To wonder if there will be any fall out from skinny jabs?

[TheLemonGuide]

Everyone I know is now suddenly very slim. Okay, im exaggerating slightly, but genuinely, most of my friends who were previously overweight are all now slim thanks to skinny jabs. I am delighted for them! It seems unbelievable to think that a jab can cure this obesity crisis, but I am so pleased my friends and a couple of family members are able to live a healthier life thanks to this.

My only slight concern is, is this something that is going to be too good to be true? Do you think there will be any long term repercussions, or are we right to just celebrate this medication as a cure for something that so many have been battling for so long?

if it had been then I wouldn't have asked.....

Of course you did.

Then after I said it was an accident i then wrote earning disorder and that's been pointed out to 🤦‍♀️🤣

Ha ha yes! 😂

Interesting article in The Times today about GLPs being a panacea.

Yes, I meant that too, huge health benefits but I do think you will get already slim healthy people trying to keep themselves slimmer, in a maybe not so healthy way. Overall I think it’s a positive drug for so many and any drug is open to abuse.
i think it will benefit most with health and self esteem and hopefully be a path to a happier healthier life.
I guess it’s slightly comparable to vaping, originally a huge help to those giving up sinking but now a huge issue with risks for those who have never smoked, pros and cons depending on who the individual is.

I blame my phone, you should see the things I text sometimes, I once sent a random unicorn pic to my friend by accident 😂

I have done it again 😂 I meant smoking not sinking 🙈

Well if you want to know, I can help.

everh fat person started off a slim one at some point in their life.
many healthy weight people battle hard to stay that way, and feel fucking miserable as they do, hungry, tired, and mental health is as important as physical.
some just want to be slimmer for vanity reasons.

and the latter is ok too, for me. The drugs are very safe, we are all grown ups, people should be able to make their own decisions, without random women attacking them.

drug abuse exists, although I don’t see the same constant focus on those abusing opioids, or illegal drugs.

and I’m going to guess it’s as no one envies those people. And it’s the same reason no one is haunting the slimming world threads, or the low carb ones, screaming about how you don’t have to do it and you will fuck your metabolism or gain it all back, and again, it’s becaude no one envies those poor sods.

but weight loss injections. Little Jab once a week, and you don’t want the chocolate or too much food and lose weight. Now that’s something to envy. Thays something to resent. That’s something to try to gate keep.

I don’t know whether you missed it - but I am genuinely not envious. I was offered WLI by my doctor and turned them down. I’m not envious of people paying for something I can get for free.

You seem to have this idea that everyone must want them and be jealous of those who can and do have them, and I’m not sure why? I know lots of people are huge advocates for them, and would recommend them 100x over.

But surely you can understand that some people don’t share that view, or see the value in them for themselves; so don’t actually want them, and have no reason to be jealous of people who do.

If I was winning a battle, and managing to stay healthy and slim without WLI, I’d see no reason to get them.

I can get on board, despite not wanting them myself, with people wanting them because they’re in a constant battle with obesity, that they keep losing. Or because they’re concerned about the health implications of that, etc.

But if you’re already slim and healthy, you’ve already won that battle, and continue to do so by staying slim and healthy, so don’t actually need any help.

Well, I’m obese and I wouldn’t be allowed WLI if I declared my history of EDs.
However, I have no interest in taking them anyway and I’m certainly not jealous of those who do take them.

Absolutely, and maybe I mistyped, I didn’t mean everyone. And of course if you are able to achieve and maintain a healthy weight, without any undue struggle then you’d not be jealous, but not many people are in that boat. And of course if you’re fat and like it, then you’d not be jealous then either.

but the reality is most people struggle to maintain a healthy weight. Two thirds of our population are fat. Very few like it. Very few want to be, and that shows just how hard it is to lose weight and stay slim.

so does it make people jealous when they can’t access them, of course it does, we all know this. Some people can’t afford, some are contraindicated, some feel like they need to deprive themselves and struggle every day to stay slim but aren’t eligible due to a healthy bmi.

we all know it’s not just a topic of interest or concern to people. Because a balanced argument, about the very real and fatal risks of obesity is seldom presented.

so yes, jealousy for many, resentment from others.

WLI should ideally be paired with resistance training and good nutrition. The aim isn’t simply “weight loss”, it’s fat loss while preserving muscle, strength and bone health. Without resistance training and enough protein, some of the weight lost may come from lean mass, which is not the outcome most people actually want.

Same for any diet though, just you’re more likely to be successful on the meds, so it’s more important, as they don’t make you lose faster, they make you lose consistently for a longer period.

It's not the same as for any diet, though. A study done by ESSA has recently found that after a year on weight loss injections 40% of the weight people lost was muscle, bone, and lean tissue. That's a lot higher than a regular diet. After a year, they likened it to 20 years of further ageing in regards to muscle and bone loss. It may help all other organs in the body and your overall health - but being frail and 20 years older in bone and muscle loss after one year's use is not a good outcome.

Could you link to that study @icecreamflowers? My searching only seems to find policy statements from ESSA rather than research data. ESSA seem to be an Australian organisation representing sport scientists and physical trainers. Interestingly they want the Australian government to mandate compulsory referral to the kinds of exercise professionals that they represent for those being prescribed GLP1s.

1) What clinical trials show for GLP-1 drugs
Medications like semaglutide and tirzepatide have been studied in multiple randomized trials and meta-analyses.
Lean mass loss proportion

• A 2025 systematic review of 22 RCTs found:
• Lean mass loss ≈ 25% of total weight lost
• Individual trial substudies show a range:
• ~25% (tirzepatide) to ~34–45% (semaglutide STEP-1 substudy)

👉 Overall research consensus:

• ~25–40% of weight loss is lean mass on GLP-1 drugs

Important nuance from trials

• Despite absolute muscle loss, body composition improves:
• Fat loss is larger than lean loss
• Some studies show:
• muscle quality improves (less fat infiltration)

2) How this compares to traditional dieting
Research consistently shows that any calorie deficit causes lean mass loss.

• Typical dieting (no resistance training):
• ~20–30% of weight loss = lean mass
• This is explicitly noted in GLP-1 reviews as:
• “Comparable to calorie-restriction diets”

👉 Key takeaway from comparative literature:

• GLP-1 drugs fall within the same general range as diet-induced weight loss
• Not uniquely worse — but sometimes at the higher end of the range

3) Why GLP-1 users
may
lose more muscle in practice
The mechanism matters more than the drug itself.
A) Faster and larger weight loss

• GLP-1 drugs often produce greater total weight loss
• Result: more absolute lean mass lost, even if the percentage is similar

B) Appetite suppression → lower protein intake

• Lower protein intake is linked to:
• greater lean mass loss (shown in semaglutide study comparisons)

C) Lower physical activity in some users

• Muscle preservation depends heavily on:
• resistance training + protein intake
• This applies equally to all weight loss methods

4) Head-to-head or real-world comparisons
Evidence directly comparing methods is still limited, but:

• A 2026 real-world analysis found:
• greater lean mass loss with tirzepatide vs semaglutide over time
• Small comparative studies show:
• similar % lean mass loss between GLP-1 and diet groups, despite greater total weight loss

5) Key interpretation (what the evidence actually says)
Supported conclusions:

• GLP-1 drugs:
• Cause meaningful lean mass loss
• Typically ~25–40% of total weight lost
• Traditional dieting:
• Causes ~20–30% lean mass loss
• Therefore:
• They are broadly similar, not fundamentally different

Where differences appear:

• GLP-1 drugs may:
• Sit at the higher end of lean mass loss
• Lead to more total muscle lost (because more total weight is lost)
• But:
• This is largely due to calorie deficit + behavior, not a unique drug effect

6) The most important research-backed point
Across all methods, the strongest determinants of muscle loss are:

• Protein intake
• Resistance training
• Rate of weight loss

These factors consistently show the largest effect sizes in studies and explain most variability—not whether weight loss comes from drugs vs diet.

Bottom line (evidence-based)

• GLP-1 injections do not uniquely “cause” muscle loss
• They produce similar lean mass loss ratios to dieting
• But in real-world use, they can lead to:
• slightly higher percentages
• or greater absolute muscle loss, due to faster weight loss and reduced intake

Well quoted.

and I think it’s well known now it’s key to protect muscle so strength training and consuming enough protein is not some secret. I did it though out my weight loss phase and also went straight into body recomp.

it’s not like we just randomly lose muscle and thays it for life.

I can't find it online. It was in an interview aired on my local news last night. Their concern was that people on WLI were not getting adequate protein or being advised about the importance of protein intake, exercise, and resistance training while on the drugs. Perhaps they will publish it later. She kept emphasising 20 years - as if you go from 40 to 60 in one year, muscle- and bone-wise!

If it's so well known, how did their study subjects lose on average 40% of their weight loss as muscle and bone?

The problem would be that people would lose muscle and bone, and be young enough to not be aware of that - unless their racing off to get a body scan every few months. Then they go off the drugs due to side effects or cost, or the weight loss plateaus while on them so after a while they go off them, and they regain slowly. But they regain fat, so end up as fat or fatter, with less muscle and bone on board. Then they go on them again, and lose the weight again - as most people on trad dieting regimes do, over and over - but each time a large percentage of the weight lost is muscle and bone. Sarcopenia and osteopenia in a large portion of the public at a young age is not an ideal situation.

@icecreamflowers you’re referring to a study that you don’t know what it actually says based off a TV interview with someone from this ESSA organisation. The points that @InfoSecInTheCity made in her detailed post address everything that you’re saying, what do you think about those points?

I don't think anything about her points.

As you have no interest in the results of this study and think either I or the alarmed scientist interviewd about the results of this study are just making things up, I think we can safely say: There are no downsides to weightloss with WLI.

Would you like me to write that on the blackboard 100 times?

Not ideal, no. But then neither is rising obesity. What do you suggest?

I suggest what she suggested. Medical monitoring, and proper information given to users about protein requirements and the great importance of exercise and particularly resistance exercise while on the drugs, which - clearly, from their study - a lot of people are missing out on.

@icecreamflowers huh? I’d like to read the study that you’re referencing so that I can understand it. Which is why I asked about it. Why on earth would I think that you or the rep from ESSA would be making it up? I’d like to find out the source of your alarm and understand it for myself. That’s a pretty reasonable approach, I’d have thought.