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!

Exactly this. It's being abused and this is a terrible situation just when it was becoming acceptable to be a healthy body weight.

I must be the only person wegovy didn’t work for. Instead, it caused massive muscle loss (about 7 pounds of muscle) and undid about 10 years of careful maintenance of strength and power following being a competitive athlete. So, after about 5 months `i was still very overweight but also now unable to complete the workouts I used to do. I stopped it because a) frustration b) realising that reducing muscle mass = less blood sugar control and declining health later in life

Oh, and having pmt completed negated the drug. I think this drug works well if you’re post-menopausal and not subject to wild swings of hormones that prime you to eat.

I know loads on the drug. I can’t bear to go back to it, not least because I have children who need financial support - how could I possibly justify such a large amount of money on this drug when they need help with rent?

I am talking about the future and clearly from posts here, there is a growing number of people lying to get hold of it.

I'm not convinced that its current level of popularity will last. If you come off it, the weight piles back on, maybe mico dosing will help but you've signed up for life long meds. Plus the side effects aren't great for everyone. Anything that impacts vision, even temporarily, I'd steer clear of. But that's my personal feeling. I need to lose a stone, sometimes I think - cool...8 weeks of jabs and job done. Then I realise that once its over, if I go back to my cheese/bread based diet I'll be sunk. So really...need to change my eating habits for weight loss. No doubt I'll promise myself that I'll start in January....again...

There will always be a tiny percentage of people who lie to get it, but as you need to submit photos, and gps to be notified under new rules, ifs unlikely many will get from reputable sources. Does that mean they won’t be buying from the black market, no, just like they buy ketamine, opioids, or any other drug on the black market. It certainly won’t be enough people taking illegal drugs to make size 0 or whatever the norm,

Some size 14's fit me, some gonon, but are too snug to be comfortable, but I am still technically obese. I'm not short either, just dense. I definitely still qualify for them.

Size 0 and anorexia / heroin chic is coming back. I work in the industry...
Look at Kelly Osborne and Ariana Grande etc... lolly pop head is coming back.
Terrifying if you have daughters

I get your point op and eventually that might be the case but at the moment no. You have to find around 200 pounds a month to access this drug, so a lot of money to most people, I got drawn in by special introductory offers and it worked very well for me, I am now a six from a 14,cant afford it at the moment, but a fortunate /unfortunate side effect is that I find food repulsive now and can only tolerate certain foods so am managing to maintain without.
I know people who like me were drawn in by getting the initial one for less than a 100, lost a bit but can't afford it now so are slapping it back on, it stymied a few with the price hikes, it's a great drug but it's still a bit wild west as to who gets it and there's a lot of sub dosing and the like going on to make pens last, me included.

What in the hell has Kelly Osborne done to herself? I didn't recognise her. Has she had a head transplant?

“Body positivity” while trying to combat body shaming etc, has muddied the waters with the health of women- primarily.

if clothing sizes stayed the same then we’d end up having to buy bigger sizes and it would give us a signal to act

by shifting the goalposts we’re kidding ourselves and it’s our health that’s suffering. Our kids are fatter than they’ve ever been.

obesity has grown exponentially in the last 40 years. UPF is probably the biggest driver of this, but vanity sizing will have contributed significantly to this trend.

It will make being thin even more of a class signifier

She is just not meant to be that thin... but then look at her mother!
I understand they are grieving but they are also, clearly, on weight loss drugs.

Oh god. Bingo! Was just waiting for the osbournes to be dragged out.

You actually think that we eat better now than we did back in the 50s and 60s? I disagree. I think we eat much more and much less healthily. Most of the endless studies about obesity churn out the same evidence that we are all eating far too much sugar, carbs and highly processed fats - usually combined together in the form of brain reward centre crack like snacks, ice-creams, chocolates etc

I'm not advocating people should be underweight or malnourished but the global obesity epidemic and all the health related problems that did not exist to the extent that they do now, when we were all slimmer. Women's hips and breast are bigger because they are more covered in fat!

It's not her body I'm talking about, it's her head. Her entire face shape and features look completely different. I truly can't see her in there.

Yes I hardly know anyone on them and I know a lot of people through work, travelling, family etc, only a couple are losing weight. One who lost the weight is putting it back on now. I just seem to read about it on here a lot
I don’t think it will change anything OP. Most can’t afford it or want the side effects, and most who do take it will put the weight back on.

A signal to act.... I didn't need a signal based on clothes sizes, I knew I was overweight, obese, have been since childhood. And I've always "acted", been dieting and rebounding for decades. Like a lot of obese people. Being forced to buy expensive plus sized clothes from specialist retailers wouldn't have helped me in the slightest. It would increase the shame and the sense of desperation and hopelessness, and it has been proved time and time again that shaming and judging obese people does not help them lose weight. It has the opposite effect.

Vanity sizing is an effect of increasing obesity, not a driver of it.

She used to have natural fat under her skin... now she has filler.
Same as Lilly Allen

I think she’s also had chin implants, cheekbone implants, that botox thing they do to the jawline etc

Sadly the jabs made me very sick, specifically Mountjaro. I may try the other ones in the future but they won't work for everyone.

I don’t think size 14 will die out. They have been getting bigger over the years though. I now have to buy size 12s from all the main stores but I use size 14s from 30 years ago (have only just lost the weight to get back in them) and they’re smaller than the current size 12s that I’m buying. So clothing makers would just adapt.

I do hope though that the drugs will slow type 2 diabetes cases as otherwise it’s going to break the NHS.

Taking the Orlistat pill.

-Was 11.5 stone, BMI 30+ in 2024 and for years before. Always stuck at around 11 stone, yet I work out like a fiend.

-Since late 2024, down to 8.5 stone, BMI around 23. Still working out like a fiend.

Seems such a stupid thing to do, when there are side effects, and you could just diet and lose weight naturally. I need to lose weight myself. If I eat less and move more, guess what, it comes off.

Go for it then!

If you're 50+ and this is still the case you got lucky!