Gym vs jabs

[Ontobetterthings]

I started down the gym a week before Christmas. Cut alcohol first of jan and been dieting and upping protein. Been going gym 4 times a week. Started weight training and lifting weights. Was feeling good this morning. Weighed in and ive lost 3lbs. Im a couple of stones overweight.

Im really demoralised. All my mates have lost loads of weight on ghe jabs. Im just wondering if im doing the right thing now. Aibu?

3 lbs is great for a month. You'll be gaining muscle mass. Take measurements too.

Skip breakfast. Intermittent fasting. I’m skinny and realised when reviewing a students paper (academic) that that’s the reason I’m not fat. What time to you go to the gym.

Exercise has loads of other health benefits too.

This is true!

My initial thought is, does it have to be either/or?

But also, the focus has to be about your own body and health. It doesn't matter what weight your friends have lost. 3lb loss in a month is actually pretty optimum, and you'll be getting all the health benefits from the weights too. You are doing well.

You can do both. In fact using jabs without weight training is likely to leave your body in a pretty crappy state.

If financially you have to choose between them, choose the gym.

Are you doing any cardio too or just weights? Strength training is great but needs to be in combination with hard cardio. Start the gym with a run on the treadmill as a warm up. Strength training doesn’t burn as many calories as running. Running is the best way, hands down, to lose weight and burn lots of calories.

Also someone who is two stone overweight does not need jabs. The weight will come off, you just need to be patient. It won’t fly off as quickly as someone who is five or more stone overweight.

Does it have to be one or the other? Most people I know on WLI are regular gym users and combine the two.

I lost a fair bit of weight last year for my wedding going to the gym and running (running definitely shed the most of it) whilst a friend started the jabs. She lost a lot more weight than me which is obviously a lot more money and to be honest the money she spent I would bloody hope they would work!

However, the side effects for me was I felt so much better in myself, stronger, fitter and had so much more energy. She was being sick a lot of the time and stomach issues. Whenever it was time for her to have the jab she had to write off those upcoming days because it knocked her about.

For me the worry is you don’t know the long term effects of these jabs, god knows what internal issues they are causing to you, however, having a healthy diet and fitness you know will make an impact on your life for the better.

its normal to feel deflated but I would keep on at the gym, maybe take up running as I felt that really helped with my weight loss.

If you're several stone overweight, get the jab. Losing multiple stones of weight can take years of work and, whilst it's great, it can be made much more accessible using weight management tools like mounjaro.

I’ve lost three stone in the past year using a combination of calorie counting, increasing protein and fibre, and lifting weights.
on weeks when my weight doesn’t go down I know I have had body shape changes. I am so much better toned, no wobble anymore. I am stronger and fitter.
I could’ve lost more weight on jabs probably but I know I have done so much more than lose weight. It depends on what you want.

You can do both, I’ve lost 5.5 stones in the jabs, which now means I am physically able to do a lot more, more walking, more exercise etc .. double whammy

The jabs reduce your appetite so you eat less calories. Eating too few calories / food without enough protein and not doing exercise will eventually result in you being in poor physical condition (losing muscle mass, hair dropping out etc.). If you were super morbidly obese then this thinner version of you will be way healthier than you were when obese. If you are borderline then eating healthier and going to the gym and losing weight slowly will be the sustained change you need to build an healthier you for the long term.

Do both if it's an option. If not, stick with the gym.

I've been doing both. Jab for about 10 months, gym for 7. First 2 weeks on the jab, I did drop a lot (about a stone but I had about 6 to loose), but since then it's been a fairly steady 3 or 4 pounds a month even with the jab. For me, the jab makes it easier to stay in a calorie deficit but it's the gym that has changed my body shape and makes me feel good.

Try to find somewhere that you can get a body scan that breaks down your weight into fat, lean, water etc. I find this really helpful and motivating. You will be losing loads of fat but gaining muscle so the scales don't show it.

Depends on why you're overweight. If you can't lose weight through diet and excercise because you remain unable to prevent the compulsion to consume more calories than you burn, and are obese, then the jabs may be suitable.
If you're simply impatient and looking for a short cut then you'd be better advised to look at how many calories you're consuming/burning and either reduce calories or up excercise. As avoiding the expense and any side effects of meds is preferable.
To add, the end goal should be health not aesthetics. Because while looking thinner quick seems important now, what really matters is long term quality of life. No meds are risk free (healthy eating and excercise is) so really should only be taken where health benefit overrides risk. At 2 stone OW and with slow steady natural loss, it probably wouldn't.

People on the jabs should be going to the gym regularly. Its not either or.

Staying in calorie deficit for long periods is hard if you have a lot of weight to lose. Thr jabs mean you can sustain the weight loss longer, going to the gym alongside means you wont lose muscle mass (as well as being good for you of course).

It’s not even been a whole month since you cut out alcohol. You’re doing well so far.
Have you made my other changes to your diet? The exercise is a really great start but ultimately you need to be eating less calories than you’re burning.

I’ve lost over 2st on the jabs, combining low dose (2.5-5mg) with improving my diet and walking more. I stopped early December and even with Xmas have maintained my new lower weight. I still have another 1-1.5st to go and plan to do that doing c25k, but I just couldn’t get the first lot of weight to go by itself especially now I’m perimenopausal.

I'm doing the gym and jabs. Don't get demoralised, hard work is hard work.

The jabs aren't a quick fix all, yes they have helped me shift 3 stone 9 pounds since May (I have a long way to go still) I'm on wegovy so it doesn't seem to work as potent as mounjaro does. I actually plateaued between September and November. Then luckily started losing slowly again.

I realised me doing the jabs just wasn't enough so I've started the gym. The jabs stop the food noise more but I needed to get active to do more.

You can do this and so can I! We've got this.

Stick at the gym and add some cardio / impact in.
Weight loss is important but heart and lung strength, muscle mass and bone density is essential going forwards. It's a marathon not a sprint.
*don't do a marathon, maybe a gentle 5k.

Gym and weights are great but at the end of the day the only way to lose weight is calorie deficit. You need to be addressing diet alongside the exercise. It sounds like you’ve made a great start cutting alcohol upping protein. I’d continue what you’ve done for another month and see what happens. Well done on making these changes.

You wont lose weight just going to the gym, you will still have to eat a calorie deficit every single week. Some people on the jabs lose nothing for a couple of weeks then lose loads. I know 2 people this happened to. 3lb is more than recommended anyway and depends on if you are actually 2 stone over a healthy weight, or 2 stone over the weight you like to be.

My normal weight used to be more than 1.5stone under a BMI of 25 so to be 2 stone 'overweight' I'd actually only technically be half a stone overweight so probably wouldn't lose as quickly as someone 2 stone over BMI 25 I guess.

I did both. I've always done weights and still became overweight.

Weight loss mainly happens in the kitchen as they say. I am not weighing but have lost probably 4-5lbs in January. Only way for me is calorie reduction - 1200 max (i’m very short). Gym is great but you need to ensure you’re in a calorie deficit, which you clearly are or you wouldn’t be losing but track calories and you’ll lose faster. Jabs of course are easier, as they take the hunger noise away.

Everyone I know on the jabs is also doing the diet and gym routine. They’re a really useful tool to help you stick to a healthy diet plan. And no-one I know has had any sickness or serious side effects, possibly because they’ve stuck to the lowest effective dose or possibly because they were lucky.