some people don't have willpower and it's not a competition. I know someone who has lost about 10 stone in little more than a year from a gastric bypass. They can't eat more than a few mouthfuls or drink alcohol anymore and have loads of loose skin, so other "easy" options still have their downsides. I think injections are OK for some but if someone is hugely overweight it doesn't solve the psychological reason behind why.

Eh ! I'm being serious, there is no such thing as a wonder drug. I don't want anyone to suffer.
I also don't think obesity is an individuals fault.

I couldn’t care less whether people use injections or not. But just trying to look at it from the other side for a minute, I wonder if people feel a bit hard done by because often overweight people think slimmer people have it ‘easy’.
I get comments all the time about being slim. “Oh you’re so lucky” etc but people fail to realise that I have to work at this and make sacrifices. I will allow myself to go hungry or not each much, I’ll restrict the type of food I eat. It’s not always that we are naturally slim, but simply that we go without to avoid weight gain.

Again, I have nothing against these injections and if they are being offered, of course people will use them. I’m simply trying to see how maybe some people think about it.
dons tin hat

I hate how weight is a moral issue in our society. I suspect the anti-injection brigade secretly come at from a moral standpoint and don’t like their moral code being undermined. I imagine the sort of people who feel morally superior because they aren’t fat are the ones who are being sanctimonious about it, probably disguising their true motivations under supposed concern for health, just as they do about being fat itself.

I've 'suffered' plenty with the jabs. And I'm not doing it to be beautiful so much as to be healthy, although admittedly I'd like to feel more comfortable and confident in my skin.

But I'm one who has struggled a lot with side effects (missed out on my recent Christmas do because of them which I was really looking forward to, for example), and not to mention it's a big chunk of my disposable income I'm giving up. I've weighed up pros and cons and come to the decision it's worth it to continue for me, but I wouldn't say this journey has been struggle free! But it has made it easier to stay within 1200-1300 calories and has reduced the overwhelming sugar cravings I used to get (I do still get the odd craving, but they're far more manageable) - and I suppose that's the part that's seen as cheating. Because I don't feel quite so deprived and like I'm denying myself things it's not real effort?

I do wonder if people are thinking that everyone on them just keeps eating as normal and the fat just magically melts away? There's always a sister or a colleague who is taking them whilst still eating 16 take aways a week in these gripes- which is just not how the drug works at all but even if it were - there's plenty of naturally very slim people who get away with eating and drinking too much, always has been.

Isn’t it too early for wli bingo? I mean the thread just started,

That was in response to this post.

Yes all the faux worry. “Just stay fat dear in case you regain it. Or maybe you may have long term side effects. I mean I know 15 million in the us alone on it and all good, and been in play for twenty years, but I’m so concerned, just take the risk of heart attack, stroke and cancer instead, there’s a love”

I think injections are OK for some but if someone is hugely overweight it doesn't solve the psychological reason behind why.

People can, and many do, address this while taking the injections @GroovyChick87 Many obese people will be well aware of the likelihood of regaining weight because they've probably done it several times already. If it was as simple as 'get therapy' that would be great, but therapy is also a long and gruelling and expensive painful process for many people who have to delve into complicated childhood reasons for the way they eat and feel about their body. Many people will 'address' it many times in their life but never successfully resolve it. It's possible that some will take some form of GLP1 medication for life because of this.

I Imagine the anti injection brigade also use Botox, fillers etc…

I’ve got an under active thyroid, never counted calories but still stayed a healthy weight all of my life ( now in my 60’s). I’ve done this by simply eating home cooked healthy food, so large quantities of fruit and veg.
I don’t think it’s actually cheating, but I do worry that it’s not helping with people’s diets, do you just eat smaller amounts of junk rather than reeducate your palate?

I also wonder if taking such a strong medicine will have any long term effects. I know lots of people take medicine for different problems to stay alive, but being overweight is something you can solve by eating less.

do you just eat smaller amounts of junk rather than reeducate your palate?

No.

I wonder if people don’t understand how they work exactly. Do they believe the jabs allow you to eat and eat and still lose weight, so you’re not sacrificing anything or making changes potentially? FWIW I haven’t taken the jabs but hope to start in the new year.

I wonder whether (this is not my opinion, just have been thinking about this too and thinking of all the possible reasons) some people don't think that the NHS should pay for weight management (ie bariatric surgery/WLI) because they believe the onus is on the individual to 'undo' the fatness they think the fat person caused. Again, this is NOT MY OPINION, I am just wondering whether it's how some people see it.
Having been an overweight teen I am aware that obesity and weightloss are very complex, so I have no issue with WLI/bariatric surgery if it allows people to live a longer, healthier life, but I do think that the underlying cause for the obesity needs to be looked in to (aware this will differ from person to person) in order to make the WL sustainable.

I wasn't talking about everyone, I said some. I'm not a psychologist. But I know that the person I know that had surgery overate because they and an eating disorder ( their words). Eating disorders don't just mean that you're anorexic or bulimic. This person barely eats now and still have the same issues that led to them overeating before, just with no outlet. The only difference is that they are now slim and have the physical health benefits of not being fat anymore.

Maybe they think it's some sort of magic fat melting elixir. It isn't. It just stops you being as hungry. You still have to make the right choices and put the work in. And the side effects aren't a piece of piss either.

It’s not down to fucking willpower 🙄

I think that’s exactly what they think. And also they like having the fat friend to feel superior to.