M&S Food range for people on WL jabs

[reluctantbrit]

Would you see this as beneficial?

For me, WL jabs are not used because I need to loose the weight but also to re-shape my relationship with food and go away from fast food/pre-packed/UPF.

I could imagine that some more options for a quick lunch on the go may be helpful but in general I am very happy to go back to basic with my cooking instead of looking for food made for WL jab users to fill M&S's coffers.

It looks a bit like their plant base range when everyone went vegan and didn't stuck with it.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/dec/30/marks-spencer-nutrient-dense-range-weight-loss-jabs

I was a bit puzzled to read this because they already have a perfectly decent range of high protein meals which I've used on occasions when DH has been away and I couldn't be arsed to cook. I wonder how different these can be.

People being on WLIs has become a significant cultural trend, shaping the way people shop for food. This is just a way for supermarkets to try and remain relevant to consumers who are thinking about food in a different way.

Personally, avoiding UPFs will be of major importance to me as I try to maintain my weight loss. I also wouldn't want to advertise the fact I'm on WLIs by buying a 'special' range in the supermarket.

Isn’t it just marketing proper food?
Please let’s not see food like fruit and vegetables being covered in stickers telling us they are “great for people taking WLJ”

I used mounjaro last year and some days my diet was lamentable as I ate barely anything. A nutrient dense small ready meal or snack would definitely have appealed to me.

Ok, I think that may help. While I am not hungry I still cook for the family so the three meals a day are normal for us and I do eat at least a bit.

They are probably desperate to sell something as their profits will be down as those who could previously afford to shop in their food halls are spending the money on injections instead.

I thought this, when I've unexpectedly had to stay late at work I've sometimes run across to m&s over the road and picked up one of these, they are generally about 500 calories, protein dense and have a good amount of grains and veg. Not something I'd eat week in and week out but suit a purpose and better than the McDonald's next door!

I find the high protein range isn't particularly high in fibre, so it would be nice to see ready meals that have both for days when i don't have a packed lunch.

I haven't seen the products/ingredients, hope it is not just more UPF aggressively marketed towards WLI patients.

Marketing ploy! Though small nutrient dense meals are good for some older people and/or medical conditions too

Personally I've completely gone off UPFs, and I think that's quite common. Hopefully these will be fairly nutritious whole foods? If so they'll be handy to grab on my way home from work.

I think it's a great idea although as has been said they do already do protein rich low calorie ready meals.

The anti UPF brigade should stop and actually look at what's in them, a lot of them are just grains and beg with a separate sauce and not all have sauce either. I love the beetroot, feta and grains one and have it often.

I'm not at home to make 3 meals a day, I need grab and go food a lot and these are much better options.

I was just thinking last night I wonder how brands and supermarkets profits have been /will be affected around Christmas and Easter which we usually see a lot of high calorie foods in the shops for.

Most posters have expressed an interest and said they might consider them in the hope they are not just more UPF and marketing, checking these things is pragmatic especially when there are so many unhealthy UPFs marketed to be healthy.

It is more than sensible when medicating obesity to also work on the foods and food habits that caused the obesity in the first place, for many of us that includes among other things the addictive nature of UPFs.

For clarity, I am assuming you are not referring to anyone on this support board/thread as “The anti UPF brigade”, as that phrasing is dismissive of the very real issues some people have experienced with these foods and would be unnecessary.

Hmmm, they always do high protein low calorie stuff at this time of year.

This sounds like marketing plus maybe an excuse to make portion sizes smaller.

Seems a commercially sensible idea. I'm not likely to use them but can see there's a market. Worth pointing out that there are lots of paths to obesity and for some of us, UPFs were never really the problem.

If anyone is interested in the ingredients for these meals, you can find them on Ocado by searching for ‘nutrient dense’. I had a look at a couple of them and didn’t find any artificial ingredients in there. They’ll be available to order next week

Generally priced at £7 or £6 for a 400g serving so not cheap.

But, Could be good inspiration for recipes to cook Yourself…. Or ever now and again when you run out of time or energy to cook.

Just checked them out, the katsu one and the tandoori one they had last year with different names/packaging. Sadly they’re all stuffed full of cauliflower which I can’t stand. M&S do this every year with their Jan diet ranges, can’t stand the stuff!

It’s edamame beans that I can’t stand, they always put those in their ‘healthy’ meals. I end up picking them out!

I am on MJ and I already buy their special smaller meals for older people. Their fish pie is the perfect amount of food

”perfectly portioned” = less product for no doubt a premium price.

Thinly disguised shrinkflation if you ask me.

What a badly edited article, referring to zepbound twice despite that being the US brand name and stating tirzepatide is marketed as Mounjaro for diabetes not obesity.
I understand why M&S are jumping on the bandwagon but I feel like it's a loser of a gimmick as the meals will be small be definition so won't feel very value for money.