Why are so many people anti WLI

[Mumble12]

I just don’t understand it!

Mounjaro has literally changed my life overnight. It’s dealt with things that I didn’t even know were fixable. Why are so many people (presumably those that haven’t tried them and really have no intention to) so dead against it.

Do people misunderstand how it works? So many people perceive it as cheating…but I can’t fathom the logic - even if it was cheating…so what?! Why do they want people to be miserable and struggle with obesity?

I can understand objections to medications you don't want to take, but you feel you are pressured into taking - like vaccines. Are some people objecting to WLI because they don't want to take them (fair enough, your body your choice) but are worried that once they become too mainstream, there will be societal pressure on all overweight people to use the WLI? In lines of 'Why are you still overweight and a burden on NHS with your obesity related health risks, when there is a drug available that can fix it?'

The long term effects are a mild concern, but a balanced risk for me, as with any medication. Don't think there's any I've taken that have no side effects.

The defensiveness (from me) comes from people who have no experience with something, telling other people that if they just tried harder they wouldn't need intervention. Coupled with the idea that if you inject the weight just falls off, so you aren't living healthily.

Also, 9 times out of 10 the opinion are uninvited, which always causes defensiveness!

Yes I think that's probably a reasonable objection, if we do get to a point where they are widely available on the NHS and people are forgoing them. Although no different to smoking I guess, where the choices are natural cessation or medicated cessation and people still choose to smoke.

However at present, most people are paying ( a significant amount) out of pocket so other peoples moral objection is a bit odd as it literally doesn't affect them in any way other than a potential decreased reliance on the NHS for weight related issues.

I'm on WLI and have lost over 2 stones since March. They have been absolutely revolutionary for me. I enjoy food but can make healthier choices much more easily and am steadily losing weight and at the same time trying to ingrain new, healthier habits that will hopefully help me in the long run.

In terms of whether it's cheating or not, I'm still undecided. Losing weight the natural way wasn't working for me. I lost 3 stone on Slimming World previously and put it all back on again. Ditto with Weight Watchers, Slim Fast, 5:2 and the myriad of other diets I tried.

So I'm viewing Mounjaro as a tool to help me develop better habits. In much the same way as when I tried to quit smoking I would go cold turkey, stop for a while and then start again. Until I used Nicorette as an aid to quit and stopped smoking for good. It's a tool that can help, so if that is cheating then I guess I'm an unapologetic cheater!

Of course I'm worried about what happens when I come off the injections. I really don't want to regain the weight like I did previously. What is different this time though is I'm not on a "diet". I couldn't eat on the Slimming World plan forever or only drink Slim Fast shakes for the rest of my life and that's why I became obese again. This time round I'm not cutting anything out, just working on portion sizes and eating more of the good stuff and less of the unhealthy stuff. I'm snacking far, far less. Hopefully those habits will stand me in good stead but I suppose we shall see!

I do have some concerns regarding injections though, despite being on them but this is mainly to do with regulation and cost. For me, there was significant risk to my health from being obese. With a BMI in the 30s my cholesterol was already very high and I was experiencing joint pain. The health risks of being obese are significant so any associated risks of the injections felt worth it on balance. My provider informed my GP that I'm taking the injections so did their due diligence and I know they are reputable.

But I have friends that have lied about their weight and doctored photographs in order to get the jabs. These are people a few pounds, maybe a stone or so overweight. People with a BMI of 26 who just want to lose a bit of weight. These are not who the injections are designed for and I think they're not viewing it as a serious medication used to treat obesity. Media stories of already slim celebrities using them to get very thin don't help here.

I also feel desperately sorry for people that are priced out of getting the help they need. It does feel like a two tier system of those that can afford the jabs and those that can't. I have a very dear friend that is significantly overweight but doesn't have a BMI of 40 so her GP won't help. But she cannot afford £140 a month for Mounjaro. It is simply unaffordable for her when it could really help her and that feels wrong too.

Because some people want fatties to stay in their lane.

My best friend has been fat since her late 20s. She’s been using mounjaro since December and is now 55 pounds down. She looks and feels like a different person - really gorgeous. But some of the comments she’s had! All wrapped up in faux concern because these people liked her fat.

I know of one person who is using this method to do something about their weight, which has been a problem, for most of their life. I can see that if they stopped using them, the weight loss, will just be gained again, as they have done nothing to address the underlying issues, of why they eat the way they do in the first place. I have suggested ongoing therapy, which has been dismissed, so I am keeping my counsel going forward. But for this person it will be a waste of money, if they do not get the other help that they need. That is my take on these injections.

You started a thread on a public forum questioning why people are anti-WLI but it turns out you didn't actually want anyone to offer an opinion that wasn't in agreement as yours. Rightio!

So she wasn't gorgeous before?

Not at all, I wanted to hear opinions, hence why I started the thread. Where did I say otherwise? Some I can understand, some I can't - that's fine though.

You said people were defensive because they know they may damage their health really and feel sour about it, I'm explaining (as someone who actually injects myself weekly with it), that I don't feel that way at all.

The 9/10 opinions thing doesn't refer to this thread, but in my life - which is what led me to starting this thread.

What are the reasons she overeats?

You can tell them the truth - you've cut out snacks, make better choices and use intermittent fasting. You've earned your success, well done!

It’s not the point of the thread and possibly a derail but I do find the attitude of your friend hard to understand. Anyone who is significantly overweight is going to save quite a lot of money if they start eating less, so the cost of the WLI injections is going to be at least partially, if not fully (as it is for me) offset.

I’m not saying that there is no-one who cannot afford WLI, but I think for the majority of people, the net costs are negligible. I think someone should do some research on this.

This makes me sad.

as I said upthread, the negative feeling I have towards WLI is jealousy, because I could do with some help loosing 8lb to a stone as I cannot get myself in the head space to make the right choices food wise at the moment.

it sounds to me like you are using them exactly as intended. Eating well, and moving more. it’s such a shame that you feel ashamed.

my friends started using them in January, and she’s done really well - at first it was just me that knew, but as she’s losing more weight and feeling more confident in how she looks she’s also happier telling people how she’s achieved it her weight loss.

I hope you find the pride for yourself that you deserve soon.

Thank you for the information, @InfoSecInTheCity and @endzone - I will definitely look at MJ again.

What about when it can’t be cured by diet?
I have a heat and exercise allergy
so I can spend 90% of my time head to toe in hives or I can inject a biologic which gives me no side effects

without it I can’t exercise at all, clean or walk. I can’t wear a coat. No swimming. No city trips. I can just sit down and that’s it
Obviously I took the drugs

I don't disagree. When you think of it as £30 a week that somehow doesn't sound as bad. And I've definitely saved that sort of money myself by not buying lunches at work and generally eating less than I used to. But I suppose if she says she has looked into it and she cannot afford it despite desperately wanting to then I feel sorry that she can't experience the benefits I have. I do know that money is very, very tight for her family.

They are a pretty significant monthly expense and even if some of that money is recouped there are plenty of people out there that just won't be able to afford them. Hopefully the price decreases in future so anyone that needs and wants them can access the medication.

Have you tried just having a positive mindset?

Yeah I tried but sitting on the sofa grinning didn’t do too much And then I started collecting autoimmune conditions

Nightmare 😂

She was much less gorgeous. Newsflash - people look better without lots of fat.

Ha loving some of these replies!

For what it's worth we haven't "saved money" on food as we're a family struggling to pay for this. I wasn't someone who got lunch at work or was eating out so for me although I'm eating less I'm trying to eat better. And the family meals are being made anyway. I've stopped eating crisps and brie - but that will be a saving of say £20-30 a month at most and injections are a lot more than that!

From previous threads though I do think a lot of people ARE saving the cost of the injections in what they are not buying out etc.

I can't see how she's lost any weight! You still have to count calories or you won't lose weight at all. It's not a magic injection.
All the injections do is stop you feeling hungry and stabilise your metabolism..
I've lost 5 stone since November but it's still been hard work and the side effects are no joke. But I've been fat for 30 years and this is the first time anything has worked for me.
Also the expense what on earth is the point in paying out a couple of hundred pounds a month if you are going to eat junk?
It's still a diet. I've only been eating 1200 calories a day for the last 8 months, mounjaro has killed my food cravings but if I eat any more than that I don't lose any weight and often go to bed hungry.
Where do people get the idea they can eat what they want? It isn't true.

Stress, and past trauma which has not been dealt with. It will continue to affect them, as I have witnessed. I have suggested that they will need ongoing therapy, as the few sessions that they have had, here, and, there, are obviously not enough. It is not easy to get ongoing mental health support, and that has been an issue for many, as we have seen, due to the poor state of the NHS.

Also I've spent 15 months bedbound as I've been waiting for an orthopaedic reconstruction surgery which I had a few weeks ago so no hope in hell of exercising. Now I've had the op and almost better I'm back in the gym doing upper body weights and attempting to repair my shrivelled muscles under supervision. I dread to think what would have happened had I stayed fat I'd probably be in a wheelchair but being thin now I can hit the gym. MJ has saved my life.