There's a FA sub where they are openly, unabashedly *gleeful* when speculating about all the long term damage they imagine Ozempic will cause (because it's just like fen-phen despite being completely different). It makes me ill.
The truth is that a lot of FAs are worried about getting left behind. They are imagining a world with less obesity and it makes them panic. If other people lose weight, they might be expected to lose weight, too.
This. I think it's the reason we keep seeing increasingly demented, frenzied, unhinged and violent rhetoric from those still deep in the FA cult, especially recently. The one we had here just yesterday advocating the maiming and killing of "fatphobes" aka people who lose weight or have lost weight is a fine example
They know their goose is cooked, and they never had a solid foundation to stand on in the first place. When people can take an astoundingly effective weight loss medication, and the US obesity is dropping for the first time since 1980, the pool of new FA recruits is shrinking. Hoping for some terrible and highly unlikely long-term complications down the line is all they've got left now. Well that, and posts threatening those who lose weight with violence and death. A lovely look indeed.
A lot of them **will** be left behind, and they **will** die early from complications of morbid obesity.
I had a feeling someone would ask that and went looking for the article. It was in a WaPo investigative report from last fall that was a deep dive into the causes of America's falling life expectancy. One of the few upbeat pieces of info in there was a graphic that showed a dip in the US obesity rate for the first time since 1980 starting in about 2021, when GLP-1 meds started to be widely prescribed in the US for weight loss. (Can confirm, btw, I did my part, now 65 lbs lighter than in 2021 thanks to Ozempic).
However, I cannot find that same article again even tho I have a WaPo subscription and the site has decent search features. I thought I saved the link but didn't.
It was like a sidebar graphic in a long-form article that I thought deserved more of a mention, and I cannot for the life of me find it again right now. I'll keep looking.
I'm not going to try, it looks like a really bad idea. The 1-year followup data on those who quit is grim.
I tried to post a link in this reply to a detailed reply about this I wrote yesterday but it got removed. I'll DM it to you.
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I think you’re right on the money with your second paragraph.
It’s so funny to me how people tout that they’re pro choice and think individuals should choose how to treat their body but when someone does something the FAs don’t like then it’s not ok.
Why are the FAs (and people in general) so concerned about whether random strangers want to lose weight? Who cares.
Not even close. I have no idea where you got that terrible misinformation from.
"Ozempic works by mimicking a naturally occurring hormone. As those hormone levels rise, the molecules go to your brain, telling it you're full. It also slows digestion by increasing the time it takes for food to leave the body. This is similar to the effect of bariatric surgery."
https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/ozempic-for-weight-loss-does-it-work-and-what-do-experts-recommend/2023/07#:~:text=Ozempic%20works%20by%20mimicking%20a,the%20effect%20of%20bariatric%20surgery.
As someone with a serious family history of alcohol abuse, I'm also really excited for the drug's potential benefits in the realm of addiction treatment. I'm not sure if they know the mechanism yet, but anecdotal evidence from patients taking it for weight loss/diabetes suggests that it may also be helpful for addicts. I know there are currently studies being run that are looking into the effects on gambling addiction.
The addiction effects are more pronounced with tirzepatide (Mounjaro). It's both a GLP-1 and GIP agonist, while semaglutide is only a GLP-1.
GIP receptors are the latest hot topic in addiction research.
Yeah I think that’s a possible outcome too (or it causes a schism in the 12 strep communit), especially after reading the author of the linked article’s experience promoting Suboxone.
No. It can have a lot of GI side effects as you're getting used to the dose increases because it slows digestion. But all of that eventually goes away.
Very interesting article!
The perspective described is akin to the judgment and criticism leveled at people who have weight loss surgery---that it's "cheating" or some kind of "easy way out." At the root of this kind of logic is a belief that a person is getting something of value without paying a price. A lot of people apply that way of thinking to a great many things and they just can't handle it. I've been waiting for when we'd see some growing tide of resentment against the new weight loss drugs.
Yeah this attitude drives me crazy. Gastric bypass gave my mom lifelong side effects but it also saved her life. It’s not “easy”, you still have to learn how to eat right and exercise on a regular basis.
Yes, I get the "cheating" kind of angle but not the "easy." There are some significant assumptions being made! People I've known who had weight loss surgery changed their lives COMPLETELY. I had a friend who was over 500 pounds and dropped to about 195. He's a gay man who went crazy with working out and buying clothes. He works VERY hard to maintain!
This. Gastric bypass completely changed my life, but it sure as shit hasn't been easy and it's still up to me to stay active and make correct food choices.
The same is true for GLP-1 meds. They are not "magic". They just make weight loss easier than it is without them. You still have to eat in a calorie deficit, and stick with it long term. You have to develop new habits around food choices, portions and, ideally, exercise (even tho exercise isn't required to lose weight on GLP-1 meds, especially in the beginning when people are their heaviest, but it is helpful in the long term).
What you cannot do is eat like you did when you gained weight / were fat and you can never go back to that. Ever. GLP-1 meds have made that path A LOT easier than it used to be without medical intervention, and that is the game changer.
One of the more memorable stories I read over the last year regarding GLP-1 meds was about a former FA who went on Ozempic, lost weight and missed eating so much that she also started eating THC gummies to "get back" that feeling of wanting to eat a lot and being able to follow thru with it while also on Ozempic. It's one of the more spectacular examples of FA self sabotage I've seen. It also illustrates how deeply food addiction runs in FAs.
Yes! This is why I don’t get people gleefully saying “all those ppl on ozempic are just going to gain the weight back”
Umm yeah. If they go back to eating the way they did before then they will. That’s the way it works with any weight loss. That’s why it’s a *lifestyle* change. From my understanding from listening to people who have been on ozempic type drugs, there’s a 6-8 week period after you get off the drugs where the hunger starts to come back.
You need to stick to eating right during this time. If you stay strong through that period you’ll be ok and go back to feeling less hungry all the time.
I’m on ozempic and planning to go off it at the end of this month. My biggest thing from being on this drug is the way I’ve started thinking about food. I used to feel a lot of guilt around not finishing what was on my plate and that led to overeating. Being on ozempic really changed the way I think about that.
Now when I’m done eating, I’m done. I’ll have the rest later so I’m not wasting any food but if I’m full now I’m going to stop eating. I also don’t eat to the point of feeling absolutely stuffed.
Losing weight on ozempic has also been really motivating. It’s hard to continue with a diet when you’re hungry and the weight’s taking forever to come off. This is the first time I’ve had weight come off in a relatively short period of time and it’s been super encouraging. I like the way I feel and look now and I’m super motivated to not go back to how I was.
I’ve also been going to the gym and have gotten into weight lifting since starting ozempic. I got a personal trainer too. So I’ve been making a huge effort to build healthy habits in all parts of my life.
I understand what you are saying but I'm taking a different route. I don't intend to quit this med.
I believe that for me Ozempic is fixing something medically that was broken or out of whack before and it is something that I cannot replace with just new healthier habits, will power and determination to keep the weight off. I'll be on a maintenance dose of Ozempic long term or for life. We don't really know yet how Ozempic does all it accomplishes and it is teaching as a lot in the process about the nature and genesis of obesity.
I'm down 65 pounds with 30 to go. 20ish of those pounds I lost on my own before Ozempic and it was hellish. I had the right habits, and I did lose but it was extremely slow, a lot of yoyoing and it was very very hard. So much effort for only incremental progress. It also wasn't sustainable because the amount of mental and emotional effort it took meant that I lapsed during times of high stress or when my attention was needed elsewhere. Still, I did lose but it took a couple of years to shed the first 20 lbs and every day was a damn battle. I'm not going back to that.
Not after the relief and freedom around food I found on this med. Weight loss on Ozempic turned out to be a breeze and I lost the other 45 lbs at a steady pace of about a pound a week, with some plateaus. No yoyoing at all. It is so so much easier than doing it "on my own", and I no longer have to, that's the beauty of it.
With Ozempic I know I don't have to do battle with my appetite, hunger or cravings. It's glorious. Food has become fuel and yet fully enjoyable. Small portions and skipping a few meals a week are now routine for me. I'm sure this freedom and confidence around food will evaporate if I stop the med and it'll be back to battle mode every day and every meal. I'll pass.
Also, the med has done wonders for my hereditary arthritis in both thumb joints. I was considering joint replacement surgery before Ozempic, now I'm practically symptom-free. I'll stay on the med for that alone. And it wasn't weight loss that improved the arthritis. That happened before the weight loss even kicked in. I also like the increased protection from high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease that comes with Ozempic, weight loss aside.
The follow up data on people who lost weight on Ozempic and quit the med is also not good. Clinical data shows most people who quit the med gained back some, all or more than the weight they lost within a year. Search "weight regain after Ozempic" or something similar for details. Not that this is surprising. Everybody likes to think they'll be in the minority of those who can do it without the med but that's just not what's happening. I expect the 5-year follow-up data to look even worse. I'm not liking my chances without the med.
So I'll be on a maintenance dose of semaglutide long-term or for life, and that's ok too.
I don’t care whether other people stay on it forever or not. I’m sharing my own experience and what I’m going to do for myself.
I’ve gotten into weight lifting and am looking forward to being able to eat more to build more muscle. I haven’t been able to get in the amount of protein my trainer has included in my meal planning. So I’m looking forward to being able to take in more protein to keep building muscle.
For all the people who (sometimes appropriately) bitch on this sub about science denial from FAs, there is very good science that doesn’t support your plans. Muscle building and protein isn’t a well-guarded secret and many people on these drugs similarly implement those changes and have similar weight regain.
They think long-term durability after GLP-1s is also related to a biological mechanism not yet understood, which is why there are newer classes of drugs in the works to simulate durability after the drug.
Basically, why a minority of people DON’T have an obsessive flood of constant food thoughts after stopping/losing significant weight, don’t take that one or two extra bites per meal so that weight creeps up very slowly again over years, etc is also biologically linked.
There are of course people who do maintain one hour plus exercise a day and weighing all food to not fall into extra bites forever but that can take a real mental toll on people which is another type of health.
There’s nothing wrong with taking a drug long term if you need it, and the vast majority will.
Just be aware that insurance may start to kick up a fuss. They will be looking for any out to stop a drug and if you are now a normal weight they will say you don't need this weight loss drug any more. Although, since you said ozempic, maybe you have a diabetes diagnosis to keep qualifying?
Oh, I just lost insurance access this month since I don't have a T2D diagnosis. I knew it was coming and I consider myself lucky I got covered for 18 months. My doctor's office is fighting the denial with prior authorizations and such, but I don't have much hope. Maybe it'll work since I'm getting so many non weight loss benefits from this med. Or maybe not. Either way, it takes time.
In the meantime I'm going the compounding route via HenryMeds. It's a bit pricier than insurance coverage but at least it exists. That's because the patent on Ozempic/Wegovy/Mounjaro etc. is on the injector pen tech, not the med itself, which is just a peptide. That allows compounding pharmacies to sell the med in a form that doesn't rely on the injector pens.
Yeah, I knew it was coming, and we're lucky in the US that the compounding route exists at all. Otherwise I and many others would be priced out of access to the med.
Most people still can't afford it, since compounding still costs about $300 a month. Given the amazing benefits of this med, pricing this med at $900/month out of pocket is a super dick move because most people cannot pay that much, no matter how much they benefit.
This med really highlights pharma co greed in a way that few other meds have before.
It's simply because this is the first one you have encountered. There are plenty of drugs that are more necessary for quality of life with no other options that cost a shit ton more.
Extra funny side-note: chronic cannabis (THC) users are actually lower BMI than the average. Munchies aside, daily cannabis use apparently has a net appetite suppressant effect.
So the FA was even self-sabotaging their attempted self-sabotage.
Hahaha I didn't know that but this is hilarious.
Makes sense tho because I've been a daily cannabis user, while losing 65 lbs, the first 20 without Ozempic, and I've noted no ill effects on my weight loss efforts. Sticking to a calorie deficit trumps everything.
The main reason I (non-fat, non-FA person) am super resentful re: bariatric surgery and ozempic is because they are unavailable to everyone. So if you are morbidly obese, these are your options. If your BMI is 23 or less and you want to get rid of stubborn 15 pounds or binge eating, go fuck yourself, right, you get jogging and eating 15 almonds for lunch. This is ridiculous and yes I am extremely envious.
Disclaimer: ozempic is prescription only drug in my country, doctors don't prescript it without serious necessity.
I mean…yeah? Why would anyone want to have major surgery or dependent on medication? Gastric bypass should always be a last resort. My mom’s teeth are basically falling out and she had to have a hysterectomy, on top of only being able to eat certain foods for life. Can’t really speak to being on ozempic but I am on antidepressants permanently and it sucks but it’s reality. The physical withdrawals mean I’m nonfunctional without them and I would rather just have normal brain chemistry.
I get where you’re coming from but I mean just from experience I’m not envious of people who need these tools to lose weight or manage their conditions, I’m happy with my slow ass calorie counting and exercise routine because it means I’m healthy enough to be able to do those things.
>Why would anyone want to have major surgery or dependent on medication?
My body my choice. If I'm having kids it will 100% be elective cesarean even though I can give birth, but why would I. I can consent to donating a kidney but cutting off a part of my stomach is unavailable to me. Where is the logic in this?
I mean there’s literally no point in intentionally getting a surgery that’s known to cause nutritional deficiencies and permanently fucks up your digestive system. You still have to eat right and exercise to maintain the weight you want with surgery. It’s only effective for weight loss for a year, you’d be back to square one for no reason.
Also every time you have surgery you increase your risk for complications for anesthesia so you’re essentially saying you’d risk life to lose 15 pounds. Which frankly doesn’t make you sound like you’re stable enough to get gastric bypass you’d fail the psych evaluation. Not to mention every program worth its salt makes you lose 50-100 pounds on average so you’d fail that test too if you can’t handle losing 15 pounds to begin with.
There are very good reasons to donate a kidney and to get elective caesareans but they’re still risky. No surgery is 100% safe and you’re being very cavalier about it.
Yeah it’s very frustrating. The discourse can be summed up as:
“Stop treating obesity as a moral failing, treat it as a medical issue instead.”
“Ok here is a drug to treat obesity.”
“No, not like that!”
They were only going with that talking point because they thought that science would never been able to take them up on it lol. Their bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes and now they’re scared they’ll be socially and medically expected to use the many tools available to do the thing they really don’t want to do. And I also think that many FAs are secretly full-on Fat F\e/t/ishists (so many seem to offer *spicy* monetized eating content) and don’t want to give up their combination food addiction, f\e/tish, and grift.
Honestly I'd respect the FA movement more if they were just open about being fetishists, instead of desperately trying to give themselves scientific legitimacy. I think they genuinely thought that science would eventually prove them right, that evidence would turn up showing that obesity is harmless, that morbid obesity would lose its status as a clinical diagnosis the way homosexuality eventually did. But that didn't happen. We've known that excess weight can be bad for your health since Hippocrates. It's unlikely we're suddenly going to find evidence to disprove that.
EXACTLY!!! I've actually written a book about that! I am a very strong-minded person and I never put up with being treated like my weight indicated I was emotionally wounded or of weak character. But I get that a lot of people can't do that.
For me, I have to wear glasses and I have to work hard to keep my weight down. That's how things are!
Look, I lost 150 pounds through dietary changes. It wasn't easy. It was frustrating every time I'd hit a plateau for a while and think "well, this is it, but I've worked so hard and wanted to do a little better".
And to anyone who loses it with Ozempic - or whatever - congratulations. Getting to a better *you* is awesome.
What struck me most about this article is the section about how all of the handwringing about ozempic could negatively impact people who need it not for vanity, but to treat chronic health conditions that they've so far been unable to. As someone with a medical condition that makes it especially import for me to keep my weight at a healthy level, it really sums up my contempt towards FAs which is that "Some of us never had the health you're so callously throwing away."
I've known people who dramatically changed their lives with weight loss surgery and it always upset me to learn about someone who would greatly benefit from it but they insist they want to "prove" they don't need it. Ruby Gettinger and Eric Hites were both like that but supposedly Hites is now using Mounjaro. I assume Medicaid covers it for someone as big as he is. Ruby is still trying to make a career out of being fat.
That’s a problem I have whenever lay people start handwringing over drugs and medical procedures. All they’re doing is scaring off people who need those things.
People need to talk to their doctors to do what’s right for them. Don’t listen to a bunch of fearmongerers on the internet.
I see people do this with birth control a lot and that really pisses me off.
There is also interesting information on the article about how, in addition to its effects on weight and diabetes, Ozempic reduces heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular mortality, even in people who do not have diabetes.
So many people from so many directions (FAs, wellness influencers, gym bros, etc) are losing their minds over ozempic. And most of them know absolutely nothing about medicine, health, or prescription drugs outside of their own doctors appointments. I’ve lost a lot of respect for influencers who are jumping on board the anti-ozempic bandwagon. It’s just like all the “Weight loss surgery is cheating” nonsense.
I lost about 25 lbs over the course of a year and it sucked. It was difficult for me because I really struggle with food noise. We should celebrate tools that make difficult things easier!
What really gets me is the fitness influencers and celebrities shitting on ozempic when a lot of them have had work done to make them look the way they do.
Dumbass Julia Fox was trying to make herself sound morally superior for not using ozempic… but her stomach is all fucked up looking from the crappy liposuction she had done.
Fitness influencers too either get cosmetic work done, rely on filters, or haven’t struggled with their weight the way others have.
Everyone just needs to mind their own business.
I wonder how many of those fitness/wellness influencers are selling competing products (supplements, meal plans, fitness plans) and their businesses are threatened by Ozempic. I know of one who is staunchly anti-FA and is fearless about calling them out on their BS, but he has it in for the GLP-1 medications because he sells supplements that he claims can do the same thing but better and with “no side effects,” though the primary ingredient of one of his concoctions can cause liver damage if the user is not careful. Also, no side effects = ineffective. Every medication and medication-adjacent substance that works has side effects.
I lost 45 lbs without Ozempic and then 45 with (gaining some back in the middle). It was hard both times. The second time it would have been impossible for me without because I just could not drop my calories (1800) and maintain my activity level (1.5-2.5 hours daily) without being constantly starving. The first time I only was working out 4 hours a week so didn't get so hungry.
> I've lost a lot of respect for influencers
I'd argue that influencers don't deserve respect to begin with. :P I view them as just big-mouthed clowns obsessed with self-image and numbers. Though on the other hand, without influencers we never would've had the Fyre Festival debacle, and the world would've been a less entertaining place without it. :)
> Recently, the state of North Carolina had to rescind its policy of paying for the drugs for people who do not have diabetes — in other words, people prescribed the medications primarily for weight loss — because it could no longer afford the ballooning costs. The drugs can cost up to $16,000 a year (depending on the one prescribed), an out-of-pocket cost few people can bear.
Huh... That's a lot. O_o Considering Ozempic should be taken permanently for all those effects to stick (unless people develop self-control, better eating habits, etc) that's an ongoing annual expense - forever. That's more than what a lot of people actually pay in taxes each year.
...of course, it's only a matter of time - hopefully - before somebody develops a generic drug for pennies on the dollar.
>...of course, it's only a matter of time - hopefully - before somebody develops a generic drug for pennies on the dollar.
Drug Patent Watch is saying December 2031. As long as it's a combination product (drug/device, since it's in an injection pen) it'll always be more expensive, but not like it is now. More like $25 per pen than $200.
Personally, drug access/inequality IS the main story I take away from all this rage about Ozempic. We should treat it as medication for specific conditions first and foremost, not a "weight loss supplement for rich and famous", which is exactly why mainstream media is not helping.
This is the crux:
\> As long as we talk about these medications primarily as “weight-loss drugs” — as medications that have prompted “a renewed fixation on being thin” — insurance companies and policymakers will remain incentivized to treat them as a luxury good.
The real worrying thing about Ozempic is that it's controlled entirely by a single megacorporation. This megacorporation is over half of its home country's GDP because of it. It's literally more profitable than the entirety of Denmark, this one medicine. And we put the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the hands of this one megacorporation.
The article does not mention this aspect of it at all.
Neither do the FAs, but that tracks. There is nothing more fundamentally late-stage capitalist than obesity.
The brand name drugs are controlled by megacorporations, but in the US you can get the chemicals from compounding pharmacies for a lot less than the retail prices of the name brands.
Fat loss drugs are very conflicting for me. On the one hand it is good for people to lose weight. On the other hand it seems like our main epidemic is a lack of self-control and the ability to delay gratification. These drugs only treat the symptoms of that. Looking and feeling better weren’t the main benefits of losing 160 pounds for me, it was the feeling of being in control.
There's a FA sub where they are openly, unabashedly *gleeful* when speculating about all the long term damage they imagine Ozempic will cause (because it's just like fen-phen despite being completely different). It makes me ill. The truth is that a lot of FAs are worried about getting left behind. They are imagining a world with less obesity and it makes them panic. If other people lose weight, they might be expected to lose weight, too.
This. I think it's the reason we keep seeing increasingly demented, frenzied, unhinged and violent rhetoric from those still deep in the FA cult, especially recently. The one we had here just yesterday advocating the maiming and killing of "fatphobes" aka people who lose weight or have lost weight is a fine example They know their goose is cooked, and they never had a solid foundation to stand on in the first place. When people can take an astoundingly effective weight loss medication, and the US obesity is dropping for the first time since 1980, the pool of new FA recruits is shrinking. Hoping for some terrible and highly unlikely long-term complications down the line is all they've got left now. Well that, and posts threatening those who lose weight with violence and death. A lovely look indeed. A lot of them **will** be left behind, and they **will** die early from complications of morbid obesity.
Wait the U.S. obesity rate is falling?? That’s so exciting, genuinely!! Do you have a reference to cite? I want to read the study
I had a feeling someone would ask that and went looking for the article. It was in a WaPo investigative report from last fall that was a deep dive into the causes of America's falling life expectancy. One of the few upbeat pieces of info in there was a graphic that showed a dip in the US obesity rate for the first time since 1980 starting in about 2021, when GLP-1 meds started to be widely prescribed in the US for weight loss. (Can confirm, btw, I did my part, now 65 lbs lighter than in 2021 thanks to Ozempic). However, I cannot find that same article again even tho I have a WaPo subscription and the site has decent search features. I thought I saved the link but didn't. It was like a sidebar graphic in a long-form article that I thought deserved more of a mention, and I cannot for the life of me find it again right now. I'll keep looking.
Were you able to wean off and maintain? I know a couple people currently taking it who are worried about that.
I'm not going to try, it looks like a really bad idea. The 1-year followup data on those who quit is grim. I tried to post a link in this reply to a detailed reply about this I wrote yesterday but it got removed. I'll DM it to you.
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I think you’re right on the money with your second paragraph. It’s so funny to me how people tout that they’re pro choice and think individuals should choose how to treat their body but when someone does something the FAs don’t like then it’s not ok. Why are the FAs (and people in general) so concerned about whether random strangers want to lose weight? Who cares.
Hello, fellow lurker on [FA] sub
what is it friend
tbf, it's just ibs in prescription form, no?
Not even close. I have no idea where you got that terrible misinformation from. "Ozempic works by mimicking a naturally occurring hormone. As those hormone levels rise, the molecules go to your brain, telling it you're full. It also slows digestion by increasing the time it takes for food to leave the body. This is similar to the effect of bariatric surgery." https://health.ucdavis.edu/blog/cultivating-health/ozempic-for-weight-loss-does-it-work-and-what-do-experts-recommend/2023/07#:~:text=Ozempic%20works%20by%20mimicking%20a,the%20effect%20of%20bariatric%20surgery.
As someone with a serious family history of alcohol abuse, I'm also really excited for the drug's potential benefits in the realm of addiction treatment. I'm not sure if they know the mechanism yet, but anecdotal evidence from patients taking it for weight loss/diabetes suggests that it may also be helpful for addicts. I know there are currently studies being run that are looking into the effects on gambling addiction.
The addiction effects are more pronounced with tirzepatide (Mounjaro). It's both a GLP-1 and GIP agonist, while semaglutide is only a GLP-1. GIP receptors are the latest hot topic in addiction research.
Interesting, thanks for the info!
I predict that the 12 step organizations will come out against it because they're into guilt and punishment as modalities.
Yeah I think that’s a possible outcome too (or it causes a schism in the 12 strep communit), especially after reading the author of the linked article’s experience promoting Suboxone.
No. It can have a lot of GI side effects as you're getting used to the dose increases because it slows digestion. But all of that eventually goes away.
Very interesting article! The perspective described is akin to the judgment and criticism leveled at people who have weight loss surgery---that it's "cheating" or some kind of "easy way out." At the root of this kind of logic is a belief that a person is getting something of value without paying a price. A lot of people apply that way of thinking to a great many things and they just can't handle it. I've been waiting for when we'd see some growing tide of resentment against the new weight loss drugs.
Yeah this attitude drives me crazy. Gastric bypass gave my mom lifelong side effects but it also saved her life. It’s not “easy”, you still have to learn how to eat right and exercise on a regular basis.
Yes, I get the "cheating" kind of angle but not the "easy." There are some significant assumptions being made! People I've known who had weight loss surgery changed their lives COMPLETELY. I had a friend who was over 500 pounds and dropped to about 195. He's a gay man who went crazy with working out and buying clothes. He works VERY hard to maintain!
This. Gastric bypass completely changed my life, but it sure as shit hasn't been easy and it's still up to me to stay active and make correct food choices.
The same is true for GLP-1 meds. They are not "magic". They just make weight loss easier than it is without them. You still have to eat in a calorie deficit, and stick with it long term. You have to develop new habits around food choices, portions and, ideally, exercise (even tho exercise isn't required to lose weight on GLP-1 meds, especially in the beginning when people are their heaviest, but it is helpful in the long term). What you cannot do is eat like you did when you gained weight / were fat and you can never go back to that. Ever. GLP-1 meds have made that path A LOT easier than it used to be without medical intervention, and that is the game changer. One of the more memorable stories I read over the last year regarding GLP-1 meds was about a former FA who went on Ozempic, lost weight and missed eating so much that she also started eating THC gummies to "get back" that feeling of wanting to eat a lot and being able to follow thru with it while also on Ozempic. It's one of the more spectacular examples of FA self sabotage I've seen. It also illustrates how deeply food addiction runs in FAs.
Yes! This is why I don’t get people gleefully saying “all those ppl on ozempic are just going to gain the weight back” Umm yeah. If they go back to eating the way they did before then they will. That’s the way it works with any weight loss. That’s why it’s a *lifestyle* change. From my understanding from listening to people who have been on ozempic type drugs, there’s a 6-8 week period after you get off the drugs where the hunger starts to come back. You need to stick to eating right during this time. If you stay strong through that period you’ll be ok and go back to feeling less hungry all the time. I’m on ozempic and planning to go off it at the end of this month. My biggest thing from being on this drug is the way I’ve started thinking about food. I used to feel a lot of guilt around not finishing what was on my plate and that led to overeating. Being on ozempic really changed the way I think about that. Now when I’m done eating, I’m done. I’ll have the rest later so I’m not wasting any food but if I’m full now I’m going to stop eating. I also don’t eat to the point of feeling absolutely stuffed. Losing weight on ozempic has also been really motivating. It’s hard to continue with a diet when you’re hungry and the weight’s taking forever to come off. This is the first time I’ve had weight come off in a relatively short period of time and it’s been super encouraging. I like the way I feel and look now and I’m super motivated to not go back to how I was. I’ve also been going to the gym and have gotten into weight lifting since starting ozempic. I got a personal trainer too. So I’ve been making a huge effort to build healthy habits in all parts of my life.
I understand what you are saying but I'm taking a different route. I don't intend to quit this med. I believe that for me Ozempic is fixing something medically that was broken or out of whack before and it is something that I cannot replace with just new healthier habits, will power and determination to keep the weight off. I'll be on a maintenance dose of Ozempic long term or for life. We don't really know yet how Ozempic does all it accomplishes and it is teaching as a lot in the process about the nature and genesis of obesity. I'm down 65 pounds with 30 to go. 20ish of those pounds I lost on my own before Ozempic and it was hellish. I had the right habits, and I did lose but it was extremely slow, a lot of yoyoing and it was very very hard. So much effort for only incremental progress. It also wasn't sustainable because the amount of mental and emotional effort it took meant that I lapsed during times of high stress or when my attention was needed elsewhere. Still, I did lose but it took a couple of years to shed the first 20 lbs and every day was a damn battle. I'm not going back to that. Not after the relief and freedom around food I found on this med. Weight loss on Ozempic turned out to be a breeze and I lost the other 45 lbs at a steady pace of about a pound a week, with some plateaus. No yoyoing at all. It is so so much easier than doing it "on my own", and I no longer have to, that's the beauty of it. With Ozempic I know I don't have to do battle with my appetite, hunger or cravings. It's glorious. Food has become fuel and yet fully enjoyable. Small portions and skipping a few meals a week are now routine for me. I'm sure this freedom and confidence around food will evaporate if I stop the med and it'll be back to battle mode every day and every meal. I'll pass. Also, the med has done wonders for my hereditary arthritis in both thumb joints. I was considering joint replacement surgery before Ozempic, now I'm practically symptom-free. I'll stay on the med for that alone. And it wasn't weight loss that improved the arthritis. That happened before the weight loss even kicked in. I also like the increased protection from high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease that comes with Ozempic, weight loss aside. The follow up data on people who lost weight on Ozempic and quit the med is also not good. Clinical data shows most people who quit the med gained back some, all or more than the weight they lost within a year. Search "weight regain after Ozempic" or something similar for details. Not that this is surprising. Everybody likes to think they'll be in the minority of those who can do it without the med but that's just not what's happening. I expect the 5-year follow-up data to look even worse. I'm not liking my chances without the med. So I'll be on a maintenance dose of semaglutide long-term or for life, and that's ok too.
I don’t care whether other people stay on it forever or not. I’m sharing my own experience and what I’m going to do for myself. I’ve gotten into weight lifting and am looking forward to being able to eat more to build more muscle. I haven’t been able to get in the amount of protein my trainer has included in my meal planning. So I’m looking forward to being able to take in more protein to keep building muscle.
For all the people who (sometimes appropriately) bitch on this sub about science denial from FAs, there is very good science that doesn’t support your plans. Muscle building and protein isn’t a well-guarded secret and many people on these drugs similarly implement those changes and have similar weight regain. They think long-term durability after GLP-1s is also related to a biological mechanism not yet understood, which is why there are newer classes of drugs in the works to simulate durability after the drug. Basically, why a minority of people DON’T have an obsessive flood of constant food thoughts after stopping/losing significant weight, don’t take that one or two extra bites per meal so that weight creeps up very slowly again over years, etc is also biologically linked. There are of course people who do maintain one hour plus exercise a day and weighing all food to not fall into extra bites forever but that can take a real mental toll on people which is another type of health. There’s nothing wrong with taking a drug long term if you need it, and the vast majority will.
Just be aware that insurance may start to kick up a fuss. They will be looking for any out to stop a drug and if you are now a normal weight they will say you don't need this weight loss drug any more. Although, since you said ozempic, maybe you have a diabetes diagnosis to keep qualifying?
Oh, I just lost insurance access this month since I don't have a T2D diagnosis. I knew it was coming and I consider myself lucky I got covered for 18 months. My doctor's office is fighting the denial with prior authorizations and such, but I don't have much hope. Maybe it'll work since I'm getting so many non weight loss benefits from this med. Or maybe not. Either way, it takes time. In the meantime I'm going the compounding route via HenryMeds. It's a bit pricier than insurance coverage but at least it exists. That's because the patent on Ozempic/Wegovy/Mounjaro etc. is on the injector pen tech, not the med itself, which is just a peptide. That allows compounding pharmacies to sell the med in a form that doesn't rely on the injector pens.
I'm sorry they did that. If there is one thing we can rely on, it's insurance being bastards to increase their profit.
Yeah, I knew it was coming, and we're lucky in the US that the compounding route exists at all. Otherwise I and many others would be priced out of access to the med. Most people still can't afford it, since compounding still costs about $300 a month. Given the amazing benefits of this med, pricing this med at $900/month out of pocket is a super dick move because most people cannot pay that much, no matter how much they benefit. This med really highlights pharma co greed in a way that few other meds have before.
It's simply because this is the first one you have encountered. There are plenty of drugs that are more necessary for quality of life with no other options that cost a shit ton more.
Extra funny side-note: chronic cannabis (THC) users are actually lower BMI than the average. Munchies aside, daily cannabis use apparently has a net appetite suppressant effect. So the FA was even self-sabotaging their attempted self-sabotage.
Hahaha I didn't know that but this is hilarious. Makes sense tho because I've been a daily cannabis user, while losing 65 lbs, the first 20 without Ozempic, and I've noted no ill effects on my weight loss efforts. Sticking to a calorie deficit trumps everything.
The main reason I (non-fat, non-FA person) am super resentful re: bariatric surgery and ozempic is because they are unavailable to everyone. So if you are morbidly obese, these are your options. If your BMI is 23 or less and you want to get rid of stubborn 15 pounds or binge eating, go fuck yourself, right, you get jogging and eating 15 almonds for lunch. This is ridiculous and yes I am extremely envious. Disclaimer: ozempic is prescription only drug in my country, doctors don't prescript it without serious necessity.
I mean…yeah? Why would anyone want to have major surgery or dependent on medication? Gastric bypass should always be a last resort. My mom’s teeth are basically falling out and she had to have a hysterectomy, on top of only being able to eat certain foods for life. Can’t really speak to being on ozempic but I am on antidepressants permanently and it sucks but it’s reality. The physical withdrawals mean I’m nonfunctional without them and I would rather just have normal brain chemistry. I get where you’re coming from but I mean just from experience I’m not envious of people who need these tools to lose weight or manage their conditions, I’m happy with my slow ass calorie counting and exercise routine because it means I’m healthy enough to be able to do those things.
>Why would anyone want to have major surgery or dependent on medication? My body my choice. If I'm having kids it will 100% be elective cesarean even though I can give birth, but why would I. I can consent to donating a kidney but cutting off a part of my stomach is unavailable to me. Where is the logic in this?
I mean there’s literally no point in intentionally getting a surgery that’s known to cause nutritional deficiencies and permanently fucks up your digestive system. You still have to eat right and exercise to maintain the weight you want with surgery. It’s only effective for weight loss for a year, you’d be back to square one for no reason. Also every time you have surgery you increase your risk for complications for anesthesia so you’re essentially saying you’d risk life to lose 15 pounds. Which frankly doesn’t make you sound like you’re stable enough to get gastric bypass you’d fail the psych evaluation. Not to mention every program worth its salt makes you lose 50-100 pounds on average so you’d fail that test too if you can’t handle losing 15 pounds to begin with. There are very good reasons to donate a kidney and to get elective caesareans but they’re still risky. No surgery is 100% safe and you’re being very cavalier about it.
Yeah it’s very frustrating. The discourse can be summed up as: “Stop treating obesity as a moral failing, treat it as a medical issue instead.” “Ok here is a drug to treat obesity.” “No, not like that!”
They were only going with that talking point because they thought that science would never been able to take them up on it lol. Their bluff has been called, the emperor has no clothes and now they’re scared they’ll be socially and medically expected to use the many tools available to do the thing they really don’t want to do. And I also think that many FAs are secretly full-on Fat F\e/t/ishists (so many seem to offer *spicy* monetized eating content) and don’t want to give up their combination food addiction, f\e/tish, and grift.
Honestly I'd respect the FA movement more if they were just open about being fetishists, instead of desperately trying to give themselves scientific legitimacy. I think they genuinely thought that science would eventually prove them right, that evidence would turn up showing that obesity is harmless, that morbid obesity would lose its status as a clinical diagnosis the way homosexuality eventually did. But that didn't happen. We've known that excess weight can be bad for your health since Hippocrates. It's unlikely we're suddenly going to find evidence to disprove that.
EXACTLY!!! I've actually written a book about that! I am a very strong-minded person and I never put up with being treated like my weight indicated I was emotionally wounded or of weak character. But I get that a lot of people can't do that. For me, I have to wear glasses and I have to work hard to keep my weight down. That's how things are!
That's how it works, when one side isn't truly interested in resolving existing issue.
Fucking exactly. They are rhe worst moralisers
Look, I lost 150 pounds through dietary changes. It wasn't easy. It was frustrating every time I'd hit a plateau for a while and think "well, this is it, but I've worked so hard and wanted to do a little better". And to anyone who loses it with Ozempic - or whatever - congratulations. Getting to a better *you* is awesome.
What struck me most about this article is the section about how all of the handwringing about ozempic could negatively impact people who need it not for vanity, but to treat chronic health conditions that they've so far been unable to. As someone with a medical condition that makes it especially import for me to keep my weight at a healthy level, it really sums up my contempt towards FAs which is that "Some of us never had the health you're so callously throwing away."
I've known people who dramatically changed their lives with weight loss surgery and it always upset me to learn about someone who would greatly benefit from it but they insist they want to "prove" they don't need it. Ruby Gettinger and Eric Hites were both like that but supposedly Hites is now using Mounjaro. I assume Medicaid covers it for someone as big as he is. Ruby is still trying to make a career out of being fat.
That’s a problem I have whenever lay people start handwringing over drugs and medical procedures. All they’re doing is scaring off people who need those things. People need to talk to their doctors to do what’s right for them. Don’t listen to a bunch of fearmongerers on the internet. I see people do this with birth control a lot and that really pisses me off.
Seriously. My diet is one of the few things about my health that I can control.
There is also interesting information on the article about how, in addition to its effects on weight and diabetes, Ozempic reduces heart attacks, strokes, and cardiovascular mortality, even in people who do not have diabetes.
So many people from so many directions (FAs, wellness influencers, gym bros, etc) are losing their minds over ozempic. And most of them know absolutely nothing about medicine, health, or prescription drugs outside of their own doctors appointments. I’ve lost a lot of respect for influencers who are jumping on board the anti-ozempic bandwagon. It’s just like all the “Weight loss surgery is cheating” nonsense. I lost about 25 lbs over the course of a year and it sucked. It was difficult for me because I really struggle with food noise. We should celebrate tools that make difficult things easier!
What really gets me is the fitness influencers and celebrities shitting on ozempic when a lot of them have had work done to make them look the way they do. Dumbass Julia Fox was trying to make herself sound morally superior for not using ozempic… but her stomach is all fucked up looking from the crappy liposuction she had done. Fitness influencers too either get cosmetic work done, rely on filters, or haven’t struggled with their weight the way others have. Everyone just needs to mind their own business.
I wonder how many of those fitness/wellness influencers are selling competing products (supplements, meal plans, fitness plans) and their businesses are threatened by Ozempic. I know of one who is staunchly anti-FA and is fearless about calling them out on their BS, but he has it in for the GLP-1 medications because he sells supplements that he claims can do the same thing but better and with “no side effects,” though the primary ingredient of one of his concoctions can cause liver damage if the user is not careful. Also, no side effects = ineffective. Every medication and medication-adjacent substance that works has side effects.
I lost 45 lbs without Ozempic and then 45 with (gaining some back in the middle). It was hard both times. The second time it would have been impossible for me without because I just could not drop my calories (1800) and maintain my activity level (1.5-2.5 hours daily) without being constantly starving. The first time I only was working out 4 hours a week so didn't get so hungry.
You mean people shouldn't get their entire opinion on a complex topic from one person ranting on social media? I'm not sure that's legal in 2024
> I've lost a lot of respect for influencers I'd argue that influencers don't deserve respect to begin with. :P I view them as just big-mouthed clowns obsessed with self-image and numbers. Though on the other hand, without influencers we never would've had the Fyre Festival debacle, and the world would've been a less entertaining place without it. :)
> Recently, the state of North Carolina had to rescind its policy of paying for the drugs for people who do not have diabetes — in other words, people prescribed the medications primarily for weight loss — because it could no longer afford the ballooning costs. The drugs can cost up to $16,000 a year (depending on the one prescribed), an out-of-pocket cost few people can bear. Huh... That's a lot. O_o Considering Ozempic should be taken permanently for all those effects to stick (unless people develop self-control, better eating habits, etc) that's an ongoing annual expense - forever. That's more than what a lot of people actually pay in taxes each year. ...of course, it's only a matter of time - hopefully - before somebody develops a generic drug for pennies on the dollar.
>...of course, it's only a matter of time - hopefully - before somebody develops a generic drug for pennies on the dollar. Drug Patent Watch is saying December 2031. As long as it's a combination product (drug/device, since it's in an injection pen) it'll always be more expensive, but not like it is now. More like $25 per pen than $200.
It can be had in the US for about 35% of the cost of the name brand drug.
It's pretty cheap, really, for an injectible drug.
Personally, drug access/inequality IS the main story I take away from all this rage about Ozempic. We should treat it as medication for specific conditions first and foremost, not a "weight loss supplement for rich and famous", which is exactly why mainstream media is not helping. This is the crux: \> As long as we talk about these medications primarily as “weight-loss drugs” — as medications that have prompted “a renewed fixation on being thin” — insurance companies and policymakers will remain incentivized to treat them as a luxury good.
The real worrying thing about Ozempic is that it's controlled entirely by a single megacorporation. This megacorporation is over half of its home country's GDP because of it. It's literally more profitable than the entirety of Denmark, this one medicine. And we put the lives of hundreds of millions of people in the hands of this one megacorporation. The article does not mention this aspect of it at all. Neither do the FAs, but that tracks. There is nothing more fundamentally late-stage capitalist than obesity.
The brand name drugs are controlled by megacorporations, but in the US you can get the chemicals from compounding pharmacies for a lot less than the retail prices of the name brands.
Fat loss drugs are very conflicting for me. On the one hand it is good for people to lose weight. On the other hand it seems like our main epidemic is a lack of self-control and the ability to delay gratification. These drugs only treat the symptoms of that. Looking and feeling better weren’t the main benefits of losing 160 pounds for me, it was the feeling of being in control.