How will weight loss jabs change the weight loss industry?

[FloordrobeIsGoingToGetME]

Apologies if there's another thread going, I've looked but couldn't see one. I also started one yesterday in general weight loss but no responses,

I've been through WW, SW, gym programmes, PTs and even Corinne Crabtree's NoBS programmes.

I've just started in injections and having a good response in terms of mindset, appetite reset etc.

We all know that the weight loss industry is ENORMOUS.

What do you think the big names are doing about changing their models/incorporating medication elements into their programmes, if anything?

Or is it already happening?

That's really interesting, @Diarygirlqueen

Does she put it down to weight loss meds or something more general?

Was listening to a USA podcast last week, where the overweight have been taking the jab longer than UK and they said already making changes to not only food but other industries. KrispyKreme profits were down, less demand for knee/hip operations and even mentioned they are already talking about recalculating amount of fuel required on planes based on people’s weight. They were also talking about even better working drugs for weight loss that are currently being tested.
Another side effect of MJ etc seems to be reduction in gambling, drinking etc, so can imagine there are some concerned industry CEOs out there.

Michael Moslem’s Fast800 are saying their diet works in conjunction with the jab. I always liked the Fast800 as seems healthy and a good way to kick start weight loss, read the book earlier this year. Have been following it as my eating plan since starting MJ.

Will be interesting to see how the food industry in particular responds.

I suppose the selling points of WW/SW versus jabs are:

WW and SW are cheaper on a monthly basis
There is a social element to them, meeting others at the meetings, being cheered on.

Point two isn't everyone's cup of tea (not mine) but the popularity of the club approach can't be denied.

I think they will adapt their programmes to work alongside the jabs in some way.

@annedawso
I read that 6% of adult Americans are now on WLM. And Obesity rates have fallen by 2% in the year 2022-2023 which is the first time a fall has been recorded in over a decade; the fall for 2023-24 is expected to be even greater.
Judging by the successes on here, people who successfully use WLM don't just move out of the obese weight range but continue until they're no longer even overweight and many are intending to continue with the medication in the long term to sustain their new healthy weight. No wonder the junk food industry is flapping.

Had this medication been around 6 years ago, I wouldn’t have paid £10k for a gastric sleeve for sure.
The initial year or two are great, but like me, many gain weight and are using weight loss jabs now. The consultation who did my sleeve is selling weight loss drug packages, so I’m sure gastric surgery numbers will drop drastically

They will start selling it, weight watchers is now looking to rebrand a glp-1 to their own brand, and they will all come out with diets aimed at people on it. They will simply evolve.

several drugs are in final testing and a pill will be available in the next couple of years, costs will go down, fast food places will move more and more to healthier options available , they already are, it will all simply evolve.

Isn't it wonderful that there's an alternative to those soul destroying self flagellation meetings of SW, WW etc
I have been yo-yo dieting my whole life torturing myself about good/ bad foods
Lying awake at night thinking about what I ate today and what I will eat tomorrow .
Was out with a fellow long term fatty last night and could see how panicked she was that not enough food had been ordered . That was me.
My cholesterol and HBA1C are now normal.
I'm just so grateful at this late stage in my life I can benefit from this and hope that many people will not spend their entire lives worrying about weight and seeing food as an enemy.
I can now exercise and feel like I'm in the world of the normal people I wish this had been available years ago

I am still paying for WW as I signed up for 6 months at a discounted rate. I had no idea they did a GLP-1 programme. That’s great! You can still swipe to see points but the main focus is on nutrition. I will give it a go. Thanks for sharing.

More generally I womder if weightloss drugs will help childhood obesity as the parents are not buying/eating so much crap and are a healthier weight.

I think a lot of diet/weight loss/health coaches will struggle.

I go to exercise classes locally and the woman that runs them also does health coaching. She once said she was looking for a few guinea pigs for a new programme, I thought she meant for free (what a nob I am!). She said it was discounted so ONLY £200 a month!

With offer codes and the bonus dose mounjaro is easily half that!

Not everyone wants to take Mounjaro though

For those of us who desperately need to lose a lot of weight, but have no conditions which would allow us to access jabs through the NHS and can't afford to pay, WW/SW etc will still have a clientele. I can just about afford £6 a week, but not the price of weight loss jabs unfortunately. I have disabilities, limited mobility and have taken lots of pain meds etc over the years which have all contributed to weight gain, alongside a brain injury which has left me bloody starving all the time, and now I'm really struggling to shift it. I pray that either the prices come down, or they become more widely available on the NHS soon.

I'm sorry to hear that, @JBJ

I hope the price comes down enormously or it becomes more appropriately prescribed . The benefits should be accessible to everyone who needs it.

Absolutely, Branan, that's true.

Many do though, so it's a wise business to understand and plan for the implications.

I think it will have huge impacts on the weight loss industry but also effect so many things. For example I think it will change the clothing industry which has extended its sizes. I've noticed on Facebook clothing groups many people selling larger sizes for very little and I assume demand for extended sizes will be falling.

I think that the weight loss industry has not been the only area taking advantage of people - I think the exercise industry is often not well informed and is selling what is profitable to them rather than giving people information and tools to incorporate exercise into every day life - we don't need to go to 45 minute exercise classes 3 times a week if every day we are running for the bus, walking up stairs, carrying things and generally being active. Recent research has shown women get benefits from one intense exercise session a week and also that strength doesn't less much even after a 19 week break and is quickly regained

Restaurants / eateries / junk food manufacturers are definitely going to be impacted.

I think norms in terms of body sizes will also have a big impact. People who are comfortably inside the bell curve are going to feel uncomfortable if they become more of an outlier. I have experienced this in reverse - once an outlier I'm now well within the norm. It does make me feel more socially comfortable but it doesn't mean my body is any healthier. Changing burns would definitely positively impact the health system.

I would have thought there's a vast amount of people who want to lose that stubborn stone. The jabs aren't suitable for those people. Also I presume people aren't intending to stay on the drugs for life? So will need help then

@Brananan who knows how the recommendations and availability (let alone cost) will change as time goes on though.. just because it's only recommended for BMI 30+ and as an injection at the moment, it could evolve into a daily pill to take much like a statin, for anyone who needs help controlling 'food noise'. Very interesting times ahead.

Why won't it? It works for many of us. Although reading MN makes it sound as though everyone is taking injections there are a lot more who aren't.

@ForGreyKoala apparently 12% of US adults have already used a GLP-1 medication and 6% of those surveyed were currently using it.

I'd say this represents a significant threat to any standard weight loss business model. They've been using GLP-1s for longer in the States so are ahead of the curve compared to the UK.

Organisations like WW and SW are already adapting and will continue to innovate to stay relevant. It doesn't mean it'll be pushed on everyone, but they'll have to incorporate GLP-1s into their offering.

Why can't you get it on the NHS, you sound like you would benefit greatly?

People can buy MJ for £100 a month ( with a referral code) so that's £25 a week. I mean yes it's a lot more than £6 a week but not an outrageous amount. Less than Botox r even gel nails which many see to get . People lose 5-7 lbs a week compared to 2-3 lbs a week at a diet club.

I can see it changing everything.

I really hope my dcs don't end up on it as a daily pill, unless they are diabetic or obese. I find that a really depressing prospect if I'm honest.

They are rolling out mounjaro on the NHS but it is due to take 12 yrs, they already have wegovy but it is through weight management tier 3 and that takes a long time to be referred to with waiting lists closed in some places

It will come with time

I think it's a matter of time until the meds are adapted and made available for the overweight (not obese).

I've always been the kind of person to eschew the pushing of daily medication - I'm 53 and not on anything other than HRT (and now MJ). I would never take statins (having read up on it, I don't believe they offer any benefit) and have always believed I'd rather sort any issues like high BP out myself rather than resort to any drug. I've been on antidepressants and the birth control pill over the years and on both occasions couldn't wait to come off them - they definitely made me feel 'weird' and not quite myself. Mounjaro is honestly the first time I've taken something and the sheer relief at not feeling 'quite myself' is absolutely joyous. I feel better, I feel free, I feel normal. It's like no other 'medication' I've ever taken.

I've never found myself saying this before, but within two weeks of taking it I started looking into whether there was a case for staying on it permanently, because I really wanted to think it was possible to continue this 'normal' feeling around food for ever. It's not so much about the weight loss for me, it just feels like freedom from obsessing over food, and weight, and hunger, and cravings.... the lot.

I've heard that Nestle have massively invested in weight lodd jobs, that way they can make profits from the UPF making people obese and then profit from the solution.

I don't know if it will have as big n impact as people think. Outside of MN and celebs I don't know anybody who is taking them. People don't want to go to Slimming World (strongly advised by an NHS dietician to avoid them) or WW because the classes are awful and they can do it online now.

From the rate of new fast food places opening around me I don't think we are going to have a massive drop in obesity.

(I take rybelsus, which is a low dose semaglutide tablet for diabetes. It does have some weight loss but I'm not sure if the side effects are worth it. I've been violently sick twice today and a lot of the time just feel sick and run down)

@ForGreyKoala

I see it as a Blockbuster video shop versus Netflix streaming situation,

The medication is such an enormous step forward, that the downstream implications to all weightloss methods will be impacted or adjusted in some way, over time. Of course many people will still eat less and move to lose weight, but the biological make up of your body will become more important,

It won't be overnight, but it will go that way, in my opinion. Once Pandora is out of her box, things don't go back.

All weight loss programmes - and some PTs and gyms - will need to start evaluating how it should or could be incorporated into their models or they will become stale and outdated.

I'm biased, obviously, I'm on Mounjaro - three weeks in. It's been incredible. I was prescribed weight loss pills when I was TEN (late 70s) and despite being intelligent and educated, I've been losing or gaining weight my entire life.

I've never known what it is to feel this way.

3 of my friends are also on it.

But I work in tech and I've seen the exponential rise of AI, and how those naysayers last year are now sprinting to catch up.

So for me, it feels comparable.