In all honesty, do you view weight loss drugs (Mounjaro, Wegovy etc.) and the people who use them negatively?
Posted by XStaticImmaculate@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 609 comments
Having struggled with weight since I was 11 and yo-go’s in size, I found myself at a very high weight and decided once and for all to get on top of it.
In 2 years, I’ve lost 10 stone (Please note I was over 22 stone when I started to lose weight). This was achieved through diet and exercise, and a lot of experimenting with meal plans, frustrations and failures. I’m now focused on body contouring/composition as there’s still a lot of toning work to do and excess skin to remove.
Around a year into my weight loss journey, the jags became widely available. I qualified for them but decided that financially it wasn’t viable as I had other commitments and whilst very taxing, what I was doing was working.
Obviously in losing 10 stone I’ve had a big physical transformation and people will mention it when they see me, particularly if they haven’t seen me for some time. The first question I get is if I’ve used the jags to aid the weight loss, and when I tell them no they’re quick to tell me this is good, it’s the right way to lose weight etc.
I find this baffling. As mentioned before, I’d considered the jags and would have been approved to use them, but isn’t a 10 stone loss (or any loss for that matter) still a success regardless of medication was used or not?
Clivicus@reddit
Nope, I know some people who've done it and the positive impact it's made on their lives has been immense.
Spare_Airport_6002@reddit
I think there is some moralising like using the jabs means that you're lazy and you're taking 'the easy way out' rather than 'actually working for it'. It's a sort of old-school "pull yourself up by your bootstraps"-mentality, I think. The folks who resent jabs users are probably just really judgemental and rude (and perhaps feel secretly annoyed that they themselves have spent so much time suffering in the attempt to diet and work out, when they wish they could've used jabs).
Anything that works and is safe is good. I have heard that most people will gain the weight right back though when they stop (which makes sense considering that most often overweight-ness is much more related to mental health and habits than chemical composition, and ofc the jabs address only the chemical composition. Changes nothing about how you feel about yourself as a person).
OpportunityNew5685@reddit
Nope. It works. It helps people and it takes a strain off the nhs.
Anything that helps people should be praised and encouraged
robb0216@reddit
This echoes my view. I read recently that purely thanks to these drugs, we have passed a peak in what was an otherwise seemingly neverending increase in obesity rates. Meaning as a nation we will never be as obese as we recently were, and it will continue to decline until it hits a new standard.
People can say what they want about "what's wrong with hard work, exercise, good diet etc." and show strange anger and hatred towards those people, but we've had governments pumping money into promote those exact things for literal decades now and it clearly didn't work. If this does work, I'm perfectly happy with that.
gyroda@reddit
Yep. Ideally we wouldn't need medical interventions, but don't let perfect get in the way of better.
If we can improve conditions so obesity isn't a problem then we won't need these drugs as much, but I don't see that happening any time soon and even if we started down that path tomorrow it would take time and likely be, at least partly, a generational shift. These drugs can help people now and they can help people who are already "hooked" on overeating.
We don't have these arguments around nicotine patches or champix.
Peevesie@reddit
If obesity is a disease then why doesn’t it ideally need medical interventions?
Is there any other disease we would say that about?
TheAngryBad@reddit
Because technically, it can be treated without medication.
It's like quitting smoking; you don't need medical intervention for that either, but it really really helps and if that's what it takes then why not?
CrocPB@reddit
I guess with obesity, there's an element of judgment and shame to it. That they're in some way "cheating" by going on Wegovy/Ozempic/Mounjaro.
Comparing it with smoking, yes both are technically choices made freely by people to get into that harm them.
I can't speak for smokers, but with obesity there's a lingering dismissive tone of "just lose it, simple as". Or "just stop eating all the pies you fatty". From the perspective of the obese person, they either take a difficult journey to do it and suffer, or keep doing what they're doing. Because the world already judges them for it, but at least food makes them feel good.
For many years there has been a concerted effort to get people to quit smoking, and it was by and large carrot; in a way that has not been the case for those with obesity. Until the release of these drugs into the market it was largely seen as "effort" or lack thereof if someone is obese and remains obese.
Personally the weight loss drugs are appealing, but I'm worried about side effects so it's a sit (haha) and see phase before I consider it myself.
pineappleshampoo@reddit
It is totally cheating and it’s unreal. I put literally zero effort in and melted off around four stones in 9m or something crazy like that. And have kept it off for over a year and counting since finishing mounjaro. To me it’s a miracle drug.
Weimaraner666@reddit
GLP medications have been used by diabetics for the last 21 years with few side effects which are reversible with stopping the meds. We are seeing it used inappropriately by celebrities and it puts many people off the potential benefits of trying it for obesity.
TheAngryBad@reddit
That's fair, and I've been guilty of that mindset myself in the past. It's easy to dismiss as a willpower issue, but reality is rarely that simple.
I'm trying to lose a few kgs myself so I know how difficult it can be. Denying yourself is hard and frustrating when you have to do it all day every day for weeks or months, whereas junk food is easy and makes you feel good (at least in the moment lol).
As for the drugs, I've known more people be happy with it than struggled with side effects, so may be worth a try? If it doesn't work out for you, you can just stop using it.
Peevesie@reddit
Not really.
And before you say calorie in calorie out, let me tell you how calories are estimated for each ingredients. They burn for example apple in a bomb calorie meter and then go temp increased by 20 degrees so 20 calories.
The body doesn’t consume food the same way as a bomb calorie meter. The guidance to loose weight defies logic when you say calories in calories out and then give numbers for the in based on this.
Content_Display_1328@reddit
Are you saying restricting calories won't result in weight loss because you disagree with the way calories are measured?
Peevesie@reddit
No I am saying that an apple in your body and my body aren’t giving the same net input of calories, they aren’t given the same nutrients in the same quantities.
One time I lost weight was when my nutritionist doubled my food intake including increasing how much oil was in my cooking. Of course other hospitalisations of mine caused her to change her recommendations and I had to gain it back Inder supervision despite becoming obese again.
The body also keeps adjusting when you run on a deficit.trying to do more on less. So some people have to keep cutting and they are malnutritioned and are still not losing weight.
The point is it’s not as simple as calorie in calorie out for a lot of people. But since that the only guidance people receive and we refuse to look deeper, it’s truly a losing battle for a lot people because we aren’t looking at individual reasons for gaining weight instead assuming everyone is just overeating.
gymgymbro@reddit
So I assume we should ignore all the evidence of people losing weight by simply counting their calories and maintaining deficit?
unaubisque@reddit
Millions, if not billions, of people around the world have successfully lost weight by tracking calories. It clearly does work empirically.
adymann@reddit
Shit man, here's me all negative about the jabs and you throw this at me. Im skinny smoker btw.
TheAngryBad@reddit
Lol, I tried champix after many failed attempts. The stuff was amazing. Absolutely no shade on people using weight loss or smoking cessation drugs if it helps them get to where they want to be.
vectorology@reddit
The underlying reasons for obesity has to be addressed though, too. It’s more than just calories in, calories out as anyone with hormone disorder like hypothyroid or PCOS can attest. For some, GLP1s can really help with that. They do more than suppress hunger.
spamvicious@reddit
There are lots of different reasons for weight gain though. I have never been skinny but I was never massively overweight until I had to go onto heavy duty anti depressants and I gained 70 ibs over three years. It’s now five years later and I’m still trying to get back to my “normal” weight. Even though I’m on a fraction of the medication I was, my metabolism hasn’t returned back to normal yet.
There are thousands of articles that discuss how certain medications can cause massive weight gain and change how your body processes food.
Weimaraner666@reddit
Absolutely. I’m sick of hearing the uneducated gym bro takes on thermogenenics because numerous different hormonal issues/medical conditions can make weight loss extremely difficult for many women regardless of calorie deficits and excercise.
TheAngryBad@reddit
Absolutely, and I'm not making light of it. Weight loss is hard, as is quitting smoking (I've done both).
It (outside of edge cases like you mentioned) can usually be done with willpower alone, but it's a massive struggle and many people fail (including myself multiple times). If medication increases people's success rate then I'm all for it.
RadicalDog@reddit
People never understand that your bodies are more than capable of running on "battery saver" mode, and in fact a woman can gain weight while eating under 2000kcals. Because most energy is spent keeping the body running, so if your body willingly uses less, you can store fat.
ContentWDiscontent@reddit
a lot of people say that about any kind of mental illness
gyroda@reddit
I'm the person you're responding to.
Medications can have side effects, can interact with other medications/conditions and cost money. If there was a way to treat a medical problem without these, that is often preferable. If we can change society to reduce the incidence of obesity/overeating that would be preferable.
I'm not saying we should withhold these treatments. I do not think any less of the people who use them (if anything, I think better of them for taking a proactive step to improve their health).
It's like champix, a drug that reduces nicotine cravings, or insulin for type two diabetics. These are good to have and use, but it's better for you if you can adjust your behaviour and lifestyle to avoid needing them.
cherrycoke3000@reddit
Obesity is not a disease for most people.
I got fat because I ate to many calories for my expenditure. I maintained my excess weight by continuing to eat to much. I lost weight by eating a deficit of calories and maintained that with the correct amount.
My sister went on any and every fad expensive 'diet'. She yoyoed from a 12 to a 20 every couple of years for half her life until she just gave up. And got fatter and fatter. Because she kept putting more and more food in her mouth. Because packets of processed food does not prepare you for every day healthy eating. It's like my dead MIL claiming she ate healthy whilst consuming a kilo bag of sweets in an evening.
Peevesie@reddit
Most people? Based on what stats are you saying most people
cherrycoke3000@reddit
Based on common sense of 50years of watching what people eat in the comfort of their own homes and in public and my own weight gain and loss. None of the many seriously overweight people close to me have health conditions, they are in total denial about their own diet. I know there are health conditions and medications that cause weight gain, but far from all. My dead MIL would eat a kilo of sweets of an evening then gossip about anorexic, healthy weight, relatives. Terrible excessive eating was celebrated. Poor eating was taught in that family, they have many poor diet related health conditions. My ex avoided the weight gain, but is currently under the hospital waiting to see if he's fucked up his guts so badly he might need a colostomy bag. This jab if it had been out before my MIL died of Covid/weight related complications, she would have taken it, put all the weight back on and then some. It would have been another failure of the weight loss aid, not her filling her mouth constantly.
Aggravating-Bag-2852@reddit
You could say the same of mental illness( although not technically a disease in the same way I suppose) I know that medication is often required, however overusing medications and PRN’s can be viewed as very life limiting and especially medications such as clozapine can be life shortening. I guess in this example things like cognitive behavioural therapy and therapies dealing with a persons trauma and thinking patterns=the hard way. the same as exercise. I know people that have used weight loss jabs as a jumping off point to begin exercising and then transitioned just to healthy eating and exercise after losing the initial weight and feeling better about themselves.
Neither_Process_7847@reddit
Medicines have side effects and it would be cheaper. But medical interventions do help , especially those who cannot lose weight easily, and are going to do wonders for health costs on diabetes and the like. The hostility is just from gym obsessives trying to make themselves feel superior by insulting people who aren't size 0 and have lives beyond the manscaping sites.
Chamerlee@reddit
Hard work, exercise and good diet work when you have time.
I have a small child, husband works away, I work part time. We go on walks etc. but not enough to help me lose weight, I can’t go to the gym, and I don’t have the energy to do at home work outs at 9pm when my kids asleep. I’m in a sedentary office job. I eat fairly healthy, but exhaustion, stress and all those other adult problems gave me so much food noise that was hard to ignore.
I’ve started wegovy and I eat so healthy now. Salads, smaller portions, more varied diet in general.
Losing weight is a positive side effect but overall I’m being healthier in a modern lifestyle that makes it harder.
chicaneuk@reddit
This is where I find myself. Dad to young boys but in my mid 40's. Work full time. Job is killing me mentally. I have slowly gained 2 or so stone in the last 4 years and whilst I lament the state of me every time I look in a mirror or go up a size in clothing I seem utterly unable to do anything about it due to a combination of factors. I am seriously considering the medication route even though I know it's ridiculous in many ways and I just need to eat less crap and move more but seem completely incapable of motivating myself.
RemarkableKiwi3876@reddit
I also read a thing about how business were getting annoyed that portion size has changed bc that’s what this does it reduces how much you eat
Cultural-Ambition211@reddit
100%
I’m all for people making themselves healthier.
thegerbilmaster@reddit
Are you healthier if your still eating shit but just less of it?
Cultural-Ambition211@reddit
. Being a healthy weight but still eating shite is significantly better than being an unhealthy weight and eating shite.
hereforthecelebgoss@reddit
But having a higher bmi but being able to run 5ks in 30 mins and 95% UPF free diet is also 1000% better than having a lower bmi but eating shite
GoldemEmperor@reddit
BMI is not a perfect measure of health, it's general rule of thumb for the average person. The example you raised is someone who is fit but depending on their body composition would still be unhealthy.
MyCatIsFluffyNotFat@reddit
Is it healthier if I eat half a slice of cake instead of 3? Yes. 🤦♀️
GoldemEmperor@reddit
Yes, being fat puts a lot of pressure on your body and causes a lot of comorbidities.
Purchase-Parking@reddit
So you assume all ppl on glp1 rat shit?
pineappleshampoo@reddit
They are literally lifesaving drugs. The sooner they’re more widely available the better.
I went from a lb below obese to BMI 20 in 9m and have kept it off for over a year and counting. I know for many they’ll need them permanently and that’s fine too. It feels like an absolute miracle to me.
Tetracropolis@reddit
Only in the short term. In the long term anything which helps people live longer places much greater additional strain on the state because of pensions, social care and healthcare into old age.
That's not to say it should be discouraged, but less strain on the NHS isn't really an advantage of it.
No-Mark4427@reddit
It can get a bit circular here because 1/3rd of people who are obese suffer from some form of debilitating health condition that is related to their weight, and obesity is massively overrepresented in various benefits categories.
So someone could spend decades on heavy benefits due to obesity and you get the double whammy of them having little to no economic output, claiming a lot from the system and then still needing increased levels of medical care (And general care as they age).
I'd probably wager that having people being able to work and contribute to the economy for 20-30 years longer most likely trumps the impact of them not dying \~10 years younger due to obesity realted health conditions tbh, especially when we are in the middle of quite a nasty demographic shift and we are going to need all of the working age people we can get in coming 30 years.
ParsnipFlendercroft@reddit
Seriously. I started on them recently. There are very few fat old men; I’m getting old; something needs to change and it’s quite clear that I’m not going to do it without help.
That said - when you take them all they do is reduce your food desire. If you still eat shit whilst you will lose weight you’ll not be healthy.
So I’m on the jab and eating much better as well. And that’s the key.
thegerbilmaster@reddit
Until they stop and pile it back on...
PositivelyAcademical@reddit
The studies which concluded that were a bit misleading. Patients in those studies went up the increasing doses, stayed on the maximum dose until they reached their target weight, then came off them cold turkey. Newer studies indicate that you don’t see the same adverse side effects from going cold turkey if you gradually work down the doses, and stay on the lowest dose for several months and until you’ve been on the drug (altogether) for at least one year.
The NICE licensing guidelines state that Wegovy is authorised for a maintenance dose for up to one year after reaching target weight, and Mounjaro is licensed for an indefinite maintenance dose period.
It’s also anticipated that the tablet forms going through trials and authorisation presently will be used for longer term maintenance dosing for patients whose weight doesn’t remain stable after reaching their target weight.
Ambitious-Win-9408@reddit
You mean like a diet? Like any other weight loss intervention? It isn't going to hold your hand and make you eat healthier food or stick to lifestyle changes once you stop it. It's there to help, but it's down to the person to continue healthier habits.
Something like 60 percent of users put up to 30 percent of the weight they lost back on within a year. So, still a net benefit for even those who do not maintain their lifestyle.
Fizl99@reddit
Absolutely this
Paradiddles123@reddit
I know when the wave of it spread across the states there were articles about diabetics not being able to get access to their medication.
I’ve friends that use it and if it helps then that’s absolutely amazing, the cynic in me just thinks that if all it does is make you lose your appetite then why can’t these people exercise self control and deny themselves food. But I understand that simple doesn’t equal easy and I am (fortunately) still the same size as I was twenty years ago.
pm_me_your_amphibian@reddit
No. It’s a tool in the toolkit. I take it for non weight loss reasons but also jeezo the lack of food noise is life changing in its own right.
ThrowawayParsnip5@reddit
I can't afford the jabs, but this is exactly why I'd love to take them. My whole life revolves round food. When I'm not eating, I'm thinking about what I'm going to eat next. When I've had a bad day and need comfort: food. When I've had a good day and want to 'treat' myself: food. I'm lonely, unhappy in my job, unhappy with how I look (regardless of weight), probably a bit of ongoing depression etc and the one thing that's a constant source of comfort and relief and joy in my life is food.
Of course I have put effort into healthy eating, but doesn't matter what I try, I feel constantly hungry. Not thirsty - I make sure I drink first - but hungry. I've tried to make sure I'm getting enough protein each meal, enough veg etc, but within an hour it'll be like I've not eaten in hours and I'll be desperately hungry again. And then I'll feel miserable. I'll eat healthy snacks but they won't satiate me. So I eventually fall back into eating bad food, all the time.
I just want to press a button (or take a jab) where my days and life is not revolved round food, beyond getting the basic sustenance and nutrition my body needs. I want the noise to be gone.
eyeball-beesting@reddit
Please take my advice here. My food habits were exactly like yours. Comfort eating when sad, celebratory eating when happy. Always using food for that dopamine hit.
I also believed I couldn't afford it. Someone told me I would save roughly the same amount as the jab by not buying so much food. So, one payday, I just went for it.
I am nearly a month in and holy shit, I would say I have saved more money by getting the jab than not. Plus, I would always have a bottle of wine on the weekend. MJ has stopped me wanting this too.
Please stop thinking about it and just do it. I wish I hadn't put it off for so long. Also, in 3 weeks, I am 11 lbs down.
Now, I am craving boiled eggs, fruit and salads. NEVER thought I would get back to choosing these foods.
ThrowawayParsnip5@reddit
It's been a while since I've last looked into it, but isn't it around £300/month, once you've upped your dosages? I don't have that kind of spare cash sadly. I'm single and on a low salary, paying rent and bills myself etc. I get that you're saying my food costs would come down but I already have to be careful with how much I'm spending on food.
affogatohoe@reddit
I could have written this myself, the only thing that's helped me in the past is keto, I know people hate it but it really helped my mental health and I lost 70lbs, its all back though because I work a really stressful job. Gonna have to try it again
re_Claire@reddit
I can't afford it but I've started it anyway. A month in and I've already saved half the cost of paying for it because I'm buying much less food.
AdAccomplished8342@reddit
I see it in the same way. Just one tool amongst others.
I don't take it (I put in a lot of effort over the last two years and got to under the minimum to qualify). So I'll be continuing my journey without it.
The only person I know who takes it lied to get it prescribed and definitely has body dysmorphia as they weigh 10kg less than me -and I don't qualify.
I would be curious to try it if I could to see what the "food noise" thing really is. One thing though: I grew up in a family where food IS the culture. We plan the next meal while we're eating; time between meals is cooking and baking and food shopping. It's ALL about the food. The quality of it. The exact right ingredients ... I've dreamt of a specific pasta dish three nights in a row planning how to get it just right. I help my mom do sauce trials in autumn for the Christmas meal and make Pinterest boards for the special meal...
I lose weight easier when I am with my family because it's a healthier diet than with my husband who snacks most of the time and eats all calorie dense foods.
But I can't imagine not thinking about food 24/7... It sounds scary to me. But that could explain why after losing 15kg I still have another 15 to lose if I want to get back to the weight I was 5 years ago when I married.
Fuzzy_Reindeer_2770@reddit
Yes! It's absolutely wonderful in that respect. I still had to put the hard work in but that one thing is a game changer.
Scorpiodancer123@reddit
I don't view them or the people who take them. I think people who judge genuinely have no idea what food noise is.
I can totally remember being in my 20s and being one of those people who "forget to eat". Exercise was fun, life was easy.
I can remember breastfeeding and being absolutely starving. Imagine being up and down all night with the baby and the waking up in between because you're starving. That's probably understandable to most people.
But I can also remember taking antidepressants and being starving. I remember carefully controlling what I was eating, exercising still but still my weight shot up. 20kg in a year is no joke. Calorie restriction while feeling ravenous, while exercising and still gaining weight because of side effects of medication. Absolutely shite. But it disappeared with weeks of changing the antidepressants.
If people feel that food noise all the time, I can totally understand how people struggle to lose weight. And if they have something that helps them, fucking good for them.
To be frank, it seems like an absolute miracle drug. People can bitch about long term effects - ozempic has been around 20 odd years so it's hardly brand new. Long term effects of obseity and diabetes are devastating. Death, disability and more.
It's a no brainer. It sucks of course that most people have to get it privately and that of course means it's inaccessible for most people. But it's only a matter of time before it's available on the NHS is a less restrictive way - but still tightly regulated of course.
CaveJohnson82@reddit
I've taken them myself so obviously I have a biased view - but there are people for whom their weight is a struggle, and those for whom it is not. Neither can fathom how the other will feel.
Being a stone or two overweight and not being bothered enough to actively try and lose weight is not the same as consistently gaining a bit, losing a bit, gaining a bit more, losing a little, until before you know it, you're huge, unhappy, and simply not able to easily lose weight.
I don't have an off switch. I can't remember the last time I felt "full". It takes an outrageous amount of willpower to not put food in my mouth - PS I've been off the jabs since Feb.
People have sympathy for drug addicts and alcoholics, but if you're a food addict - no sorry, you're just a fat slob, and you'll be judged for taking the jab, not taking the jab, for going to the gym or not going to the gym, for trying to wear nice clothes or for just wearing a sack.
As a fat person - especially a woman - you are constantly being judged.
This is a very long-winded way of saying no, I don't judge. I do judge the facilities that supply these drugs in a sloppy manner to people who don't need to lose weight.
PigletAlert@reddit
I feel really hopeful that we are finally having meaningful conversations about food noise and the difficulties people experience with overeating. I think they’re a really positive step but what we need now is a more permanent solution to the pathway in the body that is causing people to overeat.
Lvivalentine@reddit
If I could afford it, bet your life I would be jabbing myself! lol who cares how u do it?!
OkStyle800@reddit
Do you want an echo chamber response. Because you’ll defo get that on Reddit. I’ll be the one that bucks that and says yes, I do view them negatively. Strikes me of laziness and a lack of motivation.. sure there are medical reasons for not being able to lose weight but 99% of cases it’s pure will power with (mostly) food and lack of exercise 🤷
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
And you know this how? You have been obese?
OkStyle800@reddit
Not obese. But larger, for sure. I stopped eating snacks like a pig and planned my meals 😘
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
That’s nice for you. I am obese. So was my mother. Here’s what I have tried:
At various points when I was really restricting, I did lose weight. But then it always crept back on.
Dude. I have tried everything you can think of. Am I lazy?
It is a combo of genetics + health issue that makes it difficult to sleep well + meds to treat that issue.
And most obese people have tried to lose the weight.
At my recent physical, I got a clear bi of health. Great heart function, perfect blood pressure, all blood tests came out fine.
OkStyle800@reddit
Written all of that.. for your sake I wish you took that much pride in your body and HEALTH.. be REALLY truly honest, how long did you calorie count for - every single item that passed your mouth including sauces and snacks.. hmmmm 🫣🤨
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
Absolutely every calorie. It was two years.
OkStyle800@reddit
You didn’t
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
Cool glad you know my life better than me!
OkStyle800@reddit
sighhhhhhhhhh. keep trying bro, maybe you'll realise one day..
jans_sport@reddit
It crept back on because you were being lazy with diet restriction. Appetite contracts and expands depending on how much you were used to be eating. And you probably weren’t exercising as hard as you thought you were for your size.
MouldyFruit2023@reddit
Yep just breeds laziness in already lazy society.
CrossCityLine@reddit
I was on MJ for 14 months and lost 9 stone.
Been off it for 5 months and kept it all off and maintained my calorie defect.
Anybody who looks down upon these people are either stupid, jealous, just sad they can’t pick on you for being fat anymore, or a combination of the above.
Thomasinarina@reddit
I know someone who is really anti-jabs because its 'cheating'.
They happily use fillers and botox, mind.
I don't have an issue with any of the above, but they should really pick a lane and/or recognise the hypocrisy in that particular view.
Ok_Young1709@reddit
What?! Weird mentality... I have more issues with fillers and Botox to be honest but that's because it never actually helps. It just makes you look weird.
badgerkingtattoo@reddit
By “maintained my calorie deficit” what do you mean? Do you mean you’re now at maintenance (ie no deficit) or that your deficit is now your maintenance or that you are continuing to lose more weight post-mounjaro?
CrossCityLine@reddit
I’m continuing to lose weight, at a much slower rate due to a smaller deficit, post-mounjaro.
AdOriginal1084@reddit
genuine question not bashing you at all i think its great you lost so much and without it have kept it up, did you ever worry about long term affects with that medication obviously 14 months is not that long in the grand scheme of things but i have also read about people who keep on taking the medication even though they have lost the weight they wanted to and i cant imagine thats healthy
CrossCityLine@reddit
I worried about the long term effects of class 3 obesity far more.
Taking a far smaller dose in “maintenance” is very common and sensible.
AdOriginal1084@reddit
Well good for you and i hope you continue to be happy with where you're at, all the best.
Impossible_Pen_9459@reddit
This is amazing. Genuinely i credible. Good for you pal
FullyCapped@reddit
Well done on keeping it off! I been contemplating whether to start and how it would be weaning off the jabs at the end.
bandlj@reddit
Join r/mounjarouk and have a read of people's experiences, loads of good advice and a supportive community
CrossCityLine@reddit
Can’t say it’s been easy, and they’re certainly not a magic bullet. You absolutely do have to put the work and effort in too.
Give it a try, you can always stop.
MushroomVolcano@reddit
How do you feel about muscles made via steroids?
CrossCityLine@reddit
I have no opinion.
MushroomVolcano@reddit
The consensus is that it's less impressive than natural growth. That's how I feel about semaglutide induced weight loss.
VerbalniDelikt@reddit
Sure, but weight loss shouldn't be about trying to impress people. So there's no reason to view people who use the jabs negatively
MushroomVolcano@reddit
I don't view them negatively. I just am not impressed by it. Also, people definitely lose weight to look good and impress people. That's a key factor, health is obviously more important than that.
CrossCityLine@reddit
Good for you
MushroomVolcano@reddit
Why so salty? It's the topic of the thread.
CrossCityLine@reddit
I’m not salty. You have your opinions I have mine.
MushroomVolcano@reddit
'Deficit' not 'defecit'.
R4v3n_21@reddit
Honestly, I'm jealous.
I work hard, workout, eat right and my BMI is too low to get them legitimately, plus I can't afford them, but I would love to use them to shift the last few kgs!
BedGirl5444@reddit
jealousy is a huge part
Alarmed-Cheetah-1221@reddit
Please define "looking down upon people" in this context please
smurphinden@reddit
Those are the only reasons are they? 😂
CrossCityLine@reddit
Yes.
smurphinden@reddit
Incorrect.
Being closed minded isnt a good look.
smurphinden@reddit
Yes, says me. Thats what this conversation illustrates.
No need to be insecure about your choice or block me for a reasonable statement.
CrossCityLine@reddit
Says you 😂
Affectionate-Cost525@reddit
I have similar issues with weight loss drugs (or rather some of the people who use them) as I do towards people who use steroids.
Are you taking them in a healthy manner, with adequate knowledge towards what you're doing and ensuring youre building good habits at the same time that will keep your body healthy afterwards, preferably with medical advice?
Then I've got absolutely no problem at all.
Are you abusing them in a way that's going to cause long term damage?
Using them as a vice for extreme body dismorphia that probably requires ongoing psychological help?
Are you underage or haven't actually tried attempting any of the lifestyle changes that are recommended before trying these medications?
Do you have a media platform and you're either pedalling these drugs to people who don't actually need them for your own personal gain?
Or are you taking these drugs, lying about it and setting completely unrealistic expectations to your people who look up to you/consume your content?
If you're one of those people then yeah, I'd probably have an issue with you/the drugs that you're taking.
Ok_Young1709@reddit
I don't view people who use them negatively, although I do see it as a waste of money when they don't change their diet or habits too.
But I do view the jabs themselves negatively in a way and I'm not sure they should really be pushed on so many people without guidance from a health professional. If you take too big of a dose and lose weight too quickly, you're putting yourself at risk of gall stones/gall bladder issues/pancreatitis. I don't think I should be able to go online right now and buy some with no one monitoring what I am doing, but I can very easily. I don't think that's right, it needs more guidance in place with taking them, starting at the lowest dose and gradually build up, losing weight slowly. I know the instructions say to do that, but people are bad at following instructions.
Darkone539@reddit
People who use them? No.
The drug itself? Kind of. The nhs is offering them to people who should just be on a diet, and people like my aunt is dangerously thin.
It feels like they are being irresponsible, and for money, too.
BBC News - GPs get £3,000 bonus to maximise weight loss drug prescriptions - BBC News https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cddn399l4r9o?app-referrer=deep-link
FluffyOwl89@reddit
It is incredibly hard to get it on the NHS, so I don’t agree with you. You have to have multiple weight-related health conditions to be eligible.
Despite weighing 138kg and wearing women’s size 26 clothing, I’ve had to pay for Mounjaro privately as I don’t have any medical conditions. I’ve tried all the usual weight loss methods and nothing has worked, but I’ve now lost 28kg in 9 months. I’ve saved the NHS a load of money and will hopefully prevent myself getting diabetes etc. It’s genuinely been life changing as my brain no longer thinks about food all the time.
WhaleMeatFantasy@reddit
Found anywhere affordable to get it?
PurposeElectronic909@reddit
The mounjarouk subreddit has a price guide.
niteninja1@reddit
i mean have you actually read the nhs criteria id say its too strict if anything
people living with obesity who have been diagnosed with 4 of the weight-related health problems listed and a BMI of 40.
Empty_Bell_1942@reddit
You couldn't be more right. If anyone should qualify it's me; I've 4/5 of those + the BMI and when I went to see a GP was given the runaround. He said it was for a minimal number of 'case studies'. Sure.
Lambchops87@reddit
Nah, the NHS doesn't have the money to offer them to anone whonshould just be on a diet.
The criteria are in fact very strict. The first of these is BMI >= 40, which is most certainly miles away from dangerously thin.
I know from personal experience that some doctors will prescribe outside the criteria (for example to help someone with diabetes who is considering pregnancy to get to a healthy weight) so it does happen. However I'd be very surprised if NHS prescriptions well outside the criteria are widespread.
Valuable-Theory6778@reddit
PPP g
Circle-of-friends@reddit
I know this sounds flippant but I mean it wholeheartedly. Anyone who looks down on people for using weightloss drugs is a bitter and jaded twat
Crafty-Reality-9425@reddit
I'd just ignore them and be proud of your achievement, however you managed it. You will always encounter idiots who think they know better than you, when really they are just regurgitating gumph that they've read on the internet. These people think that if it's on the internet then it must be true. I remember pre-internet, people would make the same ridiculous claims about something being factual if they had read it in the 'Sun' or 'The News of the World'.
Milky_Finger@reddit
Yes and no. I believe that eating disorders are real and food is addictive, especially at the cheaper level. However, I also believe that weight loss solutions are advertised towards those who pursue it from a place of vanity and not for being in good health.
An active life with a body that you can count on is probably one of the greatest things you can gift yourself in this life. A celebration of it and proof to those before us that we aren't wasting it. To take Ozempic to try and be more beautiful is incredibly disrespectful to yourself.
Electronic-Fennel828@reddit
I don’t judge people for it at all. I myself struggle with food noise. I’m trying weight loss “the old fashioned” way first I guess. I’d rather not be on any medication if I don’t have to be but that’s just personal preference rather than any kind of moralising.
Ultimately other peoples bodies and how they got to that point in either direction is none of my business. I don’t comment on people’s weight at all unless they bring it up. People who have lost a lot of weight might not have done it deliberately. They might be unwell or have mixed feelings about it. People who have put on weight are probably well aware of it. What purpose would commenting serve other than to make them feel like shit?
iffyClyro@reddit
I kind of did think “lazy” when I first heard of it but no I don’t judge anyone for using it and I was wrong to let that little judgmental gremlin enter my brain in the first place.
StatisticalSock@reddit
They are exactly the same what your first thought told you. Drugs for the lazy who can't be asked to get up and go for a walk and eat a bit less. Like you said, they should only be used when there's literally no other option left, as an emergency.
baalroo@reddit
And I suppose you think anti-depresants are for people too lazy to stop stop being said, and ADHD medication is for people too lazy to sit still?
maxeh987@reddit
To be fair that isn’t a remotely good comparison, people with depression, anxiety, or neurodivergence don’t know how to change (ask me how I know, I spend every waking hour trying to figure it out). Fatness however, has a clear, simple and well defined process to counteract; it is therefore a choice - although not necessarily an easy one - not to do so.
Obviously I’m not speaking for everyone, I’m sure some people are genetically or otherwise predisposed to putting on more weight than others, and I do feel for those people. Fundamentally though it is a choice, unlike almost all other health conditions, mental or physical.
baalroo@reddit
If you think being overweight doesn't have a mental health component that is difficult to overcome without treatment for most folks, you don't know wtf you're talking about.
maxeh987@reddit
I don't think anything of the sort. Obviously there's mental health problems weaved into it, I'm simply pointing out that it is not the same as other conditions, for the sole reason that there is a well defined, universally known solution.
You seem to have the impression that because I wasn't a fan of your analogy I'm an enemy. I fundamentally agree with you; if these drugs are helping people then great. But, it is *not* the same.
PigletAlert@reddit
You know that people with ADHD are massively prone to overeating? So if they don’t know how to fix their neurodivergence, it’s logical they don’t know how to fix their eating issues too.
oldsch0olsurvivor@reddit
You know they do.
mimic@reddit
Sorry would you mind posting your PHD certificate
StatisticalSock@reddit
PHD not needed to understand how weight loss works. If thats too difficult for you to understand then consider going back to school.
mimic@reddit
Bless, maybe the basic stuff you learned in school is not the reality of actual science and biology of the real world, consider that.
VerbalniDelikt@reddit
Nothing wrong with a lazy method if it drastically improves your health / takes strain off the NHS
TheNymphsAreDeparted@reddit
I’ve lost 100lbs on mounjaro - I strength train 4x a week, play roller derby and walk every day, and I’ve worked HARD to get to that point. These drugs are a tool that make things like going for a walk and eating a bit less just a tad easier - when I started, I struggled to walk 15 minutes due to knee and back pain, I was just too big to effectively exercise. Mounjaro reduced inflammation and helped put me on the calorie deficit I needed - I don’t see how that could be anything other than a good thing.
MushroomVolcano@reddit
Careful, the saggy skinned fatties will be coming for you.
StatisticalSock@reddit
Theyre already downvoting me to shits😂😂😂
Mehchu_@reddit
I think people don’t understand how much of an issue obesity is for the country. And if people are willing to pay however much it is to help with their food addiction.(as someone who lost a lot of weight before these drugs were a thing, losing weight is 90% done in the kitchen)
The tobacco industry literally shifted their tactics to food to make them as addictive and as cheap(read bad for you) as possible.
It will save the NHS billions. It will save lives of people who are ‘a bit overweight’ making them far higher risk for heart conditions, etc… and it will help everyone in extreme cases get better once it’s unrealistic for them to help themselves.
And I’m curious if you think smoke quitting aids and the like are for weak or lazy people?
polite_alternative@reddit
I'm going to paraphrase someone else's post on Reddit. It's one of the very few truly wise insights I've come across in my life.
"Using weight loss drugs isn't cheating because it **was never a fair fight in the first place**"
We live in a world designed to make us eat shit, and eat LIKE shit.
Weight loss drugs are the Magnum Peacemaker of the diet world, the equaliser. There is no shame in using them.
Huge_Horse_8945@reddit
I think they're a good thing as long as people understand they need to build healthy habits and better diet in the process. I have a family member who basically put quite a bit back on because they went right back to their old life style.
HeyGuysHowWasJail@reddit
It's not just a quick easy fix
PigletAlert@reddit
I find it immensely annoying how much people focus on habits as a way to maintain weight loss, as though it’s not already known that bodies that have been in calorie deficit adjust as soon as the deficit stops or even before, making weight loss maintenance virtually impossible. Also, habits are really hard to build especially when you aren’t being exposed to the conditions you will be facing in the future and can be easily knocked by life changes. There’s more going on here than bad habits.
Strong-Librarian-OOK@reddit
That’s the case for any weight loss though, not just the jabs. If you go back to what you were doing to gain weight in the first place, you start to gain weight again, and learning the habits for ongoing maintenance can often be the hardest part.
OddSign2828@reddit
The difference being if you lose weight without the jabs you’re very likely to have already gained those habits otherwise you wouldn’t have lost the weight. If you use the jab you don’t necessarily need to form those habits as it restricts your appetite so severely
Astra_Trillian@reddit
This simply isn’t true.
Most people who struggle with weight and diet (slimming world and weight watchers are prime examples) aren’t building good habits, they’re just counting syns, points, calories etc. Most people have dieted multiple times in their life not once, changed habits and kept the weight off.
Here’s a link to the slimming world sub showing that re-joining is fairly normal.
Slimming World themselves (via AI overview) state that adults try to lose weight an average of 7 times over their lifetime.
newbracelet@reddit
I've done slimming world for quite a long time and it basically only works long term if you continue going to group after the weight loss. Slimming world themselves acknowledge this and give free membership once you are at the weight goal you set as long as you stay within 3lb+/-, so you don't need to pay to keep going.
I know people who have come for 12 weeks every year for like 8 years in the run up to their summer holiday and then they put the weight on as soon as they're done. I also know people who have been at their target weight for 10+ years, but those are the ones who at least come once a month if not every week. I'm sure there are people out there who did it and it stuck and I just dont know them because they obviously don't come, but I think it would be a minority.
Slimming world definitely encourages healthy habits overall, making sure 1/3 of every plate is low cal, high density fruit or veg, eating a variety of fruit and veg etc, but it's very easy for people to slip back into old habits once they stop counting the swips.
Astra_Trillian@reddit
That’s the point, though. For those of us that struggle with our weight, whether we manage with diet alone or with drugs as well it’s a lifetime struggle, not a ‘one and done’ thing. The weight gain will happen the moment you stop dieting unless you keep doing what you were doing when you lost the weight.
I have never learnt anything through SW or WW, so I may have been unnecessarily negative as it didn’t work for me but that doesn’t mean others haven’t learnt good habits from it.
newbracelet@reddit
I have had enormously positive experiences with my local group and got on great with the plan itself so I am very coloured the other way. I actually help out on the 'till' these days which has helped my mental health since I'm not well enough to work.
I do think it's a plan that is very good where it works and where people embrace it, but it's not for everyone and people's successes can be very group-dependent. I've definitely been to groups where no one seems to be losing and members are almost encouraging bad habits in each other.
WestleyMc@reddit
Most people who lose weight the ‘right’ way put the weight back on too.
ImColinDentHowzTrix@reddit
Generally because the things needed to lose weight are inconvenient, and we don't want to do them. We make ourselves do them. But do we want to do them for the rest of our lives until we die? No. So we stop, and the weight comes back.
I knew a guy who lost a load of weight by running like a mad man every chance he got. It worked for him, and he lost loads. But naturally he didn't want to spend the rest of his life running like a mad man every chance he got, and he's gradually put most of it back on.
If the jabs are safe and healthy, and you can keep on top of them in a way that the average person can't with exercise and dieting, then good luck to them.
WestleyMc@reddit
Exactly, we agree
Purchase-Parking@reddit
You absolutely do need good habits for the jabs to work.
OddSign2828@reddit
To an extent. For a lot of it your appetite becomes so suppressed you simply can’t stomach eating enough food to eat in a surplus
Purchase-Parking@reddit
I know what it is but guess what I eat better and learning portion control....amazing right.
Bellatrixforqueen@reddit
Not everyone does is the issue , you’ve done it the right way :)
Tequilasquirrel@reddit
Ok but it’s easy to portion control when you have no appetite. Come back 6 months after you stop the jabs and see how the portion control is working then. My mums been on these jabs for 13 yrs. she was on the original clinical trial for them being prescribed for weight loss. When she’s had to stop due to medical reasons, her appetite is right back and her portions are too.
Thin_Sheepherder_584@reddit
Except there has been study after study to show this is not the case. The mindset is often now I've lost the weight, I can just give myself a little treat, eat a little more, have another glass of wine and before you know it, the weight has crept back on.
You absolutely need to form these habits while on the jab, it's no different from any other way to lose weight. If you're not in a calorie deficit, the weight will stay on. Plus not everyone has appetite suppression.
Kind-County9767@reddit
Yes, but the point is you have to actively make changes to your lifestyle to lose weight the conventional way, you don't have to do anything active with the jabs.
Huge_Horse_8945@reddit
Yes but we're talking about weight loss drugs not being a magical fix
Kaiisim@reddit
Yup, whereas I know someone who went to the gym, changed habits, and has really worked and he went from "you're gonna die soon, youre 70, diabetic, your lungs are fucked, your heart is giving up" to "we can stop your diabetes medication!"
When young people start using it to be super thing, I hate it though. The complete removal of anyone slightly overweight from tv and film is gonna be damaging, like hollywood teeth making people go to turkey.
Boredpanda31@reddit
This happened to someone I know who got a gastric band (on the NHS). She got the band and used to eat, then make herself sick so she could eat more. She is now obese again.
Some people absolutely don't want to change their lifestyle and just want to be thin, while eating whatever they want.
TheSecretIsMarmite@reddit
A colleague of mine a few years ago had a lap band fitted and although she lost a lot of weight she started just eating crisps and pot noodles and whatever shit she could lay her hands on again and put it back on, and gave herself diverticulitis in the process.
A cousin of mine had a a similar procedure decades ago and just blended up her normal dinner so she could still eat what she wanted.
Both of them actually would have benefitted from psychological help more than the surgery.
ChelseaMourning@reddit
I also know someone who got the band and it didn’t work for them. They were constantly “testing” it and seeing how far she could push it. Didn’t actually end up losing much weight and has since put it all back on.
Huge_Horse_8945@reddit
Same. My auntie got the band and just piled it all back on. An absolute waste of money, in her case.
Stlakes@reddit
This is pretty much exactly my thoughts as well. They're a fantastic tool for losing weight, just as long as people understand that you also have to change your habits. Plus, they've not been around long enough to see if there are any side effects from being on them for an extended period of time.
My aunt struggled with her weight her whole life until she had a gastric band about 15 years ago, and lost all the weight. She's gone on the jabs now because she was starting to put weight back on because she's basically a functioning alcoholic, which just strikes me as staggeringly unhealthy
everybody-meow-now@reddit
How long do you think is long enough? Its been prescribed to diabetics since 2005, which is a good 21 years now, how long do you need?
ItsFuckingScience@reddit
It’s so funny isn’t it, people with no formal medical or scientific knowledge confidently making assertions about negative potential side effects like they have any clue at all what they’re talking about
Kinda like the mRNA vaccine conversation
Stlakes@reddit
I dont have a medical background, to be fair. But do have a scientific background, and I dont think I was making any assertions about the potential side effects. That wasn't my intention, and yeah, tbf reading it back i see it. I wasn't aware they'd been around for so long. Happy to change my stance when ive been proven wrong
Stlakes@reddit
Well, fair enough actually. I wasn't aware it'd been being prescribed for so long. I knew they started as a diabetes medication, but I assumed they were relatively new.
I do want to reiterate, I'm not criticizing them as a medication at all, or people using them as weight loss aids. I genuinely think they're a fantastic tool, and if they help people be healthier then thats amazing.
Im not a doctor or someone who's used them, I'm mostly just voicing that concern because I've read that there is an association between GLP-1 agonists and pancreatitis
I-eat-jam@reddit
The problem is that the actual habit that needs developing is "not to eat when feeling hungry" and because that feeling is being surpressed, users of GLP-1 don't really get the opportunity they need.
Everyone I know that has used these weight loss drugs has put the weight straight back on once they stop. Maybe the secret is never to stop.
Tequilasquirrel@reddit
Yes, this is what the shareholders want. It’s the biggest money maker out there.
YearObvious7214@reddit
Apologies for my innocence and/or ignorance - why would you not eat when you're hungry? Isn't listening to your body's needs a good thing?
mimic@reddit
You absolutely should eat when you’re hungry - the thing these drugs do is give people some space and time to develop a better relationship with what that actually means.
One person who is used to snacking all of the time might say that they do it because they do constantly feel a hunger or need for it, so having some kind of drug that aids in re-evaluating that is absolutely helpful for developing healthier habits.
YearObvious7214@reddit
Ah. I see. Thank you. ☺️
imcheddarbeard@reddit
Ive just finished my first month on wegovy. You absolutely do still feel hungry, its just the desire to do something about it is less there.
The feeling is very similar to when i stopped smoking with champix to be honest, and whilst i do still smoke when i go to the pub (like once a month), i havent been a 10-15 a day smoker for years.
Huge_Horse_8945@reddit
I think if I were on them, i'd be focusing on eating much healthier which i think would be easier given i have no cravings and i'd pick up running once my body is ready to, but that's just my circumstances though (used to be a runner etc) and you need to also be mentally ready to try lose weight.
Illustrious_Study_30@reddit
I'm genuinely worried sick about my sister who's lost over 100lbs in a year with very little change in habits and no exercise. I just feel like she's got a very difficult time coming. I suspect her moving to a maintenance dose is imminent, although she says she wants to lose another stone .
MillySO@reddit
The problem is that you’re not supposed to stop taking them. If you reach the point where you can and you can easily keep the weight off, chances are you never needed them.
Huge_Horse_8945@reddit
Surely there has to be a point you stop though? I'm not saying you're wrong, but this is honestly the 1st I've heard that people aren't meant to stop them
Gryffinpuff33@reddit
The drug replaces a hormone that some people don't produce / don't produce enough of. That's a key reason many people are overweight, it's not always laziness or bad choices, though those contribute too. Stop taking the drug, the satiety hormone isn't being magically made by your body so you're naturally going to eat more again. I've lost 7st on mounjaro and am finally free from food being an obsession, I can eat normally and exercise without the pressure, I feel full after eating for the first time in my life. If I want to stay healthy, which I do, I'll likely need to be on it for life.
MillySO@reddit
It’s a bit like expecting someone to stop taking beta blockers because they’ve lowered their blood pressure or stopping statins because their cholesterol levels are healthy again. These drugs help manage the symptoms that lead to weight gain but they don’t cure them.
j-Lou_182@reddit
Nope. I'm a T1 (brittle) diabetic with PMOS and ADHD and despite really trying to lose weight, I've just seen very little success, other than when I was stopping my insulin (not advisable for obvious reasons).
I started Mounjaro (self funded) and yes, I've been steadily losing weight, but it's changed my diabetes completely. It's helping resolve my kidney problems that I had due to the brittle diabetes and I certainly wouldn't view people using it negatively even before I started using it.
re_Claire@reddit
I also have PMOS and ADHD, and have just started Mounjaro self funded. It's already having a positive effect on my chronic pain, fatigue and inflammation symptoms (dermatitis) not to mention my brain fog. People who view it negatively don't understand how much being at a higher weight can destroy your health, and how some illnesses can make it next to impossible to lose weight yourself.
PullAndTwist@reddit
Are you on ADHD meds? If so, were they're any issues with taking the meds and Mounjaro?
j-Lou_182@reddit
I'm still waiting to start my ADHD meds, however when I spoke to the specialist who'll be prescribing them, they had no concerns with me taking them alongside Mounjaro
PullAndTwist@reddit
Ok thanks for the info!
re_Claire@reddit
Yep I'm on dexamphetamine and both my GP and my prescriber had zero concerns around taking mounjaro alongside ADHD meds :)
PullAndTwist@reddit
Ok good. I've heard you get a dry mouth on Monjaro. Is that the case? I get dry mouth from Concerta and not sure I could cope with even drier mouth!
EvilCitrusFruit@reddit
See I’ve been wondering this, I’m about to start adhd meds (tritation) and was going to hold off on any sort of jabs, just to see if meds will help me first. I have PMOS, Endo, Adeno and ADHD. I was one size all my life until they told me to try the implant and it fucked me up from there.. I went from healthy with a six pack to now just wearing jogging bottoms and hating myself despite gym and diet changes.. I have metformin but forget to take it half the time it’s only ever made the food noise quiet which was a good thing… feel at rock bottom atm and considering jabs (if I qualify) if all else fails
re_Claire@reddit
Id definitely start your ADHD meds first and see how it goes. A lot of people experience appetite suppression and lessened food noise but it didn't help me. I tried Metformin and spironolactone and neither made a huge difference.
The thing for me is when I came off the implant and the pill, my ADHD meds all but stopped working. I'm back on the pill again now but Ive noticed when my PMOS is at its worst it affects my ADHD meds. I think it'd be good to get a baseline on your ADHD meds once you've gone through titration, and then consider wegovy/Mounjaro again if your meds haven't helped. Obviously everyone is different with how they metabolise medications.
I've definitely found the mounjaro has helped my ADHD symptoms and my brain fog though. Which is why I said it's good to get a baseline on the ADHD meds first so you know for sure which ones are best for you. Good luck with titration!
EvilCitrusFruit@reddit
Thank you, I very much appreciate your take on things!
j-Lou_182@reddit
I'm so glad it's had such a positive effect for you too!
re_Claire@reddit
Thank you, I'm so glad it's helped you so much too!
RoastedPotato-1kg@reddit
idc do whatever you want
cold_tap_hot_brew@reddit
In all honesty, I don’t know enough about them to have a well informed opinion. I’ve heard bad and good
Bad : something about genitals getting flappy?
Good : stops others cravings such as smoking?
Any truth to these?
Kingreaper@reddit
Haven't seen anything about the genital problems - honestly, given how much obesity damages the ability to get an erection I'd be shocked if Mounjaro etc. made it worse. They might mean it's harder to get hard than it would be at the same weight without the drug, but *meh*.
On the stopping other cravings - there's strong evidence that there's some level of effect, but smaller than the effect on appetite for food, and it's less well-understood. But given as smoking specifically is an appetite suppressant that people use in place of eating, that specific case is trivial to understand.
cold_tap_hot_brew@reddit
It was a bit of a phase of hearing about ozempic vagina - I assumed it was bs but that’s the two things I’ve heard.
Kingreaper@reddit
Oh, right, that's just "you lost weight, now you have loose skin because your skin no longer has fat under it". It happens however you lose weight, it's just that these are people who would otherwise never have lost the weight and thus would never have experienced the loose skin.
cold_tap_hot_brew@reddit
Jesus wept, that’s what that crap was about? Hahaha. Fair enough, thanks for clearing that one up - I really didn’t fancy looking into it and it kept intruding into my mind when folk said they’d done it.
Kelmorgan@reddit
Making people obsessed with food is a trillion pound industry. The food companies are currently trying to make foods that can get around these drugs and make people get back to over eating and it's killing us and the planet.
Illustrious-Milk6518@reddit
I believe that the way you’ve lost weight is better for your health in the long-term. I don’t judge people, but I sure as hell respect people who put the work in to lose weight loads more than relying on a quick fix
korgscrew@reddit
Everyone is different. Some people lose weight easy with traditional diet and exercise, some don’t. What right does anybody have to tell someone how to lose weight?
Neddlings55@reddit
The only people i silently judge are those that are only a tiny bit overweight but use a drug when they could easily reach their goal with diet and exercise.
No-Taste-223@reddit
Why? If you have a headache that you could either wait out or take paracetamol and you take paracetamol is that wrong?
PUSH_AX@reddit
Why are we willingly conditioning ourselves to be shit at any kind of long term challenge or hardship?
Neddlings55@reddit
We will use your comparison.
A headache (a bit overweight) can be dealt with via drinking water and perhaps going for a walk in the fresh air (diet and exercise). It wont be pleasant, but its short lived and the end result is worth it.
A migraine (obesity) can require medication.
Lets not forget that the side effects from weight loss drugs are significant compared to that of drugs such as paracetamol. Gall bladder issues are common.
The whole point of tackling obesity is to reduce the pressure on the NHS. People taking a drug because they dont want to put in a bit of effort are simply adding to the strain by requiring surgery.
vishbar@reddit
I wasn’t that overweight and I used them to lose weight.
I have two kids. I could fight with temptation and stick to a diet, calorie count, etc but I’d rather spend the money, completely remove a strain and source of stress in my life, and hit my weight goal without increasing my mental load.
MyCatIsFluffyNotFat@reddit
No i don't give a shit about it. I find negativity about it really bizarre.
Left-Indication-2165@reddit
I personally don’t care about those that use it. Do I judge them at the deepest level of my heart? Yes but does that matter? No. As long as they are happy with their choices.
XStaticImmaculate@reddit (OP)
Can I ask why you judge them? No shame here, just complete curiosity.
oscarx-ray@reddit
Not OP, and not proud of it, but I do judge people that I think are being lazy and taking shortcuts, using drugs that could go to people who need them for medical conditions, instead of using portion control and exercising.
I do not think for one minute that my judgement is fair, right, or that it applies to everyone using them - but it does to some, and I do think more poorly of them than people who make the effort.
VerbalniDelikt@reddit
This is interesting because my thinking goes the other way - I think of people who take the easiest part neutrally and those who take the harder one admirably. As long as you're improving your health there's no reason for negative judgement imo
PUSH_AX@reddit
Are people improving one part of their life by allowing something more insidious to take hold? What about other parts of people’s lives that require self control and resolve? I feel like the people who are self prescribing this stuff would fit a fast spreading archetype in the modern world, avoid being uncomfortable at all costs, near zero ability to tackle long term challenges. It’s taking over and it’s not good for us.
oscarx-ray@reddit
You're quite right. I made it very clear that I don't think my gut feeling on this matter is the correct one. OP asked for honest opinions, so I was honest, even though I'm somewhat ashamed of how I feel. I'd never be unkind to someone or act untoward because of this bias that I have, but I'm telling the truth - as unpalatable as it may be for me or anyone else.
oscarx-ray@reddit
"What's your honest opinion?" is a super boring question when everyone just says the socially-acceptable answer, so I told my ugly truth.
Expensive_Time_7367@reddit
Not op but I judge everybody, I’m a very judgmental person. Go on, judge me for it! Join the dark side!
Left-Indication-2165@reddit
Exactly 😂😂😂
Left-Indication-2165@reddit
I judge them because I can, there is no grand explanation to my judgemental opinion towards it haha. It’s part of being human to be judgmental I’m just vocal about it.
Theratchetnclank@reddit
It seems like a quick fix for people without enough self control, i don't believe it will fix deep rooted habits long term but would be happy to be wrong.
That being said if someone is addicted to something anything to help them be less dependent on the addiction is a good thing and obviously improving their health.
ForeignWeb8992@reddit
It works, but it doesn't create the mentality needed to keep a healthy weight throughout
moblethenoble@reddit
16 years ago I had an objective to lose 2kg. I hit the gym, stayed active outside gym but never managed to get my nutrition under control.
I ended up developing some kind of GERD which Matt things worse because there are times in my life when the acid and the Globus sensation are so bad that only eating something will give me momentary relief. But it's a vicious cycle that just compounds the problem.
I've had a camera down my throat twice and nothing could be found apparently.
16 years on, I'm relatively healthy still, lift heavy and am 10kg heavier than I started. I still have the same weight objective, but now I need to lose 12kg rather than 2 (body fat sitting at about 29% according to the gym analysis machine).
All in all, that is to say - no, I don't think it abnormal for someone to consider using these drugs. In fact, I am tempted myself but haven't put the time in to read about side effects and any potential longer term implications.
WillowCreekWanderer@reddit
Obviously all medications have their potential downsides, but GLP-1s have absolutely helped a lot of people improve their quality of life (the way they actually help people change their whole thought process around food is fascinating), and that's amazing amazing. I've also heard that there's really interesting research happening about the possibility of using similar medications in addiction treatment, which could be incredible if it works
LeadershipAble773@reddit
I dont think negatively about the people who use it. My concerns are how well tested it is. I wouldnt personally feel confident that its tested enough yet (but I am VERY overly cautious with medical things). I hope it is 100% safe
Honest-Physics920@reddit
I met a woman in Tokyo who broke a NDA and told me that Ozempic is basically turbo cancer. Think I'll steer clear.
Besides weight loss jabs don't fix the issue of bad eating habits. Sure you have the jabs and lose loads of weight (warning flag in itself as your body will be going through some very abnormal changes), but people will put all this weight back on once they're done.
YourLizardOverlord@reddit
No. People have identified a health issue and are dealing with it. There's no virtue in doing things the hard way.
ContentWDiscontent@reddit
I think these drugs are a really good tool for people who need them, whether it's managing diabetes or losing weight. My main issue with them is people (mostly celebrities and others prominantly in the publc eye) using them who are not overweight by any means but who are chasing the new era of heroin chic 2.0. So many of them just look gaunt and unwell and it's not a good sign for the wider cultural shifts which are going to affect all of us.
Bellsar_Ringing@reddit
No negativity from me. Different bodies have different needs.
OkayEffectively@reddit
I’m on a weight loss drug to help control my diabetes. It’s really worked for me and I’ve lost over six stones so far. The guilt I feel for having these injections on the NHS, when there are people who desperately need them, is unreal. I wish everyone who needs them could have them. I’m sorry for those who are struggling with their weight.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
I lost 40% of my body weight, reversed my T2 diabetes and a host of other issues. Cost me £1908 to do it, total bargain. NHS should be giving this stuff away.
re_Claire@reddit
I've just started on it on the advice of my GP despite not even having a lot of money. I've got to pay privately as I'm a few of BMI points under the limit of 40. I've got PCOS (now called PMOS) so I'm at high risk for T2 diabetes (which runs in my family). I hope the NHS changes its guidelines soon so that more people can get the help they need. It's already having a positive effect on my health despite only being on it for a month.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
It will be worth every penny! For me it was cost neutral really as easily saved that amount on food. Think last time I worked it out it was £28 per week (small doses from large pens). I'm nearly done now and currently tapering down doing 5mg dose from 15mg pen so with the golden shot get about 15 doses from it so a 15mg pen is £303 and 15 doses so £20 a week. There is a home wide world out there for you. Use Monj to make sure you are getting best price https://monj.co.uk/discount-mounjaro-price-list/ good luck!
feli468@reddit
Actually cost negative for me. Just with what I saved on food, it paid for the jabs (I don't live in the UK right now. Here ozempic is just over 100e a month). But for me it also stopped other compulsive behaviours, like nail-biting, and even better, shopping for crap I don't need. That was an unexpected but very welcome side-effect, and has saved me quite a bit.
re_Claire@reddit
I saw that site on r/Mounjarouk so got my first dose from one of the sites on there! I'll check out Gordon :) And yeah I've already saved money on food in the first month. Just gone up to 5mg and it's really working now. The food noise being gone is worth any penny. It makes it so easy to make the right choices, and I went from snacking constantly to not wanting to snack at all. I'm already so glad I started. And thank you!
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
If you want to reach out at any point I’m happy to help and chat! You got this, go smash it. Best thing I ever did and transformed my life in mere weeks.
Nashella@reddit
Proud of you mate!
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Thank you. Loved the stuff, works in so many ways that the weight loss is almost a side effect. Worth it for the calm mind too.
Amazing-Heron-105@reddit
I listened to a podcast recently with an expert on these drugs and they said that for most people the weight quickly piles back on once stopping. So do you continue to take it and if so what's the £ in relation to?
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Could be very cheap if you are taking small doses from a larger pen, for instance a weekly 2.5mg shot from a 15mg pen would work out to be £10 per week (£300 for the pen) which would easily be cost negative as you’d easily save more than £10 on food not bought so effectively it would put money in your pocket. Daft not too if needed. The other myriad of health benefits that go with it make it the deal of the century.
rabid-fox@reddit
To put everyone on it that is obese. It would cost 3-5% of the NHS budget a year.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
6% of the NHS budget is spent on T2 related issues a year that's nearly £14B. I think widely prescribing it would result in a cost saving. Then all the other benefits to society, a healthier more productive workforce. Also could be used for helping alcoholics and possibly gambling addictions, I'm also hearing that it could also help opioid addiction. It's an absolute no brainier game changer. Marvellous stuff.
Isgortio@reddit
I've also seen some research papers that state it has helped relieve rheumatoid arthritis as it reduces the inflammation in the body. Reduced inflammation can help a lot with many medical conditions.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Yes seen that one too about immflamuation.
shiversaint@reddit
This is the maddest part of the whole story to me. The value for money for the NHS here must make this one of the smartest things they could possibly invest in, yet the rollout of knowledge inside the NHS is genuinely pathetic.
Surely if you were a health minister in a government with savagely high pressure to make the most of your available cash, you’d be almost “task forcing” the roll out of this drug to the people who need it, freeing up valuable resources in the future as a result of the pressure taken off the health system to do other things with? Or you know, a much needed tax break for everyone?
Instead, the NHS puts this drug behind a ton of hoops to jump through and backlogs that are basically impossible to navigate for the people who are actually allowed to use it. You basically rely on a willing GP who wants to help you and advocates for these therapies. Many people who have used MJ speak of complete ignorance in the healthcare profession to what it does and the way it works. It’s shameful.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
They hated me losing all that weight! When the diabetes nurse told me technically I'm no longer diabetic she said it through gritted teeth with the barbed comment "what will you do when you put all the weight back on?" I sharply replied "it will be a nice problem to have". I had my BUPA check up in March and when I told them I used to be morbidly obese, BMI 35 to 21 now they lost their shit with excitement, it was completely the opposite.
Isgortio@reddit
I went to see a consultant about a lump last year, and they asked me about my weight. I told them, they said I needed to lose weight, I said "I am, I've been on Mounjaro for 3 months and I've lost 10kg so far". Their response was basically "no, not like that". I'd tried the other methods over the years, this is what worked for me.
There's a lot of "you need to lose weight!" comments and then they're never happy with the way you're doing it. If someone is fasting or only eating once a day, that's wrong. If they're using the jabs, that's wrong. If they're counting calories and exercising, that's wrong.
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
I get it. I was happy doing my thing as I’m sure you were too. Well done on your loss.
Andi-anna@reddit
The NHS actually agree that it should be free and might be in the future when prices drop. They also agree it will save them a huge amount of money in the long term. But, in the short term, so many people will qualify for them that it would actually bankrupt the NHS to provide them to everyone who needs them so they just can't make them available to all.
Western-Edge-965@reddit
Getting rid of the diabetes gives you on avg 6 years longer life so well done!
Zealousideal-Habit82@reddit
Thank you! Got my metabolic age down from 54 (I'm 52) to 46 also. Visceral fat gone also.
genxerrr@reddit
It would bankrupt the NHS if they gave it to everyone and that's why they don't. People should pay for it themselves if they can afford it instead of burdening the NHS.
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
God forbid some of you in these comments gain weight and become obese.
I hope you are shown all the grace that you have shown me here.
Traditional_Fox2428@reddit
So nice to see positive answers.
I’m certain the negativity comes from a place of vulnerability.
The “bit of a dickhead but fit” community is realising that the “fat but awesome person” are fast becoming “fit and awesome person” and they feel threatened!
nithanielgarro@reddit
The cheating argument always baffles me because who are you competing against. Who made the rules to cheat?
Vanzzer@reddit
It's people unable to convey what they actually mean. What they are actually trying to say is that they see using them as some sort of moral failure on the part of that person. Avoiding the the suffering/hardship is seen as a bad thing for some reason.
massie_le@reddit
No?? I'm surrounded by thinning people who are happier and healthier.
melanie110@reddit
I went abroad for a sleeve in 2023 cos I was sick of being in pain every day with my spinal issues. I’ve lost 10.5st and kept it off. I no longer have a my medication for my spinal condition and I’m fitter then ever. I would never look down on anyone doing what they seem fit to do.
Empty_Bell_1942@reddit
Well done you! I was put off doing the same when I realised they did four incisions into the stomach area and not keyhole surgery through the belly button.
melanie110@reddit
Now I can’t see them. Bio oil was fab. I actually have the video of it happening. 4 tiny scars or a life time of pain. I chose the former
deadlygaming11@reddit
They work and are good, but there are a lot of people who use them to try achieve some sort of "perfect" weight which is actually just body dysmorphia in news clothes. I think there is a major issue in that people will use them but not change their behaviours so as soon as they go off them, as they have to, they will regain the weight
Amanensia@reddit
I take Mounjaro and I couldn’t give a flying fuck If anyone views that negatively.
alan2001@reddit
Correct. My wife has found it to be life changing. People need to mind their own business and keep their own ignorant opinions to themselves. Just in general, not only about this subject!
Amanensia@reddit
Just to throw in a little more context:
I am a 55 year old male. I have struggled with my weight since puberty. Three times I have lost weight through exercise and diet, and three times I have put it all back on again. Willpower is all well and good but when you are constantly fighting what I now know is called "food noise" it is just impossible to keep going forever. I am not a complete idiot; I have two mathematical degrees and am a qualified actuary. I know what my weight needs to be, and I know what I need to do to be that weight. But despite that, I can't get there - and stay there - without pharmaceutical help.
For people who don't have the "food noise" that many of us have, you honestly won't realise quite how all-pervasive it can be. Spending all day every day with the little demon in your head telling you that you need to be eating more. It is absolutely, fundamentally, definitively not a matter of "wanting a snack" or "being greedy". Telling someone with that noise to "pull yourself together and use some willpower" is no different to telling an alcoholic or a drug addict to "just say no" - with the added complication that you can't just go cold turkey on food without actually dying!
Mounjaro has deleted the food noise. If it did nothing else (and we are discovering constantly that it does a lot more than that), that would make it worth every penny that I pay for my private prescription.
I eat healthily and sensibly - which means having an occasional unhealthy meal where life dictates it - but I can now put that behind me and move on, just like the majority of the population have always been able to do.
I have lost more than 40kg in around 11 months, and am now at a healthy weight. I run and cycle multiple times a week, but I know from bitter experience that that alone is not going to be enough in the long term. I am slowly reducing my dose, but I accept that the point will probably come where the food noise returns with a vengeance, and then I will have found the level that I need to maintain, probably for life. I will have no qualms in doing so.
Are there people who just take MJ or OZ to lose a few pounds for the beach, or without making any effort to live an overall healthy lifestyle? Sure. But that's not most of us. So do I care what judgemental twats might say? No. No, I do not.
audigex@reddit
If they’re using it as a way to kickstart a lifestyle change and maintain early motivation in the most difficult phase, I don’t judge at all - props for trying to improve yourself, keep it up
If they’re just taking it because they’re too lazy to put the work in, I wouldn’t say I judge them - but I see it as a very lazy “take no responsibility and pretend it’s a medical issue” approach. We all know they’ll just out the weight back on once they stop taking it, why bother risking your pancreas to temporarily yo-yo down to a lower weight?
yammt125@reddit
any medication has risk involved... But not taking it for some people, means the risks are higher than the risks the drug could potentially give. Many of the peoples comments I read have stated they were 22+ stone and are now a healthy weight.
Personally I think the risks associated with being 22+ stone for many years/life for some probably outweighs (pardon the pun) the rare side effects seen in a drug that has been approved within the eu.
audigex@reddit
My point is more that it's something which can be handled with lifestyle changes, therefore the medicine is not clinically necessary in the same way
The NHS has decided that it's cheaper to offer it than deal with 50 years of obesity and diabetes etc, so there's a clinical benefit - but overall it's a medicine where you could also "just" eat less
(I know that "just" is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence, particularly around mental health issues - but the point is that the same results could be achieved a little more slowly with dedication to a lifestyle change)
That's why I draw a clear distinction between using it with lifestyle changes to accelerate the initial weight loss, vs using it as a "treatment" or long term preventative
yammt125@reddit
sure weight management can be handled without medicine. Noone is in doubt of that but addictions are all sorts of things, people with food addictions, which is why alot of people are overweight, cannot just change there diet and exercise more and stick to it. Everyone knows how to lose weight, but so few know how to put it in practice. It's not for lack of education.
Go tell an alcoholic, smoker or drug user to become sober. They find it extremely difficult. Now to tell a smoker to stop drinking but not entirely, they must smoke atleast 50% of what they were. Most agree that is a route for failure. This I believe is why so many people struggle with weight management. Now if there only was a smoking device we could compare it to that receives much less negative feedback and isn't "lazy, cheating etc" . Vaping is the same scenario, you can "just" stop (which i'd argue is easier than food) but people go to vaping, which objectively will have side effects but also it's much better than smoking cigarettes'. Many people then go from vapes to nothing. Just like how many people come off GLP1s and can stay off the unhealthy foods, but without it, they wouldn't.
audigex@reddit
I’m not quite sure what point you’re making
I already said I don’t judge them, I just don’t give the same credit to those who are making lifestyle changes with it
bacon_cake@reddit
Not especially, but I do think people are switching to them far too quickly.
My wife's brother has been obese for years and years and constantly says he doesn't know why etc etc. I have the same discussion almost yearly with him: "Why don't you write down what you eat every day for a week?" and he never does it.
Well quelle surprise, he eventuallydid it and lost 9kg in three months and counting. Didn't even do anything especially tough, just wrote down what he ate and a simple process of awareness did the same as the jabs would have.
kittehkat22@reddit
Losing weight as a modern, first-world human is very difficult. We evolved to resist starvation by packing weight on in times of plenty. I don't look down on people who use medication to help offset some of the negative effects modern life has on the human body.
ConsciouslyIncomplet@reddit
Nah - I guess I was skeptical at first, but it works and the money they will save for the NHS over the years is monumental.
Probodyne@reddit
The only people I worry about are the ones taking them that are already a healthy weight. It indicates mental health issues (in my opinion) and is the source of the "people who take them look dreadful" comments because these celebs end up with such little fat that they start to look malnourished.
I also worry about people needing to take them their entire lives if they're not able to get into a good spot post jabs. I don't think there's any medical evidence to say that would be bad, it's more a value for money thing.
lavieenr0see@reddit
I’ve found that the people who say it’s for lazy people and that they are “taking the easy way out” are the same people who think being slim makes them better than everyone, and now that lots of people are losing weight they’re trying to convince themselves that they’re still better because they lost it “the right way”
popbrat@reddit
As someone prescribed Mounjaro through the NHS for diabetes and weight management, I’ll admit I sometimes struggle with mixed feelings about who uses these injections. There feels like a massive difference between being a bit overweight from lifestyle indulgences—like an extra pint or treat—and dealing with morbid obesity. You don’t reach my size just from being 'lazy.' For me, this medication is treating a deeply toxic, addictive relationship with food that diet and exercise alone couldn't touch. It's hard to see it used for minor weight loss when, for people like me, it's a vital medical intervention, having said all that , people can do whatever they want if it helps them I’m happy for them in and people are gonna judge regardless.
Weimaraner666@reddit
It’s extremely difficult for many post menopausal women not to gain weight let alone drop it even with diet and excercise, so if this medication works for them I have no issue. In my Gran’s day GP’s used to prescribe amphetamines (Dexedrine) to women like skittles for weight issues and lack of motivation/depression so GLP’s don’t sound so bad if used responsibly in conjunction with excercise and a healthy diet.
NovelShelter7489@reddit
I personally think it's over-used. I believe it has good medical potential. However, people too lazy and entitled to do anything about their lack of exercise and disgusting eating habits boil my piss. I wouldn't want a paralysed gut, with rotting food inside me. I've lost 4.6 stone, down to a size ten, through counting calories and exercise. Plus, I don't have to poison myself to keep it off. Oh, and my hair is nice and thick.
mrbill1234@reddit
They are type 2 diabetes drugs first, weight loss drugs second. They have been miraculous for my diabetes.
ASpookyBitch@reddit
Until you are/have been fat you don’t really understand the vitriol you get for existing.
People are always quick to point out EVERYTHING. You eat a burger “no wonder they’re that size” like they didn’t just eat two or three themselves. You eat a salad “who are they kidding!”
You go to the gym and there’s genuinely people who make fun of you for being there like we are some sideshow attraction, or act like we are an inconvenience for also using the machines because “well I ACTUALLY work out so get off”
You try to just go for a walk and teenagers will shout nasty things at you like it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever done.
So if taking jabs means our efforts work a bit harder or faster so we can be deemed Publicly Acceptable… but no. Apparently that’s cheating, we aren’t suffering enough for the perceived sin of being fat.
Because at the very root of it all, that’s what it is. We are seen as sinful greedy gluttons who DESERVE to suffer. Who deserve to be publically shamed before existing.
So yeah, take the jabs. As long as your skinny they don’t actually care.
Luckluck13@reddit
I’m all for a chemical potion to achieve the desired effects of the desired path.
biranpq17@reddit
People using it to lose weight they NEED to lose I support wholeheartedly
People using it to go from a size 8 to a size 6 having bought it off TikTok shop I think are utter morons
Awkward-Loquat2228@reddit
Only when they pretend it was 'hard work' just not eating too much
teeny_axolotl@reddit
No. I also don't view people trying to turn their life around in any other way negatively.
Someone on Antabuse to stay off drink is doing what they need to to fix things. Someone choosing to get off any drugs with or without medication to help, I'm proud of them.
Drinking too much, using drugs and being overweight or obese all have negative health impacts. Doing something to help your long term health should be applauded if you ask me.
MudNext5256@reddit
Unpopular opinion, but yes. We shouldn’t be outsourcing our own willpower.
Miasmata@reddit
What's the point of staying fat just for the sake of it though, when in the majority of cases, people have been trying and failing to lose weight for years? There's pills people can take now to help with quitting smoking, all those stop smoking help things, are they to be frowned upon as well?
MudNext5256@reddit
I don’t think ‘staying fat for the sake of it’ is an accurate characterisation; we are in complete control of what we put on our bodies; nobody is force feeding us crap and we can choose to make a change at any time. I say this as someone who has been at both ends of the spectrum (and is currently on the heavier side). If people have been failing to lose weight, they haven’t been consistently doing the right things - simple as that.
Miasmata@reddit
There are lots of factors as play though - people who eat less don't want to eat more, where as people who are overweight rarely feel full. It's not because they have less self control than thin people, they just always feel hungrier, for a variety of reasons, and so it's much harder. If it was so easy that people could just lose weight easily, nobody would be fat lol. It's definitely not that simple at all.
VerbalniDelikt@reddit
Why not when the result is a net positive for their health and the health system as a whole? Same goes for nicotine patches etc.
MudNext5256@reddit
I can definitely see the argument for these jabs taking strain off the NHS, but people taking responsibility for/ ownership of their own health would have the same effect. I think these jabs are symptomatic of the same mindless consumerism and manipulation that has lead to the obesity epidemic in the first place.
littlevivid@reddit
It has seriously changed my life. I got fat. I'm active but I got fat. I think it was almost a combination of stress and a sugar-dopamine loop I got stuck in. Stress = chocolate consumption = dopamine or something. I was loosing my hair and convinced I had thyroid issues. Paid privately for bloods, various vitamin deficiencies all corrected now but I just didn't feel right.
My colleagues would always joke I had undiagnosed ADHD, my head was so busy, I had no object permanence, I had 50 million tasks on the go and always got them done but in no logical order.
I started on mounjaro, bought privately. Within a couple of days my brain was empty. I had focus. Focus literally like never before. I had no idea my mind could be like that. The weight loss became a secondary bonus!
I eat when I'm hungry, not when I'm stressed. I'm a lot less stressed. I had to swap to wegovy when the price hike happened in the UK. It works almost as well as mounjaro but not quite.
10 years ago I would have been disgusted with myself needing 'artificial' help to maintain a steady weight, or lose weight but it has absolutely changed my life.
HalfFaust@reddit
I do dmhave some concerns, but not from that perspective.
I still think we're pushing them way too hard. Taking medication should always be a reasonable and balanced decision factoring in possible side effects. Yet some people seem to be trying to push that vast swathes of the population 'should' use them.
We also still have an unhealthy perspective on weight as a society. There seemed to be some societal progress on that but in opinion there was never all that much and it's now back-slid. Yes higher weight can cause health issues, but plenty of times it gets focused on when it's not actually the main problem for a given person. There is still a big societal push to be skinny (or for guys a very specific kind of muscular) and the negative health effects of that are very frequently just ignored until it reaches an extreme. There are countless people who seem to think "eating healthy" is synonymous with starving yourself.
And of course, there's the basic fact of respect and dignity; lot of people clearly hate fat people and will just use 'health concerns' as a beating stick. The existence of these drugs now adds more avenues for that. Everyone is worthy of respect and dignity, whatever their body type or how healthy they are.
Super-Nuntendo@reddit
Yes, they lazy and cheating.
Close the thread.
MauriceDynasty@reddit
No, I've lost weight without but it's helped my Mum so much, it's lovely to see her healthier and can't understand why some people have issues with it. I'd be tempted to use it myself if I didn't have such a phobia of needles - I'll get vaccinated as required but the idea of injecting myself with a needle makes me nauseous.
Dog_Apoc@reddit
I wouldn't use one. I know my luck. I'd get stomach paralysis or something.
bandlj@reddit
"Cheating" implies it's a competition and anyone who thinks that is a very sad individual.
The-Ghost-84@reddit
My issue is that its just another modern way of not dealing with a problem or avoiding dealing with a problem. There is a pill (medicine) for everything.
I am fat - I know exactly what I need to do lose weight - I'm fat coz I am lazy.
It is outside the realm of your question but we should be looking at the food we eat - but its a losing battle as people will obviously never given up modern foods.
mand71@reddit
Yes, sorry.
xSE77ENx@reddit
Well done for the 10 stone loss. I have also lost 10 stone without any help and I think the biggest change for me is mentally. I think the argument may be that if someone has used a jab to help them, what happens when the weight is done and the jabs stop? Do those people go back to their old habits and out the weight back on? Mentally for me, I worked so hard, as did you to lose that weight so does that make us less likely to put the weight back on as opposed to the people on the jab? I’m genuinely curious as I don’t know anyone in my life that has used the jab and lost weight (a guy who I work with used the jab and out weight ON).
Sea_Photograph_3998@reddit
If it makes them look like a holocaust survivor then yes, because personally I see that as disrespectful to actual Holocaust survivors and victims of famine.
PUSH_AX@reddit
I fear for humanity, no one is capable of doing hard things any more, some people will need to be on this stuff indefinitely because otherwise they’ll just put it back on, and we don’t even have the long term data yet for life on the very latest variants, but people are signing up for life regardless, because easy shortcut.
We’re sitting on our arses, eating ultra processed shit, doom scrolling, striving for a life on easy mode. Mental health of people who have no challenges in their life is at an all time low. I’m super concerned about where things are heading.
iwantmorewhippets@reddit
My only issue with it is that it is such a new drug. We don't know enough about the long term effects, and how to wean off it yet. Just like with vaping when that first started, and looks at how that is going now!
With more and more people using it though, the benefits do seem quite pronounced. My mum uses it and has reversed her diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, some of these have been issues for her for over 20 years! She will gain if she stops though, she has not changed her habits. There needs to be a way for people like her to come off it without bringing the problems back.
nobelprize4shopping@reddit
There seems to be a significant number of people here who subconsciously or otherwise believe that fat people deserve to suffer and that anything that makes weight loss less painful is wrong. This seems quite strange to me.
lostcrawler@reddit
No, I don't, and I couldn't care less about whether it's natural or through medicine.
HOWEVER, I can't stand duality and lying from people who hide their truth only to spread lies about their hard work and effort in losing weight, because at that point, you are taking credit from people who managed to do it the other way.
llksg@reddit
I was about to say to say ‘no not at all’ but actually there are people in my wider circle who are already very slim and have managed to get wegovy to lose even more weight and I judge them for sure. If your BMI is 22 there is no need except vanity and/or laziness.
In the bigger scheme of things though, I’ve got friends also that have really suffered with Pcos and just found it impossible to lose weight but on the jabs have lost weight, and also had a huge impact on the other aspects of pcos. Fully life changing.
MrBoggles123@reddit
I think they're brilliant but I think too many people are testing them as a cure rather than part of a toolkit.
I know people who have used them then put weight back.on when they've stopped because they didn't change their lifestyle. As part of a toolkit Aimed at changing habits and educating people into healthy choices then they're great.
itsfergy94@reddit
Pharmacist perspective: yes and no. Yes because if you have means to access a lifestyle to lose weight, you should do it that way. People have to remember, they come with side effects. There’s a significant proportion of patients who come through ED and liver wards because of pancreas related issues as a result of GLP-1 use. No, because it’s an actual medical treatment, which was initially developed for T2 diabetes, and obesity can be a result of genetics, hormones, mental health, side effects of other medication etc.
EconomyDisastrous409@reddit
This is my concern. Someone I know has ended up hospitalised several times with severe acute gallstone pancreatitis and liver failure. I don't judge anyone for trying to become healthier or improve their body confidence, I just want them to be safe doing it!
re_Claire@reddit
One point to note is that anyone who loses a lot of weight quickly can end up with problems with their pancreas. When I was younger I had gallstones which caused my liver to have problems functioning and I was very unwell, which was due to fast weight loss. I've now started on Mounjaro (on the advice of my GP) due to my PMOS and I discussed it all with them before starting and they said it wasn't a problem, and obviously just to look out for any symptoms related to pancreatitis etc. But I think the concerns people have just point to the fact that really it should be done through either your GP or a weight loss service, and that the NHS would probably benefit from increasing access. It would cost more in the short run but it would save so much money in the long run.
There are many thousands of people out there like me with health problems that are greatly exacerbated by obesity but don't quite meet the very strict NHS criteria, and have to pay privately. I think a lot of people just see fat people as lazy, but don't understand that it's so much more complicated than that.
SufficientBox3389@reddit
is the pancreas and other health issues a result of people not getting enough nutrients? i’ve seen it said that if people make sure they’re eating right on them they’ll be fine but others saying just taking the jab is causing people to have those issues
nobelprize4shopping@reddit
What sort of liver risks are there? I've tried googling but only get stuff about benefits for the liver which I assume is not the full story.
hunsnet457@reddit
I have mixed feelings towards weight loss drugs.
Ultimately I support the use of them but i’ve seen far too many people taking them for reasons that ultimately boil down to body dysmorphia.
But, i’m part of the queer community where body dysmorphia is rife and people have a more relaxed attitude to drug misuse, so I likely don’t have a balanced experience.
acatmumhere@reddit
100% this.
I have a friend who faked her weight and picture in order to get her jabs from a private pharmacy.
status_tumbleweed33@reddit
Thank you for sharing this. It helped me understand better why some people might have genuine concerns versus the “they should do it through will power” crowd.
mimic@reddit
At the end of the day they’re an expensive weight loss tool, there are cheaper ways to do it unhealthily if that’s someone’s aim.
GlamourousFireworks@reddit
This is how I feel. They’re fantastic but unfortunately the two people close to me who use them have extreme body dysmorphia and I can’t believe a doctor continues to give them. I can only imagine it’s an online doctor who never a really sets eyes on them
Hugh_Jorgan2474@reddit
Very easy to get online, just lie about your weight and height so your BMI is over 30 and your good to go. They might ask you send a picture of your body, I just sent them a picture of my portly brother.
Ravdoggydog@reddit
I started 8 weeks ago after clicking an ad on Asda, lost 11kg so far! I’m telling everyone who will listen, even delivery drivers and shop keepers… don’t even consider being hesitant or shamed…
RemarkableKiwi3876@reddit
I mean I’ve been using it before it gained media attention and after years of dieting. I also used my own money to buy it. Don’t see what the issue is.
Kvark33@reddit
No, if they need to lose weight for medical or quality of life reasons, if it helps them and they are content with taking it, go for it.
I view it negatively for the potential psychological impact it may have on people and the health consequences it may give to people who will use it who perceive themselves as over weight when in reality they are healthy.
Labionda20@reddit
I view them as positive for people who truly need them. They can be life changing. I do think people need to be taught how to maintain weight loss without drugs/how to make lifestyle changes alongside this. I view them as negative when people use them for vanity only. I know someone who wanted to lose 7 to 14 pounds. Her weight loss was so dramatic and fast that she looked absolutely terrible. People kept asking her if she was ok. These drugs don’t just suppress appetite. They shed weight but it’s fat and muscle which is not ok if you want a healthy life.
Sea_Influence7197@reddit
I had a gastric sleeve as I was 6 stone overweight with serious comorbidities. I don't judge anyone for wanting to be healthier and wish people would keep their judgements to themselves. When I had my sleeve some people were really nasty and judgemental. I seriously think they would have preferred me to remain overweight, with a shorter lifespan, as my being fat made them feel better about themselves. I really don't understand why it's anybody's else's business and now I never tell anyone about my sleeve. If people want to use the jabs that's their business, not mine.
Haeenki@reddit
I take mounjaro, it works, I don't see it as a solution but as a tool. If it's used as part as a healthy weightloss regime it's a brilliant help because it takes away the hunger and food noise and allows you to concentrate on changing habits and lifestyle.
slapheadk@reddit
My main concern with these drugs are the long term effects such as loss of muscle or bone density. There will be a future where older people will be severely at risk.
TheGherkin69@reddit
The drug? Yes.
The person? No.
The-Jelly-Fox@reddit
Honestly, I don’t think about what other people do with their bodies. Some people will take it to extremes and go off the deep end with it. Some will consider the risks and proceed with health and safety in mind. I assume people know what’s best for their own lives. Adults can make their own choices and mistakes. Live and let live.
iamsheena@reddit
People need to let people live their life, as long as it's not hurting anyone else.
Hcmp1980@reddit
Its a tool, if you need the tool then use it.
ParkingMachine3534@reddit
If they work on hormones, surely they prove that it's hormonal and not laziness?
Orkys@reddit
Well, it affects hormones to the point that it stops you feeling hungry, right? But people who lose weight without them fight against those hormones - sometimes successfully, sometimes not.
But the laziness itself is arguably hormonal and then the whole thing becomes circular.
Just for context, I have no issue with the drugs assuming that it's being done with proper medical advice like all other medicines. But I think your argument doesn't say much when most things humans do or don't do can be put down to hormones that we can affect by drugs in some sort of way.
Grommmit@reddit
That’s not how logic works.
Snoo63@reddit
Fatphobic society labels not being skinny as a moral failure.
DishOk9726@reddit
I support people who are using them safely and it is working for them and improving their health. Not seeing it as a short term, quick fix.
I have worked with someone who it has worked extremely well for and she is being sensible with them. She has lost about 5 stone. However I also know 2 other people who only had about 1 stone to lose and decided to take them anyway. One ended up in hospital with pancreatitis as she was double dosing and doing weird things with it. The other got very bad abdominal pains so decided to stop after 2 weeks. Both of these people are hardly overweight yet they eat crappy processed food and thought these injections would do all the work for them
Sil_Lavellan@reddit
No. I tried Ozempic but I think it made me throw up so I didn't try for very long and it did nothing for my weight or blood glucose.
I know people it's worked wonders for though.
FreddiesNightmare65@reddit
No, I envy them. I vent afford to buy them, but the doc won't put me on them either
Hitching-galaxy@reddit
I don’t care tbh
Mjukplister@reddit
I don’t view the people negatively at all . But I’m wary od the medication and their potency . I hope we don’t have problems down the line , as I don’t trust big oharma
Andurael@reddit
It’s not a cheat, it’s a shield. Food companies have spent billions to make us all little fatties, some of us are lucky enough to have genetics that protect us but many are not.
Also, I hope the NHS starts dishing them out to anyone considered overweight because I’m certain investment like that will save lots in the long run in diabetic and end-of-life care.
Caltron34@reddit
I honestly don’t mean to come across as an ass but, “A lot of toning work to do” is not a thing. You’re either building the muscle bigger, or losing the fat to be leaner. You can’t “tone” a muscle.
birchbarn@reddit
Am a diabetic recently prescribed Rybelsus as an alternative to one of my other meds and the effect has been frankly remarkable, for both my blood sugars and weight management.
To come back to the question I’ve around 6-7 friends and family who use various iterations of GLP-1 mainly for weight loss. Except my bezzie who had fibromyalgia and can’t exercise. But he uses it for weight loss.
As a drug it’s passed all kinds of testing etc so if it’s something that you can afford, more power to you. It’s the extremes which are awful. Mad weight loss from ‘overweight’ to emaciated which looks awful.
Folk are folk tbh and no matter what some folk are advised, they’re going to abuse.
yoy78@reddit
Not at all, the only reason I am not on them is because I lost 4.5 stone years ago on orlistat, kept it off for 3/4 years then it started creeping back up and here I am again.
I need the education more than I need the drug. This time it is coming off slowly but I’m a lot more relaxed about it and finding it easier. Making sure I get my steps in, building my meals around protein. Experimenting with recipes. And also not doing a ridiculously low 1200 (why I ended up going pill route last time, 1200 is NOT sustainable for most people.
thiagogaith@reddit
I'm 117kg. Can I really get one of them in an official manner?
VolcanicBear@reddit
Not really.
I lost 25kg or so through changing my diet and generally working on my activity levels, but I won't pretend for a second that I wouldn't have used them if they were around when I started.
RetiredFromIT@reddit
I have, in the past, done quite well by increasing activity. But then illness hit and I was back to square one.
I am well now, but totally overweight and unfit. I am hoping that if I can lose sufficient weight by drugs and diet, that I can then hit a point where I can be more active without feeling I am going to feint.
funkmachine7@reddit
There not a magic bullet but they help people drop a few stone and kick start a new fitter lifestyle.
Its a lot easyer to exersize when your not carrying around lits of extra weight.
insanityarise@reddit
Friend of mine needed hernia surgery, he is quite overweight, was told he couldn't have the surgery because of his weight. It's hard to exercise when you have a hernia. He had a problem with it and ended up in emergency surgery and almost died. They were intending to put him on these new weight loss drugs to make the surgery more viable, but they waited too long to do it. Had he has access to those drugs earlier, the surgery wouldn't have been so complicated, and there would have been much less chance of him ending up in an emergency situation. Thankfully he has now recovered from the surgery, but I'd never want to shame someone for how they lose weight.
regulator202@reddit
Honest opinion, I view the drugs negatively but not the people. Something tells me it will be a poor option in the long term but obviously we'll have to wait and see. Can't blame the people though for using something that appears to work.
Isgortio@reddit
Nope. I'd struggled for decades to lose excess weight, and found I was just gaining more whilst at uni because I was in 9-5 daily and working in the evenings and weekends so there wasn't enough time for gym or perfect meals. I started on Mounjaro in March last year at 86kg (151cm tall) and got to 59kg in December, however I was then starting to feel unwell with low blood pressure. My boobs and bum were beginning to feel flat in areas and I wasn't happy with it.
I reduced my dosage and I regained some weight, but I've also been able to exercise a lot more and focus more on better meals. My boobs and bum have filled back in and have gone back to a C shape rather than a d shape. So I currently feel a lot better, I'm 68kg and still classed as overweight but I feel healthier. When I was at this weight last year, my GP suggested I stop soon as I don't need to weigh any less than that, yet for years I had doctors telling me I needed to lose weight when I was naturally at that weight!
I cannot fault anyone who feels they need the extra help from the jabs, though it's really important to eat proper food.
JohnCasey3306@reddit
No, nor positively.
Other people's weight loss isn't my business -- or of any interest.
sigma914@reddit
No worse than I view people tracking Calories or doing weight watchers or whatever. Obviously it's just a workaround/crutch for having healthy lifestyle, but it's better than being an active, untreated burden on society
StatisticalSock@reddit
Assuming that these drugs are like ozempic, I do not support it at all. Ive learned that when you take the easy route, there's always a price to pay(im not talking about £ here). So the best way to lose weight is to do what we've been doing for thousands of years which is eat at a calorie deficit and do more exercise. If a deficit is too hard for you then eat at calorie maintenance and increase your daily exercise, you'll then be at a deficit purey from the exercise itself. Its similar to men taking testosterone to build muscle. High risk of heart attacks, strokes, brain aneurysm, organ failure etc in exchange for more muscle. But if you did it naturally, you'll get less muscle but none of the above mentioned risk. There's ALWAYS a trade off whether you see it or not. Thanks for reading
OddSign2828@reddit
That’s not how modern medicine works. You don’t say to cancer patients “you could take the easy way out by taking the chemotherapy, or fight it and let your body do it itself”.
StatisticalSock@reddit
Do you really believe chemotherapy has no side effects? Many cancer deaths are recorded falsely as 'caused by cancer' but rather it was the radiation from chemo itself. And for the record, your comment is awfully wrong. Yes cancer patients DO have the choice to go thru chemo or not. Doctors will push for chemo because its the easiest thing to do and they don't have your best internet at heart. Another patient on chemo, another dollar made.
OddSign2828@reddit
This isn’t a conversation worth having, anyone who thinks the healthcare system in the UK is out to make money is clearly deluded.
By the way, chemotherapy doesn’t work by radiation. Takes the sting out of your argument a bit.
StatisticalSock@reddit
It definitely isn't. You clearly have a lot of research to do. You've got too much faith in the system and depend so much on it to maintain your health which I find quite sad. Maybe some day you'll realize that the pharmaceutical industry is a business afterall and they don't have your best interest like how your mother does when she says eat your vegetables, go outside and play and don't eat so much sugar.
Once again, you're terribly wrong. Chemo consists of radiation therapy, IV, pills and injections. The sting in my argument is still in there. Hope it stings again.
OddSign2828@reddit
My guy I work in the healthcare sector, my entire career is understanding its financing and decision-making.
StatisticalSock@reddit
Unless you're at the top, which you're probably not. You're working on false data reportings. Our gov, has all the money it needs to support the NHS and make it a beast but they're too busy pocketing it and sending a good sum for isra3l for who knows what. Your job title is probably "junior accountant assistant".
StIvian_17@reddit
Ah NOW we get there - tin foil hat on pal!
OddSign2828@reddit
And what do you do for work my conspiratorial friend?
StatisticalSock@reddit
Shiver me timbers 🥶
StIvian_17@reddit
That would be radiotherapy you are thinking of. Yes you can do both. You know what you were saying about Google…..
StIvian_17@reddit
What’s the trade off then? You carefully didn’t actually say.
StatisticalSock@reddit
Google is free
StIvian_17@reddit
Good quality engagement.
MrD-88@reddit
Muscle wastage is a well documented side effecy GLP-1s, which is why you need to hit the gym and eat well. They aren't just a magic cure all, people need to be putting the work in. Same as if you take steroids, you can't just take gear and get huge and ripped, you have to eat right and train properly.
MrD-88@reddit
You have to do a LOT of training to out train a bad diet. It takes roughly a 10 mile run to burn 1000 calories. The average weight session will burn 2-300.
Carrying more muscle actually makes you burn more calories at rest because it takes more energy to maintain.
Testosterone at maintenance doses is fine. I'm going on private TRT when I turn 40. Includes blood tests every 3 months and regular consultations and dose adjustments where needed.
Pedantichrist@reddit
I do. Not the idea of them, if I could take a pill that made me think I would do so, but the way they work at the moment is not safe enough.
They are the capping of weight loss.
People will be asking to tell me I am wrong now, but I have picked up too many people in my ambulance to be easily swayed.
Darkslayer709@reddit
As a tool to help people lose weight no, I don’t have a negative opinion on weight loss drugs.
However, having grown up in the 90s and 00s where “nothing is as good as skinny feels” was rampant I am concerned we are shifting back into the alarmingly thin trend. Yes-yes, before everyone comes at me in the comments being overweight isn’t healthy blah-blah… that’s not the point I’m getting at.
I’m already seeing these drugs being abused by people who have absolutely no business being on them and wouldn’t be surprised if there is a big societal shift where there is a moral obligation placed upon people to get on these drugs whether they actually want to (or even need to) or not.
RetiredFromIT@reddit
I love Sara Millican's response to Kate Moss.
SufficientBox3389@reddit
i agree, i have no problem with them but there are people who aren’t obese using them and getting scarily thin, plus the rise in celebrities becoming extremely slim
Spicymargx@reddit
I share the same exact worry.
tinned_peaches@reddit
They are great and I wouldn’t have been able to lose weight without them due to my humongous appetite however I lost weight too quickly and have gallstones now. I still have no regrets though.
WildWanderingRedHead@reddit
I don't judge those who take them but I am aware there are no long term studies done so we don't know what the damage might be after taking it for years. Also it doesn't deal with the root causes whether than be emotional regulation, unresolved trauma, poor eating habits, dislike of exercise etc. My mum gained 3 stone in perimenopause from insulin sensitivity (not an illness) and she says she won't take it because women's metabolism works totally differently post menopause than during the reproductive years and if she doesn't learn how to work with her body's new wiring she will just be taking medication rather than listening to her body. I think whatever works... but just don't expect it to be the perfect long term answer to anything.
niteninja1@reddit
for ozempic (wegovy) its literally been used for years in diabetics
WildWanderingRedHead@reddit
it has been in medical use for less than 10 years... that is not long-term...
sanokojima@reddit
It’s a GLP-1 designed to mimic natural hormones , it’s not a “drug” in the same way some other medications are. This can be used long term perfectly fine
WildWanderingRedHead@reddit
That is like saying Insulin injections aren't pharmaceutical. GLP‑1 medications are very much drugs, despite being based on a natural hormone your body already makes. They’re engineered, concentrated, and delivered in doses far higher and longer‑acting than anything your body produces on its own. That means they have real pharmacological effects, real benefits, and real risks — just like any other prescription medication. Being “hormone‑mimicking” doesn’t make them any less of a drug; it simply explains how they work. They still require medical oversight, monitoring, and long‑term consideration the same way other chronic‑use medications do.
"This can be used long term perfectly fine"
Ouch. This is an oversimplification and not accurate. They’re still real medications with risks, and we don’t have decades of data yet. They work well for many people, but long‑term use should be monitored, not assumed to be risk‑free.
niteninja1@reddit
its long term compared to a lot of drugs we use.
everything is risk and reward.
WildWanderingRedHead@reddit
It isn’t the same as having 15–20 years of longitudinal data, which is what we rely on to understand true long‑term effects. I don't care if people take it, I was asked for my honest opinion and I gave it. I still think its a concern.
darybrain@reddit
I only look at them negatively if I know they are taking the jabs but doing nothing to alter their mentality on health and diet and then wonder why their weight loss is very small or when they stop the jabs it comes back and is worse than before they started. The injections a re a good mechanism to give you some breathing room to start making small long term changes but some folks only want a quick fashion accessory quick change.
chipscheeseandbeans@reddit
Not really, but it is difficult to undo the 90s programming that resulted in us associating skinniness with a lot of effort. As a result there’s an underlying feeling in me that this is “cheating” but logically I know this is silly.
BurkesRoad@reddit
Nope. I'd be on it too, if I could afford the price.
BillWilberforce@reddit
Absolutely not, unless they end up looking like Kelly Osborne. Who looks like Skeletor with skin, a wig and possibly a boob job.
FloofyTheSpider@reddit
I mean I feel envious of people who can afford them, but I don’t see it as ‘cheating’ or anything like that.
Hopeful_Lake9382@reddit
i wont judge them as thats the society we live in, and its needed and helps them and the services they would have otherwise used. it does give me the ick though, our ancestors went wrong somewhere, we shouldnt be in this position
nakedmallrat@reddit
It doesn’t replace educating yourself about diet and exercise but on the other hand if you’ve never been class 3 obese I’m not really interested in if someone thinks I lost weight the “right” way. I’ve also lost a chunk of weight naturally but I also don’t have kids or a massively stressful job or relationship so if it helps someone break a binge eating cycle I say go for it
ambergriswoldo@reddit
I’m on Ozempic for insulin issues - I don’t judge anyone on that or Mounjaro etc whatever their reason. The media love reporting on the negative side effects / appearance of celebs that use it to excess - it encourages a very uneducated opinion and when anyone has made those types of comments to me I just say “yeah I think they’re on the maximum dose, I’m on far lower and it’s really helped”
ddmf@reddit
I tried to lose weight for over 20 years and had little success, the jags (such a great Scottish word) really helped, definitely shows I have some metabolic signalling issues.
It's sad they're seen as a cheat.
Astounding that they've discovered how useful they are for reducing other addictions.
narnababy@reddit
I gained a significant amount of weight postpartum due to a birth injury, got very depressed, started eating like shit and being unable to do my usual dance and walking without pain. So I sat around with my kid, did my physio, but never lost any weight. Hated my body, hated everything, completely miserable.
Started wegovy in February after I went to a work conference and couldn’t fit on the chairs without pushing the people sat next to me, I was beyond embarrassed.
It’s given me the freedom to say no to food, to stop eating when I’m full, to think about what I’m putting into my body. I’m going to start a new dance class in September, moving somewhere that will give me the chance to get outside. I haven’t lost loads yet, but I’m going in the right direction, I’m reducing my chances of diabetes, heart failure, joint issues.
My dad hates them, he thinks they’re for lazy people. But then he spent my entire childhood telling me I’m lazy so what’s new 🤷🏻♀️
yammt125@reddit
when you see results, it's a great motivator and for me, without it, it's super hard to keep motivated when the results take so long to see.
Your dad might see you as lazy for taking it, but once you lose the weight and can actually enjoy life, I'd say there is a high chance you'd be less lazy once you've lost the weight, giving your not only yourself, but your child a better life.
Is it lazier than losing weight via diet and exercise? sure, but really, we're all trying to get to a goal, not many people are loving the journey of losing weight in a calorie deficit.
AirconGuyUK@reddit
I view people like Lizzo and Meghan Trainor who promoted being fat as fine and healthy and good to children incredibly badly for taking Monjero the moment it was offered and they could lose weight easily without putting in effort. Fuck those kind of people.
Random punters who just want to lose weight? Whatevs. But don't expect me to congratulate anyone for it. It took no effort, and they really shouldn't have got fat in the first place.
mcnoodles1@reddit
nah will save the taxpayer trillions over 10 years. Get more of em out. Sliver bullets exist.
PixieXV@reddit
If I asked someone if they had used weight loss drugs and they said no, I would say the same thing. I feel like it's affirming how hard someone has worked. If they said yes, I would say how wonderful it was that we had these drugs. That way it's maybe reducing the stigma/guilt. I like being nice to people but I really don't care what you do, especially if it makes you healthier.
BedGirl5444@reddit
they are a good thing
FelisCantabrigiensis@reddit
Obesity is a serious chronic health condition. We don't tell people with asthma, diabetes, etc, that they just "need to fix it naturally". It's an archaic moralising judgement that people who suffer from obesity can "just fix it by trying harder".
It's extremely hard to lose weight consistently, especially if you're very obese, simply by trying to starve yourself. It doesn't work in the long term and it doesn't even work very well in the short term. It's also very bad for you, both physically and mentally. That's why GLP-1 inhibitors are such a great medical innovation - they fix the actual problem, metabolic imbalance, and thereby people end up much healthier.
MushroomVolcano@reddit
Better than nothing but it's far less of an achievement. Doing it naturally requires hard work and mental discipline, which are positive. Kind of how I feel about steroid users too.
CluelessOnMostStuff@reddit
It depends on the context, I know someone who referred to their weight loss as "hard work and dedication". Two minutes earlier they'd finished an hour's talk about their mounjaro subscription etc. If it's for health I am all for it. If it's so you can Insta every fucking meal you have and every mirror you walk past, then you can kindly fuck off
Zamazamenta@reddit
If it is conjunction with a lifestyle promoting healthy eating and exercise, it's good as long as that lasts.
The concern (true or not isn't the point) and perception is taking the drug, not changing lifestyle and still being a burden whilst not doing anything to improve. Using it as a easy way to do what you want.
Not I am not saying the second is true. But this is the perception
thereyougothen@reddit
Being a burden?
Zamazamenta@reddit
Burden on the healthcare system, cost of the weight loss drugs in UK from taxes, US increasing insurance costs etc, A classic rhetoric that's spouted about this and that
thereyougothen@reddit
I wasn’t sure if you were agreeing with the rhetoric so I thought I’d ask before I got cross
thereyougothen@reddit
And I missed your last sentence. Sorry!
Fuzzy_Reindeer_2770@reddit
Most people have to pay privately for weight loss drugs in the UK.
Zamazamenta@reddit
I'm saying what the rhetoric is for those who dislike those who take the jab, not the truth or the facts, they don't matter only what is perceived
Fuzzy_Reindeer_2770@reddit
True. I really hope people don't think everyone gets them on the NHS though. That's nuts.
HerbTP@reddit
Part of the issue is that there is no wrap around care. The prescription should come with dietetic support to set people up for success and stay healthy. Unfortunately there isn't enough resource to support this.
UnchillBill@reddit
I look positively on anyone who brings themselves to a healthy weight. They’re reducing their burden on the NHS, increasing the likelihood of them being a productive member of society, and reducing the chance of them encroaching on my personal space on planes and trains. I couldn’t care less how they do it.
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
How is it that obese people aren’t productive members of society?
Alarmed-Cheetah-1221@reddit
You really need to ask that question, fatty?
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
What’s the answer tw*t?
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Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people.
Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people. AskUK contains a variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds - consider not everyone is operating on the same level or background as you. Listen to others before you respond, and be courteous when doing so.
Alarmed-Cheetah-1221@reddit
🤣
Less time eating, more time engaging that brain tubs.
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
That’s my point. I’m a PhD. I do research for a living? Am I not a productive member of society because I’m obese?
Alarmed-Cheetah-1221@reddit
Firstly, you should know better.
Secondly, an anecdote doesn't disprove anything.
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
So why aren’t obese people productive members of society?
GopnikOIi@reddit
You can swear on the Internet
UnacceptableUse@reddit
!dick
Thoughtful_giant13@reddit
I think it’s mixed. Yes some people may have weird views about it being ‘cheating’ but I also think there’s some skepticism about the long term effects of them and how they are fueling a resurgence of an obsession with skinny. Losing weight too quickly without working on building muscle can cause long term health issues like loss of muscle mass and reduced bone density- these are particularly risky for women. So there’s some cynicism about the reemergence of a beauty trend that ultimately will hurt women related to these drugs.
This is nothing to do with your personal situation of course, and weight loss drugs definitely have some amazing benefits, but I think these concerns contribute to some of the negativity.
QueenOfTheBlackPuddl@reddit
Why would you? Who cares?
Fresh_Judgment_5219@reddit
Not at all.
bow_down_whelp@reddit
My wife used them for around 6 months. Give her the kick in the ass to start thinking. Seriously about life habits. The money we spent on the drug is now spent on pt
Poo_Poo_La_Foo@reddit
Nope! I just had lunch with a friend who is on Mounjaro, and she has lost a huge amount of weight. She's also been hitting the gym, and stopped drinking alcohol - and looks incredible.
I don't see why it would be a bad thing that she's improved her health? She's paid for it all herself and worked incredibly hard. It shouldn't be anyone elses business!
GeneralSEOD@reddit
No, I think the people that view them negatively should actually be studied and removed from society.
The people that I know which don't like them are some of the biggest cunts around, so it tracks tbh.
geniusgravity@reddit
I'd rather people just eat less and move more, but since that's not gonna happen, so be it.
strawbebbymilkshake@reddit
I’m not overweight, but after an adolescence of eating disorders, I deal with near constant food noise and really have to work hard not to eat in excess. If I could take a medication that turned my food noise off, I’d take it in a heartbeat. I’m fully on board with people using this medication for weight loss as long as they’re monitored properly by a doctor and supported into making the long term lifestyle choices that will need to persist after their weight loss.
Prasiatko@reddit
They're probably saving the NHS billions long term.
hurricane_97@reddit
I support them but I know a fair number of people who have acquired them illicitly and take them in lieu of a healthy diet and life style for no other reason than laziness.
jennymayg13@reddit
I think they’re fine if prescribed properly and not bought through private online services. They can also cause significant issues and severe side effects that are not to be take lightly and need to be monitored properly.
ImpossibleSeason6245@reddit
Many people with co morbidities like myself can still not get it on the NHS so going private is the only option.
niteninja1@reddit
why is a online prescription worse?
would you say the same if say they got it prescribed at boots?
jennymayg13@reddit
It’s just not the same oversight or monitoring, many online prescribers also have much lower requirements for BMI and no co-morbidities where realistically, these drugs should not be the treatment. There are significant issues with pancreatitis and gallbladder disease. I’m not judging the person if they’re desperate enough to buy it, I’m more judging these retailers for praying on vulnerable people.
Miasmata@reddit
Those issues are precisely because the companies tell you to up the dosage so they can get more money. Those side effects are from losing weight too quickly with an unhealthily low calorie deficit
niteninja1@reddit
i mean personally speaking ive done both boots and a online pharmacy.
they asked exactly the same questions and required the same proof etc.
literally the only difference was one i took a photo using the app and the other you uploaded a photo to the website.
No-Taste-223@reddit
What does a private online service have to do with it?
Electric-aura3000@reddit
I'm not judging the people, I'm just very sceptical of the drugs and I think long term it might do they more harm than good. Just look at ozempic.
wintermute023@reddit
Nope, all good, and no caveats. I hear people say “they’re only good if…….” And the go on to add something judgemental about diet and lifestyle. I’m genuinely pleased for people that make a positive move to improve their health, whatever that move is.
There are lots of reasons people become obese, some genetic, some psychological, many environmental. Anything that helps, and is low risk, and has so many other potential benefits, has got to be good. Better beats perfect every time.
rabid-fox@reddit
I dont like how people use them as a cruch. The weight comes back if you stop using them diet should come first. Skinny isn't healthy if you are still eating trash.
On_The_Blindside@reddit
Not in the slightest. They're a legitimate means to an end and can help make people a lot healthier.
Alternative-Land5916@reddit
as someone who lost a lot of weight the old-fashioned way, my knee-jerk reaction to hearing someone did it using a jab is to look down on them for doing it "the easy way" and for not putting the effort in. i know this isn't right, though, and i don't like that this is my first reaction. like everyone has said, it's a perfectly valid way of doing it, and if it makes you healthier i am all for it.
Vickyinredditland@reddit
What is jags?. I'm kind of scared of the injections tbh, I need an op that I'm too heavy for and my doctor wants me to look into them, because it'll be the quickest way to lose the weight. I don't view the people who use them negatively, more like I'm worried for them.
Electriccheeze@reddit
I think jags is a typo for jabs. A reliable pill version of the drugs is one of the major goals for the pharmaceutical industry, there are some already but from what I understand they're not as effective or consistent as the jabs.
FWIW, I too am no fan of needles but I've been on Ozempic since late last year and the needle is so small and thin I sometimes don't even feel it going in. At most it's a tiny little prick you wouldn't even notice of you didn't know.
Vickyinredditland@reddit
Oh it's not about the needles, I mean I'm worried about side effects etc.
grizz9999@reddit
Jags is a Scottish term for jabs
Boredpanda31@reddit
Im bias because I am currently using them - although it seems to have stalled for me 🫠
I see it as a tool. I still have to calorie count and exercise. I don't just stick a needle in me and sit back while the fat dissolves (if only!)
Before, my body never felt full. It was awful. I don't know why - maybe something hormonal, because it started as i hit puberty - but wegovy just flipped a switch inside me.
I pay for it myself but I also dont begrudge anyone who gets it on the NHS. We keep being told obesity is costing the NHS too much, so people are now doing something about, why complain?
Xerxes1211@reddit
The NHS acts like I'm about to drop dead at any moment because of my high BMI, but at the same time I don't have any health issues related to my weight and am not ill enough to qualify for this treatment on th NHS!
Boredpanda31@reddit
Yeah same. I have no health issues related to my weight and actually don't see my dr very often at all, but yet I am seen as part of the cause!
Dksnso12@reddit
They are good as they take the strain of the NHS in some aspects but people are developing gallstones, GI issues, ibs etc.. due to rapid weight loss, slower digestion means food sitting in the gut abnormally longer. I lost 12 stones now have gallstones been waiting touching 2 years for surgery the doctor told me they are overwhelmed with people needing gallbladder removing since the jabs came on the scene.
Impossible_Delay1023@reddit
I do but only because the people that I know use them
We’re always too lazy to any form of exercising…. So I almost view it as steroids. If I knew other people that took the jabs I might have a different view, but if it’s only lazy people who can’t get off the sofa then I view it as I form of cheating
AlC1306@reddit
I lost 4 stone on my own by cutting calories and 3 more with injections. The injections made it so much easier, but now the effect isn't working for me any more and I'm gonna miss not thinking about food all the time :( was good while it lasted
hughesyg@reddit
I use them and think they are great.
I lost about 8st before through a strict diet mostly, put most of it back on after a few years. Lost a lot of it during covid which I think was easier because there was no where to go out to eat / drink etc and popping to shop was a bit of hassle.
Without the jabs I think about food 24/7. I wake up and spend the whole time thinking what I can have for breakfast lunch and dinner. People who’d say they forgot to eat BLEW MY MIND. My husband being one of them. He says how I described thinking about food was how it was for him when he was a smoker.
Most smokers use aids to help give up and no one would shame them.
I’m not saying eating healthier is harder than giving up smoking. But it’s not the same for everyone and and don’t think the judging is necessary. It doesn’t affect you how I lose weight.
BlueMilkshake33@reddit
I have absolutely nothing against people who actually are seriously overweight using tools to become healthier and happier.
My issue with GLP1s is more on a broader societal level how the rich and powerful manage to get access to them to achieve unrealistic body standards which has effectively led to the end of the 2010s body positivity movement and the return of rail thin hollywood. As a medical researcher I also think there are legitimate concerns regarding safety since recent research has identified many potential risks and side effects, including psychiatric ones, which makes their use in people who dont actually need them potentially even more harmful.
That said, for the average person there are specific criteria they must meet to even get these prescribed and I do think they can absolutely be worth it if smn's weight is actually impacting their health and body image. I find it actually repulsive how some think this is somehow a moral failure as though modern medicine's goal isn't just to keep us alive but to actively make our lives and health easier to achieve.
Pokesabre@reddit
I generally view the culture that's growing around the drugs more negatively than the drugs themselves. Medical drugs are just tools so hating them is like hating a hammer or a screwdriver. It's more the way that they're suddenly being pushed as quick fix wonder drugs for weight loss and obesity that bugs me
There's mounting evidence that these drugs are only a temporary fix, with lots of patients experiencing rapid weight gain after being taken off them again. That runs the risk of people either becoming dependent on the drugs long term to sustain a lower weight, or of undergoing rapid weight fluctuations which can be more harmful than higher weight.
The way the push on the NHS to put people onto these drugs has come up also smacks of being driven by admin/management people who aren't medically/biologically trained, and/or are focused on the short term with no concern about the longer term impacts
cannontd@reddit
It’s transformed my life. I’ve done from being perma-fat. Not some massive guy, just a couple of stone over weight perpetually. Every blood marker and health indicator has moved into the normal zone. I’ve trained hard in the gym for the last year and I currently find myself down from 17.5 stone to 13.5 with more muscle mass. All done my maintaining a calorie deficit for months on end and hitting the gym 4 times a week as well as letting cardio, water and rest.
I’ll probably stay on it as a micro dose for the rest of my life. Anyone saying it is easy or cheating is just simply ill-informed and out of touch with what we are finding out about the role of hormones and genetics in weight gain.
MrD-88@reddit
Someone who has been a slob their whole life, never trained, never tried anything at all? Yes I will view them negatively.
You need to break habits, develop discipline. When the drugs stop, you'll be fat again in 3 months.
People seem to be ill informed of side effects like muscle wastage, too.
RaedwaldRex@reddit
I'm on mounjaro, have lost 5 stone.
I've been told more than once that I'm "cheating" so people do view it negatively
Doesn't matter I'm the healthiest I've been my whole adult life. I'm now able to exercise, move play with my son. Completely changed my habits and attitude to food and its waved away as "cheating" or the "easy way"
Xerxes1211@reddit
What's your experience of it been like? Any side effects or issues with the impact of weight loss on your body? Did you go private for it?
RaedwaldRex@reddit
Yeah I went private, and even with the price rises it's been worth it.
Side effects wise, I had a bit of constipation, but that passed once my body was used to it. I sometimes feel nauseous around food for a day or so when I fist started and when I go up a dose (the idea is you gradually work up). The worst one was although the food noise is gone, when you do eat you can't eat as much as before. Your body really slows down digestion so you get a bit bloated, so you have to get in the habit of eating less and slower. Other than that no other side effects.
Health wise on my body, I no longer feel like I'm walking through treacle when I walk. My knees and back have stopped hurting. I'm sleeping better. My wife says my snoring has virtually stopped and I have so much more energy - it's not effort to just move it's really liberating. Best of all I can chase after my son and play football with him without getting out of breath after a couple of minutes.
I've also found I enjoy exercise a lot more now that it's easier.
One caveat though is you do need to change your habits as eventually you will need to come off it and having stopped it temporarily for a couple of weeks when I was poorly last year (unrelated to the mounjaro) the food noise started coming back. Saying that, I'd rather feel like i do now than be overweight ever again. It does feel so easy though and it genuinely has been like a magic bullet for me, I've tried dieting and exercising in the past but have always plateued after losing about half a stone.
FlyingCellar@reddit
I don't judge.
I feel like the "lazy" criticisms are strange; does it even matter if it's lazy? It's not a moral crusade. I've always been naturally slim, does that make me a bad person because I didn't work for it?
I'd only be concerned about the side effects, both physical and mental, but ultimately that's between the individual and their doctor.
Peridoe@reddit
Nope, I don't view people who use it negatively. And I say that as someone on Mounjaro to manage type 2 diabetes who has been without it for the last three weeks due to shortages.
My sister has just started it, and I'm so happy for her that she might now get the weight loss she's desperate for. Sadly for me, weight loss hasn't happened, despite the reduced hunger and eating, but it has dropped my HbA1c from 77 to 55 in three months and I take less insulin now, so it's still a massive win.
Showzeki@reddit
People get funny about weight loss in general I remember an aunt being silly when I told her about intermittent fasting
90% comes from a place of insecurity within themselves and you shouldn't worry about it
The jabs are great imo
Amazonian89@reddit
They're a tool to be used. I don't have an opinion on anyone using them.
LeonardoW9@reddit
Not really - it's the same as any other medical treatment - if you meet the indication then there is clearly a reason for that. Obesity, in the long term, is a systemically expensive condition with serious consequences regarding longevity and quality of life. If these medications help you reach a healthy weight and lifestyle, then I don't see an issue.
I see more of an issue when people abuse these medications due to already being at a reasonable weight. This creates unnecessary demand, restricting supply to those with a genuine need. I'm no expert in the psychology side, but if there is a way to taper off these medications and maintain a healthy weight, then even better. Unfortunately the NHS is very resource constrained, so we still need to consider where the greatest benefit can be delivered.
Key-Original-225@reddit
Nope, partner lost 8 stone in a calendar year with jabs, a calorie intake of 1500/1700 kCal a day and regular gym visits.
It clearly works and it’s only viewed negatively by people who are thin.
Also, as a side note they were always delivered with a reusable frozen gel pack, which means the cool box I’m using right now in the garden is cold as fuck, bit of a bonus
Individual-Gur-7292@reddit
I’m on Mounjaro and without wanting to sound dramatic, it has been life changing. Ten weeks in and I have lost 2st and feel better than I have in years. The food noise that I have struggled with my whole life is gone, and I have been able to stick to my calorie deficit with ease. I am open about taking Mounjaro as it is nothing to be ashamed or embarrassed about.
GuiltyCredit@reddit
Don't care. Medication is there to help and it is none of my business.
AlgaeFew8512@reddit
I don't care how people lost weight of it's something they want to do. I do have a problem with people lying that it was done through diet and exercise when it was actually medically assisted. It is misleading and disheartening for people who are trying to lose weight through diet and exercise and not achieving similar results
YearObvious7214@reddit
They're drugs like any other and are there to be used along side other options (no exclusively, as stats suggest you gain the weight back once you stop).
I suspect people who day it's cheating never actually had to lose a lot of weight or were dependent on drugs in other forms to manage their daily lives. So many people have negative views of drugs in general. If you take them for mental health, it's bad. If you take them for weighloss, it's bad. If you take them for pain, it's bad. They expect you to rawdag it all, but personally have no experience of it themselves. And if you don't manage to rawdog you somehow fail, or are a loser. I think it's just one of the ways people attribute superiority to what's essentially chance - if they can manage their days without help and you can't, they feel better than you.
RecognitionWestern86@reddit
Not at all, I think it’s very sensible. I do judge people who take them but pretend they’ve lost the weight through other means. Just be honest, there’s no shame in it.
Past-Anything9789@reddit
Let me preface this by saying I have struggled with my weight all my life (in my 40s now) and have a disability that means I can't exercise.
If the person is genuinely overweight and get it on the NHS, then I'm all for it. Although, the issue behind the over eating should be addressed with a dietician and psychologist, otherwise when they stop, the weight will pile on.
If their BMI is in normal range and it's a 'quick fix' to a summer body - yes.
Silly-Cylons@reddit
Not at all. If these drugs help people, that's a great thing.
I also lost 5 stone without any drugs and I'm proud of myself for being able to do that. I was also lucky that I was able to do that, however we are all different. Just because I didn't need something like Mounjaro or Wegovy doesn't mean other people don't.
The only thing I'd frown upon is people buying the drugs from shady sources when they don't need them, with no involvement from a doctor. Like if you're already fairly slim and want to lose weight then no.
Least_Temperature_23@reddit
It’s not either/or. People using weight loss medication still have to eat to a calorie deficit and exercise, but the medication helps them metabolise more efficiently.
RetiredFromIT@reddit
I am not ashamed to say I am on Mounjaro. 😃
My GP recommended it to me for my Type 2 Diabetes (Mounjaro can have life changing effects for some T2D patients), but I was also aware of its affect on weight loss, and being somewhat obese, I welcomed that too.
It is very early days for me (second month), but already I can see my weight heading in the right direction. More to the point, I'm no longer thinking about food in the same way. I still enjoy my food, but feel a lot calmer and find myself getting to 8pm and thinking "Oh, let's fix some dinner", rather than getting to 5:30pm and thinking "is it to early to eat?"
The one thing I know is that I will probably be on it for the rest of my life, because of the possible rebound factor. But then again, if it leads me to a much lower dose of my other diabetes medication, it will be worth it.
Note that because I was eligible due to health (Diabetes, Obesity, Sleep Apnoea), I get it as a normal prescription, at normal prescription charges (zero for me, as I am retired). I think people choosing to take it purely for the weight loss benefits have to pay the market price.
DancingSpacePenguin@reddit
We won't know the repercussions until it is too late.
imhiya_returns@reddit
Nope not at all, why make it harder for yourself, using them for 3 to 6 months could add 20 years to your life. Stupid to not
nopeitsadog@reddit
High or kittens on a first date?
SoupMaleficent9513@reddit
People who judge don’t understand food addiction. Thinking that this is just about willpower is naive. People who have severe food addiction are thinking about food all the time and feel hungry all the time. People who don’t have this issue really don’t think like this so it’s easy to just eat normally and judge people who can’t. The weight loss jabs switch off that craving and allow those with the addiction to feel like a normal person. There should be no judgement. If someone breaks a leg, they need a crutch. Sure, some people can loose weight without it but the failure rate is really really high. Allow people to have a crutch.
I_will_never_reply@reddit
My friend has always said 'If all the fat people who say they're happy could press a button and get rid of it, they would' and I have no problem with that
Background-Dingo-322@reddit
I don't think it's my right to judge people who take them, they do it for their own reasons and we all have different experiences. I see how much it's helped people find themselves, be more comfortable in their own bodies and find their spark. However I'm plus size and like you i would rather use diet and exercise. I 100% wouldn't take them myself, there's too many unknowns, side effects, long term issues and a big chance of putting weight back on.
Expert-Butterfly-415@reddit
I definitely think it's cheating and I think less of people for using it. Most people who have worked hard to stay in shape over the years likely feel this way too. The same way I judge people who use steroids for shortcuts as well.
Having said, I don't blame them either. If I was fat and lazy, or lacked the self discipline to get in shape, I'd use it too.
In fact, I can't help but wonder why fat people who can afford it are not on it. I work with some people who are, frankly, obese and could comfortably afford it. Every time I see them I think, you should get on the fat jabs.
tooncow@reddit
I take the jabs myself (10mg, started Dec 2025, lost just over 3 stone) and personally I can say they help so so much.
I have tried diets in the past, not hugely active and have never been able to stick to exercise. I’ve always kind of hovered around 13-14 stone and was relatively ok with that, obviously would have liked to be fitter.
I started a new medication (pregabalin 🖕) and slowly put on quite a few stone. It wasn’t until November last year that I started receiving a few comments about my weight that I decided I definitely needed to change. By this point I’d heard lots about the various weight loss drugs available and after asking around I found out quite a few of my friends and family were on various doses.
I decided to start it and all food noise has disappeared. The gastric slowing effect is also beneficial in the sense that your hunger is much less infrequent and is satiated very quickly. I didn’t have to put any effort into changing my diet whatsoever, the weight has just been falling off.
At first I did take advantage of the lack of hunger and would sometimes go a day without eating anything and even the next day only grazing on something very small. I knew this wasn’t sustainable but I did quickly become addicted to watching the number fall and fall. Reaching the next stone goal gave me so much joy that the closer I got the unhealthier my habits got.
I have recently been more aware of what I’ve been drinking and have been including various meal replacement drinks to ensure I’m hitting a healthy number of calories as well as getting enough nutrients in. This has slowed the weight loss but I am much healthier and the weight is still disappearing.
There have been side effects, mainly gastric symptoms which I won’t go into depth about, however none have been major. It isn’t pleasant at all, but what’s more unpleasant is the feeling of shame and embarrassment I get when taking off my top at the beach, sweating when the first bit of sun touches me or knowing my belly is going to be on show every time I reach up for something. Getting out of breath on a short walk or after walking up stairs, avoiding a social life because of fears about how I’ll be perceived, having nobody want to sit next to me on a completely full train/bus. Just some of the ‘side effects’ of being fat.
This is just my experience and I hope that it reaches even one person who may be judging so many for what they see as the ‘easy way out’ or ‘cheating’.
Despite all of this, I would be majorly impressed knowing you had lost weight ‘naturally’ vs using drugs. You put a lot more work in than I did. Hopefully you see more health benefits because of the actual work you’ve put in rather than maintaining old habits and not learning any lessons. Massive well done to you
Scratchy-cat@reddit
That's an amazing weight loss I hope you are incredibly proud of yourself. I don't judge those who take the jabs but they aren't for me personally, to many potential side effects that I don't feel are worth it and way to expensive for me
myentireass@reddit
What I don't like about it is how normalised and trendy it's become, especially in terms of reinforcing a "thin = beautiful" mentality and demonising fat people, rather than doing it for your health. I feel like people are way too quick to push others to try it, as shown by the "ozempic influencers" who are in some sort of mlm-type scheme. It also results in some people using it as like a backup plan if they become obese, rather than even attempting to avoid getting to that point. I also just don't trust it and I don't think nearly enough research has been done on it yet, especially to see the long term effects.
absolutely no hate or judgement towards the people that do use it tho, my critiques are mostly of the industry itself and the toxic culture and mentality it promotes. I'm a bit overweight myself and I know how hard it can be to lose weight for a variety of reasons. I don't view it as cheating because I sympathise with people who feel like they have no other option or that it's the best option to massively improve their life. I won't doubt that it has its benefits tho, like less pressure on the nhs and changing people's lives.
Rhinoceraptor37@reddit
Yes. I think they are weak willed and can't be bothered to put the effort in.
Those that use it for diabetes and lose weight as a side effects? Absolutely not.
Rhinoceraptor37@reddit
Here come the downvotes...
XB1CandleInTheDark@reddit
I think to everyone their own. I am currently intermittent fasting and have joined the gym, i need to lose at least another five stone or so and my feeling is doing it this way I've started habits in activity and have done things like coming off of sugary drinks by myself and those will stick going forward. When i stop fasting I'll have to figure out how to stay in calorie deficit or meet calorie needs but id rather do it from that basis than having had a drug do my did moderation for me and having to start from scratch when i come off it.
ceciem2100@reddit
I don't judge people who are doing whatever legal and healthy things that are available to them to help achieve a healthy weight. For some people it's surgery, some it's couch to 5km, some diet and exercise, some jabs. They are doing what they can to become healthier, good for them. I wish my partner would discuss weight loss drugs with his GP, but he just won't. He is so stubborn with his bacon butties, pies, sausage rolls, butter, TOAST, biscuits, he walks like 8 miles a day with our dog seriously, but he can't seem to get the eating under control.
OP congratulation for having lost such a large amount of weight!!! Good luck with the rest of the transformation!
ChampionshipHot1844@reddit
So my pov is just let people do what they want.
I was 23st and had a gastric sleeve done 3/4y ago and lost 10st, and I've managed to keep it off! Even though I bottomed out at 13st I'm still not happy with how I look so 6 months ago I went down the Wegovy route to see if that would help, it's not done anything really for me so I won't be buying again.
I'm not really bothered about how people lose weight it's more about how it makes them feel. Funny how when I was joking with people about having weight loss surgery said 'oh you don't need it, your fine' changed their tune 4 months later and said how much better I looked...
Do what makes you happy.
ShinyHeadedCook@reddit
My Mrs takes them for diabetes. I would not take them if I didnt have diabetes.
People need to realise taking medication can have serious side effects.
Two colleagues had their gall bladders out cos of being on the jabs
Katatonic92@reddit
No & I don't understand the logic of people who do. How is it cheating? People who use these jabs still have to reduce their calorie intake, they still have to make healthier choices, they still have to exercise, reprogramme new habits for the future, etc. If anything it puts people on more equal ground because I'm pretty sure it reduces excessive food noise, via reducing either the capability or excessive numbers of the hormone that drives the hungry feelings. The insatiablity has a physical cause, it isn't merely psychological. And honestly, even if it was "just" psychological so fuck, schizophrenia is a psychological condition, are the people who manage it with medication cheating? Of fucking course not, sounds ridiculous because it is.
I must admit I do have some bias in this as these negative opinions effect me personally despite not applying to me. I am very underweight, except mine is due to a long list of autoimmune & immune diseases & co-morbidities. My GI system is heavy effected by my conditions. I'm just a layer of translucent skin stretched over bones, my face is hollow & sunken, I don't have a speck of visible muscle, I barely have any at all. I used to get looks of pity which I hated, but once these jabs started to become popular knowledge, I now get more judgement, insults to eat a burger, the pity has been exchanged for annoyance, if not anger, as if I have made the choice to be so unwell. I'm pretty sure it is because they think I use these jabs because my appearance are the go to signs people claim indicate weightloss drugs. They call it Ozempic face/body. It doesn't cross their tiny minds for a second I am not this dangerously frail by choice.
We need to be less judgemental & more supportive of people whatever weight they are. People should be supportive & happy that an overweight person has been able to overcome a health issue. It feels like no matter what you can't win, too fat you are judged, too thin you are judged, people will always find the negative in everything. It says more about them that they need to drag others down to feel some kind of sense of superiority.
Rant over. Lol.
AndrewHinds67@reddit
The first cars had a crank handle to start the engine, so do you consider an electric starter motor as cheating?
Broad-Raspberry1805@reddit
My partner went on Ozempic because she wanted to lost half a stone before her holiday to Ibiza, she put a bit of weight on due to perimenopause and couldn’t shift it. It worked. I took the piss loads but to be honest she looks great now.
Perversia_Rayne@reddit
And she is part of the problem why these drugs are demonised.
Delicious-Stop5554@reddit
Not at all. I just wish they were cheaper. All power to the people on them making a positive difference to their health.
hellspyjamas@reddit
Here's my post where I share my journey coming off mounjaro. If anyone judges me or thinks this is lazy I couldn't care less. I achieved major body recomp and the jabs were a great crutch for that. The fitness and nutrition journey is ongoing
https://www.reddit.com/r/Mounjaro/s/7dtOnKAkgD
mawarup@reddit
I don't view them negatively on a moral level, but I do think it's concerning that medical intervention is replacing tackling the causes of obesity.
If you don't address the reasons you were overeating or underexercising, you will be reliant on medication to maintain a healthy weight. That's expensive and could potentially have longer-term issues we don't fully understand yet.
LordBrixton@reddit
No, I don't have a negative view of the people who use them – but I do suspect that there's some undocumented side effect coming a few years down the line. If something seems too good to be true it very often is.
Jamz3k@reddit
Don’t care what people do to get results but I have noticed it’s the same individuals pushing these “jabs” instead of putting in natural effort are the same people who pushed/guilted others into Covid “jabs”.
boredlemming345@reddit
Overall no I think they are going to be good in the long run. However, I work with a lady who took them and i do think for her it was the easy way out. I had to explain to her what a calorie deficit was and how to change her diet so she clearly had not even tried to lose weight before.
Zillywips@reddit
I think there's a real misconception about how these drugs work - people seem to think the fat just disappears off people who are using them! All they do is make people less hungry, it's not magic. They still have to put in the effort to eat less / better. But if people need a little help to stay on track with their diets then so what?
NorthernGooner77@reddit
As someone who's used them for the last 15 months I've gone from:
22st 44in waist 52in chest
To 13st 41in chest 32in waist
There is a good argument for them.
With the caveat that you must change your habits.
I've used them as a way to retrain my brain and to learn to live excercise again.
I wasn't prepared for the positive change in my mental attitude but I think it's simply a knock on of the weight loss.
I've not had anyone be critical but I would have told them where to go if that had been the case.
What I have had from about 17st down is people telling me not to lose too much weight.
Made me howl, whenever I asked people why I just got, 'well I think you'd look strange'.
Like I give a flying f**k.
To the OP, ignore every negative comment. Haters gonna hate.
Ebony_221b@reddit
Not unless the person keeps telling me all about how wonderful they are because they’ve lost x amount of weight with no effort and without dealing with any of the issues that led to being overweight in the first place.
Cat_Lover_Yoongi@reddit
As a biochemist they’ve made it clear that a big part of someone’s weight is determined biologically. Some people have more food noise, cravings and a bigger appetite and if there’s something that can help with these and get people to a healthier weight then I think it’s good.
I’m very concerned with the use of these drugs in people with eating disorders and celebrities, especially people who don’t clinically need them leading to shortages for the people who do
Gottastopthisnow@reddit
I know people who have managed to get the jabs online by lying about their weight. I think there should be much stricter regulations with them because they are essentially encouraging eating disorders for some people.
SufficientBox3389@reddit
and people buying them from people on instagram who definitely aren’t proper pharmacy’s
Darkslayer709@reddit
Yeah the drugs themselves aren’t a problem and are clearly a helpful tool for people who have otherwise struggled, but we are already seeing them being abused and with beauty standards shifting back to “unrealistically thin” it’s only going to get worse.
Gottastopthisnow@reddit
Absolutely. I don't think people who genuinely qualify for them should have to pay either. It isn't cosmetic
PsychologySpecific16@reddit
I workout. The world is full if bro science know nothings. Deadlifting will hurt your back you know.
Why thankyou obese man with back problems who clearly has no idea how go do even a bicep curl. That is really helpful. eyeroll
With all that being said the side effects are documented, you need additional protien and resistance training if I recall correctly.
If it improved quality of life fare play, just be aware of the sides.
SirDooble@reddit
No, not really. Weight loss is hard. It honestly is. It's entirely about willpower to stick with the dieting and resist temptations and craving. And sorry, but not everyone has the same level of willpower. And some people will never have as much as others. What's the point in judging that? It's not gonna give them more willpower.
So if there's a drug that removes the need for willpower and gives people that chance for dieting without having the internal struggle and losing it, then that's great. Obesity is a huge health crisis. It costs us crap loads of money as a country and it hinders people from living healthy long lives. So if the drug helps the people who can't lose weight without it then it's a good thing. I wouldn't begrudge a smoker who can't quit themselves from taking a drug that removes nicotine addiction.
GopnikOIi@reddit
The only people I know against them are people I would describe as militantly part of the body positivity sphere. I personally think they are good, I'm malnourished so I actually need a fat pill.
Defiant-One-5967@reddit
I am not a fan of the jabs side effects and that the companies making them and the doctors giving them out like candy are often not upfront about these potentially long term consequences. I don’t judge those using them, but I do hope they are taking great care of themselves. The side effects scare me
sanokojima@reddit
not at all. it’s not a cheat code, it still requires discipline, but it’s designed to mimic natural hormones and works for people who have a huge appetite . When you’re insulin resistant your brain will tell you to literally eat all the time because your body doesn’t turn food into energy as efficiently, and trying to diet and restrict calories naturally long term while your body is trying to make you do the exact opposite is physically and mentally exhausting. these medications make life a little less exhausting since you can actually stop eating when you’re almost full. They made me feel normal . when i’m not using mounjaro , and all my life , i’ve basically been able to eat everything all the time and never stop, and on mounjaro it feels like my brain isn’t constantly begging for food.
Squishy_3000@reddit
Short answer, no.
Long answer; as long as people are being properly assessed for eligibility, being properly informed of risk Vs benefit and accessing the medication through the proper channels (i.e a registered pharmacy) then I don't really see a difference between that and any other prescibed medication.
shazam7373@reddit
I just had an appointment with an endocrinologist and he said that statins and GLP1 are some of the most effective drugs for keeping people healthy (heart attack and stroke reduction). GLP1 are being used by normal body weight healthy individuals because there are far more benefits being discovered than simply weight loss.
FlamingosFortune@reddit
For some people genetics or medical things (like previously needing steroids, disordered eating, PMOS previously PCOS). Then there’s lifestyle - I know someone who used it because she travels for work and is always in a hotel where food options are limited, and works like a dog for 12 hours at a time in physically demanding job.
She lifts weights, does yoga, eats well when she is cooking for herself. She can do 20k steps a day at work, but because she was having to eat whatever was provided, weight wasn’t shifting.
It is great that you’ve done it with hard work, but I dgaf how people get healthy, it’ll take the strain off the NHS in the long run.
SamVimesBootTheory@reddit
My brother is on one of these medications main part being he found out he has a genetic condition that interferes with appetite regulation
So I do see how these work but I'm also seeing how they can come with some gnarly side effects
I have no issues with people using them if needed my issues are more with the 'miracle drug' narrative and acting as if these aren't a rather serious medication to be on and the use of them by people who don't medically need them and especially with what feels like a rise in 90s/early 00s body standards slipping back in
SufficientBox3389@reddit
i think they are good if used right, i think the problem would be if you’re taking them but not exercising and just eating like a bag of crisps a day
if you use them to control your food noise and work on exercising and when you eat, make sure it’s nutritious it’s good
bbysamurai@reddit
My only issue with jabs is people talk about being a healthy weight but do not factor in muscle to fat ratio whatsoever. You can’t be healthy if you’ve lost all your muscle by starving yourself and have made no real changes to your lifestyle. Strength training is one of the most important things to stay lean, live longer and be healthier. It’s not just about the number on the scale. Jabs make it easier for people to not focus on that. I understand why people use it, but in my opinion, having to completely change the way you live and eat and building discipline is something the jabs can never ever do.
Miasmata@reddit
I think part of the problem here is that the pharma companies want your money so they tell you to go up on doses quickly when you don't need to, which means you end up eating like a leaf of lettuce a day and then lose weight way too quickly. This is exactly what cases all the negative effects like pancreatitis, hair loss, muscle loss. I used the jabs but ignored the suggested dose raising rate, and just stayed on the smallest dose the whole time. Towards the end the weight was coming off super slow but it was steady, and even better, when I stopped them, I didn't suddenly become ravenous. I also didn't suffer any side effects, and kept my muscle mass (I imagine a probably lost a bit but that happens with all kinds of calorie deficit even with exercise).
niteninja1@reddit
whats better.
someone being massively overweight or someone on the jab with a non optimal muscle to fat ratio
bbysamurai@reddit
I didn’t say that? I just think people on the jabs should focus on changing their lifestyle too and not just the number on the scale. That doesn’t mean I think they should just stay fat.
CoconutBandita@reddit
I don't have an issue with it as a tool to help people.
My concerns are about long term use, side effects and coming off the jabs.
I am not sure it's a sign of a healthy society to have more and more people on long term medication.
I'd rather see food quality improve
extranjeroQ@reddit
No absolutely not. I think it’s brilliant that people who have no doubt tried really hard to lose weight can access something that makes a very difficult process easier.
I am concerned about osteopenia and sarcopenia particularly in 40+ men and women as this is pretty hard to reverse, and more likely with rapid weight loss.
skend24@reddit
I’ve seen ad in the underground saying that obese body can sometimes reject the weight loss or something like that and it stuck with me. It doesn’t concern me either way so I’m definitely not against it, if it helps people then why would my view be negative?
OddSign2828@reddit
It can’t reject the weight loss, it’s just a calories in calories out thing. The jabs make you less hungry therefore fewer calories in.
ChelseaMourning@reddit
I know a couple who have both used mounjaro and it’s really encouraged them to overhaul their lifestyle. They used to drink a hell of a lot. Like functioning alcoholic level. They also had no concept of portion control. They’ve both lots tonnes of weight, but their daughters are both obese. I’m guessing that in overhauling their own diets, their daughters’ diets will follow.
LilacMages@reddit
Not at all; what others want to do with their body is none of my business
And besides, despite popular belief that's it's an "easy way out", one still has to reduce their calorie intake and exercise regularly in order for GLP-1s to be effective.
Puzzled-Job9556@reddit
No, i think if it's a benefit to those and reduces obesity in general, it is a good thing. However, people need to change in general and not just rely on weight-loss drugs. Diet and exercise should be maintained not just when using the drugs.
Horror_Interest_914@reddit
No I respect it. Being obese is unhealthy and costs the NHS a tonne. Losing weight is a hard thing to do. If the jabs make it easier for you more power to you
Ok_Chipmunk_7066@reddit
I've lost 18kg in 3 months on Chinese fat jab. Going to the gym, dieting running half marathons was not bringing the weight down.
My blood pressure has normalised too.
So personally, I couldn't care less what others think of it. It's working for me when other things didn't.
Spicymargx@reddit
I don’t view the people who use weight loss jabs negatively at all. I also don’t view the jabs as an inherently negative thing. I do worry about the general normalisation/celebation of fast, dramatic weight loss in terms of its impact on young people. I also recently spent 8 days in hospital really unwell and every doctor I saw asked me if I’d used weight loss injections, which tells me that they don’t come without risks.
PaulTheSalmon@reddit
Jab, not jag.
But no I don't view them negatively and no one should, it's just a medication to help with a disease. I know a few people that are on them/have been on them and they've all massively improved their health and mostly repaired their relationships with food, an absolute win win.
oscarx-ray@reddit
They're referred to as "jags" where I am in the UK.
PaulTheSalmon@reddit
Where in the UK? Seems like only a Scotland thing really.
oscarx-ray@reddit
Asked and answered!
Streathamite@reddit
Isn’t the jab/jag thing just a regional variation? In Scotland people say “jag” to mean any form of injection.
PaulTheSalmon@reddit
Seems like it is, had no idea lmao. Only ever heard/read them referred to as jabs.
acid_breaks@reddit
Jag is used in Scotland.
XStaticImmaculate@reddit (OP)
Yeah I’m Scottish and use “jag” but edited the post anyway so there wasn’t any confusion. Just assumed everyone used it!
_Rookwood_@reddit
They're wonder drugs and more people need to be using them. I want a thinner, better looking and healthier society. Being fat at this point is being deliberately anti-social.
>As mentioned before, I’d considered the jags and would have been approved to use them, but isn’t a 10 stone loss (or any loss for that matter) still a success regardless of medication was used or not?
You deserve a lot more credit doing it the hard way.
CrossCityLine@reddit
!dick
Lambchops87@reddit
I'd push back a little on that last point. If only because it rei forces the perception that "the hard way" is always the right way to do it and for some people, it's just not.
Not to mention that some people are in a complex position of multimorbidity and if you've got, say, diabetes you shouldn't be put off by potential stigma when GLPs are absolutely one of the best potential options for diabetic control, weight loss and lowering risk of heart problems.
IamNATx@reddit
Who cares about being anti social? Who cares about being better looking? There are enough people of a similar mindset who care about those things ... let us uglies recluse in peace if we want to.
StarSpotter74@reddit
Are you serious?
curryandbeans@reddit
If it improves someone’s quality of life, which by all accounts it does, then fair fucks to them.
CarpeCyprinidae@reddit
As someone who used to be overweight and got back down by better lifestyle, I do consider them a hack but in the end its better gone than not
Getting overweight is what I view negatively
RagingMassif@reddit
no. people use aspirin also, I'm ok with it.
Mysterious-Sock39@reddit
Nope not at all, take the jab lose the weight get to weight they want
Teleopsis@reddit
Some people can lose weight without the drugs: you are one and your achievement is incredible. Some people find it impossible, or next to impossible, simply because of how their brains are wired. It’s not a moral failure or a lack of willpower, it’s just how they are. Those are the people these drugs are meant to help, and characterising this use of them as somehow morally suspect is stupid.
I’m sure there are also some people who are a bit lazy and who have never tried to lose weight via the normal routes and who see these as an easy way to losing weight. If that’s their choice then I guess it’s a bit questionable but it’s up to them.
Once again though OP, congratulations on a fantastic achievement.
SquareBondageDuck@reddit
I used the pharmacy available version until the price increase and now I sort myself out. I accept the risk for myself and take steps to be as confident as I can that I’m not jabbing horse wee. I was 25 stone. I am now 8 stone.
I live a relatively healthy life now, I can get up stairs without collapsing. I exercise. I eat well, except today where my entire food consumption has been chocolate but my cat died so I don’t care.
I also have rabid ADHD, and strangely have found I save money just because I no longer have hyperfocuses and waste money on a hobby I’m never going to follow through with.
Which reminds me I’ve got a Bambu P2S to unbox from January.
I intend to continue the jabs for as long as I physically can - I won’t listen to anyone who tells me it’s all about willpower. They clearly don’t have severe combined ADHD.
GavinF83@reddit
I’m more impressed by someone who has the jab and loses weight than someone who doesn’t lose weight at all. However, while I wouldn’t call it a negative opinion as such I’ll always be more impressed by someone who does it naturally than someone who uses the jab. I’d feel the same way as someone who builds muscle naturally vs using steroids. Doing either naturally is more difficult and therefore deserves more respect.
The only thing that I do view truly negatively are people who use such aids and then deny having done so, instead pretending they achieved it naturally. Double negativity if they then start to lecture others on how they can do it too.
Ok-Replacement1840@reddit
Only jealousy because being a type 1 diabetic i unfortunately cannot use it 🥲😂
Bastrato@reddit
I certainly dont look down on anyone for taking it. I k ow several people who have taken it, lost weight and then ballooned up again as soon as they stop.
CurrencyIll9145@reddit
no one should HAVE to struggle with their weight in this day & age. i'd only raise an eyebrow if they became dangerously UNDERweight or were a healthy BMI to start with (assuming they're using the drugs for weight loss vs managing another condition).
snapmyhands@reddit
Honestly, no. I have family members using it and it's a relief to me that they're less likely to be impacted by a range of health risks associated with obesity.
Saying this, it concerns me slightly when it's not done in conjunction with broader lifestyle changes. In my non-medical opinion, it should be like stabilisers on a bike; they help you get started, but the goal should be independent weight management and overall lifestyle changes. My fear is that these family members are eating as poorly as ever, just in smaller quantities, and will therefore be reliant on the injections as they can't keep the weight off otherwise.
glaekitgirl@reddit
People don't like the idea of others having it easier than them, basically. "I suffered to get to this weight and so you should too" is the underlying thought pattern in my view.
I've used them at the lowest dose to help my inflammation and weight gain after being diagnosed with Long COVID, and they've really helped me kickstart losing the weight, which has helped me feel better overall, which has meant my joints feel less inflamed, which means I'm more active... And so I see them as a really helpful tool.
But the thing people often don't understand is that once these become even more widely available, they will transform healthcare, as they don't just help people lose weight, they help symptoms and also help even long-term damage heal.
A colleague of mine has had ulcerative colitis for years - started the jabs, didn't actually find them that helpful for weight loss but found they helped the worst of her symptoms. Her gastroenterologist said the last time he did her colonoscopy that her lesions had reduced drastically and to keep doing whatever she's doing. She stopped the jabs for a couple of months because she forgot to reorder and then decided to see whether her weight increased... Only for her colitis symptoms to come back within weeks. So she's now back on the jabs but not for weight loss.
My PT (has been in the health and fitness industry for decades) said GLPs currently being researched are going to be transformational for health.
Smuggler04@reddit
I don’t view anyone taking medicine negatively whatever the cause of their condition whether it cancer treatment for smokers , emergency surgery for base jumpers , statins for stock brokers, stomach pumping for the teenager who drank too much vodka etc etc. lifestyle is a factor in a lot of medical conditions whether chronic or acute
duckdip@reddit
Honestly my gut reaction is to feel it's unfair but I know that's stupid. I've struggled with my weight and I've had an eating disorder. Whilst I'm doing better now I definitely still have a lot of unhealthy thoughts around food and dieting.
So when the weightloss jabs came out it just seemed unfair that there is now an option for people who can afford it to just not deal with something I've struggled with all my adult life and will probably continue to struggle with for a long time to come.
Seeing people experience dramatic weightloss used to make me feel inferior. If I just tried as hard as they would I would be skinny and beautiful. Now with the weightloss jabs it just feels like these people didn't even have to try. Truthfully either way I find it hard to celebrate someone else's weightloss.
That's obviously a very selfish and personal view, but I wouldn't be surprised if many people who have struggled with their weight have a similar reaction. But people like me will be resentful of your success either way so don't lose any sleep over it. It's my issue, I know I'm in the wrong and I'm working on it.
MonkeyTheBlackCat@reddit
If the alternative to jabs is them remaining fat and continuing to stuff their face, resulting in heart disease / cancer, ruining their lives and costing the NHS and thus the taxpayer a lot of money. Then I'm all for the jabs.
couragethecurious@reddit
Only with envy. I can't afford it and am doing it the boring way. I don't care about losing weight fast. I just wish the food noise would stop.
PilzEtosis@reddit
I think it depends on the person. I think its a breakthrough drug that could really change lives and society, but then theres people who dont put the bare minimum work in alongside it. I know at least one person and its like...why waste this opportunity?
pusopdiro@reddit
Not the average person using them. I do have concerns about already quite thin celebrities using it and the return to stick thin heroin chic fashion we're seeing, but I think normal people only get prescribed them if they need them so who am I to judge?
I have seen the backlash too and it does baffle me. I do wonder if weight loss surgery like gastric bands etc. ever got this ire.
totteridgewhetstone@reddit
I've been taking them for a couple of months now and have lost over a stone. I understand people's prejudices, but I've had a life-long disregulated relationship with food and this drug has changed my life.
People might point to the extreme examples, but personally I'm looking to be super-skinny. I'm hoping it can help me regulate, reach a natural weight, and maintain it.
Max1357913@reddit
I don’t think they’re ’cheating’ or anything like that, but I do think they don’t encourage the mindset shift which is absolutely essential for building a healthier lifestyle and sustainably maintaining the weight loss into the future.
If you’re losing weight because you’re effectively not feeling ill despite partially starving yourself, you’re not learning how to eat healthily, maintain a calorie deficit, ensure the right protein etc - and not learning how to build that sustainable lifestyle which does still allow for treats and ‘off’ days.
I don’t think negatively of those who use them, but I do think pessimistically regarding their long term prospect of weight loss
Max1357913@reddit
I don’t think they’re ’cheating’ or anything like that, but I do think they don’t encourage the mindset shift which is absolutely essential for building a healthier lifestyle and sustainably maintaining the weight loss into the future.
If you’re losing weight because you’re effectively not feeling ill despite partially starving yourself, you’re not learning how to eat healthily, maintain a calorie deficit, ensure the right protein etc - and not learning how to build that sustainable lifestyle which does still allow for treats and ‘off’ days.
I don’t think negatively of those who use them, but I do think pessimistically regarding their long term prospect of weight loss
LegoCaltrops@reddit
No, never. Not back when it was all Orlistat, not when weight loss surgery got more popular, & not now. I tend to have the opinion that until you’ve walked a mile in someone else’s shoes, etc.
The only thing that concerns me about GLP1s is, what are the potential long term consequences? Are we going to end up with a generation of people struggling with severe osteoporosis, or an increased risk of dementia, or something of that nature. Or maybe it’ll be the opposite, & it’ll be discovered in 50 years that these things protect the telomeres or something wild like that, & our grandkids will all be on a low dose for a longer lifespan.
NumeroRyan@reddit
Yes I do, it doesn’t deal with the root cause of the issue. If you’re on it, it suppresses your appetite.
It doesn’t teach you to eat healthy, and yeah if you want bad food you need to consciously not have bad food.
Fuzzy_Reindeer_2770@reddit
It's a wonder drug for people who find it difficult to lose weight through insulin resistance, PCOS or because of medication.
I put on 5st from being on steroids and other meds but managed to lose it in 6 months using Mounjaro. I struggled for years because I can't stop taking medication that makes me put on WEIGHT or I'll die. I was always skinny before that so had no idea how to lose weight and it was so difficult while taking such medication. It gave me my life back.
Tattycakes@reddit
I don’t judge anyone else for taking them but I would judge myself if I had to take them because I wasn’t able to have control of my food, does that make sense?
I guess I know that I am actually capable of counting calories and being in a deficit, I just keep taking the piss and not doing it, I can’t know what others are capable of
Adorable_Orange_195@reddit
No.
I’m a nurse and prior to becoming unwell I was also an amateur bikini bodybuilder.
Now I have a chronic illness and I’m unable to exercise, pretty much struggle with most normal activities of daily living, and walking short distances, let alone anything else.
Due to my illness I’ve also developed several other conditions, which they are unsure if I had mildly before or if they have been caused directly by the main issue I have.
I’ve attempted to get help via the NHS, however my GP advised I would need to GAIN another several kg to get my weight to fit the referral criteria for weight management services.
My specialists have prescribed me medications to try and help my metabolism reset (metformin), however they believe it is due to the significant impact my condition has on my immune system, hormones and organs that despite being on a calorie controlled, high protein diet that I am unable to reduce my weight.
I have been seen by specialist dieticians from my service who have looked at my day to day diet and their only suggestion was to add in flax seeds, because I understand nutrition and do eat healthy.
I’ve just ordered my first dose of Mounjaro, I had initially intended to wait to see the outcome of trials that are being done into this on patients with my condition in the US but due to the overhaul of the institutions by Trumps government, I’m not sure any of their findings could be trusted anyway. So I’ve decided to try it for myself and see if it makes any difference.
I have absolutely no qualms about whether people use them or not, as long as they are aware of the risks and do so in a safe and appropriate way ie don’t use against medical advice.
My suggestion to people using them would be to learn about healthy eating habits and strategies, so if/ when they do not need the medication anymore they can transition off of them successfully without reverting back to their starting weight or higher.
3pelican@reddit
The drugs changed, and I think saved, my dad’s life. He was almost immobile from pain caused by excess weight, severely type 2 diabetic, and also just miserable in his life. The drugs have helped him achieve a 40kg weight loss and he’s the healthiest and happiest he’s been in my entire life that I’ve known him. I’m not someone who’s ever had a weight loss journey, but I work for the NHS and I see the impact of weight problems on people’s lives every day. They aren’t a magic drug that negate the need for hard work but they do have very significant metabolic effects that go beyond just weight loss. My personal opinion is that anybody who puts the time and effort into making life changing improvements to their health deserve credit no matter how they did it. And well done to you!
mizzmi@reddit
It kind of depends, I feel like I’m only bothered by people who think they can take these medications and not make any changes to their diet and activity but still expect it to work
JamJarre@reddit
There's no wrong way to lose weight if you're obese, and a doctor is guiding it. The jabs are life changers for many people - the only reason people view them negatively is because in their hearts they see obesity as a moral failing. It's no different than the generationally wealthy looking down on the poor without acknowledging they had a leg up from the start
Ghostofthedramptybat@reddit
It depends.
In general, no. But I think the people who do ‘judge’ people for it and/or think it’s cheating don’t realise the work that goes on behind the scenes. The jab is a tool that helps quiet the mind while you can do the hard work of changing eating habits, exercise etc.
My ‘it depends’ is because I know a fair few people on different versions of it and some are using it so they don’t have to do the work - they’re still eating loads of crap and not nourishing their bodies properly. These are the people who, when they stop, are gonna pile the weight back on because their eating habits are still the same and they’re just gonna keep eating more and more.
MercuryJellyfish@reddit
I view them as the thing that manages my diabetes.
luckeratron@reddit
No absolutely not why would I judge someone for making a healthy lifestyle choice. You can say oh well they should have lost it through diet and exercise but we have no way of knowing their personal circumstances and frankly even if they could have done that why would I care. Go them I hope it makes them happy.
LaraH39@reddit
No. Why would I? And why would you give a shit what anyone else thinks about it.
iliketurtles69_boner@reddit
No. I notice a lot of people who look down on them are the same people who think genetic differences play zero part in weight issues and judge overweight people harshly in order to make themselves feel better.
They think their healthy weight is due entirely to discipline and education, GLP-1 meds make the genetic component obvious. The discipline and education award goes to people with athletic physiques, not healthy weight skinnyfat people who put not conscious effort in.
Exceptions aside, I don’t judge overweight people I just feel bad for them. I was overweight in my teens and it sucked. If someone can remove that with a jab why would it ever be a negative?
Playful_Beyond_2218@reddit
They’re great but people should be told when they start that many people will have to stay on them for life to keep the weight off, and that most people plateau at losing about 10- 20% of their body weight . They are amazing drugs which reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, kidney disease etc
ParkingMachine3534@reddit
There's stuff flying about with set weight.
You need to stay at a certain weight for a good couple of years for your body to regard it as normal and not fight to put weight back on.
People come off it far too quickly.
Low-Captain1721@reddit
Firstly well done for weight loss 👍😃
(M, 6ft, early forties) Four years ago I was walking around in 4 or 5xl tops & now L or XL are standard.
I've done mine purely by changing my habits & boy it feels good. I'm very fit / work out now & get some nice looks as I walk through town in a T-shirt.
I automatically don't view weight loss drugs or the people who use them negatively however they are certainly overused. Trouble is many patients just put the weight back on when they stop the drug.
Weight loss drugs do have their place however for the majority of people there's no substitute for changing their habits & way they think. Unfortunately it does take time & it is hard work however it's worth it.
Lost-Activity6231@reddit
I feel sorry for those who need it and can’t afford it, I suppose it’s like a lot of things.
Uhurahoop@reddit
I just wish it was more accessible for normal people with normal incomes like me, who aren’t qualifying for nhs cover. It’s probably £4000 or so on avg for a couple of years on mounjaro privately.
Until Lilly’s patents expire and rival drugs are approved for sale as safe and effective, prices will not fall. That’ll be probably 2040 or later. It’s a drug of the privileged unfortunately until then.
LUNATIC_LEMMING@reddit
wegovy should come out of patent this year and theres a pill form coming that should be far cheaper too.
thehopethatkilledus@reddit
I’ve been up and down with my weight all my life, sometimes I can maintain healthy habits for months but always have the cravings and can easily slip. It’s a lifelong addiction I can’t go cold turkey on, I’d love to know what it’s like without the constant cravings. I’m tempted to try, if a clinician says it’s appropriate for me. I wouldn’t begrudge anyone doing something that makes them healthier.
maybenomaybe@reddit
To be very honest, I do view them as a work-around to establishing good eating and exercise habits for people who don't have that much to lose, aren't in any medical danger from their weight, and are using it because they don't want to put in the work to lose it without drugs. I think for others who are at a critical, life-endangering weight, it's a necessary medical treatment.
But regardless of individual situations or motivations, we're in an obesity-related health crisis that has put terrible strain on the NHS. So overall, they're for the greater good.
It's not really any of my business if someone is using a GLP-1 and I can't imagine asking intrusive or rude questions about it.
I hope the people that take it are able to come off it eventually and maintain themselves in healthy natural ways.
Flaky-Walrus7244@reddit
It medicine to treat a medical condition. I view it no differently that I do high blood pressure medicine or any other prescription
niteninja1@reddit
no.
if people want to buy a private prescription (which basically anyone taking them are) thats up to them.
fundamentally if it helps someone lose weight to a healthy level that can only be a good thing
evenifihateit@reddit
I use wegovy
Honestly if someone thinks less of for me that then... Ok? I have done many things throughout my life that some other people haven't liked, I don't live for them and their approval
Ok-Rain6295@reddit
I think they’re great. Sure, they can have bad side effects but so do most medications. Antidepressants can cause seizures (serotonin syndrome) ibuprofen can cause kidney issues.
They’re not new drugs. They’ve been around a little while and have been through multiple phases of testing. We also need to realised that the benefits often outweigh the risks.
People hate them because they either don’t understand them, or they think being obese is a self-control issue (which it is a bit, but it’s difficult to have self control when your hormones are out of whack)
greenhairdontcare8@reddit
Most people, no.
The ones who are circumventing things to get them (e.g. getting them through a family member who is a pharmacist), honestly, yeah. People who have never even tried to lose weight? Yeah, a little.
But I have a long history of issues with my weight and I keep my judgements to myself because I know they're irrelevant.
maxolotl_@reddit
It depends. If someone is very overweight then they should go for it and make sure to follow the medical advice around it.
I kind of have an issue with people who maybe just feel they could do with losing 1-3stone and see it as a short cut. I have a friend who’s a surgeon and has operated on many young people who’ve faced significant side effects from seeking the ‘easy’ route. The jabs are expensive. Surely that \~£200 a month would be better spent with a PT or 1-2-1 online nutrition coach and fitness for these people
_Cridders_@reddit
First of all well done, that's a great achievement.
I wouldn't personally judge anyone whichever way they did it, but I think the way you've done it is probably better in the fact that you'll have built a lot of willpower and habit building along the way. I'd imagine it's quite difficult to not bounce back after stopping the jabs
Mc_and_SP@reddit
I don’t view using them negatively.
I view using them and lying about using them (especially when you have a large audience/following) negatively.
Belsnickel7777@reddit
This seems to get asked on a fairly regular basis on Reddit....
Funny_Disaster1002@reddit
Of course not. Those drugs are giving people with difficult conditions like diabetes a new lease on life. In my own family, we've had deaths due to diabetes complications. It would have meant the world for us if those drugs had been available back then....
Hammy747@reddit
To a point. Some people seem to use it properly along side exercise and a total change in diet and lifestyle choice.
Most people I know used it for a quick weight loss speed run, never exercised, still drink too much alcohol, still eat like shit and now wonder why all the weight they spent loads of money losing too quickly has piled back on.
Like, I was seeing people saying oh it’s great, now I order a medium dominos pizza instead of a large and I can’t even finish that! Like, why are you still eating crap if you going on a “weight loss journey”. Surely using these jabs should be the kick up the arse to not eat 4 takeaways a week and eat some actual nutritionally decent food?
Zealousideal_Pop3121@reddit
No. But I have colleagues that do. Recently two colleagues both lost a shi* tonne of weight. One by calorie counting and the other my mountjaro. There has been a fair bit of negative gossip around the one who did it via mountjaro. Nine around the one who did it by calorie counting.
I’m am terrible at dieting. The only thing that’s even remotely worked for me was intermittent fasting and even that I find tricky to stick to. So I would never judge anyone for how they lose weight. I’d be on weight loss labs myself if I could afford them 🤷♀️
Zealousideal_Pop3121@reddit
Also, 10 stone is astonishing. Well done!
YouCantArgueWithThis@reddit
They are not drugs and not cheating. If you use them you still need to be careful with what you eat and be active. It's definitely not some magic.
No-Tone-6853@reddit
Can’t blame anyone for using it just wouldn’t do it myself when I’ve done it before without the drugs. Maybe I will in future who knows.
Lambchops87@reddit
Nope.
My only concerns is that usage in the private market to some degree causes imbalances in whether the people who "need" these drugs the most are the ones who actually have access.
However, that's a complex issue tied up in global market dynamics, supply chains, NHS prioritisation and a myriad of other factors so it would be somewhat unfair to blame the folks who buy privately. With that being said I can't help but feel some degree of disdain for those who buy but are absolutely fit and healthy (even if again, it's probably not fully their fault and they are caving to perceived societal pressures or the algorithm).
AtomBombBabyx@reddit
I don’t view them negatively by themselves.
I find people who post their ‘weight loss journey’ online as a flex a bit odd when they relied on weight loss jabs to do so.
One_Philosophy_6591@reddit
No I don't view them negatively. If it helps people with something they've struggled with then great.
Some of the data/studies is now showing that when people come off it they put on more weight than they started with. People need to use the *jabs in conjunction with life style changes and food education. Otherwise they'll be back where they started.
Well done OP
scrotalsac69@reddit
If people need them then no issue at all. The use has to go along with understanding how to keep it off and maintain/develop a healthy lifestyle as well. Overall they are clearly positive
JonathnJms2829@reddit
No, it's their body and as someone who is overweight myself, I can see why someone would want to drop some weight. People think it is all about looks but extra weight makes everything in life harder and makes you live a shorter life. If you can reverse all of that with a daily needle then it's kind of a no-brainer.
InkedDoll1@reddit
No, i don't judge. I am trying to lose weight through calorie counting and, given the fact that I'm 51 and have a disability, it's slow going. I've had a tough time over the last few years with health conditions and balancing my medications, and I'm just not keen to throw another one into the mix, but at a different time in my life I absolutely would have used them.
Laorii@reddit
I don’t calorie count anymore, I’m quite intuitive with how much I’m eating these days but I still have an idea in my head, like I’m going to have a lighter lunch, because I’m going to have a bigger dinner. Sometimes I mention that to people and they’ll go, “Ah screw that, just have both and double jab yourself!” So theres a huge misconception where people think the jabs make the weight loss happen and not the food intake and thats why they see it negatively or cheating. Trying to get people to understand it helps with satiety and appetite is like banging your head against a wall sometimes.
ToiletDestroyer6000@reddit
Personally neither positive or negative but I do have questions about them which I think will be answered in the long term,
Watching people drastically lose weight solely using it while not training and building/maintaining muscle mass is a dead giveaway visually though, you can see the weight has come off some unusual areas (you can see the outline of some people’s skulls or the bones in their arms for example)
Zs93@reddit
I literally don’t care. If it’s making them healthier and happier why does it matter? Metabolic conditions are real and if this is finally helping them lose weight then great!
DreamsComeTrue1994@reddit
Nope. I am trying a lot to not be judgmental, but if I were to be I think it would be for people that are still neglecting themselves and their health by NOT using these drugs. I would also be judgmental for very slightly overweight people, not obese, that are takin these drugs when they don’t really need them.
watchingonsidelines@reddit
I get it, but I don’t think everyone who uses them should. I know people who have deeply struggled with “food noise” and it’s so right for them. I know others who are looking for a quick fix, who I know haven’t wanted to try improve their lifestyle and judge them.
MJ-Franklin@reddit
Depends on what their view on things were before they started taking it. If they were like, fat activists saying fat is healthy etc. and then just chose the easy method the second it became available, then yeah... I have a low opinion of them because they're hypocrites.
JonMMM70@reddit
Jabs are great as long as you need them and it's not just a vanity project
IamNATx@reddit
No. Bodies and minds work differently. Not all work effectively in all aspects.
Use what works for you. If anything, I'm happy anyone who's found they work for whatever they need them for has found something that does.
iamnotarobotniks@reddit
I think some people see articles about ozempic face in the daily mail and let their opinions be guided by it. Personally while losing weight the hard way is naturally more admirable, I would still respect if someone got the jabs to finally do something about something that has been a long term problem for them. We don't look down on people who had a gastric bypass either and it's a lot more invasive.
Pale_Slide_3463@reddit
If they change their lifestyle yeah, but I judge the ones who use them and still live unhealthily. There’s difference to medication and health issues causing weight loss I’m all for helping those people because it sucks. But lazy people who just use it and don’t try and change yeah judge them.
Standard-Still-8128@reddit
No people do what they need to do to be healthy, although a few of my wifes mates who take it are crazy they want big to start with an now look quite thin an all have aged years in months
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