So Many People I Know are Taking GLP-1 or Similar and Losing a Bunch of Weight!

ReignFromAshes

I think everyone has heard of GLP-1 by now and I was so against it, trying the good old count my calories and workout but there are a lot of people at my work taking it and the weight is just melting off! I am over here struggling losing and gaining the same few pounds and I admit, I am getting jealous of their weight just coming off all the while eating junk food.

I don't want the injections but now I am starting to cave and looking into the pill form. Has anyone experienced any of those? I know Hers has a pill form option, I am just not sure if any of those actually work. I am struggling over here and would love something to help me along with healthy eating habits and working out. An appetite suppressant and energy supplement would be amazing help!

In the meantime, I am going to go workout 😔

LiveOnceBeHappy

I don't know a lot about those meds, but I would think they work by reducing appetite which leads to people eating less food.

How about you commit fully to tracking every bite and eating within your deficit? Have you calculated your TDEE or used MFP to figure out your calories?

Casanova5256

keep up the great work it takes time

neanderthin

Yeah, leave it to hormones that's got everyone excited and they don't have to make a lot of changes in their diet either if they don't want to. It's like going to Vegas and leaving a winner. 😄

AnnPT77

Losing weight fast isn't necessarily a big win. It increases health risk, and doesn't much help people learn how to eat and move differently via new routine habits in ways that will help them stay at a healthy weight long term.

IMO, people using GLP-1 drugs to lose weight fast while eating junk food are riding for a fall, in those terms plus probably not getting adequate nutrition (because of the combo of nutrient-sparse junk food and low calories).

I hear and understand your frustration with slow loss, or cycles of gain and loss, but that's a little different discussion about how to work your way through that. "Lose weight fast eating junk food" is not a great plan to envy or switch to.

An appetite suppressant might be whole foods, especially those that stimulate natural GLP-1 production, or simulate its effects (by slowing digestive emptying, for example). An energy supplement would be caffeine, assuming you want to keep it legal and semi-safe. That's not perfect, but I'm not joking.

You say you want something that will "help me along with healthy eating habits and working out." Those are good goals. GLP-1 drugs aren't magical for those goals, but might help with appetite reduction.

If you're thinking pills are inherently safer than injections . . . no. In individual drug instances, maybe or maybe not. Sometimes injections are better absorbed, sometimes pills cause more digestive symptoms than injections, etc. I haven't researched it deeply, but it looks like the side effects are somewhat similar between GLP-1 pills and injections, except that the pills may have a little worse digestive-symptom impact, and the injections of course have a tiny risk of injection-site reactions like many other injectable drugs. To the extent pill dosage is lower, it might have somewhat fewer side effects, but maybe also less positive effect for the same reason.

ReignFromAshes

I think I was just having a bad day yesterday. Struggling this time around and being older is making it harder. It was just really hard yesterday to see those at my place of work boasting about their weight loss (and admittedly looking good) just really go to me.

What used to work for me, doesn't anymore and I feel like I am starting over from scratch and lost.

AnnPT77

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48672482#Comment_48672482

How can we help?

What are you doing? What isn't working, from your subjective perspective?

If you can give specifics - age, weight, calorie intake, logging habits, recent weight history, and that sort of thing - knowing more might help us better help you.

There are a lot of people here who've lost weight later in life and stayed at a healthy weight long term. I lost around 50 pounds at 59-60, menopausal and severely hypothyroid (medicated for it). I'm in year 9+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after around 30 pre-loss years of overweight/obesity. I'm not saying that to brag, just as context . . . and I'm far, far from the only one here with a similar story.

Other people can give you ideas to try if they sound good, but only you can put together the right personal set of tactics that will lead to success. I'm confident that you can do that, if you commit to the process and stick with the experiments until you find your best personal formula.

I'm cheering for you to succeed: IME, the quality of life improvement is more than worth the effort it takes to get there!

ETA P.S. Losing weight and looking good isn't the ultimate golden prize here: Staying at a healthy weight long term is, if you ask me. That's a bit different mindset along the way, not just at the end. In fact, there isn't an end: Staying at a healthy weight is a forever endeavor. Comparing yourself to others isn't helpful, but I'd suggest that the long-term results are the true measure of success, not the short-term. Look how many "I'm back, having regained" posts there are over in the introductions section. You needn't be one of them.

DiscusTank5

I've lost 50 pounds since October using the old-fashioned calories in, calories out method. I'm in my late 40s, perimenopausal with some hot flashes every day, but I also see the inside of a gym every day! Consistency works.

By logging my calories in the app and hitting the nutrition button a couple times a day, I've reprogrammed myself to look for high protein or high fiber options if I have extra calories to spend. No pill or injection can give that. I now understand what my body needs in a way I never grasped before with fad diets.

I can also understand the temptation of a supposedly "easier" path to weight loss. An article I read in May suggested that to mimic the effects of GLP-1, naturally raising your body's levels, do the following:

Eat protein or veg before carbs (bread) at meals and don't eat carbs alone.

Eat bigger meals earlier in the day.

Eat sugar treats slowly, like 30 minutes for a serving of ice cream, not 5.

Good luck! Focusing on protein and fiber have helped me a lot. I can't speak to the "30 min on a bowl of ice cream" tip though. Lol.

I don't have the link, but googling the topic may work. It seemed to be from a legit source.

springlering62

Several ladies in my bunco group began GLP injections last year, as did a spouse who’s in a club my husband is in.

None of them exercise or particularly seem to watch what they eat. It seems to be the same old foods, but less of it, if that makes sense.

While I’m happy for their losses, I’m sad because, while I see them smaller, I don’t know if it’s a “good” smaller? I don’t mean this to sound bitchy or holier than thou, but it’s sort of a lumpy smaller?

I worry we are going to wind up with a generation(s) of people who have indeed lost weight, but also lost a shedload of muscle with it.

I foresee a time when people who chose the GLP route but didn’t do it the right way, as advised, with exercise, protein and nutrition, with thoughtfulness and mindful application, who won’t be able to get up out of a chair without assistance.

It’s human nature to seek the quick fix and pretty much ignore the side issues.

Might be worth investing in those companies that make the chairs that lift up?

Had GLP been available when I started in 2018, I’m sure my lazy self would certainly have gravitated towards them.

I’m sincerely grateful I had to learn my way through this process, and that I incorporated exercise.

Don’t beat yourself up. If you want to try it, try it, but the mindful way, and be aware of potential long term effects they’re still uncovering .