is taking weight loss medication cheating?

[theweightlossqueen]

i used to be a super sporty child and then life happened. i've put on a few pounds and my food (mainly snacking) choices aren't the best...

i feel like if i just dedicated time to exercising then i'd get fit but i don't want to keep the current relationship that i have with food, you know?

is taking weight loss medication cheating, really?

Cheating who? There's only me in this race and how I choose to lose weight isn't cheating anyone else out of losing it their way. So where is the cheating?

Cheating what?

I don’t think it teaches you anything about healthy eating or looking after your body, but I don’t think I’d call it cheating.

It's also not a one or the other. I used mounjaro to give me the head space and energy to focus on healthy eating along side exercise. I am 2 and a half stone down in 3 months and training for a half marathon and triathalon in the summer.

No it's mot cheating, I personally have tried every diet including just not snacking and eating protein/ focusing on healthy food but I have always failed due to constant hunger. In my youth I could out run this but with age and increase weight I couldn't get through to couch to 5 k but with mounjaro I now have.

It is a crutch not a fix it all.

@theweightlossqueen hi I don't care if it's cheating or not if it gets me to the weight I need for surgery

Cheating at what? Life isn't a test.
Is taking pain medication cheating? Is taking vitamin tablets cheating? Is wearing glasses cheating?

Have you taken these medications? Because they absolutely do help you learn both of those things if you use them responsibly.

Hmm, did you just want to start a bun fight?

as others said, cheating at what please, you need to clarify. Also can you add in what other meds you feel maybe cheating to an extent you need to ask. Anti depressants? Blood pressure meds? Where is your line.

I have and I do not believe they do.

That’s sad for you that you couldn’t reeducate yourself,

Completely disagree with this. That's also assuming people don't already know this anyway! Many people know how to eat and exercise, executing it long term is a problem for many people for all sorts of reasons. WLI give us the headspace to actually focus long term on health and wellness without food noise and cravings sabotaging things for them.

The poster seems to mean it didn’t teach them anything, for the vast majority of the rest of us it does. Think they just phrased it wrong.

@Dietingfool Bun fight or just plain goady.

In that case, here’s our bingo card for when they all pile in!

I can see both sides of this argument. The drug itself doesn't teach you to eat healthily but by removing the food noise I have more clarity to prepare a healthier meal.

By that I mean I don't come in from work starving and go fuck it I'm throwing a pizza in the oven as I need that carb fix. I can now make a healthier meal padded out with loads of veg and know I will be satisfied by that.

I have lost 4 stone without them through healthy eating and exercise, learning about fats and hormones, re-educating through lived experience.

I’m sorry you think medical intervention is the only way to learn those things.

I don't think it's "cheating" but it's not going to change a mindset where you eat what you fancy to the extent that you want, so when you stop being on the meds the weight will return.

I think the word 'cheating' implies it's a competition, it's not.
Secondly, I wonder if men get asked if taking Viagra is cheating, given its original purpose was for heart conditions.
I think you just need to do what's best for you.

So why did you try the drugs and say you didnt learn anything?

@PokerFriedDips Is that what happened to you when you stopped taking them?

Unless you stay on like many of us.

Because I was desperate and thought it was the only way to lose weight. It isn’t. But it isn’t “cheating”.

um ok. Well done I guess, odd you couldn’t learn on the drugs but could off, but I guess we are all unique.

Absolutely. Fine if you can afford it and if no complications start emerging for people who are on them for 10+ years.

I learned without them. That is also possible. I don’t think we should push either argument as the absolute only way and medical intervention and dependence on drugs should be the last resort imo.

are you looking for weight loss or health? They aren’t the same…

You obviously don't know anything about it then