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!

It’s not a trend, it’s people desperately wanting to lose weight ffs. It’s the first thing we’ve ever had that comes close to bloody working…..

You wouldn't qualify with a BMI of 26, BMI needs to be over 30 or other health conditions. The prescribing guidelines are strict, but people are obtaining it by lying or buying from unregulated sources.

Don't believe all the hype, I've been on it for nearly a year and lost 45lbs, it's been bloody hard work!! Calories counting, exercise, etc just as you would with any other 'diet' . Losses have almost stalled and I've still got a way to go.

I also know a number of people who are taking this drug - in my relatively small circle I can name at least 8 people who I know about. Some did have a significant amount of weight to lose and are clearly seeing significant health benefits. Others are much more focused on aesthetics, and in some cases are now worryingly thin but still continuing - it almost seems to have taken hold in the same way that an eating disorder might for them and they really do not look healthy. That side of it is definitely a worry - particularly for younger girls who now have some other unrealistic, drug induced standard to aspire to

Hopefully the NHS will move towards GLPs rather than bariatric surgery.

I know a somebody who has halved their weight from over 30 stone. Not with jabs in his case, with diet and exercise and I am full of admiration.
He had a band put in many years ago, lost a bit of weight but gained it in spades. He got to 30stone with a band in. He said, you can eat a lot of melted ice cream!

The band has been causing terrible issues. It was adhered to the gut, the port was poking through the skin in a weeping wound. It was awful. They wouldn't operate to remove it until below a certain weight (although they cheerfully put it in when he was above that weight. ) The whole weight loss journey was to be able to get the band out. Then when they reached the target weight, no surgeon wanted to operate as it was likely too dangerous and they were likely to lose their stomach. In the end it was removed as an emergency as the wound was going to burst and its gone quite well, the adhesions weren't as bad as expected and the stomach was saved.
I know another much younger woman who had one put in, she lost weight but she too is managing to regain. She clearly cannot control hunger even with a reduced stomach. GLPs reduce the constant hunger and this is what she and many other obese people need rather than surgery.

Bariatric surgery is high risk, expensive and not always successful. Surely GLPs are a cheaper, safer option than major surgery. If they don't work for you or you have side effects, you come off them, Its easily reversible unlike surgery.

I'm on mounjaro and I know my body at its very leanest, strongest and healthiest, is a size 14.

My friend is naturally very lean and athletic, and has an absolutely banging body (her abs and arms give me serious envy), and she is a size 12.

Even with weight loss drugs, bodies still come in different shapes and sizes. They'll just hopefully be more people in healthier ones.

So no, I don't fear that a size 14 will be seen as fat.

Once the drug is more widely available, I don't think obesity will be a marker of poverty either.

I've been on Mounjaro a year. I've lost 6 stone, gone from a size 28/30 - but I still have a bloody long way to go and I'm only a size 20/22 now (I'm also in a pain in the arse plateau which I know mathematically will resolve given time). I'm also now buying a fuckload of clothes since I can go into a shop and actually buy them.

The only thing I've seen with it changing clothing stocks is there's a lot more plus size stuff in the charity shops at the moment as people slim through those larger sizes.

That sounds less about the jabs and more about the fact your “friend” is a complete cunt tbh.

Clothes sizes are based on a formula of "how can we make clothes with a minimum manufacturing cost that means that covers X percent of the market".

As far as I'm aware, size 14 has always been included in that percent.

My outsize shoulders have never fit into that category for womenswear, so I get some men's tops for width, and get tall tops for length.

It strikes me as a bit disingenuous to have a panic about clothes not being stocked. 14 has been a standard offer for donkeys years.

How long have you maintained your new weight?

I think there is a point in there somewhere, nothing to do with size 14s or whatever, which is that until GLP-1s become more affordable or more widely available on the NHS then there is a divide being created between those who can pay and those who can't. Obesity is already associated with poverty anyway so this is only accentuating that. I've been on MJ since March, I've lost 73lbs, I've gone from size 20/22 to size 14 and it's amazing. I know that I'm in a privileged position to afford it.

I am unlikely, however, to go below a 14 on top. Even 30 years ago when I was a slim 20-something I was a 12-14: I have broad shoulders and am top heavy in the boob department.

Size 14 isn't going anywhere.😁

Also being blunt - if I ever make it to a size 10/12 (I won't - my current goal is a size with a 1 at the front of it and if I stabilised at a 14 I'd be happy) - I'm still likely to need to size up as I've got loose skin on my upper arms so they're chunkier than they actually are.

Obesity rates have fallen 3% in the US - eliminating obesity is unlikely unless society generally stops overeating.

I was counting up the other day how many friends/family are on GLP-1s - in so far as I know for sure, and have discussed with them. I got to 15 as well. All doing really well with it and far healthier for it. (Obviously from my user name, I am one of them.)

It really is a miraculous drug, but it is also a fascinating social experiment for sure, with people who have been unable to sustain positive change for decades now able to stay in control.

As an aside, I also know a few people who have had gastric bands in the past. All are now as fat, or fatter, than they were before the operation and living with their lives limited. It is hard to understand why the NHS would take anyone down this path these days, when GLP-1s must surely be hugely cheaper, more effective and have less impact on quality of life?

Whilst you're worrying about clothes I was worrying about dying prematurely and leaving behind my young DD.

Hope that puts your concerns into perspective.

I hear that the interent is a good place to purchase clothes of all sizes these days, if the availability of size 14 clothes is still bothering you.

You will know people on it, they are just keeping it very quiet. I was at my best friends house recently, making a coffee and I saw mounjarro in the fridge. Her business and I said nothing…

I think it's a bit of paranoia! I am still size 12-14 having been on them for a while and I lost over 3 stone. They stop being so effective.

I have friends who are unhealthily obese and don't take them but could easily afford them. One of them told me she would never take them as food is such a huge pleasure to her she wouldn't want to stop enjoying it. She doesn't mind being overweight because she'd rather that than restrict her food and drink. She is extremely intelligent and has really thought it through. I was quite surprised at her view.

I think far too many peopele are taking it who don’t need it. I know people who have lied about their height, for example. I have smug family members shedding weight while I struggle to count calories. I wish it wasn’t such a huge thing.

I actually feel sorry for people who are overweight who can’t or aren’t taking it, as I’ve even found myself musing that they would be a good candidate and wondering why they aren’t on it!! I hate that I thought that.

I’m not a fan.

It's taken me 18 months to go from a size 24 to a size 14, using Mounjaro. I am top end of healthy BMI at the moment, there is absolutely no danger of size 14 clothes disappearing from the shops. I hope you realise by now what a bizarre worry that is!!

I was an obese teen and young adult. If these medications had been available then it would have saved me decades of misery and damage to my self esteem. So I am not worried about the effects of these medications on young people, other than the positives. The only issue is the cost, and lack of availability for people who are unable to pay for them privately. But I can understand the issues the NHS has with the cost and the potential demand for them, and not having the services to provide them. Hopefully that will change over time.

I’ve been on it a year. I’ve gone from 144kg to 80kg and to be honest my reason for starting them wasn’t how I looked (although that is a very welcome alteration!) it was that I kept having nightmares about having a heart attack and my young daughter going to my funeral.
size 14 will never be ‘fat’. Proper fat in my mind is actually where it is at a serious risk where it will kill you - I’ve been there.

I worry that a size 14 will soon become almost obsolete in the shops

Definitely not. There are a significant number of people who don't want to take drugs or who don't care about getting into size 10 enough to do so and won't spend the money.

If you're happy, healthy and a size 14 (which is perfectly fine and normal isn't it?) you're not going to take medication to change that.

I don't know anyone using the injections.

It doesn't work like that with obesity. It's a chronic condition that leads to much higher rates of diabetes (and all the problems that comes with), cancer, heart disease, liver disease etc, as well as mobility issues.

There are metrics which measure this kind of thing. For example, there is health-adjusted life expectancy which measures how many years of healthy life an indivudal can expect to live which takes into account chronic disease and the impact upon people's functioning. It's not just health costs, it's being able to function independently in daily life, continue working until older ages.

If the injections really do improve health so much, we'd hopefully see it reflected in this
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/healthstatelifeexpectanciesuk/between2011to2013and2020to2022

Obesity rates are uniform across the country though, by location or by demographics. Amongst my friends and family, I don’t know anyone who’d be eligible for the jabs.

You should watch South park: The End Of Obesity episode, I think it depicts the fever with which it has been embraced by many!

I’m fat and could afford the drugs but I haven’t bought them as I feel that the side effects are not good. How do people make sure they eat 30g of fibre every day? I feel like the long term consequences of the injections haven’t been explored. Yes, they are worth it if you are disabled by obesity but for people who are a little chubby then no. I believe you are statistically likely to live longer if you’re slightly overweight.

I don't need it, but am not going to lie, I'd love to take it. I'd like to get down to a size 8 and I'd like to not have to go to the gym or think about calories ever again. I'm really pleased there's a solution for the obesity epidemic and that people are able to get down to healthy weights and be happier and healthier. But now the temptation is there to - well, abuse it, I guess. Is it abuse though? Is it morally or physically wrong to use it to get as thin as you'd like to be, even if you're not overweight to start off with?