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

This. I lost 2 stone with MJ 18 months ago and have put back on about 5 lbs in that time to what I now view as my new “base” weight. My weight fluctuates by a few pounds but always goes back to the lower base weight. I don’t even have to think about it, if I splurge over the weekend my weight goes up a bit (likely water retention) and I then automatically eat less for a few days after.

In answer to the OPs question, I'm on WLIs and have gone from 31 to 24 BMI. I haven't read this research and don't know why it draws a different conclusion to some previous studies. Clearly neither have a lot of the people with Strong Opinions on it!

But it doesn't really affect me personally, as I will be staying on long term anyway, and I also know that I would almost certainly regain the weight if I attempted to maintain my now healthy BMI just with diet and exercise. Best of luck to anyone else who wants/has to try it that way, I hope it works for you.

But with current prescribing rules you couldn't go back on it, after a long break, because you'd regained a stone or two - you wouldn't meet the prescribing criteria of being BMI over 30 (or 27 with a health-related condition). The options would be staying on it for maintenance long-term, or waiting until you're obese again... No one legitimate will prescribe to someone who has a BMI of 26 and doesn't have a recent previous prescription, even if your BMI was 23 when you came off the medication previously and so the direction of change is obvious.

But nobody who makes this argument has ever explained how you think you're going to psychologically support away a trait that was beneficial for most of human history, and is only a problem now that we no longer live in circumstances where starvation is an ever present threat.

The exact same argument could be made for chronic anxiety whereby people going into fight or flight mode was useful for our ancestors facing predators or physical threats but not modern humans going shopping at Tescos. Yet there are plenty of methods to treat anxiety and no-one says it's pointless because you cannot remove the survival part of your brain - the amygdala which is where fight or flight occurs.

Thanks for sharing. Having scanned it fairly quickly, I found this to be the most depressing sentence in there: Body weight after BWMPs was predicted to return to baseline 3.9 years (95% CI 2.8 to 4.9) after the end of treatment, compared with 1.7 years (1.3 to 2.1) after WMM - so either way, people regain all the weight they lose whatever the method. This study concludes it happens more quickly after stopping meds than after stopping behavioural programs, but either way within four years you are back to baseline no matter what you tried.

So I still don't see a solution beyond staying on meds long term, because no matter what else an obese person tries, there is no sustainable success.

I lost 3stone over one year on Mounjaro never going over the lowest dose. Nearly two years later I’m still at my lower weight despite a divorce and two house moves.

My diet is very sporadic, at times very good and at times awful. I’ve pigged out this Xmas and haven’t put on weight.

I think I must be very lucky and be what’s called being a super responder. Funny enough, only after losing the weight I was diagnosed pre diabetic - still waiting for the follow up.

I also don’t get what point people are trying to make by going on about weight regain. Does that mean that no one should ever try to lose weight? Because via all methods people put the weight back on, even diet alone, doing things the “proper” way that people seem so obsessed by.

It's a mixture of people who don't know that diet and exercise do not work for formerly obese people on a population level, or who do know but find it inconvenient to acknowledge.

I've lost 10 stone on them ,and have another 4 to go.
I plan to come of them in the summer this year
But if weight goes back on ,I will go back on the jabs at the earliest opportunity
I do believe there are alternatives in the pipeline for maintenance tablets rather than jabbing ,which I'm keeping my eye out for

But lots of people can only get their anxiety under control with medication - there are other methods but they're not enough for everyone, and indeed many people benefit most from a combination of medication and talk therapy. Despite plenty of (useful and effective) therapy, I think I will take Sertraline for the rest of my life. This seems to attract a lot less outrage and faux concern than if I said I thought I was going to take Mounjaro for the rest of my life.

Agree but this still leaves a physical problem to be solved: why do some people eat when they are hungry, but stop immediately they have had enough, while others simply don’t seem to have that natural braking system - they go on and on, until they are too full. Or they feel compelled to snack throughout the day?

It seems there are quite dramatic natural differences between individuals, maybe genetic?

But also ...every diet I've ever done ,the weight has gone back on and more .
I'm not honestly expecting it to stay of this time either
I'm aware it will be a constant battle and I'm prepared for that

Given that most diets have a temporary effect it’s hardly a surprise that people regain if they come off the drugs

some people will manage to keep the weight mostly off but the drugs don’t change anything permanently so unless you change something you go back

I don’t think this is the first study to find this - most find the long term diets are slightly more effective possibly because with a diet you have to consciously change what you eat and that might stick a little

the drugs can help but are not a miracle solution

I would have thought that you would be more likely to keep weight off long term if you were aware of the pitfalls

Absolutely - I’m just responding to a pp saying that WLI’s make you gain weight much faster when you stop, more so than any other weight loss method.

There will also be a lot of people who just gain the weight at a normal rate - but the media doesn’t report those as it won’t get as many clicks!

Some people really seem to want to believe that WLI’s = bad for whatever reason. I think they’d be best looking internally at the reasons why this is and being completely honest with themselves.

Yes, but it’s the same for any addiction. Those abusing alcohol and drugs who then stop have to face their demons daily and get through it so that they don’t relapse. It’s no different for obesity. Obese people who have lost weight using these injections have lowered their food intake and are now in recovery just like other addicts. We shouldn’t be saying ‘oh the disease is back, they can’t help it’. The disease is there for all addicts and we should treat them equally.

Obesity doesn’t just destroy the life of the obese people, it leads to multiple health conditions which heavily impacts families just substance abuse does.

Im delighted this medication is available to obese people to kick-start their recovery.

Yes, and lots of people CAN manage their anxiety with CBT, EMDR, mindfulness/lifestyle changes etc. Medication isnt for everyone either- sertraline can have horrendous side effects for some people and it can increase suicidal ideation in certain people.

But everyone in the study, whether on behavioural programs or medications, regained all the weight they lost. It took a bit longer for the behavioural program group, but either way, within four years all of them had put it back on again. So this seems to support staying on medication long-term as the best option for managing obesity.

No it couldn't, because it's an entirely different condition. The fact that psychological methods exist to treat one problem stemming from evolution is not evidence that such methods must also exist and be helpful for others.

Ultimately, most humans who've ever lived did so in environments where being able to eat lots of high calorie food when opportunity presented was helpful. It's only over the last century or so that the majority of us were no longer in such conditions, and during that period a great many of us were on the effective appetite suppressant drug nicotine. People think there must be a way to change human behaviour to match our environment because they like the idea, but it is nothing but guesswork.

I strongly disagree having worked in this field.

Food addiction is completely different to substance addiction and can't be considered in the same way. We need food to live; we don't need alcohol or drugs. Abstinence is possible and desirable for substances but impossible for food. Additionally addictions are often medically treated long term too. Some alcoholics need to stay on Antabuse for years. Some addicts will be on methadone or subutex for the rest of their lives. Medication is often a long term part of recovery, and when the substance is food, medication may be necessary for long term recovery for many people.

Right, and some people can control their weight very effectively without WLIs, and others very much struggle to do so. No one thinks people should be taking any medication if they'd be just as fine without it, or that any medication will work for everyone, but why wouldn't we use effective medications to address problems if we have them?

I’ve been on Mounjaro for over a year now and have lost 25 kilos. I’d like to lose another 5 but am not really bothered if I don’t. I will probably start to down titrate in the spring but expect to be on it for life.
Yes, it’s expensive and even more so for me because I see a private GP - I have a heart condition so want to be monitored closely - but it’s worth it. I feel great and I believe that I have changed some of my habits. I certainly don’t drink anywhere near as much wine as I used to and that’s been good.

Why can WLI users have a reasoned debate without getting so prickly and defensive?! It happens every time. We're discussing a story that's headline news today and yes, I have used my own experience. Just like you are in your arguments.

I'm not saying I don't experience food noise either. I'm saying mine is definitely related to body image that triggers me into thinking about food and I simply mooted if that's what people mean by food noise rather than actually thinking about crisps and carbs 24/7.

Which field, obesity or anxiety, and why? I assume you mean with the first paragraph, since the second isn't a matter of opinion.

@darkmatterspacemystery if you’ve worked in this kind of field, what do you think the solution is to obesity?

I was and lost just over 2 stone, I stopped in August last year and since then I have gained / lost the same 1-3lbs each week so I would say I'm maintaining.

Its manageable if you stick to it but I'll be honest, the food noise is horrific some days and does make me consider going back on.

I'm happy with my weight now but I really liked the food noise being gone, it really does take over some days.