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.

Do you have personal experience of this? Or can you link me to the papers that say this please. As my consultant is talking about me being on it for life.

yes it is. As evidenced by the effectiveness of weight loss injections. The environmental conditions remain the same, yet when you fix the endocrine issues, people are able to lose the weight
And here we go again....

The drug doesn't sort out a deficiency or any sort. It disturbs a part of the brain that tells to it. Suddenly, we can think of food without feeling the urge to open the cupboard and go through the whole pack of biscuit.

Again, this assumes that slim people don't have problem in the first place, and that's why they are slim. They never feel the urge to go and eat a pack of biscuits in one go. This is not the case.

Also, many posters justifying that's it's an hormone issue because prior to being on the injections, whilst continuing to eat exactly the same diet, they were pilling up the weight. Yet it is clear that the way the drug works is not by impacting on metabolism or diluting fat absorption. It impacts by reducing appetite, ie. People eat less, which is clear evidence that the reason why people put on weight just as they lose it in the first place comes down to how much food they ingest.

"I just try to explain why people might not show great enthusiasm when obese people lose the weight thanks to the drug."

if any of my friends aren't enthusiastic about me leading a much better, healthier life then I don't want them as my friends.

For me, it's a miracle.

I now sleep, I have less brain fog, I have 90% less panic attacks, I don't feel like the world is about to end, I don't feel dread all the time, I'm not in constant fight or flight mode. I could go on. Oh, and weight loss is a welcome effect too.

So once the injections stop, that will return won’t it. How will people tackle that. None of my concern obviously but for the purposes of a discussion thread, I am wondering
Well according to some expert posters, that's not the case because once they will get to a healthy weight, their GPL1 will increase, which mean they won't crave bad food any longer, so they will have problem managing their weight, just like all slim people who have it easy.

Indeed @ThatCoralShark . I may not be a neuroendocrinologist, but my consultant - who is a Professor of Endocrinology at one of the UK’s best teaching hospitals as well as head of Endo at his local NHS hospital and practices at the Spire, has categorically stated that obesity is a disease often but not always cause by endocrine disorders (such as hypothyroidism and PCOS which I have, or diabetes which many people have) but it is not in and of itself a endocrinological disease.

I suspect certain posters on here will consider my tone to be superior, but I will take the word of an expert clinician of 30years experience over a @randomperson on MumsNet who claims to be an expert.

It is nonsense.

we increase the dose based on our own bodies tolerance and reaction to the drug, till we get to the optimal dose for us, for some this maybe 5mg, for others 10 or 15mg, depending on many factors, inc our bloody sugar levels etc. every person tolerates and reacts differently.

we start low to ensure we can build tolerance, and move up slowly . Till we achieve the right dose for our bodies, then we stay on this dose.

the poster just made up some nonsense in their head and posted it. Of course we don’t move up as we start ignoring it 😂

I too am slim now but battle food cravings. Whenever I have put on weight, it’s simply been due to lack of willpower and eating too much. Not due to hormones, trauma, comfort-eating, having kids, a stressful job etc. I just like food that makes me put on weight. Esp after the menopause. Seems like I am the only one who gets fat from being ‘greedy’ and lacking willpower.

Where do you get that the free food is mostly carbs? It’s veg, fruit, lean meat, fish etc. as well as brown pasta and wholemeal bread, and it works if you stick to it. Slow and steady and I’m getting there. I know I could stick at this weight if I decided not to keep
losing.

Food noise is so much more than cravings! Food noise completely takes over your thoughts and disrupts your concentration. If I am working and a wave of I need to eat x comes into my head I won't be able to concentrate until I have done it. There are times where the compulsion to eat something is so strong and it will be something I know will make me unwell. I will still eat it and spend an evening on the loo or being sick. That's just not normal. I have battled my whole life with my weight. I will loose 2 stone and pile it all back on and some more
That's me, a 100%. I think the main reason is chronic sleep problems, which I'm under a consultant for, but they struggle to find the right treatment, and ironically, the one that was supposed to help was known for increasing weight!

Yet I'm managing to control it to an extent. It's soooooo hard and disheartening but the fear of obesity is even stronger. I have so many strategies to help. I eat in the morning and stops after 2pm because the food noise is loudest the more I eat and reduces when I haven't eaten for a while. I don't buy the naughty food I know I won't resist. I buy low fat so of I eat more, it's not as bad. I exercise tons. Most of the time, I really don't want to but I force myself. I put the one snack I allow myself in the fridge, so that it takes longer to eat....

But you'd see me, and you'd assume, like most of those who don't me very closely that I'm just lucky and just don't experience food noise, and that my GLP1 must just be naturally high...

But it doesn’t work, it is proven to not work. 95 percent regain. They know it doesn’t work to the extent they even let you come back for free maintenance as long as it’s 3 lbs off target, you go over and they want you to pay. They even tell you it does not work in this, otherwise they’d not have the 3lbs limit.

and yes the free food is mainly carbs, ain’t no one filling up on lean meat and eggs, they stuff down the pasta and potatoes.

the list is appalling. Who the heck can think you can eat unlimited quantities of all these foods, it is one of the worst and most cultish diets there is. With arguable the worst ability to keep it off after.

• lean meat (and meat replacements)
• fish
• eggs
• rice
• pasta
• potatoes
• beans and lentils
• vegetables
• fruit

It’s interesting that you have no confidence in the sustainability of the effects of this drug, yet you were claiming a minute ago that what you eat is what causes the hormone imbalance that causes the food cravings (this may well be so)? So if this drug changes how people eat for a period of time according to this logic shouldn’t that then have the knock on effect on restoring hormone balance without the drug?

The drug doesn't sort out a deficiency or any sort. It disturbs a part of the brain that tells to it. Suddenly, we can think of food without feeling the urge to open the cupboard and go through the whole pack of biscuit.

what are you talking about? It mimics the actions of a hornone (that many obese people are found to be deficient in) that regulates blood sugar and slows digestion such that people feel full quicker when they eat, and stay full for longer.

You cannot just get any glp1 medication because you fancy it.
If you're getting it legally, you're getting it from a GphC registered pharmacist. There's a strict criteria that they MUST stick to,or risk losing their license. There's no " just" about it.

Utter rubbish.
15mg is the actual dose.
You titre up to it, slowly, in order to minimise the risk of side effects.
IF, You ate doing OK at a lower level, you can stay there. Or, once your body is OK with the level, you move up, towards the FULL dose. You don't get the full benefit, until you reach that full dose.
It's not an uncommon approach. I've done it with several different drugs.
Please stop talking rubbish.

what are you talking about? It mimics the actions of a hornone (that many obese people are found to be deficient in) that regulates blood sugar and slows digestion such that people feel full quicker when they eat, and stay full for longer
Exactly! You stay full or feel that you stay full for longer, do you eat less....that's the difference. You eat less and that's why you lose weight. Obesity comes from eating too much, whatever the reason.

So again, if the hormone is naturally deficient whilst obese, once they are the right way, the hormones levels should go up, they can come off the injections, and all is well.

Because according to posters here, if people are not obese, it's because they have higher level of the hormone and don't face the issues obese people face....

That's why, as I have said in my case, obesity can be a symptom of a endocrine disorder. That holds true for others, I am sure. The rather disdainful tone of some posters around 'blaming being fat on hormones' is another manifestation of the moral higher ground being appropriated. Not sure why those not affected by obesity are so mithered by what others do to improve their lot, I must say.

Give it a few years… we’ll see won’t we.

It doesn’t change the types of food being consumed. It changes the amount.

This is inaccurate, please just stop, if you eat fried food, too much carbs, sugar it gives you bad side effects, gastrointestinal ones. It absolutely changes how you eat.

Yes because you eat less, everybody has said this from the beginning. You eat less because your hormones are regulated in such a way that you don’t experience as much hunger. Hormones that regulate blood sugar and digestion affect hunger. It ha been demonstrated through research that Both fasting and post-prandial GLP-1 levels are lower in people with obesity as compared with those in normal-weight subjects, driving obese people to eat more.

I don’t understand what’s happening on this thread. Poster after poster making up stuff, completely ignorant on how the drugs work. Posting erroneously like it’s fact.all because they are so jealous and resentful people are on them.

its unbelievable.

Please just stop? Because I disagree with you?? You may want to run and hide from the very simple truth but you can’t. It’s not a hormone problem, it’s not an endocrine issue. It’s not your PCOS. People are overweight because they eat the wrong foods and they eat to much of it. End of. Obesity is a disease but it’s ultimately about choices with a simple solution- take control of your life, get the right education and help and sort your health out. Weight loss jabs won’t fix you, tablets won’t fix you, surgery won’t fix you.

It most definitely DOES. You try taking Mounjaro, and stuffing your face with cake and chips. You WILL feel sick, you may well throw up.
You will not fancy any of this stuff. You won't crave sugar, or carbs, and you will want to eat healthy food. And you have the head space to do it, and change.
Do you enjoy being so smug and talking shit? Or does it just happen when you open your mouth?

No, stop as you’re posting factually inaccurate info. I don’t care if you disagree with me, crack on. I do care if you post errors.