Obesity jabs

It’s a difficult one some people have got bigger there are fast food outlets everywhere there never used to be. There are dedicated ready meal aisles in every shop now so a lot of people don’t eat from scratch.
I saw my mums weight nearly double when she became ill. She had to pay for her carers as we all worked and couldn’t always prepare her meals. The carers would heat up small ready meals my mum had delivered. The meals were more than she was used to eating before she was ill with dementia. Her mobility was limited after an accident that occurred in her home.
My mum had a very slight figure size 8 and went to a size 14 in less than two years she was only 5ft. Every part of her health suffered because of the weight gain. A sedentary life style and ready meals go hand in hand.
Maybe it’s time for some more able bodied people to put down mobile phones. Get more active and cook for themselves rather than rely on ready meals and takeouts. Long term it can’t be healthy and can cause other problems the NHS has to foot the bill for.

I make no excuses, my weight gain was because I ate too much and didn’t exercise enough. An extremely stressful job as a headteacher, hours and hours sitting at the computer preparing for OFSTED inspections and munching biscuits whilst doing it. Retirement came along and at last I had time to exercise and eat healthily but, although I was fit, the weight wouldn’t shift. I told everyone, including myself that I couldn’t lose weight. Then I had a health check and a bit of a scare from the warnings they gave me and I realised I HAD to do something. I followed the Michael Mosley 12 week plan, it was really hard but I lost two stone and six months on I’ve kept it off. I will repeat the exercise again this coming summer and hopefully lose another two stone. Yes, it is really hard but if I did it most people can without the aid of these injections.

If these jabs are appetite suppressants they wouldn’t do me any good at all
When I’m eating rubbish, it’s because I fancy it, not because I’m hungry..🤔

ViceVersa

From what I've seen and read about these weight loss drugs, they help to turn off the 'food noise', so people aren't constantly thinking about food and feeling they need to eat all the time.

Does that mean it's a psychological tool rather than curbing actual physical hunger?

(Sorry, to be naive, but I'm genuinely trying to understand.)

I'm also trying to work out how much WeGovy costs the NHS. I've found a figure of £175.80 for a 2.4mg pack, which I understand is the maintenance dose. Is that for a week?

From what I've seen and read about these weight loss drugs, they help to turn off the 'food noise', so people aren't constantly thinking about food and feeling they need to eat all the time.

Freya5

I can see the positives of this drug, but to keep people on them for life, really.
A member of my family trialled this method of weight loss, type 2 diabetes, under care of GP, as I know this will be. Yes they lost weight, and they were also given dietary advice, and as someone else said, he took himself off them, GP aware, as they lost too much weight which in itself is no good for health, and of course back on went the weight, not as much, but this drug is not a miracle cure for being overweight. Some personal responsibility must also be involved as regards diet.

I wouldn't use the phrase "personal responsibility" because it has moral overtones. However, I know what you mean. People have to be (and believe that they can be) in control of what they eat.

People who want to lose weight have to "undereat" until they reach their desired weight, so not overeating isn't going to be enough. Undoubtedly, they'll be hungry at times and feel terrible as everybody around them is tucking into sticky toffee pudding as they nibble on half an apple. Presumably weight loss medication helps with this stage.

Casdon

I’m sure the personal trainer route works for some people, it’s like having a conscience - similar to slimming classes, if you attend regularly, because you want to do well. It provides accountability. Imagine the cost to the NHS though of 1-1 support for diet and exercise. There must be a tipping point of weight though, where people feel they are beyond help, probably having tried and failed many times, so they aren’t receptive to help of that kind?

I honestly don't know how much the cost compares with weight loss jabs. My friend paid for three months and now feels she can go it on her own with the personal trainer "checking in" once a month. I know she's been to slimming classes in the past, but the atmosphere of them didn't suit her. She found somebody who provided her with personalised meal plans, so she didn't need to think about food very much and, in the early stages, made sure she was doing the exercises correctly. She's a very busy person, so doesn't have time to go to the gym, so the trainer found her exercises which fitted in with her usual daily routine.

I can see the positives of this drug, but to keep people on them for life, really.
A member of my family trialled this method of weight loss, type 2 diabetes, under care of GP, as I know this will be. Yes they lost weight, and they were also given dietary advice, and as someone else said, he took himself off them, GP aware, as they lost too much weight which in itself is no good for health, and of course back on went the weight, not as much, but this drug is not a miracle cure for being overweight. Some personal responsibility must also be involved as regards diet.

I’m sure the personal trainer route works for some people, it’s like having a conscience - similar to slimming classes, if you attend regularly, because you want to do well. It provides accountability. Imagine the cost to the NHS though of 1-1 support for diet and exercise. There must be a tipping point of weight though, where people feel they are beyond help, probably having tried and failed many times, so they aren’t receptive to help of that kind?

Did you eat during lockdown because you were bored?

Doodledog

I used to be very slim until I developed a thyroid problem. I also have unexplained respiratory issues which make exercise difficult. A combination of those things and a very hard lockdown (because of the respiratory problems) meant that I gained weight. I am not lazy and I don’t overeat. I hate it, and resent the implication that I brought it on myself, as well as the way people with absolutely no expertise see fit to proclaim about the reasons why fatties lack moral fibre.

Sorry, to say this Doodledog but you must be eating more than your body needs. Exercise has a negligible effect on weight, unless you happen to be on an Olympic athlete training regime.

I'm not claiming you lack moral fibre (if that was addressed towards me). I don't think "morality" should be part of the obesity discussion (although sadly it is).

I used to be very slim until I developed a thyroid problem. I also have unexplained respiratory issues which make exercise difficult. A combination of those things and a very hard lockdown (because of the respiratory problems) meant that I gained weight. I am not lazy and I don’t overeat. I hate it, and resent the implication that I brought it on myself, as well as the way people with absolutely no expertise see fit to proclaim about the reasons why fatties lack moral fibre.

This is a genuine query (not intended to be goady).

My understanding is that weight loss medication is an appetite suppressant, so people reduce their calorie intake. I understand that exercise is recommended as part of the treatment. In other words, people are doing what is always recommended as the way to lose weight (and keep it off), but the medication is a prop.

My question is about why and how people get very overweight in the first place. Do they eat because they're hungry - or is there something else (psychological) going on? If there's a psychological reason for overeating, doesn't that need to be addressed? If it isn't, won't the weight gain return once the medication is stopped?

I confess that I've never been overweight, so I find it a bit baffling. As a T2 diabetic for many years (nobody really knows why), I have to be in control of what I eat, although every occasionally I pig out on a jam doughnut, which I love. I don't have good weight genes - my close family members are all overweight, so I assume I have similar genes. I don't feel particularly virtuous about what I eat, but I'm, firstly, vain and, secondly, don't want my health to deteriorate more than it already is. I've eaten the kind of food I eat now (in the same quantities) for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, I go to a carvery and don't understand how people can eat the food they pile on their plates - I know I wouldn't be able to move (or be sick) if I ate that much. So are people genuinely hungry or do they eat so much just because they can? Or is it something else?

PS. I have a friend who has just lost two stone in three months. She paid out for a personal trainer, whom she saw a few times a week. Apparently the trainer helped her with meal planning, made sure she did exercises and gave her pep talks. I know it was expensive, but I don't know how that compares with medication. My friend looks and feels so much better. She wants to lose another stone, but she seems to be in the frame of mind to keep the weight off and has learnt so much that she's confident she can do it on her own. Would this be a viable alternative for people who seriously need to lose weight (paid for by the NHS)?

My df who is on the weight loss injections (self prescribed, bought online)
She has lost 2 stone and claims to be very satisfied. I asked how she'll keep it up when she reaches her goal. She doesn't know.
I think she's down to 16stone now.

I see a genuinely much happier person with new clothes and wearing make-up.

She's had a tough few years, single mum, child's illness, death of her mum after years in a care home so
this is her fresh start.

Doodledog

I hear the ‘boffins’ are working on the development of empathy pills. The sooner they are available on the NHS the better.

Is that the one you take with a pinch of salt?

Has anyone ever watched those American tv programmes something like “I am 600 lb’ or something like that A doctor performs various surgery on hugely obese people who can barely walk or breathe through their size
I occassionally landed on them when scanning the programmes for something to watch
Nearly every one of those operated on put it all back on or never lost it in the first place they found every way possible around their new way of eating getting people to buy them all the forbidden foods ( most were bed bound or housebound)
(One was even cooking huge calorie stuff on a little portable stove in her bedroom)

I do feel anything too easy or needing little effort is less likely to work long term and surely we can’t afford lifetime injections for a persons lifestyle choice
One of my closest friend is very, very overweight and had these injections from her GP but they made no difference to her weight and she stopped taking them I don’t know if that was her fault or not

I hear the ‘boffins’ are working on the development of empathy pills. The sooner they are available on the NHS the better.

Skydancer

ViceVersa No because all it does is encourage people to carry on eating what they like. I could be fat. I could happily sit here each evening munching on chocolate and crisps and drinking alcohol. I would love to have a cream tea a few times a week. I love fish and chips and would like to eat them often. I could be described as a cake-a-holic and would like to eat cake every day. But I rein myself in and don't do any of those things too frequently. When I feel my clothes getting a bit tight I cut down on food and exercise more. Simples.

You clearly don’t know how weight loss injections work. You still have to eat sensibly. It isn’t a case of eating all the cream cakes and fish and chips you want to and the medication will somehow negate these calories. Good for you that you are able to just ‘rein yourself in.’ Aren’t you lucky? Not everybody can do that so require some help to ‘rein themselves in’ and the injections do just that by reducing appetite.

Skydancer

faringdon59 You are absolutely right. Possibly there are some people who have gained weight due to a medical condition. But the obese people that we see every day are mainly those who have eaten far too much and exercised too little. I do not think NHS money should be spent on these jabs.

Yes, all the fat people you see are probably that way due to using their latest i-phone to get a meal (not cooked from scratch), delivered. They may even eat it as they watch their flat screen TV.

What is the something that it tells us?

That being overweight is a moral failing? A bit like smugness, maybe - something that can be worked at with time and effort.

The difference is that now there is a medical treatment for weight loss, so there is no need for people to suffer from it for life.

And no, I don't take it, and nor would I qualify for it if I wanted to, before anyone starts jumping to conclusions.

LOUISA1523

I think these jabs could actually save money in the long run , if you read the literature

Same thing was said about weight loss surgery and look what happened there. The majority of people who had surgery regained their weight and are now taking these jabs instead.

Yes it absolutely does, Grammaretto.

Here's a class photo from 1965.
Notice not one overweight girl. Surely this tells us something?

As my Dad used to say, there's no such word as "can't".
I have proved him wrong many times, but there's no such word as "can't" when it comes to eating sensibly.

Did you watch the Panorama documentary on the subject. The patients featured all admitted that they are very greedy with food and just can't, or won't, stop. They will put all the weight back on if they don't, won't or can't change their attitude to food.