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

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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 😔

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Replies

  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 482 Member

    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
    Casanova5256 Posts: 1 Member

    keep up the great work it takes time

  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,736 Member

    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
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,129 Member

    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.

  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 482 Member
    edited July 7

    Honestly, if there was an over-the-counter pill that I knew was safe and suppressed my appetite, I would absolutely take it. For now, I weigh and track and look for ways to cut my calories the old fashioned way. But if I thought I could take a different path long term and not track, I would do it too. I’m just not big enough to go that route, and I’m a chicken about taking drugs.

  • LiveOnceBeHappy
    LiveOnceBeHappy Posts: 482 Member
  • yakkystuff
    yakkystuff Posts: 1,239 Member

    Nods to all of it...

    Like OP, I am with people regularly who use the GLP medicine, are seeing results, and during our meetings, actually snack on candy/treats and drinks.

    Even though I was personally moderating at group feasts, this required an adjustment again in my thinking, because, darn, it would for sure be funner, eating wise.

    Oh, well... sighs.

  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 15,402 Member
    edited July 7

    Hmm. Nothing wrong with the occasional treat.

    But balance is balance. And it seems to me that humans need some balance.

    You can tilt. But extreme pushes tend to not end well. In either direction

    Appetite suppression is great.... if you do all the other stuff. I.e. in context and as part of a more general make over!

    Same applies to surgery. If you don't do the other stuff it often doesn't work.

    Doesn't mean it's not a good solution for some.

    Overall, eventually, we will see the long term numbers. So far it looks like one of the interventions with the least amount of side effects to date.

    But, least amount of side effects does not mean no side effects.

    I think most of us would pick a 95% successful surgical option that would give great quality of life for the last 10 years of our lives at the risk of dying on the table, or having relatively crappy 10 years!

    Yet add up how many real people would die on that table. That's not a small number.

    Where I am today I am not a candidate to take any of these drugs. But where I was 11 years ago? I'm not sure what my answer would have been.

    For better or worse. The fast trap is always there! 😆

    Long term weight control success rate involves changing many things in our lives. Starting from our own outlooks.

    At a guess the pill / injection will obviously help. But not everyone. And not just by itself. But then again no single solution works for everyone.

    Like many things it will end up over prescribed and over relied on. And abused.

    But also somewhat benefited by.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 37,129 Member

    For clarity: I don't think people who take GLP-1 drugs necessarily need to give up alllll junk food or treats. That's because I don't think anyone trying to lose weight - and then, we hope - stay at a healthy weight long term - necessarily needs to give up allll junk food or treats. If my PP on this thread seemed to imply otherwise, that was unintended.

    In general, I think it's an unrealistic plan to totally give up craved foods, during or after weight loss.

    If someone can't moderate some or all junk/treat foods, then they may need to give them up for a time to break the cycle. But, if a person can eat some of those things in moderation by reducing portion sizes or eating them less frequently, and fit them into a reasonable calorie goal alongside overall good nutrition, then I think it's a good plan to eat some of those foods just for the joy of it. On top of that, many junk/treat foods make at least some contribution to overall nutrition, it's just that they tend to bring quite a few calories along for the ride, and aren't very filling.

    Unnecessarily completely denying oneself all treats just makes weight loss harder, and success less likely.

    As an aside: I'm sure some people know what some of their friends/acquaintances eat in an overall sense. I know for sure that some people think they know what their friends eat overall, but actually don't.

    How do I know this? Because some of my friends, seeing only how I eat when traveling with them occasionally or dining out occasionally, have the most bizarre ideas of what I eat overall. Honestly, I suspect some think I'm secretly bulimic. I'm not. I like to eat indulgently sometimes, so I figure out how to make that work. My routine daily eating habits are very different from how I eat when traveling.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 9,765 Member
    edited July 7

    In fairness, I guess I should reconsider my statement.

    There are people in my group who are convinced I’m bulemic because I “appear” to eat whatever I want at get togethers.

    They don’t know, nor do I care to share, nor is it even any of their business, that I may start banking calories as early as the day before the event, because the food is usually so rich and tasty. I may set aside 1800 calories, if it’s a special-special get together (Our Christmas party is epic).

    I supposed that’s pretty two-faced of me to assume the GLP users aren’t doing the same. They are still in the “early glow” of weight loss and there just sometimes seems to be almost a competitiveness about how fast they’re losing with how little exercise, and how they’ll get around to it “later”, typically meaning when they retire, or other-often distant- life changes.

    I want to scream at them “do it now!!!!”


    some of you guys posting here that you already are, hurray for you!!!!!! And hugs for your sensible approach!

  • NeedToLoseWeight2000
    NeedToLoseWeight2000 Posts: 51 Member

    Slight high jack of the thread, but if GLP1 users have no appetite and are trying to lose weight as quickly as possible how do they survive? If my calories are too low over a given week where I am highly active I will usually crash and it takes me a few days to get out of it.
    So what happens to those that routinely undereat/get by on junk, do they just always feel terrible and assume it’s a side effect?

  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,524 Member

    Slight high jack of the thread, but if GLP1 users have no appetite and are trying to lose weight as quickly as possible how do they survive?

    They don't have no appetite - their appetite is reduced. and they are not all trying to lose as quickly as possible - there are plenty of people on these things who are losing slow and steady.

  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,195 Member

    My understanding is that it slows the metabolism down greatly reducing the desire to eat since you have food in your system that is not being digested at the normal rate. I worked with someone that was overweight and diabetic and was put on the injections and he described eating where he would get full quickly, not have much of an appetite at all, almost to the point where a "normal" amount of food would make him sick.

  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 2,039 Member

    It slows down digestion. And yes, you're correct, that's why it works. People's appetite decreases dramatically because food stays in their stomach longer, so they eat much less.

  • yakkystuff
    yakkystuff Posts: 1,239 Member
    edited July 13

    Didn't seem odd to me - really resonated with me, i think because of the incongruity of the 2 opposing actions observed (taking glp1 drug and eating candy).

    It evoked an emotional response in me too - initially envy? Certainly caused me to evaluate my thinking, options, and to make a concious choice for myself.

  • El_Pato_Grande
    El_Pato_Grande Posts: 7 Member

    I've been on Compound Semaglutide for 7 months and have lost 45+ pounds.

    A common misconception is that the GLP-1 meds CAUSE you to lose weight. They don't. They ALLOW you to lose weight by calming the constant hunger (food noise) many of us face and helping you lose your appetite for unhealthful foods.

    I was able to lose and maintain my weight for years through diet and exercise alone. But now that I'm in my late 70s, it was no longer possible.

    I know quite a few other seniors on the meds and those who follow the diet and exercise regime do well. Those that don't, not so much.

    I'm happy to answer any particular question you may have.

    FWIW I use Mochi for my meds and they're quite good. I was originally on Noom Med, but switched for better customer service and lower overall cost.

  • TheCKEckstein
    TheCKEckstein Posts: 1 Member
    edited July 19

    Hey. Just want to say a GLP-1 isn’t just for weight loss. I am on one, but initially prescribed due to extreme RA and a secondary immune disorder and it helps immensely with inflammation. I have changed my eating and lost 23 lbs since January. I am working to move more and tracking here for the weight loss. 40 to go!

  • Vicki_Lou86
    Vicki_Lou86 Posts: 1 Member

    I was also considering these injections as know others who they are working for, however, was worried about long term effects, horror stories, and what happens when you stop taking them.

    Recently I read the Fast800 keto and started the diet on Monday 8th July, so far I have lost 11lbs, no longer have cravings for sweet or savory snacks, which I used to eat daily and have more energy. I use the keto sticks which keep me motivated as I know my body is burning fat. I did think I was going to be hungry all the time in the first stage where the calories are really low, but I'm not, and if I do feel hungry, I just have a hig protein or high fat snack and it hasn't slowed the results.

    I know this diet isn't for everyone, I think some health conditions make it unsuitable, but if it is something you can try, then I would definitely recommend it, as the instant results are really motivating and make you want to keep at it. Plus, it gradually moves you from stage 1 to the final stage 3 which is basically a mediterranean diet, known to be the healthiest diet to follow long term. 😊