The rise of the trend of GLP-1 and the pressure it brings?

[PiriPiriMenopause]

First of all I just want to say I have nothing against the choice people make for the injections at all, I think they’re great and they obviously work for people who need them! I totally get why someone would want to take it, and it really is transforming lives.

But I worry about the pressure this is bringing so the it. I’m a size 14 and pretty normal. At the moment I don’t have trouble buying clothes or getting stuff to fit. My BMI is about 26 which yes is higher than the recommended but not massively so.

So many people I know are on this drug! Honestly, in my normal every day life, I know of at least 15 people who are taking it. It’s working brilliantly and the results are fantastic they’re happy and it’s great, I love seeing how their confidence has turned on a sixpence. Some of the women were larger than me some were not that much larger than me or the same size.

I’m not sure if my experience is a reflection of what’s going on country wide or not. But AIBU to worry about the knock on effect this will have moving forward. I worry that a size 14 will soon become almost obsolete in the shops because people are no longer requiring larger sizes, I worry about the knock on pressure this will bring to those of us who can’t afford to take it or simply don’t want to or can’t take it. I worry about it becoming a culture for people of my daughter’s age and what it means for their confidence in future.

I’m just interested to see if I’m just being paranoid or if this is something other people worry about. There’s always been a massive pressure on women in particular with their size and appearance but this is the first time I’ve ever really felt it so extreme!

To be honest I don't know where you must live to not know anyone on these. I know of 6 people, all of whom have had really good results. Why does that mean this thread is an ad? They work. It's not in question. The problem is they're bloody expensive!

I agree because its not meant for people who are a size 12 /14 . Its meant for people who are very obese

Agreed, for a lot of people it's just that they're not letting on yet and/or relationships aren't close enough to discuss medical matters.

Do not know a single person who is on it, of course there is the possibilty that I do but they do not talk about it, but given that I have not seen anyone I know lose any weight i guess this holds true. As for size 14 becoming obsolete that is just unreal, can anyone see a future where the only sizes available are 8 - 12 and those who cannot afford the jabs, have health conditions that limit their ability to exercise, who gain weight as a side effect of medication are not able to buy clothes !

@Whattodo01826 it's meant for people who are obese, you don't have to be very obese. You can even be just fairly overweight (BMI 27 or higher) if you have a weight-related health condition. The decision by the various health authorities that licence medication is that the health benefits of losing weight for people who meet those criteria outweigh the risks of any side effects.

Tbh I have found it very difficult to see these seemingly overnight transformations.

I’ve lost 55 pounds naturally this year. But I have plateaued pretty much since Oct. Not lost a single pound after being quite successful. It’s obviously jealousy from my pov.

A lot of people who are on the injections will have a goal weight and size of where you are now so I don’t think you need to worry. My target weight is a bmi of 24 but I may stop sooner. I have lost just over 4 stone in just over a year with 2 stone to go. If I end up maintaining around a bmi 25-26 and a size 14 I will be a happy bunny.

Most people on the jabs are paying privately. They are very hard to get on the NHS. They are unaffordable for many people. I have spent over £2k but it’s worth it as they have been life changing.

@Mellowlaz they're not overnight transformations. It's just a perception based on not seeing people regularly and therefore not noticing the weight loss until you see them again and it seems really obvious. Whereas if you spent every day with them you wouldn't notice the gradual change.

Congratulations on losing 55 lbs this year, and for maintaining it since October. That will be a great result for your health.

Someone who is 5ft and a size 14 is likely to be obese. My mum is and has her jabs on the NHS due to various conditions. Her BMI is only just 30 which is still obese. You also dont have to be very obese for it, you can get prescribed them at a BMI of 27 if you have specific conditions.

Obviously sizes vary hugely depending on height, my friend who is 5ft 10 is a size 12, I honestly would not have believed her if i hadn't seen her clothes, she looks more like an 8 to me. Size 12/14 is overweight for me by a fair bit!

Firstly it is not just women taking these medications, secondly you can’t get them (or shouldn’t) with a BMI of 26 and suppliers won’t continue to supply to those whose BMI’s drop below a certain level which is generally a fair bit higher than the lower healthy BMI of 18. Thirdly I think we’ve all got so used to what an overweight person looks like that we’ve lost perspective somewhat as to what a ‘normal’ size person is. While I appreciate your concerns I think these medications have the potential to massively improve the health of the nation and the knock on effects of that for our economy could be very beneficial.
I’ve spent a lot of time on GPL-1 forums and I would say especially since they have increased in cost that the majority of people don’t intend to stay on them for life so they will have to learn to consume in a more healthy way. I hope that seeing more healthy people about will focus people’s minds on being healthy and strong which can only be a good thing.

@PiriPiriMenopause

Obesity has always been pretty rare in places like Japan and they don’t seem to have problems offering clothes for sale in a range of sizes. 🤔 🤷🏻‍♀️

I know only one other woman, other than myself (massively obese), who is overweight who isn't on the jabs. Everyone is slimming down and looking fantastic and then there's me going absolutely nowhere (except up in weight). I pray the jabs reduce significantly in price as I can't justify the cost for now when there's far more important things we need to save for. It being available on the NHS would be the dream though. I've got the BMI, but only 1 co-morbidity from the list when you need 4.

I hope they work. I've got the insulin resistance courtesy of PCOS, but equally some psychological issues about food. Particularly around food wastage.

Is there not rather a huge gulf between being disabled by obesity and just being a bit chubby?

My BMI was over 40. I’m 5ft 2. That made me morbidly obese - possibly even super morbidly obese. But I was never disabled by my obesity- I was perfectly capable of going on a decent dog walk without dying. What I was doing, was staring down the barrel of diabetes, a heart attack, stroke, cancer… to name but a few. WLI have given me my life back.

Better than there being no solution and dying of obesity related disease…

It’s BMI 27 with certain health conditions (diabetes, PCOS etc) or if you’re south asian, black or Middle Eastern.

Yep, whilst making money for said companies with our obesity related conditions all the while!

Better still to get rid of the highly addictive, artificial food-like substances.

So obese people get access to WLI and get to size 10.

Other size 14 people who have tried not to become obese are now the fat ones and have no access to help.

Something is messed up with that.

I don't want to place barriers for anything - I don't know where you got that idea, it's just an opinion.
Of course I haven't had a sudden brainwave that I want to roll out throughout the NHS 😂 I just think people should be given diet and lifestyle advice along with the drug. That's really not that unreasonable?

People who don't understand how to eat healthily won't benefit in the longer term - the injection potentially could be a huge waste of time and money for people like my relative who will pile it all back on as soon as she comes off it because they haven't learnt how to actually maintain that weight loss or newfound health once they come off the medication.

Short term solution of weight loss drugs is fine, but in the longer term healthy diet and lifestyle that people can maintain afterwards will always reduce health costs in the longer term - both monetary and actual health problem costs.

I'm not here to talk about logistics, but a food diary and online information would be really bloody easy to offer - I haven't heard anyone who's had this alongside the injections, but then people don't like talking about it I guess!

Thank you for this. I’m so fed up with being told that obese people need mental health intervention to deal with food issues. Some might, lots won’t. I was obese and quite simply had lost sight of what a normal portion looked like. I was eating as much or more than my husband most mealtimes. I didn’t stuff cakes down my throat all day, unable to stop myself! I also had zero understanding of my tdee and did no exercise. I didn’t need mental health intervention, I just needed a reset and the opportunity to discover what my body actually needed, rather than what I had been giving it.

I’ve lost over 7st, am maintaining, and I’m healthier than I’ve ever been in my adult life.
I do strength training 4x a week and aim for 10k steps a day.
I don’t see a time when I’ll let myself go back to being obese because for the first time in my life I’m actually experiencing what it’s like to be a healthy weight, rather than feeling like it’d never happen.

I can't ever imagine a size 14 not being available as it has always been considered a normal and not plus size. It might end up being at the larger end of sizes rather than somewhere in the middle, but I don't think you have anything to worry about, OP.

We could, but that would still leave us in a society where the norm is to be able to acquire more food than your body needs to maintain weight. Humans evolved for the opposite of that, hence wanting to eat lots of high calorie food when the opportunity presented itself has been a beneficial trait.

Clearly there are some foodstuffs that are dodgier than others, but there's also no evidence that we'd be able to self regulate in the face of surplus real food either. And indeed for some of us, eating too much of that is how we got obese in the first place. So by all means look at regulating frankenfoods, but it's not 'better still'.

I was a size 14 before I started, 5'7" and BMI 29.5. Still in overweight zone, just, but got mounjaro as I have PCOS. I'd been trying to lose two stone for 20 years and would get as far as losing a stone and would then put it back on again because it would take too long being so restrictive and I'd get fed up.

Now I'm just into normal BMI and a size 10.

@PuppyKeep out of interest why would the non obese / non overweight need access to WLI? Also, very few people get WLI on the NHS, they are paying to take it. Surely, it is up to them how they spend their money?

@Nancylancy do you really think that the overweight and obese don't know what healthy eating looks like? Don't you think that if it was as simple as keeping a food diary, we'd all be slim?

Um. People who are a size 14 will range from being a healthy weight to being obese, depending on their height. You cannot say that they will all end up being "the fat ones", that makes no sense at all. Some of those people who are particularly short might be significantly overweight or obese, in which case they can access WLI if they want. The others will remain either a little overweight or a healthy weight. Which is not a problem that they need medical help with! That's not at all "messed up".