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.

Not all, but some yes I’ve seen it many times where an overweight friend loses weight and you see an eye roll from the girl that’s used to getting all the attention. I think it’s great, I absolutely love seeing jealous people not being the centre of attention for once

Interesting and balanced article, I think, highlighting that mental health is linked to physical health so untangling them is a complex issue in research.

It links to an additional article, too, from earlier in the year: https://www.statnews.com/2024/01/30/wegovy-ozempic-depression-bipolar/

That research is now targeting the possible effects on depression - and in other research they are looking at whether GLP1 medications may have a positive impact on alzheimers and alcohol addiction - is exciting in terms of the potential clinical uses outside weight loss. I truly believe these medications will have other applications in time, having see the effect on chronic severe migraine and also ADHD/attentiveness in both myself and my son.

My younger self would've said yes, get your arse out there and exercise, which I have always done and this sentiment stays for younger people, do the natural option.

Now older, menopause, issues, I think ok why not, but not as a replacement for becoming healthier. I'm actually considering it as I can't do the same high level of workouts I used to do.

The contention is women with no medical problems in their 20s opting for it as a quick fix, thereby it does seem to encourage an idea oh eat what you want and get as fat as you want and have the jabs. Part of the whole demise of taking responsibility for yourself as a society.

I believe that you have to have a BMI of over 30 to start the injections, so it’s not going to be a quick fix option for a woman in her 20s who went a little overboard on an all inclusive holiday.

The weight loss injections are there to help people return to a healthy BMI, reducing their risk of illness and disease, and arguably reducing the pressure on the NHS in the future!

.im not really sure why this was focused on women in their 20s, but the drugs are for people with a bmi over 30, so obese, or 27, with some ethnicities or health issues, they are tightly prescribed.

id be stunned if anyone was stupid enough to become clinically obese so they could take wli to lose it again .

My mum tries to make weight control a competition. Especially with my sister who has gained and lost and gained and lost since being a teen. If you said you're watching what you're eating she'd throw unhealthy snacks at your feet while visiting her, or pour large glasses of wine and put them next to you. I'd feel guilty because I'd be worried she was just being kind, but really she was trying to win. I hate competition, and I hate that I think about what I eat a lot (have had eating disorders but am not overweight rn). This isn't specific to injections, but just thinking through the mentality of why ppl might think "cheat". Basically, it's coming from their own MH issues imo.

So you lost weight once with hypnosis, but presumably put it back on, or more? What makes you think that the injections will make you lose it, and keep it off for good? Do you think the expense and yo-yo dieting are good for everyone’s wallets, and your health?

My point was that, unless there are medical issues, becoming obese at a young age is generally due to bad diet, lifestyle and not exercising. Human bodies, when young, are designed and able to maintain quite a fit and active lifestyle. What do you mean by ethnicities? I don't understand this point.

To reiterate, having any form of medical issues I get, otherwise it really is a matter of lifestyle. I'm saying this as someone who was overweight, then made changes and lost it, now fat again. X

Indeed! My point was that if we are able to, ie when younger and no medical issues, doing what we've always done like a healthy diet and exercise is more beneficial. Having a good regime is far better to stand in good stead long term and the self achievement also. X

@CautiousLurker01 I have also noticed the effect on migraines, to reduce them which makes complete sense to me as having up and down blood sugar and hunger often used to set them off. I have made other changes around the same time, though, so it would be great if these drugs could be trialled for chronic migraines in women which are very hard to solve (although there are some other good options out there).

It seems likely some of these drugs will perform in multiple ways- so if you have a middle-aged woman or man with migraines who is overweight or obese (a majority) then treating them for the obesity will also treat the migraine. It's an interesting proposition- there are other multiple use drugs but these seem to have more potential than most.

I can only speak for me - but I do pack in the salad and boiled eggs etc. no carbs for lunch. I’m two stone down and it’s still creeping down. It works if you stick to it. If you cheat, it doesn’t. Last time I did it, I messed it up and the weight went back on. This time it’s staying off.

I think this reply shows a lack of understanding about what GLP-1 medications do. They don’t just reduce hunger, they impact the way your body uses insulin and energy stores. This is why it helps type 2 diabetics. This contributes to weight loss.

No one knows exactly why some people can eat what they want and not gain weight and others gain a stone if they look at a cake. We know it has to do with metabolism and we know that GLP-1 medications improve this. Shouldn’t we be pleased that we now have a medication to help obesity? No one behaves like this about BP meds or statins!

if it was a case of eat less and move more, we wouldn’t have the obesity epidemic we have now.

So what then? Just stay fat?

I've been on weight loss drugs and am maintaining my weight loss (for now).

I wouldn't waste any more time trying to convince people who think this is cheating or you will inevitably put the weight back on. Even the evidence doesn't suggest it all piles on again immediately. It might for some, but it seems to have given me a breathing space to feel calmer and establish a very good quality diet, whilst not being starving all the time, so it all feels more doable now I'm off the medication for a couple of months. Who knows, but no regrets here.

I should also say if I did put on lots of weight again, I'd be back on them again in a shot. I know they work for me, but I didn't like being on them so for me the optimal situation is to continue my healthy lifestyle, but if it isn't sustainable during a crisis or I slowly creep up, I'll be on top of it with weight loss drugs again.

I don't see that as a failure, it's reassuring to know there's something that is effective after years of feeling like nothing, absolutely nothing, would shift my weight, as I'm older, menopausal and disabled so the options I used when younger weren't working.

Your body and life changes… I know that I gained weight during pregnancy, lost quite a bit while on maternity leave, went back to work full time, having a baby in the house that didn’t sleep meant I was too tired and busy to exercise, and childcare costs meant that a gym membership was no longer affordable, I gained weight!

Had a second child and went through the same thing, gained even more weight!

Roll on a few years, I joined slimming world, lost three stone, kept the weight off for a few years, then lockdown happened, I gained weight! Then a double whammy of perimenopause and an ever more sedentary full time job… I gained weight! I went on HRT I gained weight!

I upped my exercise, and took 20k steps a day, watched what I was eating… followed slimming world rules for syns… for 18 months…. it’s not helped me loose weight!

So I feel that your comment doesn’t reflect the actual time poor / cash restricted reality of life that many women face!

I spend my evenings volunteering, ferrying my kids to clubs ( on foot as much as possible) catching up with cleaning, housework etc… the demands on my time are completely different now to my 20s when I actually had time to do things that I enjoyed, my husband I would go out and spend the day walking around AOBs, we could go to the gym together… now our lives revolve around work, raising our kids and keeping on top of everything else!

It’s incredibly naive to think that we are the same in our 20s and 40s… from personal experience that’s not the case for most women!

If weight loss injections help people then why not support them in having that help!

Speaking of uncontrollable childbirth... or rather surprise and/or unwanted pregnancies (and legit concerns about the effects on the foetus, given the dire results in animal studies, though of course there is no data for this in human studies,as the entire planet is now the guinea pigs)....

Millions are racing to get hold of Ozempic. But when women are accidentally falling pregnant, shouldn't we be more sceptical? - ABC News

Sadly no drug prevents scaremongering. So women shouldn’t take medication in case they accidentally get pregnant?

Guess you also didn't bother to read the article before forming an opinion on it.

It's not scaremongering. It's an aspect of previously unknown side effects of this drug when used on a mass population level, that will impact for example women falling pregnant in parts of the world where abortion is now unobtainable or illegal, and it will certainly negatively affect the babies born to women who fall pregnant while on birth control as an unexpected side effect of these drugs.

It’s an extremely alarmist article.

I hope you can get to target and maintain, genuinely , but you yourself just proved it doesnr work, the moment you said “the last time I did it”, if it worked, you’d not have regained, 95 percent of people regain on slimming world, it is not sustainable when you start maintaining, if it was they’d offer free classes for life as they’d know it stayed off. They don’t. 3 lbs and you need to pay again. People feel deprived, and they don’t want to eat like that for ever more. Or pack in unlimited amounts of bland carbs like potatoes, boiled eggs and pasta, Hence they regain.

at least on the jabs you can retrain your eating habits, because you learn about portion size, that’s a key issue for many of us, and the one slimming world misses with its free foods, we learn to eat healthier foods, we learn to eat much less fat and sugar, drink less, and it is likely one of the reasons people on average only regain 14% when they stop.that and something in their chemistry I guess,

two of my friends have been doing slimming world on and off for years, one is fatter than she’s ever been, this is the fourth or fifth time she’s got back on that horse, lose the weight, keep it off a while, slowly regain, get fatter than before, go back to slimming world, and rinse and repeat. And it’s the same folks going back every time,

i genuinely can’t fathom how no part of her thinks, well clearly this isn’t working, and this is an awful diet, with all these free foods and bloody syns, it’s not teaching me better eating habits, or portion control, or that a little fat or sugar is acceptable, so I will find another way,

it must be exhausting, and that’s what I don’t get about folks screaming about how people will pile the weight on when they stop the jabs, um evidentially they gain only a little back,where as on nearly every other weight loss method , they gain it all and then some. And quite frankly slimming world is one of the worst.

You also have no idea what the poster you are quoting has gone through. It seems clear to me that many thin people are dogged by demons as they attempt to cope with the psychological effects of their attitudes to food. You don't have to look any further than the.many thin people affected by anorexia and bulimia. A little more compassion all around would be better.

Many fat people suffer eating disorders. They don't get much compassion from the 'you're just greedy and lazy' brigade. Bulimia in particular is often not associated with thinness, and there are links to later development of Binge Eating Disorder which ruins lives and health (sometimes arising from previous restrictive and/or purging disordered behaviour, sometimes from other triggers). The role that disordered eating plays in obesity for many is widely dismissed and ignored. In the toxic diet culture where we all live, women of all shapes and sizes are dogged by demons about our bodies and our relationship to food. It's why there is so much viciousness about the jabs and why everyone could stand to extend a little compassion in the conversation.

Yeah, the answer to that is about restoring and maintaining women's right to healthcare and their access to contraception and abortion - not taking away WLIs. We need to increase women's bodily autonomy, not take it away. Some medications do interfere with birth control and therefore women taking those meds need to be informed and to be able to use other methods while also having full access to abortion - we need to campaign against abortion bans, not weight loss drugs.

Is staying fat any less healthy than yo-young and possibly getting fatter each time? How about losing the weight and keeping it off?