Sick of people on weight loss jabs saying you still have to “put in the work” with wl jabs

[Plind]

I’ve lost a fair amount of weight naturally this year. It’s been hellish as I’m fairly sure I have some sort of psychological reliance on comfort eating. I asked a couple of people I know if they recommend I go on WL jabs for the last stretch as I have lost momentum and am stagnating but could probably still do with losing another 20 pounds. They always say well “WL jabs still elan you have to put in the work. The fat doesn’t evaporate”. I’m sorry but WHAT. The injections are doing the hard bit for you. Ie stopping you from wanting to shovel large amounts of unhealthy food in your gob. It’s very annoying. I see this comment online all the time too.

I definitely do not have an issue with people on WL jabs. I would use them too but I am saving up for a mummy makeover so have chosen to save my money as a SAHM.

Very defensive comments imo!

I think this nails it for me.

Why does there seem to be so much judgement around people that take a legitimate drug to aid weight loss, and greatly improve overall health? Why do other people have so much negativity towards it when in most cases our own doctors are totally supportive? Why are they so concerned about side effects we may experience and yet not concerned about the side effects of millions of other drugs. It honestly baffles me that people are so openly negative about something that presumably doesn’t effect them if they don’t take it.

There are many studies on their effect on people and the brain which say that they do stop/reduce cravings, that that is exactly how they work.

Nothing, but why pretend it’s not easier?

It really isn’t ‘easier’ for lots of people. Feeling sick, headaches and feeling tired isn’t exactly easy - nor are some of the other side effects. It’s different for everyone. They work, that’s what matters.

Mummy makeover is lots of unnecessary surgery all performed in one go, yes?

For no reason other than vanity. Gosh.

If you can lose weight the ‘easy way’ or the ‘hard way’, why do people somehow think it’s more virtuous to do it ‘the hard way’? If a smoker uses nicotine patches, they’re not accused of cheating and told they have to do it ‘the hard way’. But somehow there’s this weird value attached if we’re talking about weight loss.

I’ve lost 2 stone on MJ and have another 2 to go. It’s certainly not been ‘easy’ all the time but it’s been the thing I’ve stuck to the longest. I have to think ahead about what to eat and how to base every meal around protein as well as being committed to building in good exercise. For me, MJ takes the emotion out of eating and means I stop thinking about food as a ‘reward’. Food is now just fuel. It’s a brilliant thing and for me and others, it’s improved our health and allowed us to achieve something we’ve tried (and failed) for years to do. The drugs are a great medical advance and I’m perplexed as to why so many people think that weight loss is only to be praised if you ‘did it the hard way’. 🙄

Thinking back about this, "putting in the hard work" is going to be very different for someone with good food habits vs bad food habits.

For me, it's not difficult to slightly trim the volume of added butter in my portion and only served myself a bit of the same meal.

For someone whose diet needs a radical overhaul (and they need to learn to cook and eat better food), that is the hard work.

My step count is usually 20k+ 3 days a week with a workout on two of the other days, so again, no issues with exercise.

In fact, I had an argument with my husband about going on the jabs, because I cast doubt on him going on his preferred diet again. Except his preferred diet REALLY doesn't work with a family meal, he'd have to cook and prepare something separate to our toddler.

So the jabs do offer something experientially different to all people.

Many of these comments remind me how bitchy women can be to other women. Why would you (for example) look at another woman and decide (and make a judgement) they must have been on WLI? Would you ever look at a depressed person who is laughing and think or say snidely or resentfully 'Oh I bet they're on antidepressants '? Of course not, because it's none of your business and because you'd be pleased they seem to be feeling better.
Everybody's experience with their weight is unique. We all have different metabolisms, levels of food noise, relationships with food. So we can't make ourselves experts about other people's weight and health.
It would be lovely if we could put some of the nastiness to one side and support each other with our weight loss efforts, however we each manage our own journey.
Imagine that, a community where women have each other's backs.

It’s not fun, if that’s what you mean. But it’s much much easier to lose weight as you can’t just lose the symptoms, however miserable it is. Anyone who’s ever taken anything or had something that cuts appetite knows how effective that is. For me that’s a chunk of pregnancy and some illnesses - it’s not ‘easy’ , exactly as you say, it’s shit and I feel shit and stagger through the work day and feel terrible but the idea of food repulses me, actual food in my vicinity nauseates me and the weight falls off very fast. That part is extremely easy.

Ah but it does affect them… it means they lose the perceived competitive advantage that they’ve had over fat people for all these years, and reduces their opportunities to feel smug and superior!

Think about it logically OP. If weight loss jabs didn't make weight loss easier than doing it the traditional way of eating less and exercising, then nobody would bother using them especially as they are so expensive! The NHS wouldn't prescribe them either! Let's face it, if weight loss was easy then nobody would be fat other than for medical reasons. I yo yo with my weight because eating healthy consistently is fucking hard work!!!
People who say that they have to put the effort in are trying to justify their weight loss with some form of self commitment rather than just saying, 'yeah, I've finally found an easier way of losing weight and I'm loving that I don't have to really put much effort in!'

I have lost weight successfully in the past by crash dieting (in my teens) madly exercising (in my 20s) sensible calorie counting (in my 30s) Rosemary Conley (in my 40s) Slimming World (in my 50s)
I always put most of it back on over 5 years or so mind and the older I get the harder it gets to lose it
I’m now past 60 and on WLI but have deliberately chosen to stay on quite a low dose as I am determined if I get to the weight I want to be I’m going to stay there even if I’m on a low maintenance dose for life
I still have to plan healthy meals, factor in regular exercise it just helps with cravings and I find it easier to talk myself out of that biscuit or glass of wine

Perhaps the issue is really that nobody on WLI is suggesting it’s as hard as not being on WLI, because surely if that were the case none of us would take them. What we are saying is that for many, it’s is still not easy. So it may be easier whilst also still meaning we have to put in some hard work.

I don’t really understand why anyone cares what other people do to lose weight or why anyone gives a flying fuck how someone else feels about the effort they have made. It’s weird and resentful and aggressive to be ranting that people have it ‘easy’ when you have done the hard work. So fucking what? It doesn’t make you a better person (perhaps worse given the attitude) and it didn’t affect your life, so how about people just pipe down and focus on their own?

My weight loss on WLI has certainly been easier than other attempts; but still very hard to achieve.

If the jabs don't make it easier to lose weight then why would anyone use them? Surely that's the whole point of them? I think a lot of women feel guilty about doing anything that makes their life easier. They feel they have to be working hard at everything all the time, including weight loss. I say, make life easier. If you have something difficult you can't sort out without help, get the help whenever you can.

I've been on WL jabs for the better part of 9 months, during two of which (summer holidays) I returned to my regular (bad)way of eating whilst still regularly jabbing. I gained 10kg over that period. The minute I went back to my diet (involving very low carb and periods of fasting) the weight started coming off again. I'm one of the unfortunate typesa very slow loserbut the jabs absolutely do not work for me unless I work in other ways through diet and exercise.

@Plind didn’t work like that for me - I did 6 weeks of it and then have lost 2 stone in 7 months without it - just gave me heartburn and a feeling of morning sickness, can’t say it totally curbed my appetite either , but what they are saying is true, you won’t lose it with them if you carry on exactly as before and you certainly won’t keep it off if you don’t change habits- that’s the key .

In that case why not treat it as an addiction and do a 12 step programme.

Reducing/overcoming cravings is required to maintain weight long term. These jabs are only a short term fix.

I would pat yourself on the back that you’ve done all the hard work yourself. Some people have quite bad side effects.

But that’s nonsense, and just comes across as bitter. You can’t just eat whay you want and lose weight, the vast majority of people are actively dieting, counting cals, look at any thread on it. People have to focus on macros, ensure they eat protein, and where feasible work out. To ensure they lose fat and not muscle. Of course it’s easier, that’s the whole point, but that doesn’t mean it’s effortless and the fat melts off. There is a whole spectrum between hard and effortless.

I don’t understand the whole obsession people not on them with folks who are on them. And then the whole bingo card, Sharon osbourne, you will regain it if you stop, and no no no don’t stay on for life, it’s so ageing, what about your pancreas, and now the bizzare it’s easy.

Effortless weightloss is the utopia. The dream. Imagine being the person who writes that like it’s a bad thing. 👀

the fact remains for many it’s not effortless. You do need to do the work, but of course doing that work is much easier and achievable when on the meds. It’s the whole point. Otherwise why would anyone take them.

As so many other posters have said, it doesn't have to be a competition. There are no medals for losing weight the hardest and most hellish way.

All diets work, because you are eating less regardless of whether it is paleo, atkins, weight watchers, slimplan or WLI. The real work is actually addressing all the causes of what drove you to put too much food in your mouth in the first place. For so many of us there are multiple reasons and if you don't sort that out, then the pounds will go back on. @Plind maybe that is what people mean when they say "you still have to put the work in".

Of course it’s easier, OP. If it wasn’t then those on the injections would have lost weight without them.

But I also understand why people on WLJ feel the need to say it’s not and some have probably even convinced themselves it isn’t. There is so much false morality and judgement around weight and weight loss imposed by society, it’s probably a coping mechanism in the face of years of being treated poorly for being overweight. So I’d just let that chat wash over me.

Definitely seems like an easy head start.
I lost the weight by myself because I couldn't afford the jabs 😂 if I could have I would have

Yep it's bullshit - tied up in fat phobia and ableism. There is so much of a moral judgement attached to being overweight, it's almost like losing weight has to feel like punishment - you do the crime, you do the time.

Never mind that if you do insist on looking at it like a competition, the playing field is not at all level. My female partner has always eaten way more than me, sometimes double. I give her huge portions of pasta as it's impossible to fill her up, and she has always been naturally slim. We do roughly the same amount of exercise too. I take after my mum, who has maintained her weight since I've been alive by basically eating one meal a day.

Yeah, you do OP. They don’t melt fat. They don’t disappear calories from food or alcohol.
They do require a complete lifestyle and habit change… don’t know why YOU’RE so bothered though. If you have found methods that work - good for you.
If others are using different methods, good for them .