Everyone just hates fat people

[mamabeeboo]

Yes I'm fat and yes I'm taking the WLI.

I've had it out with a friend of a friend during a catch up dinner yesterday and I'm fuming.

I've lost some weight and still have a good 5 or so stone more to go before I'm anywhere near the 'normal' BMI category. So no, I'm not wasting away or disappearing, or losing weight too fast.

The mistake I made was being honest about the jabs. But I stand by it, I think it's important to get healthy, regardless of how you do it, just get there.

ANYWAY, this person has suddenly decided to feel concerned for my health, now that the loss has become noticeable. With some silent nods from others about how you should 'just eat less and move more'. No shit is that what was supposed to do?!

A big discussion about:
just have willpower
just have smaller portions
do it the normal way, you don't know what you're putting into your body
it's not healthy
just put down the fork
it's about dicipline
it's not really losing weight though, is it (huhh??)
it's more rewarding to do it the normal way so you can feel achievement

It's gotten me thinking of how so many people just hate fat people. You want us to pay for being fat, to suffer at the gym doing workouts we don't like or can't do with joint pain and back pain etc. You want us to 'just have willpower' like it's that easy. You want us to try all the diets and fail so you can feel superior with your 'discipline' and that you 'look after your body'.

You hate the fact that these WLI have levelled the playing field.

I said all this yesterday and it became very frosty. These aren't my friends, I was there for the birthday girl, but I won't sit there and take it.

I'm posting because I'd love to hear what you might have heard when talking about WLI. (Or if anyone agrees with the above 🤔)

The truth is that the best way to lose weight and keep it off after the use of WLI is to eat a diet rich in unprocessed food and walk.
Combining these two methods balances the hormones .
Calorie counting does not work in the long run and in fact increases the likelihood of weight gain

I think some of us WLI users have probably felt somewhat forced on to the defensive on this thread given how some of the naysayers have been, well, naysaying 😒 but I doubt most of us are in denial. Personally I did a lot of research and thought long and hard about this, and in the end for me (and I suspect many others) the clincher was that I just felt the dangers of being clinically obese, as I was, were far greater than the risks that have been reported so far with the jabs.

The two are not mutually exclusive. I do those things as well, when my RA permits me to walk, that is. (And I'm not saying that just to be sarcastic, I think it sometimes gets forgotten that mobility issues don't allow some of us to exercise as much as we'd like.)

On the risks and benefits issue, it's also worth pointing out that vanishingly little of the discourse initiated by MJ sceptics includes the potential benefits aside from weight loss. I mentioned upthread that there's a fair bit of dementia in my family. Meaning my own personal risk assessment is going to weigh that more heavily (no pun intended) than that of someone who doesn't have that particular genetic inheritance.

But when I expressed my excitement at the potential impact on Alzheimers, which I'd innocently hoped people might understand and sympathise with, the immediate response was peevish concern trolling about gall bladders, clearly intended to try and shut me down. That was quite sad really.

If a non-weight loss drug was invented which halved the risk of cancer and substantially reduced the risk of heart disease and stroke (and possibly Alzheimer’s) but which had a small risk of pancreatitis, gall bladder and other problems would most people take it or not? Would most people see it as beneficial? I think we all know the answer. Many people are just not able to see past their emotional/psychological issues with fat people.

If it was that easy, no one would have weight issues, would be regaining weight after a diet (not even talking about MJ there) etc…

The reasons why people regain weight is the same than with any diet, MJ included. And it’s a really complex web of metabolic disorder, HPA axis issue (see cortisol), autonomic issues etc etc etc….

Loosing weight is only one part of the equation. The issue is that the other part is rarely discussed because being overweight/obese is seen as a moral failing, not a biological issue.

100% this

Rubbish. You can’t compare obesity to dyslexia. Having extra time in an exam doesn’t mean you don’t have to know the material. You still have to do the work to do well in the exam. WL drugs take away a large amount of the effort/work required to stay in a calorie deficit. Extra time in an exam doesn’t reduce the effort it takes to prepare for the exam.

All the slim people are just feeling threatened because all the fat people are not there anymore to make them feel better about themselves 🤣

People regain weight because they haven’t addressed the root cause. They go back to their old habits and the weight piles back on . You have to maintain the level of calories you take in by tracking your food and exercising. The minute you eat in a surplus, the weight will go back on. People who maintain weight loss do it by not dropping the ball. They permanently change their eating habits and keep an eye on their weight, addressing any weight gain immediately, before it becomes out of control. It’s not easy and it takes work.

Well, my first dose arrived this morning. I have tried everything. I'm 52, have PCOS and have been overweight or obese for 30 years, despite constant efforts.

For the last two years I have averaged 14k steps a day, plus weight training, HIIT sessions and yoga/pilates. I sleep 8 hours a night. I don't eat processed foods or take aways, I hit my protein and fibre targets consistently, I always get more than my 5 a day/30 a week. I barely drink alcohol. In the first year of consistent perfect effort, I lost 20kg. The next six months I lost nothing. The last six months, a kilo a month has crept back on. I'm still tracking, counting, I'm bloody starving and think about food 24/7. I'm fucking exhausted and my BMI is still over 35, and I know only too well that any medical issue I may have will be dismissed and I'll be denied treatment.

So you can call it cheating if you like, I'm past caring.

For the n thousandth time, I'm on MJ and still doing the work. I know all the root causes.

Best wishes @MsRinky. I have PCOS too and started with a BMI of over 34. Hope it works out for you.

having the jabs helping me to reduce the compulsive food noise does not mean that I don't have to track the calories and macros and make healthy (not just low calorie) choices. Mounjaro does not drag me to gym or out running either. You still have to do the work, no you can't just sit on the sofa stuffing your face and lose weight.

What effort and work has it taken away? I'm in calorie deficit and exercising in some form daily. I still have to use willpower as the efficacy of the medication fluctuates. What's the additional effort I'm not expending here?

They also regain weight because of set points higher than their goal weights and because their fat cells have changed and sometimes multiplied. It's rarely as simple as just try harder.

Nope.
Thats not what the research says.

Once again, if it was that easy, people who are simply ‘dieting’ wouldn’t be putting all the weight back on. And yet they do.
MJ in that regard is the same than any diet.

All this discussion of whether it’s easier to lose weight on WLI and whether people deserve recognition for all their hard work in doing it the Proper Way is bonkers.

Yes, losing weight on WLI is easier than losing weight without (that’s why they work) for that particular person.

One person losing weight without WLI may not be easier than another person losing weight without. I mean, this is fairly obvious, isn’t it?

So to say everyone losing weight without WLI is doing more hard work than everyone losing weight with WLI is just ridiculous.

I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to think they deserve external validation for weight loss, however they go about it. People may not notice, care or see it as their role to provide.

It's best to be doing it for yourself, then you'll not be disappointed. I would say the same to anyone on WLIs, 5.2, low carb, bariatric surgery.

The massive difference between WLI and other medication is that prescribed drugs are often taken to keep someone alive and is the lesser of two evils should there be side effects.

I stopped taking the pill myself sue to migraines, but it has been taken by millions and millions of women worldwide for decades without any long lasting side effects in the majority.

Your examples aren't comparable.

These WLI are fairly new and lots of people have been getting very ill with some dying. So yes, I would be worried if a family members started on them, but that choice would ultimately be down to the individual.

A very sensible take on it.

The massive difference between WLI and other medication is that prescribed drugs are often taken to keep someone alive and is the lesser of two evils should there be side effects.

Are you not aware that obesity causes many diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke which can be fatal?

Obesity kills too - on average 30,000 people a year in the UK. That's what obese people are factoring into their own risk assessments. Yes, of course they might the one of unlucky few to get gallbladder or pancreas issues in the process of trying to lose the weight but they also might be one of the 30,000 who dies that year if they don't lose the weight.
WLI is medication that is keeping people alive.

People can have whatever concerns they like, that's a personal call. However, obesity kills more every year than plenty of conditions that people are prescribed medications with side effects for.

I think the pill is an excellent point of comparison in many respects, tbh. They are both highly politicised drugs which certain people feel justified in making a moral judgement about but which nevertheless grant the user an unprecedented degree of control over their body.

As much as I admire people fighting the good fight on here I don't think there is any point engaging with people who have internalised the idea that fat is shameful and that somehow the harder you have 'worked' to be thin the better you are. They just want everyone to be as miserable as they are.

I say this as a 'slim' person who nonetheless has had a lifetime of body image issues that have caused me to think a lot about this shit. I really want people to know that not everyone is judging them for their size.