You shouldn't take weight loss drugs. Learn about healthy eating, eat less and exercise more.

[GapTshirtsAreShitQualityTheseDays]

This is like telling an insomniac "don't take tablets, just get more sleep"

I'm 41.
I have tried.

I KNOW all about healthy eating. Probably more than most slim people.
I don't have an emotional/binge eating disorder, I just have a bigger appetite than most people. I can only control it so long via willpower or low-carb diets. The drive to eat is the most powerful instinct known to man (except maybe breathing)

It's the weight loss medication that takes the edge of said appetite and ALLOWS me the space to make sensible decisions on food.

I've gone from 15 stone to 9 stone (I'm short). If these drugs had been invented 20 years ago, my life would have been much better.

And no, I didn't steal the drugs off a diabetic. I got private prescriptions for Wegovy and then Mounjaro which are only marketed for weightloss.

And yes I am quite prepared to take the drug forever if necessary.

And no, I don't care about the "potential unknown long term side effects" because they can hardly be worse than what I was facing with obesity.

And although exercise is beneficial for many reasons, it is a fairly trivial factor in weightloss.

Thanks 🙏 and thanks for being honest as well. In the US you can get it for overweight BMI so it can be used for it.
You’re lucky with the side effects too. I am on a last chance health kick and if this fails then I will seriously consider weight loss jabs.

@Summerpigeon congrats, it's exciting to take such a big step for yourself!

I felt slightly sick at the start. And sometimes when I increased my dose. But it goes away. I hope it works for you.

Yes, as per a pp, sometimes when I'm busy I now forget to eat or just mostly view it as a slightly inconvenient thing I have to do in the middle of the day like getting petrol*. Basically Mounjaro makes me feel like a normal person!

*I can still enjoy food, go to eat out etc, but I now eat to live rather than live to eat

It must be hard. I'm in the forget to eat category but I do sometimes get into a phase of wanting to eat everything in sight.

I've eaten an entire loaf of bread before when I've got into one, even though I know very well it's going to give me a terrible stomach ache. I can't imagine having that urge constantly so you're entirely justified in taking medication.

I'll say another thing.

I think part of the "panic" about these drugs stems from the fact that a) you can buy them with money, b) on the internet, c) they are injected rather than tablets (mostly)

(The fact they are injected like heroin or steroids seems to really freak people out)

That is probably true. No doubt.

But inversely, I remember being really annoyed by the sugar tax which rendered some of my favourite foods non-eatable due to the synthetic taste of the artificial sugars that were substitued. I still have never returned to Ribena, which now tastes disgusting and formerly was my all-time favourite drink from childhood. I resented being made to be inconvenienced over a situation in which peoples bad choices forced me to have to change a life long happy, but responsibly managed habit. Also a full sugar drink is now more expensive.

I think it's this negation of choice - that's what it sounds like anyway and people can be uncomfortable with that. People here are saying obesity isn't a choice, ok I'm really open to having that explained to me, truly. I can learn. You're saying obesity is a disease. Explain it to me.

Exactly. If Mounjaro & Wegovy were only being prescribed because of their beneficial effects on Alzheimer's and heart disease then people wouldn't give a toss who took them. In fact they would probably think it a good thing.

But the second they realise these drugs also make losing weight easier and quicker then that seriously pisses them off. No. No. No. It's just not fair that previously overweight people are now managing to comfortably lose weight without pain and suffering.

It's almost like people don't care about other peoples' health issues (and please spare me the faux concern) until it means they might become slimmer than them. And yes, some people are that shallow and embittered. Physical slimness is incredibly highly valued in our society and is almost becoming a protected characteristic.

A lot of already slim people absolutely do not want others joining their clan.

Its nobody's business but yours. If it works for you then do it, you have no need to explain yourself to anyone else.

A lot of already slim people absolutely do not want others joining their clan

I don't know anyone who thinks like that. I've always been slim and I couldn't care less. What difference does it make to me how much other people weigh? I'm not offering out piggy backs.

@DysonSphere nobody chooses to be obese. Not even these "fat acceptance" people imho.

Clearly there is something making us fat against our will. For me, it's just a big appetite and a low tolerance for being even slightly peckish. Maybe it's genetic or hormonal, who knows. I can hold out for so long but eventual my body DRIVES ME TO EAT. But this drug seems to correct it by reducing my appetite. I still get a little hungry. But I never feel ravenous and like I would crawl over your granny to get at a slice of bread.

What tablets did you get? Orlistat?

Weight loss jabs make people slim

They don't make them gorgeous 🤣

I've started on mysimba tablets today ,
I was a bit worried about family seeing the injection in the fridge,and I wanted to keep this private
Plus I feel most of my weight problems are in my head ,so the drugs in mysimba,I think /hope will really help me ,

Where you big as a child also? Did you have a stronger compulsion to eat then? Did you have a family that bought lots of snacky foods..biscuits/cakes/crisps etc? When did the weight become an issue?

It's interesting that you mention those into body positivity. I used to be very negative about BP influencers. But I now have changed my mind, to a degree - I do think serious morbid obesity should not be glamorised (although everyone deserves pretty clothes regardless) but I also think it is very beneficial for - particularly western society - to be more embracing of other body shapes/sizes. I think obsession over thinness is really equally damaging and toxic. Some BP influencers do seem very happy.

Would you care so much about taking a drug if BP became more of a default in society?

Also you have celebrities like Allison Hammond and Adele who have also had life long issues with weight but have lost it from diet along with exercise. That is confusing to me, for people then to say it isn't something they can manage without drug help (I'm being a bit provocative in this last as your part about a drive to eat is interesting)

Op I agree. And I think you are in to something with the ‘fat friend’ comment.

Some of the threads here have shocked me. There’s a small group of very vocal posters who say such nonsense that it makes no sense for their objection to be based on being worried about the side effects.

Like the poster who said losing 6 stone isn’t life changing and it’s just vanity. Thats an attempt to make you feel vain (seen as negative) and take away and health benefits from losing weight and belittling you. Thats not someone who is worried about yeh side effectives. Thats someone saying something stupid because they have a, fairly, extreme reaction to other people losing weight. But they can’t say that.

The whole ‘you should have to slum it like the rest of us’, I would ask why? That like telling someone with depression that if their medication works and they start to feel like they can live life again, they should have to come off and live like people who don’t have depression.

I am not so sure it’s just about ‘fat friends’.l though. There social currency in being slim. But that’s currency is only worth something if not everyone is slim. I think the reason people have this reaction that makes them say something ridiculous and get quite annoyed about it is because they need people to be over weight to carry on feeling like their thinness is superior.

Obviously, this isn’t all thin people or even most. I am talking about the ones that get upset about someone else doing something then make weird comment that’s designed to try and pull someone down.

To be absolutely honest - if someone has got to the point they are desperate to
try these injections which have some quite horrible side effects and we have no
real knowledge of long term negative effects then I’d be trusting that they genuinely have tried every other way to lose weight and it’s at the point of benefit v risk.

Nobody would choose it as the first or easiest option .

Oh believe me those people are out there.

I did London in 2022, stood at the start line and thought “fuck, I’ve got 5 hours of running, on my own”.

Fortunately another runner from my club caught me up at around 10K and we dragged each other the “last” 20 miles. A scenic half marathon can’t be beat but a crowded marathon around the streets of London is not my thing.

Mysimba

Also you have celebrities like Allison Hammond and Adele who have also had life long issues with weight but have lost it from diet along with exercise. That is confusing to me, for people then to say it isn't something they can manage without drug help (I'm being a bit provocative in this last as your part about a drive to eat is interesting)

I thought it was quite obvious that
1- those celebrities have suppport normal people don’t have
2- being overweight isn’t just an issue with calories or disordered eating or emotional.
3- loosing weight isn’t just calories calories out. Many people loose weight when starting those medications even though they haven’t changed their diet or how much they eat. That’s because you can be in a situation where you eat little and/or healthy and still don’t loose weight
4- and then you have the obvious category of people who have other health conditions that mess up metabolism

So no, it’s not because some celebrities managed to loose weight through ‘healthy diet’ that everyone should.
Assuming they did only use a healthy diet. Nowadays, I expect them to ‘hide’ surgery or medications because it’s seen as the easy way out.

@DysonSphere

I was a little chubby. Yes, I was always pretty keen on food esp treats. My family were all slim and ate normally, including treats. I am quite short and by nature sedentary so that made it harder.

Even if society were more "body positive", no, I would still want to be slim. I can even shower more easily.

Re Adele/Alison Hammond. I highly doubt any obese celebs who have lost weight recently have done it with diet/exercise alone. Remember Fern Britton's Ryvita adverts and her talking about cycling but failing to mention the gastric band! These jabs originally appeared on the scene about 10 years ago for those with enough money and contacts.

@coldsalready correct. No-one takes this before trying lots of other things.

Dear God if I had the money back that I've spent on Weight Watchers, diet books, special food, herbal supplements, exercise equipment etc etc. Not to mention the obsessive weighing of myself and my food! I BET I have spent more time, effort, money and willpower on losing weight than your average slim person.

Also, no-one takes it as a "quick fix" before a beach holiday or whatever to lose 5lbs. It doesn't work like that. It takes at least a month to start working. It's taken me about 15 months to lose the weight.

You sound rather childish. Who's paying for your medication?

Orlistat works differently from Wegovy/Ozempic/Mounjaro. The former is a fat magnet and makes you shit out calories. The latter reduces your appetite and slows down digestion.

My Simba - allegedly reduces appetite but not in the same league as Wegovy/Ozempic/Mounjaro

Eh? States in OP that I get a private prescription. So I pay for it. Who else would be paying for it? My wealthy lover? A Go Fund Me account?

Obesity is very complex and the mantra eat less move more is not helpful.
I’m a normal weight diabetic but prior to injections I could not stop thinking about food. Only needing to control my blood sugar stopped me from overeating and it was hard. My motivation to keep my feet just about stopped me from eating far more than needed.
Whilst I think that upf have contributed to obesity, there is much to be done to remove these foods from our diets.
OP I am sure you are healthier for your weight loss and, to me, that’s good enough reason for you to have the injections. I hope more people can gain control this way.