Do you tell others that your weight loss is due to the jabs?

[AplineDaisies]

I have lost 1st 4lbs- about 10% of my body weight. Today someone actually noticed and commented on it. It was our lovely cleaner at work. She asked me how and so I told her. I expect as I lose more, I'll get asked this question more.

Do you just tell people the truth? I'm inclined to but not 100% sure as I want to see how I go with it long term.

What do you tell people? I think most people who have lost a lot of weight in the last couple of years will have used the jabs.
Also I'm generally an open person. So I'm not sure why I'm feeling reluctant to be evasive.

I’ll tell people if it comes up in conversation and if it’s relevant, it’s not a secret and I’m not ashamed or anything. At the same time not everybody needs to know. If somebody comments on my weight or compliments me I will say thank you and move on…people are nosy but so many people are on the jabs now that it actually isn’t very noteworthy.

@Daisywhatsyouranswer All my obese friends could afford the jabs if need be and all are intelligent people. They are disciplined in other areas of their lives and all exercise a lot - but that’s the thing with food and eating. It’s just so hard too lose or maintain weight.

For whatever reason I can just keep my weight in the normal range but it’s a low level daily struggle.
If I could take a low dose of something in pill form to turn off the food noise than I’d give it a try
I think the arrival of the jabs is amazing.
if I see someone that’s lost weight I’m just pleased for them however they have done it.

I’ve never used them and been thin all my adult life and while I would never ask someone if they did use them if anyone now has lost a good bit of weight I would just assume they are using them. Why wouldn’t they if they can and they agree with them 🤷‍♀️

Umm I don’t recall saying it looks worse but thanks for assuming that 😂 I’m talking about the shape, wrinkles from aging are inevitable and we all know that. Also I’m nowhere near your age yet, just for reference.

In what way specifically are you thinking MJ has changed the shape of your face?

The long term effects are increasingly being shown to be very beneficial - large reduction in risk of heart disease and liver disease, reduction in inflammation etc. I realise many people are unaware of this and believe the scare stories instead but the research is very much showing positive long term effects in addition to the health benefits of weight loss.

Depends who it is, what mood I’m in and if I can be bothered having the conversation. I find it such a bore.

I’m going to a family event next weekend where I won’t have seen most people since before I lost weight (7 stone so definitely noticeable!) and I just know I’m going to get asked multiple times. I’m dreading it to be honest.

Yes i tell anyone who comments on my weight how I have lost the weight

Yeah, I think you're both right. Much more of the narrative has been about the potential risks and downsides until now. Not just health but also regain- see for example some of the coverage of the BMJ review earlier this year. Headline writers, knowing what sells, focusing on the WLI participants regaining weight more quickly. So there's definitely people who pick up on this and are more aware of the cons than the pros.

However, I do think this might be changing as the drugs become so much more common.

I think the negative effects are a very, very, very low risk of developing them aren't they? Lower than the side effects from taking the pill? I think the media has pulled back a lot on showing us stories where awful things have happened to people as a result of being on WLIs as well and now the weight loss tablets are out, or out soon, I think even more people will be using them and as others see they have no negative side effects they will use them too and it will snowball.

I wonder if any scientists (or whoever does that stuff) has been able to predict what year being obese will be basically nonexistent for people in the countries that have the WLIs/WLTs, that would be interesting to know.

Imagine how much money and how many lives will be saved of no one is obese, amazing! Hopefully one day they will also be available to everyone on the NHS as well as surely it would save them money in the long run?

They've been life changing for so many people, I actually got slightly addicted to tiktoks watching people who have lost lots of weight on them because they were showing how happy they were by doing things they couldn't do before eg had never been able to go on a rollercoaster and now they could, after spending their whole life thinking they wouldn't be able to!

Isn't the regain rate exactly the same as any other diet? People constantly join, leave and rejoin slimming world and weight watchers etc don't they? Also people often say stuff I lost 4 stone on keto but I've put on 5 stone I can't do keto again, how did you lose weight? So a lot of diets 'don't work'. People have even regained after having surgery like having their stomachs stapled/the bands I can't remember the name of, so I don't think there are ever any certainties.

Yes. Why would you lie ?

I think whatever method(s) are used to lose the weight, you can’t expect to go back to “normal” afterwards, or for sure the weight will come back. And I think there are plenty of people who do understand that, but find themselves unable to sustain the changes, despite their sincere desire and huge effort.

No you can’t. Also do you know a lot of people who’ve lost a lot of weight ? And you can see by this thread people lie.

I think we can only tell when someone loses too much but otherwise no. I love this board as I don’t know anyone in real life on them or losing weight, and still see the same amount of obese people so feels like I am alone sometimes

Basically the BMJ review found the rate of regain was higher in WLI users. It also found they'd lost more in the first place than traditional weight loss thus were still lighter at the end of the test period, and said more research needed to be done. My point is that the headlines were about the first sentence rather than the rest!

So people who aren't paying enough attention to go to the source will pick up the negatives rather than the positives, and it becomes something of a self-fulfilling ecosystem. Yes, we don't do the same for traditional weight loss methods.

Whilst this is correct it missed our key information, which it was a study on those on the trial. The real life data is very different.

Seeing as the media doesn't keep telling us not to drive because we can be seriously injured not to fly because we can die, not to do slimming world because we can regain etc, it's pretty clear to me that we keep hearing don't use the WLIs because you can die/regain/be seriously injured is just because people don't like fat people and don't want them to be able to 'cheat' their way slim, they want them to suffer for it.

For some I think that’s true yes, they see it as cheating and it’s lazy greedy people. For many though I think it’s just envy and resentment, why should you get it easy when I need to struggle kind of thing.

I agree with that.

@Happierthanhippos Yes, the risk of developing one of the serious side effects are very, very low - one in thousands, I believe. Whereas the risks of remaining obese are substantial.

I asked Google about the relative risk of obesity compared to healthy weight across a range of conditions. Here’s the answer

Heart attack 28%-50% higher

Stroke 1.5-2 times more likely

Type 2 diabetes 6-7 times more likely

Knee replacement twice as likely

Cancer - varies by type, 13 cancers have obesity as a risk factor, ranging between 1.1 to 1.8 times more likely in obese people

PMOS - couldn’t find a multiplier, but it is made a lot worse by obesity.

Overall, an obese person would be extremely lucky to swerve all of those, and many of us will get several of them in our time. Versus the potential for unpleasant mild side effects while taking them, which many of us won’t get anyway, and a tiny risk of something very serious.

Thats what any individual has to weigh up. Mind you, risks are very theoretical and all in the future. For many, including myself, the immediate impacts of severe obesity in terms of physical discomfort, impaired mobility, social barriers, limits on what you can do etc, make the small risk of serious side effects a no brainer.

Not so for people who only want to lose 10lb, which is why the licensing conditions are as they are. These are serious drugs, not intended for a bit of cosmetic improvement.

Yes, that's my point. In addition, a lot of the data looked at was from the older drugs which is another reason why the researchers said more research was needed. But that got less attention!

I told (outside DH and DD) two people, a couple of people I think have a good idea and one colleague asked outright. She has this personality, I don't mind and just kept it vague.

The Ozempic/Mounjaro face thing has some truth in it, but not because the drugs intrinsically cause it.

Any kind of rapid weight loss is more likely to cause the loss of subcutaneous fat in the face/neck - hence the sagging/hollow look. And not because you’re slimmer; if you lost the same amount of weight at a slower pace, the subcutaneous facial/neck fat isn’t targeted in the same way.

Rapid weight loss also hits the elastin and collagen levels in your skin, so again the skin is more prone to saggy/droopiness.

If you lose weight slowly and steadily while on WLI, you’re unlikely to see the same effects. Subcutaneous facial/neck fat isn’t lost in the same way with slower weight loss. And if you have rapid weight loss via other methods such as bariatric surgery or extreme dieting, the same drooping/sagging/hollow effects on the face occur.

It’s only associated with the WLI as they are more likely to result in rapid weight loss compared to traditional dieting. It’s the speed of the weight loss, not the method.

I’m under no illusion that people have speculated (correctly) about how I have lost weight. Behind my back and not in a nice way I have taken exception to. One person who asked me to my face and then went on to tell me that I had “cheated” I also took exception to.

Ultimately all I want is for people to either say nothing at all, or to tell me I look well and then leave it at that. There really is no need for anything else and I am under no obligation to explain my weight loss to anyone.