All my historically fat friends have gone thin this year

[donttellscotty]

Okay maybe not ALL of them, but a few friends/acquaintances who have been very big for years and years, tried everything but could never shift the slightest bit of weight, have all had dramatic transformations and shed many stones over the past year. It’s just becoming expected now whenever I see another formerly large acquaintance or relative pop up on my feed with a super slim selfie.

I (rightly or wrongly) suspect it’s got to be WLIs or similar? Although all are adamant it’s a strict diet only. Just to add there is NOTHING wrong with jabs at all, and I’m aware it’s absolutely none of my business, and I sound mean but I wouldn’t actually discuss this in RL. It just got me thinking that being overweight might be obsolete in a few years?

Anyone else noticing this trend with people they know?

@TrickyD huh? Everyone knows that taking too many calories in leads to weight gain. What people frequently discuss are the barriers in their lives that prevent them consistently being able to stay in a meaningful calorie deficit in order to lose noticeable amounts of weight. Which is why the catchphrase “just eat less and move more” is spectacularly unhelpful. People know! It’s that it’s hard to effectively implement long term for a lot of people. Which is why WLI help.

The way posters are going on you’d think the majority of the population are “insulin resistant” and that’s why every man and his dog NEEDS WLIs.

If that’s the case then why is obesity in the UK a relatively new phenomenon? In the 70s and 80s there were very few “overweight” people, now it’s the norm.

Sorry, but I don’t buy it.

The majority of people these days are overweight because of their lifestyle choices. Those with genuine medical reasons (like a previous posters DH who has mobility issues) are in the minority.

People pay for WLIs (alongside changes in diet and exercises) because of the instant gratification culture; they want to lose 6 stone “this year” not over the next 2+ years that it would take with lifestyle changes alone.

If that’s for you then fine, but at least own your decisions and reasons and stop telling little white lies to yourself and everyone around you.

I know loads of people who look and feel fabulous as a result of MJ etc. It really shouid be available to anyone and everyone who wants it. Obesity and associated health conditions cost the NHS so much - there is no need for this anymore. It's particularly great for women who were never obese, but gain weight during menopause. MJ helps people to feel themselves again - mentally and physically - like a new lease of life really. I see it in friends who were experiencing knee pains or raised cholesterol etc - no more! It's like they've renewed their 30 something selves. Good for anyone losing weight and taking back control of their health, energy and body image.

I dont think that’s entirely true. Lots of mumsnetters like to remind people of the basics as to why they are overweight. But it’s not a catch all, and most people gain weight slowly over time until it’s becomes a problem, and lots of women specifically gain weight as a secondary outcome to other issues, like endometriosis or thyroid, or menopause.

i think is fantastic that women, given our much more complex biology, finally have an effective mechanism to take control and live better, healthier lives for themselves. To look good and feel good, for themselves.

and it’s pissing A LOT of people off….

Erm…..4 months on MJ, I am 2 stone down. Hardly fast, is it? I don’t owe you, or anyone else, an explanation as to my choices. Stop asking how I am losing weight as it is not your business. Not sure why so many people are so hard of understanding

@FrangipaniBlue people talk about being insulin resistant because once you are obese, particularly if you have been for a while, you are often moving towards T2 diabetes, via pre-diabetes and before that being insulin resistant. WLI address blood sugar management and enable obese people to lose weight.

WLI don’t produce fast weight loss, but it can seem like that from the outside because the weight loss is consistent. Losing 6 stone in a year is not unrealistic anyway - that’s about 1.5lbs a week, which is a sustainable rate of weight loss.

I will happily continue to withhold my medical choices from those who are impertinent enough to ask! I’m not in any way lying to myself about anything.

The demands of society has changed since the 70s/80s and so our lifestyles have changed with it.

including the mass overload of processed foods, marketed as healthy, speed eating lunches at work and family’s where both adults are working and one isn’t at home doing the cooking from scratch.

2 car households, less walking.

the world has changed a lot since then. And it’s should only be expected that our bodies change with it.

the downside is that there is a lot more that should be changed socially and politically to solve obesity, rather than to medicate. But the profit sits in the medication.

I think it's rude to ask if you are on WLI, I wouldn't dare ask. People used to ask in my twins were IVF which was a bit rude too.

I was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 24 via hormone testing and an ultrasound. Doctor told me that they wouldn’t prescribe me anything that it was my responsibility to take care of it by losing weight. 4 years later I went back as struggling to conceive, Dr reiterated that my tests showed PCOS and I needed to put some effort in and lose the weight.

i cut out all carbs, went on a strict low calorie diet, went to the gym every day. In a year I lost 2 stone, I was starving, would regularly cry because I was so incredibly miserable, stomach rumbling 24/7. I asked for help from the doctor at 6 months, and a year and each time was told I just needed to demonstrate some willpower eat less and move more. It took 3 years but I finally got pregnant. During pregnancy I was diagnosed with Gestational Diabetes and prescribed Metformin and insulin. The weight fell off me, in the 5 months I was pregnant and being treated I lost over 2 stone, a week after giving birth I was 3 stone less than I was before pregnancy. Was informed that gestation diabetes was cured by giving birth, all medication stopped, no ongoing testing or support. All the weight went back on.

last year I was diagnosed with T2 diabetes after being fobbed off multiple times by doctors. 8 was diagnosed because I bought myself a continuous glucose monitor on Amazon and called 111 when the results were so high it started issuing alerts, they sent me to A&E who did a load of tests and sent me home with insulin and a referral to the diabetes clinic.

I think it’s highly likely that more people are insulin resistant than know about it. 1/10 women have PCOS, PCOS is commonly associated with insulin resistance. Menopause causes a reduction in oestrogen which causes a reduction in insulin production and insulin sensitivity it also causes an increase in glucose produced by the liver.

I stopped talking about it because I found it extremely embarrassing that I was trying again and would probably fail. I hated feeling like I was being watched and my food intake monitored. The most successful I ever was in losing weight was during Covid lockdown when I wasn’t seeing anyone and didn’t feel like I had to explain why I was eating what I was eating.

I didn’t say they were prevented from expressing views about fat people, I said it was not acceptable. Plenty of hostile comments from those who disagreed.

Lol, Ive been reading your posts, they're quite bizarre and funny

Ive lost half my body weight, 3 years ago, Ive got tons of loose wrinkly skin, stomach breasts arms thighs. I marvel at myself in the mirror with nothing on, I cannot believe how small I am and what was hiding under all the fat, I cant believe the shape of me, I cant believe I have a waist and a thigh gap and a collar bone and shoulders, wrists, knees, and a small frame. Love it.

I also love being healthier of course that goes without saying but I certainly dont hate what I look like clothed or unclothed.

Haven't read the whole thread but go back a generation or two and you will find people facing considerable calorie and nutrient deficit due to severe poverty. Rationing during WW2 was actually a huge dietary improvement for people in this situation as lots of families (particularly mothers) subsisted most of the week on tea, white bread and margarine in the early 20th century, particularly in the industrial towns.

Men who were sole or main wage earners were prioritised for meat consumption within families as they needed to 'keep their strength up' to earn which meant women often went without, including while pregnant.

Research suggests that severe food shortage prenatally turns down leptin and turns up ghrelin production (the hormones that make you feel full and make you feel hungry) because your body will push you to constantly eat when there is availability as a protective measure. This becomes an inherited form of gene expression that can pass on down generations.

We are not that far away from those food insecure generations but with the cheapest foods now being high calorie and a food industry intent on selling us foods that have been specifically processed to maximise their appeal, it's not that simple to say to everyone to eat less and move more. Some people have metabolisms that constantly push them to eat and make it hard to stay in a calorie deficit and that may well be due to their genetic and socio-economic histories.

Yes and its like holidays, its not true gain. I was on holiday recently, came back and within a week I had 'lost' 8lbs

Its water retention with me, too many cocktails, olives and nuts and crisps on holiday. Once I cut that out, the water comes back out. Its simply not possible to put on 8lbs in one week, same over the xmas period, its not true weight or fat as such, its just inflammation from sugary treats and water retention.

I've seen an estimation that an average person will consume 6000 kcal just on Xmas day, so while some of the weight gain is certainly water, with this kind of consumption, there will be some fat gained as well.

So there are 'good' fatties and 'bad' fatties. Fatties that are fair game to be judged and othered and who deserve their bad health and side effects even if they become thin, and fatties that deserve your oh so considerate sympathies.

Sympathies. Many years ago, I went travelling. I came back slimmer, fitter and suntanned. People couldn't shut up about it. I wasn't particularly fat before I went, and was pretty shocked to realise how many people had seemingly known me only as a squishy body shape - and now judged me improved with a textbook 'conventionally attractive' appearance. Shallow twats, all of 'em.

From me, then: You are definitely more than a body size, and you're just as interesting a person as you were five stones ago!

Yes, you might well be right. She was told her choleocystectomy was urgent, but still waited about eight months on the NHS to have it done. As far as I know, she is still taking Mounjaro, but her experience definitely put me off all WLIs.

It just got me thinking that being overweight might be obsolete in a few years?

Obsolete no, but obesity in the US has declined between 2022 and now, coinciding with the rapid adoption of GLP-1 medications.

Yes exactly. Just stop thinking about other people's bodies love. Then you don't have to worry about whether they are telling little white lies to themselves or to anyone else. It's just not that difficult. Judge less, look at your own flaws more.

And yet every article on the development of Mounjaro specifically states it was developed to treat type two diabetes. In the USA Mounjaro can still only be officially prescribed for type two diabetes - it’s used off label for weight loss because it wasn’t intended for that purpose.

If you have PCOS like a large number of women do, the insulin resistance can make it so that you can only eat a minute amount of food before gaining weight. Their TDEE was extremely low - far too low to be able to maintain a calorie deficit. So yes, it’s entirely possible there were people claiming they ate very little and were still overweight.
Not me, I ate too much food and am happy to admit it.

It's 2025 and people should really know better then to comment on other people's bodies. Like others I've known people to go through significant weight loss due to grief, cancer, severely disordered eating.. also intentional weight loss and pursuit of fitness. It's none of my business!

But more importantly, for me commenting on someone's weight loss is the equivalent to reminding anyone in earshot how unacceptable fatness is - and most of the commentary on this thread, where people are taking issue with WLI is just another form of fat phobia/ weight discrimination. It fits the narrative that people are fat because they are lazy and or stupid and the only way out of fatness is some sort of cheat or shortcut that somehow bypasses all the hard work "naturally thin" people have put in. This completely ignores that food environment and diet culture drive weight gain, not personal failings. I've always been overweight - I also am clever/fairly highly qualified, driven, successful in my work and relationships. I have always worked very hard - I'm not lazy, but have to deal with that perception on a daily basis.

In case it helps anyone else who has yoyo dieted through their entire lives, or anyone considering WLIs, i'd really recommend listening to some of the Fat Science podcast, lots of info about metabolic disorder and explanations around how dieting doesn't work, but also how dangerous it can be.

It references scientific studies that show almost everyone (like 98% or something) of people who have been in larger bodies will not maintain lower weight through dieting for any period of time because of how your body fights against what it interprets as starvation. She observed test results for hormones related to metabolism for people with obesity were similar to people with anorexia, because of the affect of dieting on the body which is the same whether you are small or big. You're very likely to have damaged your metabolism to a degree that you'll regain weight, and probably end up heavier then where you began. Also noting that staying big is probably more healthy then yoyo dieting, which puts a huge strain on heart etc.

She does endorse medical treatment like WLI but these aren't supposed to be prescribed with diet and exercise, it's not really how they are designed to work, but honestly the number of people taking them to basically stop eating is really alarming, likely doing even more damage to their metabolic systems.

Hopefully as the science becomes better understood some of the societal judgements around fatness will fade, but we've had generations of diet culture and fat phobia so it's probably going to take a while.

One of the most interesting bits of research for me around diet culture and mental health related to the treatment of fat people found that these things cause more negative health outcomes then those caused by being fat. In other words being fat is less bad for you then the outcomes caused by the stigma of being fat/ dealing with being fat. So perhaps we could all consider just leaving people tf alone?!

And, yet again, you're wrong. It's called Zepbound in the US. It's still Tirzepatide. And it's FDA approved for weight loss.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-new-medication-chronic-weight-management

In the USA, Mounjaro is sold under the separate name Zepbound for weight loss only. Same drug, same pen, same drug company and manufacturer. This is only in the USA. People taking Zepbound will still refer to it as Mounjaro because it is, but if you are prescribed the drug for weight loss it will be Zepbound.

In the rest of the world, the drug is sold only under the name Mounjaro and is licensed for diabetes etc AND for weight loss. It is not prescribed 'off label' for weight loss, but it is prescribed 'off label' for a host of other conditions that it successfully treats such as sleep apnoea etc whilst it waits on licences for those other conditions.

A quick google would have told you this.