Will Ozempic and other drugs like it eliminate obesity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The stigma against these drugs is very real even if no one wants to believe it. I overheard three coworkers talking at length about it the other day. All normal weight, active people deriding the fact that overweight people can just be lazy and lose weight, joking how they should start eating burgers every day if it doesn’t matter anymore, asking why they’re paying for a gym membership when they could just pay for the shots. It was very weird. There is definitely some bitterness there among some people though I don’t understand why.

I've never heard of these drugs before reading this forum and don't know anyone taking them.

Why would anyone tell you about medication their taking? Who does that?

I don't know, I have friends who have lost weight and they are excited to tell people how they did it and talk about it. I don't judge and wouldn't judge if they told me they took drugs to do it. I also have many close friends and we share stories and complaints about our health issues, including medicines (fertility, hormones, ADHD, pain pills, etc).

I'm just saying this does not seem to be a well known or significant topic of discussion in real life, things just get blown out of proportion on this forum with crazy accusations and speculation. I don't think most normal weight active people with busy lives would care about this at all. I could see it possibly mentioned as a joke but not like serious bitterness and loss of identity warranting therapy, lol.

I disagree. Among my friends—normal weight to slightly overweight—we’ve all talked about it a bit lately. Mostly in the context of a celebrity extreme weight loss, or lamenting that it would be nice to have access to it, or talking about people we are acquainted with who are seeing a lot of success with it. None of us are bitter or feel threatened, but we are not the types that make being thin a big priority in life. I can definitely see someone like that (my sister is one of them, she’s always dieting and always exercising and takes immense pride when in being small) being mad that obese people will have access to perceived “effortless” weight loss and getting to take the easy way out.

[Anonymous]

Diet and exercise “work” for most people in the sense that if you stick to a super rigorous diet and exercise plan, you will lose weight. And of course there are examples here and there of people who do that and are able to maintain at a new lower weight.

But on a population level people aren’t able to do it. It’s just too hard for most people to fight their body’s set point for an extended period of time. So they gain back the weight. You can call it laziness if you want, and post about how people just need to eat less and move more, but it’s not going to change the reality that diet and exercise is not a viable solution to obesity on a population level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP with no skin in the game who hasn’t thought much about this. I’ve read every page and I have to admit no one has provided any evidence that diet and exercise is an effective weight loss strategy. Your smokingest guns are “I know people who have lost weight” and “Look at Jennifer Hudson”

I’m more inclined to believe the “diet and exercise isn’t helping us be less fat” as they seem to have at least some science on their side…and it is true that public health messaging has been pushing diet and exercise for like 40 years and obesity is just getting worse. It makes sense to move away from that and try something else.

Diet and exercise absolutely do work when used long term to prevent becoming overweight or to lose small amounts of weight. The problem is the average person doesn’t implement any semblance of a heathy diet and doesn’t exercise, therefore the average person is now overweight or obese. So I guess we are at a point in society where the average person will eat garbage day in day out until they are are fat enough to be obese and have weight related health problems, then they get a script for meds to lose some pounds. I mean, I guess this is better than remaining obese forever for the people that can actually get a script, but this isn’t an awesome way to live either.

+1

It's not really a secret what is going on here.

Every fat person I know says that they have "tried everything." They show up to work with a massive Big Gulp of Mountain Dew. They get a large meat lovers pizza for lunch. Work out today? Nahhh, maybe tomorrow. And the next day they hit up McDonalds for a large value meal. Too lazy to walk inside so they sit in the drive thru line that is wrapped around the building. If these people are "trying" to lose weight, it's a half ass effort at best.

It’s good that they’ll have these drugs to help them lose weight then so we can finally get control of the obesity crisis then!

I guess that is the question - will the drugs help them make better food choices and eat healthy? Or will they still eat the crap but just less of it?

Because if it's the latter, I don't think that's a good solution. What about getting essential nutrition?

Well it’s a better solution than eating crap AND continuing to be overweight, which is the alternative. Not sure what your point is. Making people eat only healthy food is not a viable solution.

Do you have a mysterious disorder that causes you to be allergic to healthy food?

Me, the PP? No. I eat mostly healthy food. Why?

I just wonder what is preventing people from eating healthy food.

Have you been to a grocery store lately? Produce is much, much more expensive than candy and chips. It also requires more preparation and people work 50-60 hours a week with few vacations. People who are burnt out, as many Americans are, don’t have the energy for self care.

This is the result of a deliberate policy decision- subsidizing corn and corn syrup, as well as beef, at the expense of everything else. Same with Joe in walkable everywhere in our country is. You know what is an easy way to get people to exercise? Give them the opportunity to actually walk to places they want to go! I know, it‘a shocking.

[Anonymous]

*same with how unwalkable everywhere in our country is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP with no skin in the game who hasn’t thought much about this. I’ve read every page and I have to admit no one has provided any evidence that diet and exercise is an effective weight loss strategy. Your smokingest guns are “I know people who have lost weight” and “Look at Jennifer Hudson”

I’m more inclined to believe the “diet and exercise isn’t helping us be less fat” as they seem to have at least some science on their side…and it is true that public health messaging has been pushing diet and exercise for like 40 years and obesity is just getting worse. It makes sense to move away from that and try something else.

Diet and exercise absolutely do work when used long term to prevent becoming overweight or to lose small amounts of weight. The problem is the average person doesn’t implement any semblance of a heathy diet and doesn’t exercise, therefore the average person is now overweight or obese. So I guess we are at a point in society where the average person will eat garbage day in day out until they are are fat enough to be obese and have weight related health problems, then they get a script for meds to lose some pounds. I mean, I guess this is better than remaining obese forever for the people that can actually get a script, but this isn’t an awesome way to live either.

+1

It's not really a secret what is going on here.

Every fat person I know says that they have "tried everything." They show up to work with a massive Big Gulp of Mountain Dew. They get a large meat lovers pizza for lunch. Work out today? Nahhh, maybe tomorrow. And the next day they hit up McDonalds for a large value meal. Too lazy to walk inside so they sit in the drive thru line that is wrapped around the building. If these people are "trying" to lose weight, it's a half ass effort at best.

It’s good that they’ll have these drugs to help them lose weight then so we can finally get control of the obesity crisis then!

I guess that is the question - will the drugs help them make better food choices and eat healthy? Or will they still eat the crap but just less of it?

Because if it's the latter, I don't think that's a good solution. What about getting essential nutrition?

Well it’s a better solution than eating crap AND continuing to be overweight, which is the alternative. Not sure what your point is. Making people eat only healthy food is not a viable solution.

Do you have a mysterious disorder that causes you to be allergic to healthy food?

Me, the PP? No. I eat mostly healthy food. Why?

I just wonder what is preventing people from eating healthy food.

Have you been to a grocery store lately? Produce is much, much more expensive than candy and chips. It also requires more preparation and people work 50-60 hours a week with few vacations. People who are burnt out, as many Americans are, don’t have the energy for self care.

This is the result of a deliberate policy decision- subsidizing corn and corn syrup, as well as beef, at the expense of everything else. Same with Joe in walkable everywhere in our country is. You know what is an easy way to get people to exercise? Give them the opportunity to actually walk to places they want to go! I know, it‘a shocking.

Excuses. People just don’t want to eat heathy. It isn’t money or time. They’d rather wait 25 min the the drive through than scramble an egg or make a bowl of oatmeal. There are plenty of low cost and fairly easy to prepare nutritious foods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The stigma against these drugs is very real even if no one wants to believe it. I overheard three coworkers talking at length about it the other day. All normal weight, active people deriding the fact that overweight people can just be lazy and lose weight, joking how they should start eating burgers every day if it doesn’t matter anymore, asking why they’re paying for a gym membership when they could just pay for the shots. It was very weird. There is definitely some bitterness there among some people though I don’t understand why.

I've never heard of these drugs before reading this forum and don't know anyone taking them.

Why would anyone tell you about medication their taking? Who does that?

I don't know, I have friends who have lost weight and they are excited to tell people how they did it and talk about it. I don't judge and wouldn't judge if they told me they took drugs to do it. I also have many close friends and we share stories and complaints about our health issues, including medicines (fertility, hormones, ADHD, pain pills, etc).

I'm just saying this does not seem to be a well known or significant topic of discussion in real life, things just get blown out of proportion on this forum with crazy accusations and speculation. I don't think most normal weight active people with busy lives would care about this at all. I could see it possibly mentioned as a joke but not like serious bitterness and loss of identity warranting therapy, lol.

I disagree. Among my friends—normal weight to slightly overweight—we’ve all talked about it a bit lately. Mostly in the context of a celebrity extreme weight loss, or lamenting that it would be nice to have access to it, or talking about people we are acquainted with who are seeing a lot of success with it. None of us are bitter or feel threatened, but we are not the types that make being thin a big priority in life. I can definitely see someone like that (my sister is one of them, she’s always dieting and always exercising and takes immense pride when in being small) being mad that obese people will have access to perceived “effortless” weight loss and getting to take the easy way out.

Of course you are correct. This is a gigantic topic of conversation in popular culture right now. The PP insisting nobody is talking about this seems deluded. Or perhaps nobody is talking to her about it, which is telling in of itself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP with no skin in the game who hasn’t thought much about this. I’ve read every page and I have to admit no one has provided any evidence that diet and exercise is an effective weight loss strategy. Your smokingest guns are “I know people who have lost weight” and “Look at Jennifer Hudson”

I’m more inclined to believe the “diet and exercise isn’t helping us be less fat” as they seem to have at least some science on their side…and it is true that public health messaging has been pushing diet and exercise for like 40 years and obesity is just getting worse. It makes sense to move away from that and try something else.

Diet and exercise absolutely do work when used long term to prevent becoming overweight or to lose small amounts of weight. The problem is the average person doesn’t implement any semblance of a heathy diet and doesn’t exercise, therefore the average person is now overweight or obese. So I guess we are at a point in society where the average person will eat garbage day in day out until they are are fat enough to be obese and have weight related health problems, then they get a script for meds to lose some pounds. I mean, I guess this is better than remaining obese forever for the people that can actually get a script, but this isn’t an awesome way to live either.

+1

It's not really a secret what is going on here.

Every fat person I know says that they have "tried everything." They show up to work with a massive Big Gulp of Mountain Dew. They get a large meat lovers pizza for lunch. Work out today? Nahhh, maybe tomorrow. And the next day they hit up McDonalds for a large value meal. Too lazy to walk inside so they sit in the drive thru line that is wrapped around the building. If these people are "trying" to lose weight, it's a half ass effort at best.

It’s good that they’ll have these drugs to help them lose weight then so we can finally get control of the obesity crisis then!

I guess that is the question - will the drugs help them make better food choices and eat healthy? Or will they still eat the crap but just less of it?

Because if it's the latter, I don't think that's a good solution. What about getting essential nutrition?

Well it’s a better solution than eating crap AND continuing to be overweight, which is the alternative. Not sure what your point is. Making people eat only healthy food is not a viable solution.

Do you have a mysterious disorder that causes you to be allergic to healthy food?

Me, the PP? No. I eat mostly healthy food. Why?

I just wonder what is preventing people from eating healthy food.

Have you been to a grocery store lately? Produce is much, much more expensive than candy and chips. It also requires more preparation and people work 50-60 hours a week with few vacations. People who are burnt out, as many Americans are, don’t have the energy for self care.

This is the result of a deliberate policy decision- subsidizing corn and corn syrup, as well as beef, at the expense of everything else. Same with Joe in walkable everywhere in our country is. You know what is an easy way to get people to exercise? Give them the opportunity to actually walk to places they want to go! I know, it‘a shocking.

Excuses. People just don’t want to eat heathy. It isn’t money or time. They’d rather wait 25 min the the drive through than scramble an egg or make a bowl of oatmeal. There are plenty of low cost and fairly easy to prepare nutritious foods.

Person you are responding to. When we talk about policy, it’s best not to moralise because it’s 1. Useless and 2. Doesn’t work on the population at large. I eat extremely healthy, but I recognize that I have to expend quite a bit of effort to do so. When we are talking about the population at large, we are talking about everyone, including people who are lazy and people who have extenuating circumstances. We have to aim for THOSE people and making them eat healthy, and when you allow French fries to be the easiest option for a meal, you’re dooming a significant population and that causes problems for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

LOL

“You should just get over your biological wiring that has evolved over millions of years to seek out food that tastes good”

Honestly how can some people be so stupid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

LOL

“You should just get over your biological wiring that has evolved over millions of years to seek out food that tastes good”

Honestly how can some people be so stupid?

If you’re eating ice cream and chips instead of carrot sticks and apples and whining about being fat…

[Anonymous]

You can’t overeat a bag of carrots or apples. You’d vomit first. Whereas you can easily overeat a bag of chips.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

Wow, this is groundbreaking. Have you published?? If not you have missed your calling. You should consider submitting an article to the American Journal of Public Health. I hope you at least sent your groundbreaking findings to the CDC, FDA, health and human services etc….they need to know about raw fruits and veggies.

[Anonymous]

FWIW my husband is on this drug for diabetes and it hasn't caused him to lose weight. So, no, it isn't going to be the cure-all for obesity.

I have not read the whole thread but I assume it's full of thoughtful, empathetic, evidence-based observations and good faith questions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

LOL

“You should just get over your biological wiring that has evolved over millions of years to seek out food that tastes good”

Honestly how can some people be so stupid?

If you’re eating ice cream and chips instead of carrot sticks and apples and whining about being fat…

Lololol

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why don’t you just eat less? More raw fruits and veggies. Pound a glass of water first and see if that fills you up.

I hate most unseasoned veggies so if I’m eating them, it’s because I’m actually hungry. A small amount fills me up.

You just have to get over the idea that food should bring you pleasure.

Wow, this is groundbreaking. Have you published?? If not you have missed your calling. You should consider submitting an article to the American Journal of Public Health. I hope you at least sent your groundbreaking findings to the CDC, FDA, health and human services etc….they need to know about raw fruits and veggies.

Yet you’re the one complaining about being fat and needing a drug to make you so nauseated you can’t eat. Hmm…weird that the one thing drs say works (healthy plant based diet) actually works.