MoreLife ‘Weight Management’- waste of NHS Funds?

[JediKnightingale]

About a year ago I rang my GP surgery to ask if I could be assessed for my eligibility for one of the weight loss injections. I was told there was a wait list of over a year but they would add me to the list.

In November last year I got a call from someone at MoreLife saying they had gotten my referral from the GP and wanted to set up an appointment. I assumed this was an initial screening program for the weight loss injection.

Filled out a health questionnaire, asked about the injections and arranged a ‘convenient’ time for my weekly weight management zoom meeting.

The weekly zoom meeting turned out to be a 12 week 1.5 hour ‘course’. On asking about the injections on the first session we were all told ‘No weight loss injections are currently available on the NHS so stop asking about it’

Basically this ‘MoreLife’ lot must be squeezing the NHS for pots of cash taking 20 people per session (at 1.5 hours a time) telling us gems like - eat less, move more, chew longer, lots of red traffic lights on food is bad, eat more veg. But padded out with words like ‘mindfulness’ and ‘portion control’.

Homework tasks like food diaries and calorie counting FFS! We are a group of obese people who have all tried every diet under the sun and are desperate for help - which is why we all signed up for the injections. Being told to eat one less spud and go for a walk by a jolly 22 year old size zero gym bunny is insulting and not helpful.

It infuriates me that the NHS is pissing money on these weight management schemes. They had me on Second Nature a few years ago and that came with digital scales, a Fitbit thing and recipe books - all of which I already had. Weight lost: zero. What a huge waste!

Anyone else agree the NHS needs to speak to obese people and find out what we REALLY NEED? Surely -money spent on a proven medication is a much better use of resources?

I realise that some people my find these weight management things helpful - but our group is 90% weary, perpetually overweight, miserable and are only continuing because MoreLife say if we don’t complete the course IF the injections become available we won’t be approved unless we’ve finished their stupid, infantile course.

It's so easy to put the blame outside of ourselves but whatever caused it it's up to us to fix it. An alcoholic or drug addict makes a choice to co timid with drink or drugs just like we make a choice in continuing to eat too much/the wrong things. We need help to do it but the bottom line is it's up to us to make the necessary changes. It's not easy, but not impossible.

@Whiskyinajar a lot of posters on the earlier ozempic threads were keen to deny any trauma or deep-seated psychological issues that resulted in obesity. Those suggesting it were shot down in flames.

Send the obese to Rwanda? We could double up on the plane. They are 4th from the bottom of the world rankings
Ranking (% obesity by country) | World Obesity Federation Global Obesity Observatory

Rwanda
Ask Rishi about that. Sorry.

Menora, who said they : know everything, but "still choose not to follow any of it," ? Not Op, I don't think?

The thing is you can say the healthy eating advice e.g smaller plate, exercise is stupid but if you want to be a healthy weight you're going to have to accept it eventually. Otherwise what would happen when you come off the injections? You can't be on injections for life.

It's not about 'having tried every diet under the sun', being healthy is about a life long sustainable approach which it sounds like the course is trying to get at. Yes that's harder work than injections and requires consistency but it would be worth the work.

@Whiskyinajar it’s a far reach to assume that no one else has had trauma, it’s just that some people are in different stages of managing it? I am happy to give support where I can to anyone who is open to it. Being honest that life can be hard work is not blaming people

She said loads of times it’s all useless she knows it all and it doesn’t work. But it does work, it’s just not what the OP wants to do or it’s not the right time or fit for her. That’s ok, I’m sure that has happened to everyone else too but there is a real lack of personal responsibility for your own health and choices from various posters including OP, angry at the NHS and not actually making the changes they need to

Basically OP, you need to try a bit harder. It’s lovely to think a medication could do it for you, but it can’t.

Yes yet when they post more, it’s really clear there are a lot of other issues. Me? Neglected as a child. Depression. Poor self image and self worth. Self medicating with food. There is not an easy solution but you can be open minded to different ways of solving some of the issues to get to your goal

I’ve paid privately for saxander and lost 3 stone. It was a useful aid but still took a lot of hard work and will power. It’s not magic and you still have to really want the end goal by doing all the stuff these courses are advising you.
The injections were very expensive and definitely that was part of the motivation . I would have been crazy to spend the money on the injections and then carry on eating as before. I wonder if the injections are given out free / prescription fee then this element of motivation will be lost .

Very interesting.
I posted about South Korea earlier and how strangers in the street will point out you're weight there. It's the lowest ranked rich country.

It's the same for all addicts isn't it

1. decide to do things differently
2. do things differently for a while
3. see results
4. think I haven't got a problem. Look! I can change my ways!
5. fall off

most of us have experienced this with something or another surely?

I don't think we give enough credit to those who DO manage long term change. These are the people we need to learn from imo

Really these courses need to be run by cantankerous, post menopausal ladies who have had their own issues.

I'm sure weight loss drugs do have a part to play for some people but they do require the person to buckle down, accept some harsh realities and really try to change lifestyle.

It is going to be hard work @JediKnightingale . Try and find some positives from the course, even if it is only finding out why it is so hard for you to stick to it. It will help identify your next step. Food addictions are really complex and difficult to overcome, you can't aim to give up food.

Yes try harder, that'll do it, you clearly have not tried hard enough or long enough. 🙄

Obesity is caused by stress....and trains. Repeat forever until you get it. Heal your MH and the eating issues will resolve.

For binge eaters, BEAT offer a course called Momentum, it's funded in some areas so it's worth a look. Like all these things there's a waiting list though.

Trauma...not trains

@Whiskyinajar you still need to accept you are a binge eater and want to change, and go along with the programme and do the work. We are talking about denial here, it’s how most of us got into the situation we have. People are giving advice from their perspective of how they managed to change and stop lying to themselves but you shout down every single comment and twist it to your narrative? That’s projection.

I used to live in Korea and yeah they were much smaller overall, even at 9.5 stone I was always the fattest adult in the staff room lol but from what I understand obesity is on the rise there due to the increase in “Americanised” /western food.

I ate a lot of food there and it was mainly Korean food - that along with the fact I lived in a city which requires huge amounts of walking meant I actually lost weight when I was over. They also have a big hiking culture and so many lovely open outdoor spaces both in the cities and the rural areas. I believe car ownership is less there too.

I did know some larger fellow foreigners when I was there and yes sometimes people did randomly walk up and call them a fat pig etc which is awful. Not sure if it motivated them to lose weight…

The point I’m making is that I feel their lifestyle is why they’re slimmer more than than people telling others they’re getting fat. I feel like not as many people struggled with their weight there and they were slim without a huge amount of effort. But it’s tricky one…possibly the lifestyle was designed partly with keeping everyone slim /healthy…who knows.

also just to add there’s a tonne of people over there with serious issues around how they look which is massively unhealthy for mental health .

It was common even several years ago for 16 year olds to be gifted nose or “eye surgery” for their birthday. When I’d go to Gangnam ( a kind of cool area of Seoul) there would be young women walking about with their faces bandaged recovering from surgery.

I had people constantly positively comment on my looks which was nice but at the same time they are a bit too obsessed with looks over there. And it’s generally a high pressured society with a high rate of suicide.

so what’s you take away?

You have mentioned South Korea and the belief you have that public data shaming is a major played in why people aren’t over weight.

Why?

Anyone else agree the NHS needs to speak to obese people and find out what we REALLY NEED? Surely -money spent on a proven medication is a much better use of resources

I’m not sure if medication is or isn’t the answer, but I will say that losing weight is difficult for a lot of us, especially women due to periods etc.

I think they should speak to a range of formerly obese and obese people. They could learn a lot from the former as to how to overcome it.

In America weight loss surgery seems to be super common which I think is a pity as so much of the obesity there is caused by lifestyle. The food is fattening and unhealthy and highly processed especially if you don’t shop in the higher end grocery stores. A lot of places just aren’t walkable so people drive everywhere and there’s a culture of guzzling soda. The food in restaurants is often less quality but bigger portions. People also often work very long hours leaving less time for exercise.

I wish they’d tackle some of these root causes starting with the food there, but the powerful food lobbyists won’t let them do that! It’s all about the money at the end of the day.

As an addict to alcohol the cure for me is abstinence , which is tough , I cant imagine anyone can abstain from food

What we have to do ( yes I was obese this time last year ) is to control the input. Exercise doesn't make you lose weight any faster, but becoming more active helps long term

I myself know I do best in a peer setting, with weigh ins , I need the accountability and I need to be with others fighting the same battle whilst dealing with the crap that life throws us

Im losing a pound, half a pound a week.Sod trying for a kilo, Im post menopause , its tough, so I chose to go at a slow steady pace, a pace where I am losing every week rather then the big loss, then nothing. And because Ive only made small changes, the only things Ive cut out is bread and butter ( I could polish off a loaf in a sitting easily now its maybe 2 slices a week ) I think I can keep the new habits which are basically veg or fruit at every meal, protein when I need a snack - baby bell , chicken drumstick, or yoghurt with fruit and a shortbread biscuit ( reminds me of pudding at school ) going for lean meats - bacon medallions rather then the back bacon, 5% mince, skinless chicken etc and using more pulses - so filling

I wouldn't say Im dieting , if it weren't for the fact that I go to a weekly weigh in, no one would know I was trying ( and succeeding ) to lose weight cos I eat whats on offer when out and about, Im just mindful. Yesterday I had ultimate comfort food for lunch - chip, cheese and curry sauce in a cafe so a huge plateful. Now me last year would have had that and then had a cooked meal that night, then probably got the munchies late at night and made a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Me this year had two poached eggs on two slices of wholemeal and a salad of rocket/tomatoes and peppers and my night time snack was a yoghurt and berries . No I wasnt hungry, id eaten plenty

So the programme mentioned in the OP would be great for someone like me as it sounds like what Im already doing - making the healthier choices that are sustainable

8 months down the line Im at the top end of a healthy BMI and have lost 2 dress sizes and 3 on the waist

The first I ever heard of Wegovy or anything of the like was seeing Sharon Osbourne and reading her story . More Ive looked into it, the more it worries me that its so easily available. Surely unless you make the changes needed, the minute you stop the injection the old habits are going to come back and the weight is going to come back on?

Im not sure I follow about Ozempic being reserved for diabetics 'in your area'

Private purchases of that is via the internet, its not in 'your area', online pharmacies etc sell it and if its available and you can afford it I would give it a go, you'll at least be able to see if it has any effect for you

I think you need to have a think about what you're saying the issue is though, I wasnt sure if you're saying you have a food addiction or not, which would not be in line with what you were saying earlier about having barely eaten much during that 6 month period. (or you might have been talking generically and Ive misunderstood)

Sorry this is incorrect. Lots of alcoholics are on medication which means that when they drink they are incredibly ill, this helps them abstain (as long as they are on the meds). Heroin users are on methadone so that they are not harmed by heroin anymore, they may need to be on methadone for life.

These are standard treatments for substance addictions. There are of course other interventions which can include counselling/therapy, sometimes this helps, sometimes it doesnt but its not correct to say that other addictions are not treated medically, they are.

Im not convinced of the theory of 'food addiction' in any case, its a bit like when people talk of cannabis addictions, it doesnt exist in the technical way of addictions