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!

My view is that if your weight is a risk to your health (in my view this constitutes ‘unwell’) such that you are prescribed weight loss meds then that is a use that outweighs risk. If you are - as everyone I personally know on the drug is - slightly overweight and paying for it via whatever private/blackmarket means you can- and losing weight to the point it makes you seem unhealthy, then that is a use where the risks outweigh the benefits. But as I said we will see in the next decade if there are real harms to this stuff for the user.

Yes because it’s physically not possible because of the jabs ~ it stops your appetite. So no one on the jabs is restricting what they eat since if they could do that they wouldn’t need the jabs. Believe me I’ve frequently been on a 1300 cal diet and exercise, and I’ve been starving. Stop trying to say it’s the same as it’s not.

All this ‘you still have to exercise and watch what you eat on the jabs’. Please, if that were true the millions of people who have been unable to lose weight without the jabs would have done so years ago. Laughable that people make this statement.

I have friends who have said I’ve not done any exercise at all just take the jab and lost weight as it kills my appetite, and I love and respect their honesty.

OK you’ve lost weight taking jabs, but just own it you’ve taken away the most difficult part of losing weight ie the hunger and stop trying to say you’ve still put the work in as you haven’t. Be honest and you’d be respected.

@Scottishsunshine The point being made is that people don't stuff their faces and still lose weight whilst on WLI. The comment about “you still have to restrict what you eat” is referring to having to be in a calorie deficit regardless. Which clearly WLI make easier to achieve and to be consistent with, as you say, that’s what they do.

I’ve been losing weight on Mounjaro for 18 months. Interesting to know that I’ve put no work at all into losing 11st over that time frame. And no work at all into completing Couch to 5k, then running x 3 a week consistently.

Wow. Over what time period did that take, presumably a while but you have also been doing the strengthening workouts alongside to have no saggy skin as the body simply wouldnt be able to keep up?

But well done you..... just really need to ask how tall you are though and what your bmi is now as a.size 4!! In my head you are short.....must be!

I have friends who have said I’ve not done any exercise at all just take the jab and lost weight as it kills my appetite, and I love and respect their honesty.

They are risking losing muscle mass and bone. It is a really alarming attitude to take towards longterm health.

I started it on November and it’s definitely making me eat healthier. I’m losing weight very slowly. It’s cut down my alcohol intake. The other aspect is I can’t eat past being full. I think these are all positive aspects. I’m still enjoying a mince pie or two. I was top end of overweight on bmi and my target is top end normal weight so I want to lose another stone. Also I’m more comfortable walking now, my hips and feet are not aching as much and I have more bounce when walking. There are no upsides to obesity really. If we can eradicate it we should.

Good grief, what an angry bitter little response.

I think this may depend on where you live and the people you mix with. Where I live (East Midlands) a significant percentage of the population are overweight or obese, and a significant percentage can't afford the injection. They still need to wear clothes, so don't worry, OP, you won't be dressing in rags just yet.

I think social media makes it seems people on the injections are more prevalent than they are, it’s about 2,5 million people in the uk , there are 18 million obese people in the uk, and another 17 million over weight, so 35 million in total, 64 percent of the population, so probably about 25 million jab eligible out of the 35 million .

Which means roughly 10 percent on them, 90 percent not.

I also think when people say they know all these people on them, doing x y or z, they mean they read about them on social media. People post wild stuff, like they know a dozen people all lying to get them, so some also made up.

so many people are fat and deeply unhappy about it, very few people are fat and loving it, it is a huge health epidemic, putting enormous strain on the nhs.

readinf forums like this you’d think everyone is on them, and it’s them who are the outlier, they get angry or resentful thay people can take these miracle drugs and be slim and healthy whilst they can’t. When in reality, it’s a small percentage on them, and the over whelming majority are not.

and so we see this constant stream of negativity ,,it’s cheating, not doing the hard work, all will get ill, you look older, you will regain, look terrible, lose muscle, the osbournes. Instead of what is often the truth behind it, which is I want these drugs, I want to be slim and healthy, and I’m angry and frustrated you can have them and I can’t.

This is the point I was trying to make when I first joined the thread. I don't begrudge anyone taking WLI at all to improve their health, but gosh, the media focus on thinness is really triggering. Ironically, it's building up terrible food noise for those of us with EDs. I wish you lots of strength to keep going with your recovery.

Those stats really do put paid to the myth that everyone is on them!

I think the celebrity use of these drugs is the most concerning thing of all because, as you suggest, they have huge influence. It feels as though there is an annoying emphasis on thinness in the media again when we have had a brief respite from its intensity.

Fat people are amongst the most discriminated against groups and fat shaming may become normalised again when we have been making progress with it. Fat people who don't want to use drugs may also be shamed for not "doing something about their weight" even more than they are now.

Apologies if my use of the word "fat" offends anyone. I am fat and don't mind the word, but I realise that some people have a problem with it.

The issue is with how media talks about women and their bodies. That’s the constant. This is just one easy thing to attack every type of woman for being fat/thin whatever.

I think that’s part of it, but is absolving women from personal responsibility for their behaviour. It’s not our fault, it’s the media, it’s men, it’s everyone bar us.

it is absolutely no part of the fact obesity is the biggest killer we have and most people doing for health. It is part of how some women behave though.

women are responsible for their own behaviour. I am often dismayed by how women attack, compete, look down on, insult, other women., and a lot of the negativity is women tearing other women down as they can access the drugs.

that’s on them, it isn’t on the media, it isn’t on men. Women need to take responsibility for their own behaviour. It is the abusers mantra, “they made me do it”

Your friend is an idiot if they are physically capable of exercising but aren’t. They’ll be losing muscle mass and bone mass, risking osteoporosis later in life.

It’s definitely much easier to remain in a calorie deficit on the injection- that’s the point of it. You absolutely should be doing some resistance training alongside it. But you must understand that nobody and I mean, nobody using WLI is looking for respect from you or anyone else - it’s simply none of your business.

I think some people are using the drug irresponsibly. You’ve only got to read the threads here; not refrigerating it, giving themselves more doses, duping companies into how heavy they are. The list goes on. I was careful to choose a company that monitored carefully, gave feedback on protein content of meals, encouraged exercise. I’m afraid all the non compliance is going to spoil it for those that actually do need it. That’s not shaming women. It’s just reiterating there’s little to no monitoring of this drug use for many.

Internalised misogyny is still a product of a patriarchal society and systems though. Manipulating and coercing women (through societal pressure, media pressure, biased lawmaking, religion, medical ignorance, whatever) to criticise and condemn other women for not toeing the party line has been a thing since forever.

I am 5ft 4. BMI is 19.
Started in March 2024.

I have done lots of cardio but not a lot of stength as really dont enjoy it. I was in quite good shape anyway as I was a fit fat person!
I mean, its not perfect, I am no spring chicken, but I am no saggier than anybody else my age.
I have a 2x c section overhang which I cant shift but I had that anyway when I was fat. Would get a tuck for it if I could afford to but shapeware does the job and I look brilliant in clothes.

All this ‘you still have to exercise and watch what you eat on the jabs’. Please, if that were true the millions of people who have been unable to lose weight without the jabs would have done so years ago. Laughable that people make this statement

people react to the jab in different ways, my dd still got hungry for example whereas i do not

you do need to exercise and watch what you eat as it helps with the weight loss but the jab makes it much much easier for the vast majority of people to make better choices food wise

its an incredibly powerful tool if used the right way….i am still working on what the right way is

and as others have said it only works if you are in a calorie deficit….due to medical issues i need to eat less calories than someone without those issues, the jab makes that easier

Women need to take personal responsibility for their own behaviour and not act like they are idiots who attack each other due to the media or men, it is ludicrous.

It's not ludicrous. We live in a patriarchal society and the way women are pitted against women in modern times is driven by the men who run mainstream media and social media platforms. Not entirely driven, but largely.

At the risk of poking the hornets' nest, does your comment mean you'll happily own how you've dug into other women on this thread for not agreeing with your stance on WLI? Most notably saying they must be in the 'chubby and miserable cohort' and now calling them idiots?

Women are not pitted against each other, and again it is ludicrous to extrapolate that what I said meant women can’t disagree with each other. They can, I was talking about all this negativity towards women on wli.

you will never get me to agree that men and the media pit women against each other and we are helpless fools who have no ability to act under our own steam but stupidly do what the media says.

irs Not something I will ever agree with, and I’m embarassed for you and dismayed by your it’s not our fault, the big bad men made me do it stance.

Embarrassed for me? You know what, I've really bitten my tongue during this thread so far reading all your comments, but god, I have to say it – you are so patronising and denigrating of other women. When anyone disagrees with you, you resort to nasty attacks and name-calling. You are actually the worst kind of woman pitting yourself against other women!

You lost the argument when you resort to personal attacks.