To think that people pretend not to understand obesity

[Mezzoprezzo]

After 30 plus years of failed diets I've recently started on mounjaro. Because I've placed an order and spent weeks searching stuff about weight loss medication, my Facebook feed is full of adverts from suppliers, many of which use vlogs from real clients who have lost weight. And the vast majority of comments are along the lines of, couldn't you just eat less, haven't you heard of exercise, why not just stop eating crap etc. Surely people are faking ignorance to have the fun of fat bashing. Obesity is rife! Everyone knows someone who struggles with their weight and who talks openly about it. I and every other obese person I know have tried every diet under the sun. Walk into any gym and you'll see a fair number of larger people trying bloody hard. And I know someone's going to reply to this post by talking about an obese friend who they once saw eating an entire packet of biscuits. Well numerous times I've given in to the overwhelming urge to do that too. And hated myself afterwards. It's part of the horrible condition. People have got eyes and ears and they seriously know full bloody well how hard obese people try to lose weight. They just pretend not to so they can have the fun of hating.

Walking is cardiovascular exercise

That's simply not true. It's well known what happens to traditional populations when a US style diet is introduced, the Pacific Islands being a prime example.

So it seems as though that over-processed, high sugar foods so common in the US and UK are disastrous to populations.

I think Greece is the 'largest' country in Europe btw.

When you start on MJ you’ll understand their perspective a little more. It was a revelation to me; it’s like the brain of a skinny person was suddenly activated and I could easily eat a lot less. Transformed my life

@NorthernGirl1981 Mounjaro works partly by suppressing appetite but mostly by regulating blood sugar levels by increasing insulin production and by reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver.

I’m using it alongside a lower carb diet so that when I hit my goal weight I should be able to manage my insulin resistance by diet. I may need to stay on a maintenance dose for longer or I may need to stay on it for life.

It’s expensive and I can’t really afford it but on the other hand I can’t really afford not to take it. The benefits I’ve had through MJs anti inflammatory properties have been significant

I also gave up a 30 a day smoking addiction 20 years ago and never looked back. Losing weight is way harder. When it comes to overcoming addictions / compulsions fat people have drawn the short straw because the harder they try the worse the problem gets. When we lose weight the primitive part of our brain thinks we've been in a famine or very sick. So it brings on an intense hunger 'helping' us to regain the weight and restore our strength. There's loads of research stating that a key predictor of obesity is dieting.

I got served all these ads too when I was researching Mounjaro. One thing I’ve realised since starting Mounjaro is how misinformed some of these comments are. You still need to be active and in a calorie deficit to be losing weight on Mounjaro, so it’s not a magic bullet for weight loss. What it does is give people who have metabolic challenges (due to obesity, hormones etc) a boost to lose weight in a normal way and it dramatically improves insulin resistance.

Sorry, I was genuinely being flippant as opposed to factual.

It’s such an interesting topic to delve into though, as many on here have said it’s such a multi-layered issue and not just as black and white as people being greedy (which is a common assumption).

It doesn't.

I am on month 5 on MJ and finding myself slipping back into bad habits now the novelty has worn off. This is where the challenge begins. I have to find a way to repair my relationship with food using MJ as a support mechanism.

I was clinically obese for many years. Then I lost 35kg and have remained a healthy weight ever since. I did it without drugs or any other form of external intervention. Just diet and exercise.

I began to lose weight when I stopped blaming anything & everyone but myself for my obesity and accepted that I, and I alone, am responsible for what I choose to put in my mouth. Not ‘society’. Not the government. Not the media. Not the junk food industry. Not the supermarkets. Me.

Losing a lot of weight is simple. Eat less, eat better, move more, and accept that it’s a marathon not a sprint. That’s it. The hard bit is stopping making excuses & just doing it.

In a way I am agreeing about non-physical contributors, but just wanted to put a slightly different spin on that based on what I see in the lives of my friends who have serious weight struggles.

I think there is an aspect of personality involved and it actually makes me feel very defensive of them, because they often tend to be people who take on the burden of the troubles and strain of those round them and seek to address that as a priority. They tend to be very outward-looking and very giving, so yes, I do think emotional factors and stress can play a part. My friends are the type who tend to help others before attending to themselves. I know plenty would criticise that and say “ put on your own oxygen mask first” but if you have people close to you with needs, that can - for some personality types - be a very hard thing to do. Certainly some people are very good at it. The very slimmest, fittest people I know either tend to be at a stage of their life where they can focus on themselves a lot or they just continue to do so regardless. Also a lot of them also tend to be very judgmental of others so are terrified of being criticised in the same way if they gain weight and that shunts it way up the list of priorities.

I know this will draw out some furious responses - from the self invested particularly - but it is something I have noticed in many cases and I get tired of the negative personality and life-style choice judgments ( lazy, greedy etc) only being allowed to be made in one direction. Both my very overweight friends are the loveliest, most fabulous examples of human emotional strength and kindness. The person I know who in her forties takes most assiduous care of her weight and appearance generally is a very judgmental person who always puts her needs first. If it’s gym time, it’s gym time: the kids have even been left to sit in the car while she goes because there isn’t always time to drop them home!

Lifestyle, choice and willpower are all critical.
its never easy to master all of them but ultimately they all end up being key to healthy eating and size.
when people like yourself say they’ve tried every diet under the sun (as have I, I hasten to add) I would guess they didn’t try them very well.
My observation of myself and those who manage weight well or those who don’t is it comes down to mastery of those things.

Every diet I’ve done under the sun I’ve failed to stick to rigorously, I’ve cheated, grabbed snacks. I’ve made bad choices

Then when not dieting my portion sizes are too high and my snacking is out of control. I constantly treat myself when I should never treat myself. I’m not ‘eat a packet of biscuits in one go out of control’, but maybe six Jaffa cakes. And let’s face it you only need to eat 2 or 3 to tip your entire days calories out of whack

Sometimes people do express all these notions cruelly. But us fatties do need to be realistic about what got us there in the first place.

good luck on Mounjaro. I’ve had to come off it due to horrible side effects even at the low dose, and Ozempic made me sick as a dog. But you WILL still need to master your diet when on it

But from a moral stance, and not a judgemental one, how do you feel about the fact that you can afford to pay for treatment and improve your health as a result, whereas another person who has the exact same problem as you has no option but to suffer the chronic ill-effects of obesity because they don’t have the spare income to afford MJ?

I know the fact it’s available to buy is something people can benefit from if they can afford it, we know private healthcare benefits people in lots of way and is used my many people (myself included), but do you think MJ should be more widely available so those who would be considered ‘poorer” can have the same access to health treatment as others?

Kind of like how people on certain benefits don’t have to pay for dental treatments and prescriptions for example.

Wow! Well done on losing so much weight, that’s an amazing achievement.

Over the last 12 months I have noticed myself getting slowly bigger and my clothes getting tighter but I buried my head in the sand. I lead a sedentary lifestyle and would snack during the day and eat large portions of food. I started to dislike what I saw in the mirror and even though I was unhappy I didn’t change my behaviour…. It was really odd. Was I expecting the weight to just suddenly drop off me or something?!

Then, I had to weigh myself in February for a hospital appointment and when I saw the reading I was so upset because I hadn’t realised how heavy I’d allowed myself to get. That was my starting point, right then, and I changed my diet from the next day, I reduced my portion sizes, stopped eating chocolate, crisps, biscuits and rubbish foods, and increased how much exercise I did each week.

I’ve lost 9.5lbs in almost 5 weeks just from making these small changes and it’s made
me realise that I can lose weight….I just needed the motivation and stamina to stick at it.

This is just my experience of course and is not meant to be judgemental (for want of a better word) to those who do have food addictions. I know it’s a completely different scenario.

Ignore them, they are idiots. You're doing something amazing for yourself. I wish you the very best of luck.

But from a moral stance, and not a judgemental one, how do you feel about the fact that you can afford to pay for treatment and improve your health as a result, whereas another person who has the exact same problem as you has no option but to suffer the chronic ill-effects of obesity because they don’t have the spare income to afford MJ?

Are you saying we have some sort of moral obligation not to take MJ if we can afford to do so?

What a strange stance.

No, I think I pretty much said the opposite actually.

I was just asking if those who don’t have the money to pay for it should have some price concessions available to them so they can still benefit from it.

@NorthernGirl1981 I hate the fact that people who need this drug can’t access it. The nhs criteria to prescribe it need to be reviewed as very few people get it and it’s a life changing drug.

I saved for ages to be able to buy it. My pot is emptying rapidly. I’m lucky to have been able to save but it shouldn’t be like that.

I’m hoping that as new drugs emerge costs go down and more people will be able to access it

I’m not coming from a place of knowledge on this so add that as disclaimer, but I thought it was free after you reached the point that it was judged the benefits outweighed the risks?

I think what some obese people don’t realise is that it takes the vast majority of people a lot of will power to stay slim and so those people think that if they can maintain the will
power why can’t others. Very few people over 30 can eat what they like, do no exercise and stay slim.

So I guess these weight loss jabs are kind of viewed as buying yourself an easy option so you don’t need to maintain your will power through your life to maintain your health. Hence all the comments about. Not saying they’re right but I can see why they feel like this. Personally I’d rather do the portion control and exercise way as I don’t trust these jabs but I don’t have a serious food addiction. I guess if you do they could be the only way you feel you can loose weight.

I think people look down their noses at addiction full stop, you only have to ask a smoker or an alcoholic.

And yet very often the people looking down their noses at them, are obese.

People point fingers at others because while they're doing that, they're not pointing at themselves.

It was my understanding that the NHS criteria is quite strict with regards to who can or can’t have it, which is why so many people pay privately for it.

I don’t think the NHS hand it out to anyone who is overweight as I imagine that would be VERY expensive.

That's an interesting take, I'm from a very slim family, and I actually do tell my children that they must centre themselves in their own existence. That they must be their number one priority, not to be selfish dickheads, to be kind and helpful and to consider others, but their needs are important.

So there may be some truth in what you say!

@Calliopespa I know three people getting it on the NHS, but all because of type two diabetes, not because of weight, even though weight is definitely a factor in all of the cases. And I know two people paying for it, but both started out in the obese BMI category, which is where I think the benefit outweighing the risk comes from. I don’t think it’s a miracle though, it still requires dedication and effort, and can have some unpleasant side effects. I have seen your late post that is a very interesting take and I can definitely see that with people that I know.

So it seems like with the NHS you must have a weight related health condition, you must prove you’ve tried traditional diet and exercise regimes first, and you have to be referred to specialist services before weight loss treatment can be considered?

Whereas that isn’t the case if you go private and as long as you’re overweight and can afford it you can purchase the drug?

I think what some obese people don’t realise is that it takes the vast majority of people a lot of will power to stay slim

On what do you base "it takes the vast majority of people a lot of will power to stay slim"?

very few people over 30 can eat what they like, do no exercise and stay slim.

But keeping an eye on what you eat (I don't mean restricting or being obsessed, just putting good food into your body) and exercising shouldn't take mighty will power, these things should be the norm.

And what do you mean by 'eat what they like'? Over eating, or just eating what they fancy? I think there are plenty of people who follow their hunger (ie eat what they like), do little exercise and stay slim. They might not be particularly healthy, but their weight isn't a problem.