If you are on weight loss injections, what do you make of this article?

[IwishIwasacaterpillar]

If you have come off them, have you gained weight very quickly?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/jan/07/weight-loss-jabs-regain-two-years-health-study

Has it occurred to you that you may have made a bit of an assumption dressed up as a statement of fact?

I agree with you. In the past I have tried the Atkins diet and the Michael Mosley Fast 800 diet and was open about it. And not one single person was remotely bothered.

So why is people's attitude to WLI so very different? I have encounted such a lot of derision and scaremongering both on here and IRL. Without fail, 90% of it is simply factually incorrect and just 30 seconds on Google can prove it.

Yet, people seem to actively want nasty side effects to be discovered. They actively want to believe that we're buying them on the Black Market from a dodgy bloke in the alleyway behind Morrisons.

Obviously, it is envy. Of course it is. It is classic envious behaviour. And that's a shame and I'm sorry that so many people want to take WLI but cannot. But there's absolutely nothing I can do about that.

This latest article mentioned in the OP is meaningless to me because I don't intend to come off WLI for a very, very long time (and neither do the other people I know IRL who are on them). I'd much rather take Mounjaro long term than statins, or blood pressure meds, which is the path I was starting down.

My BMI is 22. I am free of all my aches and pains. My cholesterol is now normal. I am enjoying my Pilates classes and eating more healthily. I am monitored by the pharmacy I buy MJ from, and my GP is very pleased with me. I can easily afford to stay on WLI for the rest of my life if I choose and will still leave plenty for our DDs to inherit (yes I have been accused of selfishly spending their inheritance FFS).

Agree. Without out counselling or therapy alongside these injections most people aren’t going to change anything long term. There are also people who get a lot of calories from drinking.

As an aside, long term effects of the jabs need to be taken into consideration.

What counselling and therapy would improve the odds of people changing things long term, is there any evidence of this and how do you think the long term effects of the jabs should be weighed up against the long term effects of obesity? Also I'm assuming when you say most people aren't going to change anything long term you don't mean those of us who will be remaining on WLIs, but useful to have clarification.

@Spookyspaghetti I don't need counselling or therapy. I think most people don't, if they don't have any trauma around food. I think most people just have a fairly natural tendency to overeat and in a developed country that means you can easily eat too many calories and not do enough physical activity - that results in gradual weight gain. Add in people leading busy, stressful lives and possibly not getting enough sleep, none of which helps with consistently making a choice to eat less. How would counselling and therapy help with that?

And as @Binus has said, what evidence is there that counselling and therapy helps with maintaining weight loss?

I don't know what the comment about drinking relates to? Do you mean alcohol?

There are no long term effects of this medication that need to be taken into consideration. Compare that to the multitude of known risks of remaining obese, which is what really does need to be taken into consideration!

What type of counselling or therapy do you feel fat people need then? Do tell.

and most folks don’t drink much in the drugs, which is why it’s being reviewed for alcohol abuse treatment,

and long term effects have been taken into association, they are all positive so far.

I think for some people there is definitely a relationship with food that could be helped by counselling - I know Noom has kind of tried this line. Unpicking the ideas like “clear your plate” or worse for those who grew up with very restricted food, rules around food or associations from parents etc.

However, for I would imagine the vast majority of us (me included) I slowly put on weight by small levels of overeating over 15 years, this accelerated during menopause when I just couldn’t shift the pounds by doing all the things that previously worked (increasing exercise, cutting portions and knocking biscuits on the head) without being utterly miserably hungry all the time.

WLI have taken me back to feeling how I felt about food during my childhood, teens and 20s. I just eat when I’m hungry, stop and then don’t even think about food for a few hours until I’m hungry again. I can make sensible choices because I never get that wild, dizzy hungry feeling of just needing sugary, carby food. I feel in control and this enables me to choose healthy and filling food.

I do have an ice cream or a biscuit, but I’ll just have one and then I don’t need willpower to stop - I just don’t want any more. I’m done. Most importantly it doesn’t send me sliding down the “well I’ve had one so fuck this diet” because I know I can just have one and then not actually want any more.

So the idea that I have to stay on a medication that allows me this level of calm control over my eating forever more? Good. I’m so happy that I get to stay on this medicine.

Evidence? Are you a therapist?

Except of course they are going to change things long term. They're drastically reducing their increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, strokes, many cancers, osteoarthritis, hypertension, fatty liver disease, sleep apnea and overall increased risk of mortality.

Quite significant changes, wouldn't you agree?

I had some "lifestyle coach" sessions and we talked about food, eating and reasons for me being obese.

I think it can help talking about it and looking closely at your diet, your eating and drinking habits, your goals and also your private life and how all this affects your weight gain and loss. It did help putting me mentally on the right path and also making me acknowledge some things where I found easy excuses in the past.

Weight loss can only be permanet if you work on the reasons for gaining originally. And sometimes it is needed to analyse it with someone who is objective and detached from your own life.

Bur I wouldn't call it therapy, in the majority of cases people don't have serious eating disorders causing the weight gain and then WLJs aren't actually right for you and won't be prescribed.

Did you write that wrong, if you have an eating disorder you can’t be prescribed weight loss injections.

Sorry, yes, it's not clear.

If you have/had an eating disorder you won't be prescribed WLJ.

I doubt that poster will come back and answer, but am wondering if maybe she assumed everyone will be giving them up? Seems quite common for people randomly wandering into discussions with no background knowledge to start from the premise that they're time limited. Why, I don't know, but it's a thing.

I didn't eat too much due to trauma. I ate too much because I was always hungry and couldn't stop thinking about food. It's not therapy territory. It's a metabolic condition possibly linked to my dysfunctional hormones (my gynae file is the large one, my mental health one is empty). I need medication not therapy and thank goodness one came along.

I’d say eating too much due to trauma is far from rhe leading cause of weight gain. Most peiple it’s a bit extra each week, busy lives etc, which then lead to metabolic issues, poor blood sugar and insulin responses and reduced glp production as we age.

like many women mine was due to increased cortisol in peri. Some folks seem to think all overweight people just sit on their sofas eating pizza. Which is odd, as I’d assume some posting that nonsense are fat themselves.

I think you're right. It baffles me why they're so keen to spout nonsense about something they so clearly know nothing about? I mean, I know hardly anything about baking (never baked a cake in my life) so it wouldn't occur to me to wander onto a baking thread and give the experts the benefits of my non-existent knowledge.

There seems to be a thread nearly every other day on here where people not on the injections pile on to give information on how to use them to people on them, give them guidance on their eating habits, and express concern over this prescription med.

When no one asked them, it’s often nonsense, and no one believes that they have come over all concerned about the regulatory authorities approval process for prescription meds.

it’s clear jealousy , and it has been from the very start when these meds came out. The fact we can inject once a week, become slim and healthy , stay on them, and stay slim and healthy, and they are unaffordable for some, has many of those unable to access jeakous as fuck.

i don’t think it’s fair it’s not more widely available, but spreading misinformation on line, or pretending to be some form of authority on this medication or pretending to be suddenly concerned about prescription meds won’t stop anyone taking them.

It seems to me that some subjects are considered open season for uninformed reckons, others not. I agree that if you went onto a baking forum, came out with a load of unevidenced waffle and then said nobody's allowed to say anything critical of ovens you'd get short shrift! But for whatever reason we're not so good at recognising the equivalent of that when it comes to weight management.

I learned on a thread here the other week that MH issues and meds see similar behaviour. Having not had MH issues myself, that was new information to me, but it also was really useful context for all the stuff about obese people needing psychological support or the jabs are a waste. And at least some of the posters who say this genuinely believe they're being helpful.

And again 🙄

Let’s try to explain one more time..

I assume you are talking about people who stop taking WLI’s and revert back to their old ways? In which case of course they’ll put on weight - as many people on here have mentioned about 1000 times. This is nothing to do with WLI’s and everything to do with people doing something that makes them lose weight and then stopping. Same as any diet method.

I know exactly why I overeat - because I love food and I’m greedy and can’t always stop at one biscuit.

When I was being “good” and was slim and managed to maintain a healthy weight for a while it was a constant battle every day to not think about food and obsess over exercise and what I was going to eat. It was almost all I thought about.

What I need is something to take the hunger and the thoughts about food away - and that’s what Mounjaro has done.

It’s very simple and does not necessitate therapy. Most people don’t require therapy to help them understand why they overeat and for most people it would be a huge waste of money and wouldn’t change anything because they already uunderstand the reasons they overeat - there isn’t usually some big issue stemming from childhood. It’s just that they enjoy food too much.

Also those saying MJ should only be prescribed alongside therapy - do you realise how much extra that would cost the NHS? It’s never going to happen. Never.

But that’s why they say it, that it should be prescribed wirh therapy. Or in person only, with in person only weigh ins. Because they know it will never happen so in their heads would put a stop to people Getting them. As that’s what they want. People to not get them as they can’t.

You make a great point. I've had more supervision, support and advice on this drug than anything I've been prescribed on the nhs but still people comment like I'm shooting up crack in a back alley 😂

Same for me when I was on it, in fact there are a couple of friends I've not told simply because it isn't worth the earache.

I do think it's wrong if they've stopped requiring photo evidence of weight (as Zava were doing when I was getting my MJ from them), and offering support/encouraging people to exercise, log their progress etc, since I came off it last Sept. Especially the photo evidence.

Initially I was getting it from Voy and they were providing a lot of advice/support which, tbf, irritated me at the time as I was already doing everything they suggested, making sure to eat in a balanced way/exercising etc, and didn't especially want to 'share my wins' with a bot. But in hindsight I've changed my viewpoint slightly, as that approach does at least provide checks and balances, and helps stop people going into it too casually.

But they haven’t stopped requiring photo evidence or emailing advice. Did you quote the wrong post maybe as I never said that or even indicated it.

They've increased the monitoring to live video weigh ins and height checks. Nowhere registered has loosened checks.