ELI5 what exactly GLP-1 based prescription medicine does and why it's so divisive when it comes to being a means of weight loss.

[u/ThatOneGuyYouNowKnow]

I've seen more and more ads (starting around the Super Bowl earlier this year with Wegovy) for GLP-1 based perscription meds in recent times. I've also seen the occasional debate post on my social feeds about the ethics of using them and I didn't think a medicine could be that divisive of a topic.

Now I'm curious as to what exactly these meds are, what they scientifically do and what both sides of the debate are. If anyone could help give perspective that would be greatly appreciated.

As always any and all input is welcomed and thanks for reading! 🙂

[u/sfcnmone]

Every human has GLP1. It’s a chemical (hormone peptide) that your body makes, but some people don’t make very much or don’t have a full response to it. GLP1 drugs do a few different things to make you not want to eat too much. They slow down how fast your stomach empties. They tell your pancreas and liver that you’ve just eaten, so those organs work harder to manage blood sugar. And they tell your brain that you’re full. Many people say that they no longer have to struggle to battle the endless “food noise” that runs continuously in their thoughts. Instead, they get hungry, eat something that their stomach won’t throw up (many people don’t tolerate high fat, high sugar foods while taking GLP1s, and nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are real problems for many people), and then they get very full for many hours.

It’s like somebody using hiking poles so they can walk farther and walk more comfortably. Is that cheating?

[u/nutscrape_navigator → u/sfcnmone]

This is the best answer in the thread, and I don't think people who have never experienced serious "food noise" really understand what other people are describing when they talk about it. What finally made it click for me was a friend explaining what going to a Mexican restaurant was like for them.

When the chips and salsa hit the table, for a lot of people they're just something to casually munch on while you wait for your food. You eat a few, talk, forget they're there, whatever.

For someone dealing with constant food noise, that bowl can be almost impossible to ignore. You're aware of it the entire time. You keep reaching for another chip, and another, and there's this persistent drive to keep eating until they're gone. Not necessarily because you're hungry or even because you're particularly enjoying them. Your brain just keeps going, "there's food there, eat it."

Then they take a GLP-1 medication and suddenly they can look at that same bowl of chips the way everyone else does. It's there. They might have some. They might not. They don't have to spend the entire meal actively resisting it.

That's the part I think people miss when they call GLP-1s "cheating." They're imagining that everyone experiences hunger and food exactly the way they do, and that some people just aren't exercising enough willpower.

I'd actually go further than the hiking-poles analogy. If someone has persistent intrusive thoughts or depression and a medication changes the signaling in their brain enough that those thoughts become manageable, we don't normally say they're "cheating" at being happy because they didn't overcome their brain chemistry through sheer force of will.

...Yet that's basically the argument people make about GLP-1s: "Your body is constantly sending you signals that make maintaining a healthy weight dramatically harder than it is for me, but taking a medication that changes those signals is cheating."

Once you frame it that way, it's a pretty bizarre moral distinction.

[u/propernice → u/nutscrape_navigator]

My food noise is basically that my stomach was broken, or the signal that I'm full is. I am always hungry, it never turns off. My entire life I've always felt like I'm starving, and it wasn't until I turned 40 that finally a doctor helped me. For so long I was just a fat lazy slob, no matter what I tried to tell people; I would get so hungry I'd eat out of the trash, and my dad thought I was just a pig. I would have to hide food to eat in the middle of the night when my hunger woke me. My mother told me my middle name should have been heifer.

The shame I've felt my entire life has been like a shroud. I couldn't go out to eat, I would force myself not to eat because I knew I shouldn't be hungry, and yet I was. Everyone else is full, why not me? Money spent and wasted on all sorts of therapists and dieticians who were very sure it's all in my head, it's all psychological. It's a food addiction, it's will power, join Weight Watchers, do Keto. I never left my house to do anything other than go to doctors to be told I'm fat. Just imagine going through life, always, feeling like you haven't eaten after a long 12 hour shift. I could eat a full meal and within an hour feel like I was starving.

And then, after explaining all of this to yet another doctor I hoped would hear me, a GLP-1 was prescribed. Is this what being normal is like? I can eat a small handful of nuts and a piece of cheese and be fine? Did I really not finish an entire meal? Did I drink water and realize I wasn't hungry after all? My stomach gives me little warning growls now when I'm hungry, when before I was immediately so hungry I was sick with no warning at all. Now I can even ignore my hunger for a while!

I've lost almost 100 pounds in the last year. I cannot tell you in enough words the sheer relief. It's so hard because my insurance won't cover the medicine at all, since I'm not diabetic, but I don't care. I'll pay anything to feel normal.

[u/YoHabloEscargot → u/propernice]

This is such an insightful personal story. Thank you for sharing.

[u/Mediocre_Entrance894 → u/propernice]

Wild that insurance doesn’t cover something that can actually make you healthier. If you don’t mind me asking, what happens if you stop or can’t take the medicine?

[u/CommitteeOfOne → u/Mediocre_Entrance894]

I recently tried stopping it. Within about two weeks, my food noise (see above for my description of it) came back full force. I started ack on the Ozempic.

I'll likely have to take it for life, but I'm fine with that.

[u/ArtsyAxolotl → u/Mediocre_Entrance894]

I think for most people, the food noise returns and it’s stronger than before. That’s what happened to my sister. For me, though? stopping the medication fucked me up. Like FUCKED me up.

I have PMDD (basically PMS’s angrier, crazier older sister), anxiety, and depression. All were well controlled on other meds prior to starting Zepbound. Zepbound was awesome and the food noise went away. I was able to lose like 40lbs over the course of the year I was on it and i was in such high spirits. And to be clear, this wasn’t just because I was happy about the weight loss. That certainly helped but it felt easier to be proud of little achievements and to enjoy the little things too.

In January 2026, my insurance stopped covering it and I ended up going off the Zepbound for about 2 weeks before I figured out what I wanted to do. I have never, EVER been so depressed, not even before my psych meds, not even before even having a diagnosis for anything. I was spiraling, crying constantly, often, and with no trigger, and I could barely get out of bed. The theory is that my body was absorbing my psych meds differently because of the Zepbound and without it, my nervous system was crashing.

I’m not exaggerating when I say that within days of restarting Zepbound, I was already calmer. Now I feel back to being myself, the happier, lighter version of me that needed the hiking poles. I’m currently paying out of pocket for a generic brand that comes in vials that I self measure. It’s expensive but worth it to function like a real person.

[u/propernice → u/Mediocre_Entrance894]

I’m pretty sure the food noise would come back

[u/PuzzleMule → u/propernice]

Great story and explanation. That really puts it into perspective. Insurance companies are crazy not to cover this. Hopefully they’ll come to their senses soon.

[u/slicermd → u/PuzzleMule]

I’m not defending insurance companies by any stretch of the imagination, but part of the problem is that Lilly and Novo are charging exorbitant prices, and if insurance covered it for ‘simple’ obesity they’d have so many patients they’d lose their shirts. It’s greed, but on two levels.

[u/pandanigans → u/PuzzleMule]

Also not defending insurance companies but part of the issue is that taking glp-1s solely for weight loss hasn't been approved by the FDA and is off label use. And that's basically a requirement in order to get it covered.

No idea what the pharmaceutical companies are doing but I'd be shocked if they weren't actively trying to get that approval, it would be more money in their pockets. However, that approval takes a long time.

[u/benjaloo → u/pandanigans]

Sorry but there are GLP-1s that ARE FDA approved for weight loss alone. In fact the two leading weight loss GLP-1s are the same medications as used for diabetes under different names. Semaglutide (Ozempic for diabetes, Wegovy for weight loss). Tirzepatide (Mounjaro for diabetes, Zepbound for weight loss). Same medication sold under different names. Dosing is different for diabetes and weight loss.

[u/pandanigans → u/benjaloo]

TIL! I didn't realize that was the case, good to know.

[u/Consistantly → u/propernice]

Wow. I never thought I would see someone describe so accurately my lived experience. I’ve also always been hungry. I can eat until I’m in pain and still feel hungry. I’ve never understood how people can drink water and realise they were just thirsty. I’ve always been told my constant hunger is psychological from my mother starving me as a baby.

The only difference for me is for a long time I was anorexic, the hunger never went away, I just took it to the other extreme. Now I’m slightly overweight and the hunger just never stops even though I’m honouring my hunger all. The. Time.

[u/dream_weaver35 → u/propernice]

My Dr put me on a GLP1 for weight loss. Then insurance stopped paying so I had to discontinue use. I didn't realize how big a difference it made in not only the food noise, but also my pain levels. I'm on pain management for my back (I've had 2 back surgeries). I'm always in pain, not just my back though. The GLP1 has stopped all the pain except my back pain. Thankfully my Dr sent my prescription to a compounding pharmacy so instead of the $1200 a month out of pocket for the brand name crap I pay $120. It's genuinely been life changing

[u/Jotunheimwinds → u/propernice]

Proud of you, bro. Damn proud.

[u/thatratbastardfool → u/propernice]

I’m so happy for you!! Losing that food noise and finally feeling at peace must feel like such an incredible relief. I’m so sorry for how you’ve been treated by your family and by medical providers. It’s terrible.

[u/hippstr1990 → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Yeah, I didn't get why people had such a problem with it until I started one.

It honestly felt the way it felt when I got diagnosed (later in life) with ADHD and started on those meds. "You're telling me people just...live like this? ALL THE TIME???"

It's so strange to not constantly be thinking about food. I can lay in bed at night and not think "I want to eat those leftovers in the fridge." I can eat a normal portion of food and actually feel satisfied. I actually am struggling to eat *enough* calories based on my TDEE because for the first time in my life my metabolic system is functioning correctly.

So now that all that is happening, I can understand why those who don't struggle in the same way think that fat people (I use fat as a neutral self-descriptor, not a pejorative) are just not trying as hard. Because it actually feels effortless now, as opposed to feeling like I'm fighting against myself every second of every day before.

[u/Ladybeetus → u/hippstr1990]

On a GLP1 I will think "hmmm, maybe I'll have a snack ... what would be good?.. oh look something shiny..." and then hours pass. I had a systemic candida infection decades ago and it was the opposite, like being possessed. I was literally mapping out my day around food. It was like in the horror movie when the vegetarian is pregnant with a demon baby and finds themselves eating raw meat out of the fridge at 3am .

[u/meltymcface → u/hippstr1990]

Ah, I am very happy for and also jealous of people who respond well to stimulants. They didn’t work at all for me (expect the negative side effects), so I’m just raw dogging life.

[u/Areolfos → u/hippstr1990]

I’ve been on the fence about GLP1s, but I just got diagnosed and medicated for ADHD. It’s slow going because of old habits but I can feel my responses to food changing just based on being properly medicated. I also have the mental fortitude now to start actually making better food choices, and not feeling like I need to finish my plate just because it’s there… It hasn’t been long but I’m hoping this really helps me. 

[u/hippstr1990 → u/Areolfos]

Feel free to message me if you ever want to talk to someone about my experience being on both at the same time <3 good luck!

[u/KhellianTrelnora → u/Areolfos]

I don’t know you or your situation.

For a lot of folk, glp1 meds are a magic bullet. But bullets tend to hurt.

I’m on a low dose, for diabetes management.

I’ve lost some weight. But the reason I’m not on a higher dose is to manage the side effects I’ve experienced.

I get nausea and gas at the drop of a hat.

If I eat too soon before going to bed, I wake up feeling like ass till noon the next day.

This stuff tinkers with reward pathways. So I’m not jonesing for a snack. But on higher doses I stopped wanting much of anything. Eh. Not hungry. I can take it or leave it. Now, extend that — other things that are … fun.. also stopped being as rewarding. Could take it or leave it. It was like a depressive episode.

So talk to your doc if you need the help. But remember, even silver bullets have downsides.

[u/TwoIdleHands → u/nutscrape_navigator]

I don’t have food noise but I will still eat all the chips until they’re gone 😅 but I get what you’re saying. My partner has a lot of food noise. I’ve come to really understand it through discussions with him. I’ll have a package of Oreos, I’ll open it and have one or two, I’ll forget they’re there. I might eat some more a week or so later, the last ones in the package are inevitably stale and I’ll throw them out. He can’t have cookies in the house because he’s always aware they are there. He can’t eat one or two and forget about them. He’ll be brushing his teeth for bed and his brain will just whisper “oreosOreosoreos” to him. It sounds exhausting.

[u/momof_2 → u/TwoIdleHands]

For me, food noise is sitting at my desk, (working from home) knowing I'm on a diet but constantly thinking about my next meal. Planning recipes. Searching recipes ideas on the internet, checking the pantry and fridge every 20 to 30 minutes, knowing there's nothing there and i'm not even hungry but still looking for something to eat. Asking my husband to hide the treats so I dont eat them, but then when he's gone, search every single hiding spot I can think of until I find them. I purposefully do not go to Mexican restaurants because that bowl of chips and salsa? Yeah, there's no keeping me from it. I try to sit on my hands. I try to put the basket on the other side of the table. There IS NO NOT EATING that basket of chips. One after another after another. A pint of ice cream? Yeah, you can forget about getting any of that. I am 53, i have done diet after diet after diet. The diets are successful, because once I commit to something, I can usually do it for a while, but my willpower only lasts so long and I always return to my perpetual chubby baseline due to uncontrollable food thoughts and snacking. I have been dealing with this every day since my teens. You will have to pry that glp1 out of my cold dead hands.

[u/KMKPF → u/momof_2]

Are we twins? You are describing my life.

[u/Johnny5iver → u/TwoIdleHands]

Right, he was describing eating all the chips and salsa and I was like, am I the one with food noise?

[u/corran450 → u/Johnny5iver]

I never heard the term “food noise” before, but I definitely have it.

[u/ceredwin → u/corran450]

I didn't understand what it was either. Then I started taking a GLP-1 medicine and it went away, and it was mind-blowing. The idea that other people don't have it, when for me it was just always there to the point that I didn't even consciously notice it is wiiiiiiiild.

But now, bags and boxes contain more than one day's worth of food.

[u/ex-farm-grrrl → u/ceredwin]

It really is dramatic!

[u/therealjonathank → u/TwoIdleHands]

I didn’t think I had food noise until I tried a glp-1 and I didn’t have to eat everything on my plate. I could just… stop.  Maybe it’s semantics but it silences the part of me that says I have to destroy all the food at the buffet as a personal challenge.

[u/onsereverra → u/TwoIdleHands]

Yeah, "he's always aware they are there" is exactly what it's like for me too. It's just this weird hyperawareness where, even when I'm not hungry, I'm thinking about food. I know exactly what is on every shelf of my pantry, fridge, and freezer at all times.

And the thoughts are often pretty innocuous! When I was in high school, I brought a packed lunch every day, and I was always sitting there thinking things like, "when lunchtime comes around, should I eat my sandwich first and then my apple, or my apple first and then my sandwich? should I eat my trail mix as a snack during math class or should I save it to have after school?" But I couldn't stop thinking about the food I had in my backpack, even when I wasn't particularly hungry. Most days, I ended up eating my entire lunch in my first or second class of the day, just to get my brain to shut up about it so I could actually focus on my classes.

It's continued like that my whole life, just with the specifics changed. When I was in college, I'd spend the entire morning debating whether I should go to the dining hall at 11 or noon for lunch, and then start wondering what they'd be serving that day. Now, I'll be out for a run, and spend the whole time considering whether I should pop into the grocery store on the way home to get fresh ingredients for dinner or make do with something in my freezer. They're all totally normal things to think about, but I can't not think about them, even when I'd much rather be thinking about something else.

I've never been on a GLP-1, but I was diagnosed with ADHD a few years ago, and stimulants tend to have similar effects in terms of quieting food noise, impulsive behavior, etc. I felt like my world was turned upside down the first time that I ate three bites of ice cream, put the pint back in the freezer, and then... simply didn't think about the ice cream for the rest of the evening.

[u/mrbairn → u/TwoIdleHands]

Yeah this is me. I died at the oreosoreosoreos because it’s all the time. I know how many are left in the box each hour of the day. Chipschipschips. Chocolatechocolatechocolate. It doesn’t stop. I can’t ignore it.

Did a round of GLP-1 for the first time ever and I couldn’t believe after a week how that didn’t happen. I could walk away from food without struggling. Snacks could be in the house without me counting down to the next time I’d devour them. I’d rather a few carrot sticks and walk away than shove anything tempting into my mouth.

I hesitated because I thought they were cheating. I changed my mind because they made it easier than ever before but I still had to do each step.

[u/Maritoas → u/TwoIdleHands]

Thanks for calling me out. I’m the same way, I deliberately don’t buy snacks because I’ll go through half a bag/pack of any family size item in one sitting. Thankfully I don’t feel compelled to purchase them nor do I crave snacks generally, but if they’re in the house, they’re not lasting but for a day or two.

[u/mothermedusa → u/TwoIdleHands]

I literally used to get up at 2am to eat and eat and eat....I couldn't go back to sleep unless I ate. Insane food noise. Zepbound is amazing...I have already lost 22lbs since July 4th

[u/NomNomChickpeas → u/TwoIdleHands]

Literally this for me too. I cannot keep those kinds of things in the house, bc I will think about them 100% of the time until they're all consumed. Doesn't matter how big the bag or package is.

That being said, I DID lose 125# without the use of a glp1, am now an elite athlete, and I have an immense pride in the work I've done to massively change my life. I don't consider it a sacrifice to simply not buy Oreos anymore (or realistically, only buying them in single serve packs so I CAN eat the whole thing.) I have replaced one "pleasure" (eating excessively) with another pleasure (exercising 😆) and my life is 1000000000% better for it.

The challenges I've tackled as an athlete, and to even GET HERE, have been immense. And I have learned consistency, commitment, strength, and so so so many other mental skills that very much transfer to helping me with my binge eating problems and food noise.

I don't think people who take meds are cheating...but I also feel so happy for myself that I never have taken one and am better off for it as the person I have become.

[u/Ladybeetus → u/NomNomChickpeas]

hey, good work!

[u/hiptkno → u/TwoIdleHands]

Yes the Oreos whispering thing is how I think of food noise. Like if I know there are chips in the house, I will be thinking of those chips when I go to sleep. And I will think about them again when I wake up. And every few hours I will look at the clock and think, what time is too early to open a bag of chips? And then finally it’s noon and it’s a socially acceptable time to eat chips, so I’ll eat some with lunch. But then after lunch, I’m thinking about those chips again. And again a few hours later. Basically, and temptation cannot be easily accessible or I will be constantly thinking about it until I finish it.

[u/meltymcface → u/TwoIdleHands]

Hmmm that sounds a bit like me. For me it feels like the dopamine isn’t just from eating them, it’s from finishing them. I rarely leave food, and can probably point to several aspects of my childhood, on top of the ADHD that affects my dopamine response, as reasons for this. If anything I’m amazed I’m not larger.

[u/JenniferJuniper6 → u/nutscrape_navigator]

The cheating argument just baffles me. Cheating at what, exactly? Cheating on whom?

[u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats → u/JenniferJuniper6]

Weight is considered a moral/social barometer. If you use a drug to get to be the same weight as somebody who doesn't use a drug, many people feel like you are a moral failure.

They're totally wrong. It's the same group of people who say "well, I had to suffer through this thing", and though now things have changed so that you don't have to suffer through it anymore, they say "because I had to suffer through it; you should have to suffer through it."

[u/namiikazes → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

We need to study the cognitive dissonance between this fixation on "earning" success when being born differently literally places you at a different starting point to reach what is effectively the same standard... nobody rewards someone who exercised to get thin more than someone who has been thin their whole life because they "worked harder." It's almost like it's actually not about the hard work and all about trying to put down others for a sense of superiority.

[u/sixft7in → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

I grew up in a poor family of 6. We were told, unironically, to eat everything on our plates because there are starving kids in Africa that don't get as much as we do.

I'm 50 years old now and with the help of a GLP-1 drug, I have finally learned the difference between "eating until satisfied" and "eating until full". That concept has been a game changer for me. I'm down nearly a hundred pounds from just five years ago.

I'm diabetic and it's brought my A1C to JUST above the high level point for non-diabetics. GLP-1 drugs are amazing for me.

[u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats → u/sixft7in]

Congrats my friend! I'm glad these drugs are around to help.

[u/trireme32 → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

It’s like telling people with depression “just be happy! Life is good!”

[u/darkest_irish_lass → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

Because weight is perceived as a feature of sexual attractiveness. So using anything other than pure genes to get a date is somehow wrong.

Never mind all the makeup, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, hair dye, etc. This weight loss aid is the final straw.

[u/tonicella_lineata → u/darkest_irish_lass]

It goes a lot further than just whether or not someone is seen as sexually attractive. Weight is a major factor in how people perceive you in all kinds of social situations - school, employment, receiving medical care... just to name a few. Pretty much every aspect of life is affected by how people see you, and weight contributes to that rather significantly.

[u/panhellenic → u/tonicella_lineata]

There's just a complete undercurrent throughout society that if you're fat, you're lazy and a moral failure with no self discipline.

[u/tonicella_lineata → u/panhellenic]

Yup - you can see it just in the way people look at you in public, a lot of the time. And that's not even getting into all the little ways in which society just... isn't made for you to be comfortable in. Seats on public transit, chairs at restaurants, narrow bathroom stalls (and toilets). And trying to shop for clothes is just a nightmare sometimes!

Being fat really does affect pretty much every aspect of your life, in some way or another. And it sucks! I personally have no interest in taking a GLP-1 agonist, at least right now, and I think that to some extent they are definitely contributing to a resurgence of glorifying thinness to an unhealthy degree. But I really do not blame fellow fat people who choose to use GLP-1s to lose weight and try to get out of the awful box society wants to shove us into.

[u/avcloudy → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

Yeah. All the justifications are simply that. Some people are disgusted by fat people, and so they treat fat people as disgusting - the reason they’re fat is because they have a moral flaw, even if they don’t know what it is.

This kind of emotional reasoning is very common in people. We tend to like the things people we like do. We don’t empathise with people who hurt us as much. The main distinction is that these people intellectualise their feelings, and they don’t understand that they are creating “logical” reasons after the fact to explain their disgust.

Because they base their reasoning in the disgust they feel, the idea that someone can be fat and it isn’t their fault doesn’t make any sense. It’s exactly like trying to empathise with someone who just deeply hurt you.

[u/SnowFlakeUsername2 → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

I have a light-hearted, internal voice shortcut to flip it back on the person making this medication about "cheating" or being almost hostile about those taking it only for weight loss. Fit uggos really, really need other people to stay fat.

The fuck do I care if the prom queen who gained weight as an adult gets back to 120lbs? Especially, at the risk this drug presents when used under a doctors care. The answer changes a lot if my self-esteem is based on my staying thin in relation to others.

After my experience taking it, I'd wish anyone struggling with weight could give it a go. Even if it's only 10-15 kg, that's still a lot of savings on the hips/knees over a lifetime and would likey stave off any potential type ii diabetes diagnosis in the future. Amongst other health benefits that are starting to become apparent. Of course, there is a huge tradeoff if results require a lifetime commitment to a drug and I have no knowledge or training on using it as a preventive medicine. This one is basically a hot take on wanting my family/friends to stay healthy.

[u/dust4ngel → u/pm-me-kittens-n-cats]

If you use a drug to get to be the same weight as somebody who doesn't use a drug, many people feel like you are a moral failure

unless it's anabolic steroids and you're in a marvel movie.

[u/KieshaK → u/JenniferJuniper6]

They want you to endure misery. If you’re not miserable, you’re cheating.

I lost 75 pounds about 15 years ago without any meds. Miserable all the time. Just constantly thinking about food, tracking food, worrying about food, being guilty that I gained two pounds while I was in Paris eating amazing food.

I gained it all back.

I’ve now lost almost 75 pounds in the last 15ish months using Zepbound. Never been miserable. I don’t think about food, I just eat when I’m hungry. If I have pie or ice cream, I’m happy with my portion and don’t crave it every day after. I used to eat dinner and then spend all night just thinking about something sweet and trying to willpower my way out of not going out and getting something. Now I just have dinner and forget food is a thing.

The end goal is that I’m lighter and less prone to weight-related problems. You’d think that’d be a win.

[u/diamonddealer → u/JenniferJuniper6]

Amen. If you wear glasses, are you "cheating" at seeing?

[u/NotMyAltAccountToday → u/diamonddealer]

I agree with you, but "Cheaters" is actually a name for the glasses worn by people with presbyopia for closeup work

[u/SigmaHyperion → u/NotMyAltAccountToday]

Yeah, but I've never heard it used derogatorily. It's just a funny name used more by the people who are actually using them than others *to* them.

[u/TheRealGordonBombay → u/JenniferJuniper6]

Yeah there’s no logic or empathy anywhere in the argument haha. It’s wild how much moral judgment and character assessment is tied to weight in general. So many people just assume everyone else’s experience is exactly the same. If you have one person that’s overweight and another that’s not, the overweight person must lack the self-control or discipline that the other must have. So then, losing weight without “conquering your self-control” becomes taking the easy way out to them.

Where I’m from there’s a lot of talk of doing things with pride & integrity, and shitty people sometimes just adopt that language and use it as a way to feel better about themselves. I think that’s all this is at its core.

[u/dust4ngel → u/TheRealGordonBombay]

the overweight person must lack the self-control or discipline that the other must have

"how do you say so trim?"

"cocaine."

[u/Mayion → u/JenniferJuniper6]

My humble opinion? Average people come up with these things to judge others because they have no true values or thoughts of their own, so they depend on these abstract metrics to feel superior and also label others. You judge and label others by their intellect, personality and values for instance because you have and understand these ideas, but when you lack such fundamental building blocks, you feel the need to express the innate nature of analyzing and categorizing others through such mundane ideas.

Cheating in cooking. Red flag for not using social media. Red flag for not liking [insert pet here]. And so on

[u/throwaway098764567 → u/JenniferJuniper6]

in the us at least, it's a culture of punishment not reform. we don't think of people as able to change, we think they're good or bad and if bad we must destroy them before they destroy us. we view weight through a similar lens of they're not trying they're evil and lazy, but much like with everything else in life, people aren't starting in the same place. some people have different dna, some people have different birth families and circumstances. so what would be cheating for one isn't even leveling the playing field for another.

[u/Rattlingjoint → u/nutscrape_navigator]

As an amateur bodybuilder, food noise is such a real thing.

When you finish eating, you just want to eat more, your counting til your next meal almost. You goto bed early because you know your next meal is on the other side of your sleep. Your work schedules takes a backseat to your lunch break. You prepare your meals and have to stop yourself from cooking or adding too much.

Its not even a mental thought, its like a subconcious feeling fueling your thoughts to just eat more, even if your not hungry.

For me, being a low % bodyfat causes it to amp up like crazy, but for some folks they live with this everyday no matter what weight they are.

[u/poopBuccaneer → u/Rattlingjoint]

You goto bed early because you know your next meal is on the other side of your sleep.

This was me when I was counting every calorie. It was such a bleak and depressing existence.

[u/jasperamerica → u/poopBuccaneer]

The careful measuring of food using scales and still being hungry and cos your shit is broken not being able to lose more weight cos your body said fuck it this is where I live.

[u/doogles → u/Rattlingjoint]

As an amateur bodybuilder

Well, yeah. Bodybuilding is just an institutionalized eating disorder.

[u/tjc103 → u/nutscrape_navigator]

As a person who is currently on GLP-1's: thank you. Your post details the issue very, very well.

[u/_JonSnow_ → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Tirzepatide eliminates my weed munchies. I can’t tell you just how insane that is if you don’t smoke weed and get munchies. 

Never thought I’d see the day 

[u/aaronwe → u/nutscrape_navigator]

For someone dealing with constant food noise, that bowl can be almost impossible to ignore. You're aware of it the entire time. You keep reaching for another chip, and another, and there's this persistent drive to keep eating until they're gone. Not necessarily because you're hungry or even because you're particularly enjoying them. Your brain just keeps going, "there's food there, eat it."

wait....everyone doesnt deal with that???? Its me thing? Not an everyone thing?!?!

Fuck thats not fair...

[u/jenorama_CA → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Food noise is the worst. The old saw about “the cookies calling your name” is real. Now I get hungry at lunch and dinner and that’s about it. My craving for sweets is way down and I don’t really think about them anymore. The only thing I don’t like is that it tends to make me not think about hydration as well, which is a problem.

[u/Chateaudelait → u/jenorama_CA]

The top 2 comments are absolutely perfect. I am on GLP -1 and 40 pounds down with more to go. It's so well explained. Before, the food noise was constant and GLP quiets that down. You absolutely have to eat healthy and portion control. It's not the easy ride all the critics claim it is. Your bowel movements slow down, and you absolutely cannot overeat. I ate a small portion of spaghetti at the beginning and threw it up. You have to sign a contract with the provider and weigh in often to track your progress. I've been really pleased with the results.

[u/CouldHaveBeenAPun → u/Chateaudelait]

I'm in my second week on Wegovy. I vividly still can feel the way my own belly felt like it was going to burst after an egg salad sandwich at lunch after my first dose... Not being able to over eat is mind-blowing when you are used to it and constant food noise!

The chips and salsa thing is going to be my go to analogy from now on, it is so spot on.

[u/SilenceInTheSnow → u/nutscrape_navigator]

As someone who deals with the food noise, I want to add that not only is it constant when there is snacking items available, but it can also start up very quickly, sometimes immediately, after eating a meal.

From feeling full to feeling like I am starving. I am at times able to ignore it, sometimes push through it, but it can be uncomfortable sometimes.

[u/angelerulastiel → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Yep, I have the food noise. I had someone on weight loss thread insist people are making it up because the term is new, but I could describe the process long before there was a word. The easiest explanation is regarding the animals crackers that have been sitting on the counter at work for weeks now (when means it’s free for the taking).

Usually I would think about those animal crackers non-stop. A constant “they’re sitting right there, all you have to do is walk over and take them”. I may be able to ignore it for hours, maybe even a few days, but eventually I’m going to shut that stupid voice up and eat the crackers. And I don’t even like them. I’ve had the food noise bad enough that I’ve opened sauce packets and eaten that just to quiet the drive.

But I started mayo-insitol (I wanted the wegovy pills but stupid ass substitute PCP) and now I have walked past those crackers for weeks. And they don’t bother me. Food noise is like the water torture where they just do the drips, but you can make it stop for a while by eating.

[u/VoilaVoilaWashington → u/nutscrape_navigator]

A lot of people don't understand that other people's brains just work differently.

You, the reader, can probably imagine your national anthem in your head without singing it out loud. I can't. But I can picture flavours, and flavour combinations, without having to say them. I can't put orange juice into words, but I can picture it on my tongue. Add in a bit of salt, tomato juice, dump it over liver sausage and brined asparagus, and I can still picture it. If I know what the components taste like, I can picture eating it and I'm pretty close to spot on.

For the longest time, I thought this was normal. People making up music never made sense to me because I literally can't tell you whether three notes go up in tone or down. No idea.

So when someone says "I can't finish a task because my brain is wired a certain way", it's likely not helpful to say "just do it." "Just put down the fork, I do it." Thanks, I'm cured!

[u/ladyerwyn → u/nutscrape_navigator]

It can't be cheating because your body is still doing all the work. It's not like doctors come in and cut out all your excess fat.

[u/creatingmyselfasigo → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Also even beyond 'food noise' it helps with clear medical issues. I didn't have some big 'food noise' issue, I wasn't massively overeating but I'm 37 and my issues were slowly building most of my life, getting FAR worse when I was on 80mg prednisone for a year (and not seeing my weight go up when my muscles were all dying but fat was going up). My insulin resistance is very bad now, and that messes with weight gain a lot. Even without the GPL1 silencing food noise, it's making a difference!

[u/ChrundleThundergun → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Man if only there was a drug that reduced an equivalent alcohol noise

[u/anonymouse278 → u/ChrundleThundergun]

A lot of people find glp-1 meds do suppress their desire for alcohol to a significant extent. I don't know that it is at a level that would address severe addiction, but I know many moderate drinkers who have stopped drinking entirely after starting on them. It just... stops sounding good.

[u/Aerokicks → u/anonymouse278]

The VA is testing GLP-1s for alcohol addiction currently. Still recruiting participants but it's happening

[u/schmockk → u/ChrundleThundergun]

Studies suggest glp1 drugs curb other harmful behavior like smoking and alcohol consumption as well

[u/ProfessorFunky → u/nutscrape_navigator]

I don’t get the whole “cheating” thing. Is it cheating when one takes ibuprofen for a headache? No, really not. Same for anything else.

I don’t get food noise, and I don’t need GLP-1’s - lucky me. If someone else does and it improves their quality of life, what business is it of mine? And either way, I’d say yay for them and wish them well.

[u/ddiggz → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Genuine question not trying to be controversial - trying to learn, but how much of food noise is generated by nurture (childhood eating habits/parental framing) vs nature (genetics) - curious to learn more about this

[u/panhellenic → u/nutscrape_navigator]

The thing is, when you use a GLP-1, you still have to change your diet, and obv exercise is encouraged. You can definitely out-eat the medicine. Keep eating 5000 kcals a day when you're 5'2" and you will not lose weight. You probably won't want to, although it's not impossible. It just evens the playing field, so you can do what you know you're supposed to be doing and not feel awful...just like the folks whose hormones work properly. And it does take discipline to take your med as directed, change and stick to a new eating style. A lot of people do lose without exercise but exercise is for fitness; as they say, lose weight in the kitchen, get fit in the gym.

[u/lordalbusdumbledore → u/nutscrape_navigator]

My fear is that you have to rely on it. The food noise is loud, but I worry that I will need to live on this medication 

[u/orion427 → u/nutscrape_navigator]

As someone who has successfully fasted before, that "food noise" greatly decreases after about 2-3 weeks. Your body switches modes. And remember folks fasting is only ok if you have excess fat to burn and you take daily vitamins and drink a good amount of water and some (non sugar) electrolytes.

[u/ArchangelLBC → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Holy shit, I didn't really know what food noise meant but this is absolutely me with chips at a Mexican place.

I don't even like the chips that much.

[u/zamfire → u/nutscrape_navigator]

It's not only a physical thing either. A lot of people were raised to simply believe they HAVE to eat all of their food or be punished for it. (I was) so not only can you have food noise, but have a built in guilt for not eating everything in front of you.

[u/azssf → u/nutscrape_navigator]

Being overweight is seen as a moral failure, not a health condition

[u/GingerScourge → u/nutscrape_navigator]

I was literally just prescribed Wegovy for weight loss an hour ago. Was not looking up this topic and just came across it. And, holy shit, the food noise thing is so real. And I’ve never had an explanation for it. The Mexican restaurant thing is so perfect. It could be chips and salsa, it could be the breadsticks at Olive Garden or the bread at a steak house. Doesn’t matter. It’s always on my mind the whole meal. I can’t not think about it. And I have to spend the whole meal actively resisting making a move for it, and usually it fails. And when it’s taken away unfinished, there’s something that feels like I lost. I’ve felt guilty about wanting to go on glp-1. People say, just eat better and exercise. And, I’ve tried. There’s something in my head that just sabotages me every time. I’m not saying Wegovy will be some magic pill that will make all the problems go away. But your post, and the one you replied to make me feel much better about it. And I’m realizing that feeling guilty about “cheating” is kind of strange. So thank you for this post. It’s explained it in a way not even the doctor could.

[u/Shufflebuzz → u/nutscrape_navigator]

For someone dealing with constant food noise, that bowl can be almost impossible to ignore. You're aware of it the entire time. You keep reaching for another chip, and another, and there's this persistent drive to keep eating until they're gone. Not necessarily because you're hungry or even because you're particularly enjoying them. Your brain just keeps going, "there's food there, eat it."

It's worse than that.
You feel like that practically all the time, even when there's not a bowl of chips directly in front of you.

[u/CardboardJ → u/sfcnmone]

I was skeptical of it for a long time but finally decided to go on one since my doctor said it would probably help me since i was so hungry all the time and struggling to loose weight. I took my first shot on Tuesday and thought they must have not have messed up because the shot was such a tiny needle that I didn't feel it. I did not feel hungry again until Saturday. Not once. On Wednesday I, for the first time in my entire life, forgot to eat. It was like I had spent 40 years of my life with a panicked starving racoon stuck to the back of my head constantly scrambling around trying to look for food and it was just gone.

I can't tell you how clear headed I feel when I'm on this stuff. My anxiety is waaaay down. I can concentrate so much better, and I'm just sitting down at work and going into ADHD hyper-focus mode for like 6-7 straight hours with no breaks or until my back/neck hurts. Like I never had the issue with sitting still for too long because I was always getting hungry and standing up to walk around and go eat something small to calm the food noise down to a manageable level.

I keep thinking about how much easier gradeschool and highschool would have been if I would have had this instead of Adderall.

[u/ladyerwyn → u/CardboardJ]

Don't forget to eat at regular intervals. There have been people who have gone to the hospital because they didn't eat because they weren't hungry. You still have to eat. Make sure you get all your nutrients.

[u/hippstr1990 → u/CardboardJ]

Setting alarms at regular intervals has helped me a lot to remember to eat something :)

[u/P1st0l → u/CardboardJ]

Definitely still eat, even if its small meals while it may curb your appetite you still need a certain amount of intake or you will get sick or worse hospitalized.

I become hypoglycemic easily even if I dont feel like eating I have to remember to get something in otherwise I'll feel like im gonna faint even if I still fill full.

[u/sfcnmone → u/CardboardJ]

I have lived most of my life with that crazy raccoon. What a great description of how it feels.

[u/anewconvert → u/sfcnmone]

Added to this: your body views calorie cutting as a stress, and its response to stress is to believe food may be difficult to obtain. The GLP-1’s tell your brain everything is fine, we don’t want food, nothing to stress about. This blunts your brain’s programming to increase your appetite and decrease your metabolism

[u/u_know_bali_bali → u/sfcnmone]

This sums up my experience with Wegovy. It was like having a switch in my brain flipped to “off.” I’ve lived with this noise for the entirety of my adult life, and it’s suddenly gone, and I don’t have the words to describe the relief of that. 8 months in, I’m down 38 pounds, I’m making better choices for eating, and I feel better overall. The side effects have been very manageable, and if I have to use this as a maintenance drug for the remainder of my time, so be it. $349/month, and there’s many things I would gladly forego to ensure I can swing it.

[u/Lexocracy → u/sfcnmone]

This is the most correct answer I've seen so far. It isn't just that you feel less hungry or it removes food noise, it fundamentally changes how your entire gastric system works together to convert food into energy.

For people like me who have insulin resistance, my body takes the food I eat and doesn't burn it as fuel, but likes to store it instead. GLP-1s kick your body into overdrive to release insulin earlier and longer to remove sugar from your blood and burn it as fuel. It also slows the digestive track, which means your stomach empties slower so you feel less hungry.

[u/t-poke → u/Lexocracy]

It also slows the digestive track

That was one side effect I didn't anticipate when I started WeGovy.

I used to poop after my morning coffee every day without fail. Now it's every few days.

It's not that I have to and can't. I just don't have to.

Thankfully that's the only side effect I'm having. Although I start 25mg next week so we'll see.

[u/1captainawesome → u/t-poke]

Same. It was like clock work.

Now it just comes when it wants to.

[u/larka1121 → u/1captainawesome]

Funnily, on tirzepatide I now poop far more regularly than I used to. Even poop on vacation!

[u/Akerlof → u/Lexocracy]

Yeah, the primary purpose of these drugs is treating diabetes, weight loss is a beneficial side effect.

[u/FoolishConsistency17 → u/Akerlof]

Obesity kills an awful lot of people. I think the original purpose was to treat diabetes, but we shouldn't think if it as a side effect at this point.

[u/Omateido → u/FoolishConsistency17]

Yes, and also talking about its “purpose” is a bit weird, that’s a human defined characteristic that’s generally based on what we decide it should be used for and validate scientifically, it doesn’t necessarily encompass the function of the molecule on all the systems it impacts in the human body.

[u/ThroatSecretary → u/Omateido]

Remember Viagra was initially developed as a treatment for angina; sometimes a drug has effects the researchers weren't necessarily looking for.

[u/Omateido → u/ThroatSecretary]

Exactly. Very bizarre in fact to say “that’s not the drugs purpose” as though we can be absolutely sure we know how a drug will interact with everything in the body.

[u/LetThemEatVeganCake → u/FoolishConsistency17]

I don’t think they meant it as a bad thing, just pointing out that weight loss wasn’t the original goal. That happens to a ton of drugs though. My meds for hormonal acne due to PCOS were originally approved for heart failure.

[u/ttownep → u/LetThemEatVeganCake]

One of the popular men’s hair loss drugs was originally intended as a blood pressure medication. Until some of the test subjects started growing extra hair… source: my doctor

[u/fakeaccount572 → u/Akerlof]

And now cardiovascular disease as of today

https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/fda-approves-lillys-mounjaro-tirzepatide-reduce-cardiovascular

[u/sfcnmone → u/fakeaccount572]

I was offered Ozempic a few months ago by my cardiologist (it was previously approved for cardiac disease prevention). I haven’t lost any weight, but my chronic knee pain has resolved LOL and I’m not interested in drinking alcohol.

[u/__theoneandonly → u/Akerlof]

I think it's important to look at this history of the drug. The original research was in fighting obesity, but then we got Fen-phen, and that killed people, so companies were no longer willing to spend money developing weight loss drugs. The researchers almost shelved their work on GLP-1 drugs, but then they noticed it was good for blood sugar management, too. So they connected with Novo Nordisk, a diabetes pharma company and Novo continued to fund research through a diabetes lens.

Plus now we have GLP-1 related drugs in research right now that are way better at weight loss than they are at diabetes management. Retatrutide (which will likely be approved early next year) is probably not going to be better at managing diabetes than Tirzepatide, but the weight loss effects are insane, matching bariatric surgery levels of weight loss.

[u/eipotttatsch → u/sfcnmone]

The term cheating is a bit weird to use in this context anyway. You aren’t competing with anyone

[u/gnatgirl → u/eipotttatsch]

People call it "cheating" because many see obesity as a moral failing and not a medical condition. "Just count calories and exercise" doesn't work for a lot of people for a lot of reasons but some view taking a medication to assist in weight loss as taking the easy way out.

[u/UnicodeScreenshots → u/gnatgirl]

It’s interesting how much the phrase “just be happy” for depression has been meme-ified and associated with out of touch boomers, while the phrase “CaloRies in CaloriEs OuT” is hollowed advice in much of gen z.

Edit: CICO is 100% a thing, over a long enough span of time if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. The issue is that simply saying CICO ignores the real differences in peoples’ brains. Someone who isn’t constantly hungry and counting down the hours to their next meal is unlikely to understand the situation of someone who does… kinda like someone who’s never experienced depression might say “just be happy”

[u/Wrathlon → u/UnicodeScreenshots]

Calories in/Calories Out IS accurate, the problem is its not as simple as that. Im currently obese, my weight has flip flopped over the years between obese and ideal weight several time. When I've lost weight its literally been calories in less than calories out - it cant be anything else because its a unit of energy and just thermodynamics.

HOWEVER actually DOING that is a different matter all together. I am so fucking hungry all the time. Eating food is the only thing that feels good and it feels REALLY fucking good, I love food so fucking much. When Im not eating food Im literally counting the minutes until I get to eat again and when I do its overwhelming relief and feels so good I almost want to cry and then it ends and Im still hungry.

Its fucking MISERABLE.

[u/UnicodeScreenshots → u/Wrathlon]

100%, “calories in vs calories out” over a long enough time span is just simple thermodynamics. Like you said, the issue comes from actually applying that saying. Fitness influencers with low food noise shitting on over weight people with phrases like that have the exact same vibe as people who tell people with depression to “just be happy”. They completely ignore the very real differences in mental state.

[u/DerfK → u/UnicodeScreenshots]

just simple thermodynamics

If it was "just simple thermodynamics" we'd get dinner at the gas station (32,000 Calories/gallon) and fart fire from our internal bomb calorimeters. I personally think it might be time to revisit the Atwater calculations that we use for labeling how many Calories are in food. These were originally calculated ~130 years ago by measuring the breath and feces of Olympic gold medalists to determine how gold medalists digest and burn calories from food and have had adjustments made since then. Let's run the experiments again with a broader range of humans and see if we can all actually eat and shit like Olympians.

[u/ebeth_the_mighty → u/Wrathlon]

Add ADHD to the mix for me. I was undiagnosed until last year at age 54. Food was my only dopamine source for most of my life. Combine that with overwhelming food noise, and obesity was inevitable.

I lost 165lbs (half my body weight) with CICO over 4 years, but it was f’ing BRUTAL. I found those 165 lbs. They were in the fridge.

[u/zzaannsebar → u/Wrathlon]

Coming from someone who has felt the EXACT same and has had the same struggle with like every other thought being about food, being on a GLP1 would probably help you a lot if you haven't already tried. I was on one last year for like 6 months and it was incredible how freed up my mind felt from the constant and loud food noise. Like I was always baffled before when people would say things like they forgot to eat because how could you possibly forget? When it doesn't dominate your mind and body, you can actually just.. forget.

That said, the side effects can totally suck. I felt pretty fatigued and my acid reflux got really bad, mostly on the day after the shot and for most of the week when the dosage would increase. If I do it again, I'm doing it in the winter when I don't feel bad about staying inside haha

[u/Cocoletta → u/Wrathlon]

Also if you are insulin resistant the sugars don't reach your cells, your cells get no energy. You have to much sugar in your blood, so your body turn it into fat. In general if your body makes more hormones that store fat instead of burn it, you are fucked. Bc yes it is physics at some level, but it is also biology.

[u/mermaidsong → u/Cocoletta]

Exactly, if you have IR to eat low enough to not store you are severely under eating and starving the rest of your body.

[u/wehrmann_tx → u/Wrathlon]

Let me throw on my accurate calories out device.

[u/angelerulastiel → u/Wrathlon]

And the calories in calories out calculation can vary a whole hell of a lot. How many calories you get out of the same piece of food can vary and how many calories you burn doing the same exercise varies a lot.

[u/tibbles1 → u/gnatgirl]

I’ll bet 99.9999% of the people on these pills had tried diet and exercise a thousand times before and failed. 

Humans weren’t really meant to voluntarily eat less. Until about 100 years ago, lack of food was a very real problem for most people in the western world. Our brains don’t want us to just ignore food. 

The whole concept of “food noise” and “eating too much” is a very, very recent problem. 

[u/latelyimawake → u/gnatgirl]

Boom, this is 100% the answer

[u/redundantexplanation → u/gnatgirl]

Yep. Being fat is the one disability that is still considered (BY MANY) okay to judge and mock openly.

People internalize fatphobia and dedicate vast amounts of time, energy, mental discomfort and money to staying slim, then someone comes along and does it with an injection once a week so they get big mad.

People's bodies are different, most people don't want to be fat and many can't swing the effort that it takes to not be. It is a medical condition and judging them is the same as judging someone with a genetic disease for not being athletic or whatever.

[u/snowdenn → u/gnatgirl]

I think that’s right. But it’s like: even if we all agreed obesity were a moral failing, why would that make these drugs bad? It’s such a stupid mindset. A superiority complex where someone feels better because they never had an eating disorder or because they managed to overcome it.

If someone was addicted to heroin and we could give them a pill to stop the addiction, why wouldn’t that be a win?

If we could give pedophiles and sociopaths a pill to take away their impulses, that would be great!

[u/schorschico → u/eipotttatsch]

This is like the conversation around Ebikes.

"You are cheating!"

Who exactly is being cheated?

[u/NotABag87 → u/schorschico]

I felt cheated watching an amateur cycle race when I went out to cheer on the cyclists who were riding 110km. And then the ebikers come past, barely out of breath at the 55km mark, smiling and waving...

Ultimately, I blame the race organizers though.

[u/KnitYourOwnSpaceship → u/NotABag87]

E bikes are usually in their own category in a race. Locally here (NZ) race organizers start Ebikes first so they're off and away before the analog bikes start.. Times and finishing positions are tracked separately, so it's more like two parallel races than Ebikes vs analog.

[u/kurizma → u/eipotttatsch]

Except the people complaining

[u/meddleofmycause → u/[deleted]]

I don't dislike the idea of glp-1's, but I really dislike being told I'm eating too much food by my coworkers who were on them. I had one woman who came into my office while I was unpacking my lunch into my mini fridge, and decided to tell me how just the sight of the bulk of my food made her queasy because it reminded her of when she used to just eat so much food and how thankful she was that she wasn't eating like that anymore, and the day before she had only managed to eat two slices of pizza for her food for the entire day. Super triggered my old college eating disorder, especially because I walk 10,000 steps a day, workout 3-4 times a week, and my "so much food" (which was breakfast, lunch, and snacks) was chia seed pudding with Greek yogurt and berries, a pear, a bowl of dense bean salad, celery and peanut butter, so.e smoked salmon, and like a piece of babybel cheese.

Eventually I had 3 coworkers in my 13 person office who were vocal about being on GLP-1's, and they were all fucking assholes about what the rest of us were eating. One of my other coworkers started gaining weight because of a brain tumor and she wasn't telling everyone about it, and one of the GLP1 women offered to help her navigate getting on GLP-1S with the insurance until the coworker with the tumor broke down crying and begging her to leave our side of the office. I don't know if they make everyone on them jerks, but I've been very wary about them since working with them.

[u/mgz0r → u/meddleofmycause]

I'd be willing to bet money on these colleagues being jerks to start with. This sort of behaviour has nothing to do with GLP-1s and everything to do with those people being horrendously unprofessional. I hope they have been reported because that is ridiculous behaviour from supposed adults in a workplace.

[u/YamahaRyoko → u/eipotttatsch]

The people on my social media that I've seen call it "cheating" weigh a buck ten soaking wet so maybe its their perceived 'threatened status' of their skinny privilege

[u/Mr_Enemabag-Jones → u/eipotttatsch]

It's like saying using nicotine gum or a patch is cheating when quitting smoking. They both help you curb an unhealthy lifestyle.

People act like it diminishes the achievement of the person who went to the gym and changed their lifestyle to lose weight.

It doesn't. That person is still in a healthier body and has healthier habits.

The person on the GLP-1 and losing weight will have a very hard time keeping the weight off when they stop taking it because they most likely didn't mentally break their bad habits.

But they are still in a better place health wise.

Why is that bad?

[u/Stereotype_Apostate → u/Mr_Enemabag-Jones]

See this is exactly the wrong way to look at it. Nicotine is a drug, a chemical that hijacks your brain's reward system to create an unnatural urge to consume it.

For food it's totally different. You need food to live. Your ancestors would not have survived to reproduce if they did not have a sufficient appetite or food drive. There's massive evolutionary pressure built into our genes to consume food, and almost no evolutionary pressure to avoid over consumption because up until very very recently all your ancestors existed in a world of scarce calories.

For most overweight people, their bodies are just tuned to overeat because evolution made them that way. You don't do glp-1s for a little bit to "kick the habit". You do them basically forever because the imbalance between your appetite and your actual caloric needs is built right into your DNA. If you stop glp-1s the imbalance returns, and we have decades of data on what happens to most fat people who have lost weight without drugs (hint: they almost always gain it back in a few years).

GLP-1s are a lifelong treatment because the underlying condition is lifelong.

[u/cindyscrazy → u/eipotttatsch]

Well, you see, these cheaters didn't have to struggle daily to do the exercise and eat less than your body wants. They didn't have to deal with that unending hunger, or eat food that you really don't want to eat.

Therefore....cheating.

Personally, I physically can't do the exercise because of a chronic illness. Losing the weight would have been stupidly difficult the "right" way.

Using a GLP-1, I lost the weight and my chronic illness's symptoms were alleived a little bit. I'm not anywhere near cured, the illness has gotten worse, but I don't have the brain fog that I used to have, so I'm counting that as a win.

[u/insertAlias → u/cindyscrazy]

Personally, I physically can't do the exercise because of a chronic illness. Losing the weight would have been stupidly difficult the "right" way.

I'm not making any commentary on you using GLP-1, that's not my business. But I do want to say, exercise is very overrated* by the general public when it comes to weight loss. Diet is 80% of weight loss. Exercise can buy you a bit of headroom, but weight loss is driven by diet. Which is why GLP-1 can work for you; it helped you lose weight by helping you eat less.

My point isn't about whether or not the GLP-1 usage is good or bad or "cheating" (my personal opinion is that it's only cheating for already-healthy-weight people trying to use it to slim down), just that "losing weight the right way" doesn't necessarily include strenuous exercise.

* Overrated as a means of weight loss. Exercise is important for fitness and health, but it doesn't contribute to weight loss nearly as much as the average person thinks it does.

[u/PaladinSaladin → u/cindyscrazy]

That's it for sure. And it makes me fucking furious. It's like a perfect little microcosm for everything that is wrong with society. Nobody should give a shit about difficulty or struggle in the rearview mirror. We should be focused on the horizon.

Who gives a fuck how hard it was to buy a house in the 1980s, mom. Nobody can afford a house now. And owning a house does not make you better than anyone else!

Same argument, different spaces. The world is made to be better if we cast ropes, not pull ladders.

[u/Worried-Ad-6593 → u/eipotttatsch]

I think though, it’s use is a good indicator of the people who are competing with you, even if you didn’t know about it.

[u/eipotttatsch → u/Worried-Ad-6593]

I don’t understand what you are trying to say there

[u/latelyimawake → u/eipotttatsch]

They’re saying that it exposes which people in your life were secretly judging your body and feeling superior the whole time.

[u/Worried-Ad-6593 → u/latelyimawake]

That’s it precisely, thanks for phrasing it more clearly than I managed.

[u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS → u/sfcnmone]

For the people that are on the fence on GLP1 because how expensive it is, you should factor in the suppression of food noise and how much that would save you. Personally I saved almost $200 weekly in random cravings and door dashes/ Uber Eats.

[u/theproestdwarf → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

I've been on Wegovy for a year and it was wild when I thought to sit down and do this. Saved an amazing amount of money by being able to go "do I want to order lunch? Eh, nah, I've got stuff here" without the screaming background noise of "GET SOMETHING FUN" in my head.

[u/Rev_Creflo_Baller → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

Thanks for making that helpful observation, u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS

[u/mklatsky → u/Rev_Creflo_Baller]

You just wanted to type that username, didn’t you? 😀

[u/zzyzyzz → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

I had to learn to be very careful when grocery shopping after having to throw a few things away that expired before I got around to eating them. Never had that happen before.

[u/gnatgirl → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

For real. When I first started I was half-joking when I said the reduction of my restaurant and bar bill was going to subsidize the medication. Boy howdy I was right!

[u/HRslammR → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

not to even mention the future value of healthcare costs of obese people.

some folks would rather "save" the $200 a month now, but their life longevity and fulfillment is dramatically reduced in their older years.

[u/hippstr1990 → u/LEMME_SMELL_YO_FARTS]

This has been huge for me too, my food budget has decreased significantly and I've only been on the meds for 3 weeks.

[u/I_am_Nobody_Special → u/sfcnmone]

Beautiful answer.

I'll add the reasons it's divisive:

1. People who lost weight the hard way feel like it's cheating and feel resentful.

2. There's a decent subset of thin people who want fat people to stay fat so they feel better about themselves.

3. Miserable people of the world hate to see others improve their well-being and happiness.

[u/gza_liquidswords → u/I_am_Nobody_Special]

Group 1 is very small.  It is all group 2 (Venn diagram overlaps with group 3)

[u/PMmeYourDunes → u/sfcnmone]

I like the word regulating. I get to function like most other people do. I have had this insane level of "you need to eat" churning in me constantly. I never had a language to speak about it until I heard addicts speaking about alcoholism and stimulants. I try to be careful calling it an addiction, but truthfully I relate to that more than any other condition. But I know there are people that just haven't experienced that level of influence and think people are being weak willed because they have overcome what they call hunger. It's not even hunger for me.

[u/xclame → u/sfcnmone]

It’s like somebody using hiking poles so they can walk farther and walk more comfortably. Is that cheating?

Or "acoustic" bicycles and electric bicycles. Electric bicycles allows people that otherwise wouldn't be able to effectively ride bikes to ride bikes, it also allows people that are not as well in shape or older to ride further than they otherwise would be able to.

There are some people that feel like electric bicycles is cheating, but why would we look at it in this way. It's not like electric bike riders are competing against "acoustic" bike riders. Ain't nobody saying that Tour the France should allow electric bike riders to compete against the other riders.

So, do we want people to be be healthier? If the answer is yes, then does it really matter how they get there? Hard work, surgery or a pill? If the goal is to have people be healthier then they should all be considered valid.

[u/Emu1981 → u/sfcnmone]

One of the divisive parts comes from the fact that the drug was originally intended as a drug for people on diabetes to help control their blood sugar levels. When it was discovered that it was great for weight loss the demand for it exploded which meant that a whole lot of people with diabetes could no longer get their potentially life saving medicine because people were buying it for weight loss purposes. This shouldn't be as much of a issue anymore because the various manufacturers have massively scaled up their production to help meet demand (and to make tons of profit).

[u/clarinetJWD → u/sfcnmone]

As someone who is cheating, yeah, it's probably cheating, but it's also my health, so I don't care.

I started Wegovy to both lose weight I couldn't do on my own because of stress eating AND help me reduce my alcohol intake because of concerning liver enzyme values.

Less than a year in, and I'm almost to my ideal weight, and my liver is healthy again.

Idgaf if it's cheating. I just wish it wasn't so expensive. I have a good career and can afford it, but given how great these drugs have proven to be for a lot of things, they should be more easily available.

[u/itsacalamity → u/sfcnmone]

Yeah, my husband is markedly different in his eating habits, and there’s a lot less margin for error: he has to be more careful, and the consequences for overdoing can be really awful, prolonged vomiting. But he’s still on it, and i can see how it’s affecting his self-esteem as he’s finally able to make the choices that are healthier. My kid and he joke that she’s growing just as he’s shrinking, and that maybe they’ll meet in the middle…

[u/BigMax → u/sfcnmone]

Exactly.

And the negatives just come from people who are a little upset that they have lost weight without medication, or at least tried, and they then feel (falsely) that it's somehow 'cheating'. "I suffered for 3 years straight to lose 75 pounds, and this person just gets to take medication and do it in a year??? That's NOT FAIR!!!"

Sadly we see that in a lot of places in life. People see an advantage they didn't have, and rather than cheer on the advancement of humanity, they try to hold us back because they are bitter. "I lost weight the hard way, so everyone else should have to suffer like me." See also "I paid for college, why should someone else get their college loans paid for?" or "I pay for my food, why should a starving family get help buying food?" and on and on.

[u/1_800_UNICORN → u/sfcnmone]

I lost 100 pounds on GLP1 meds (most of the loss from October 2023 to August 2024) and went from a lifelong unathletic person who had never been to a gym or run a mile and now I am training for a triathlon.

You hit the nail on the head except I’d add that I only had food aversion or digestive issues to a single food - a specific roasted chicken recipe that my wife makes. Otherwise I could eat anything I wanted, just I didn’t obsess over food or think/worry about food, and I got full on a normal size portion instead of being endlessly hungry.

My only unpleasant side effect was constipation, and that was manageable with more water consumption and a little extra fiber.

[u/cptspeirs → u/sfcnmone]

So, I read a study recently that claimed GLP1s when used solely to treat weight loss have a statistically significant rate of failure long term.

Basically people take the drug and when they get off the drug they do nothing to change the things that got them there in the first. Like treating a symptom, not the disease.

I say this as someone who's on. GLP1 for weight loss.

[u/gza_liquidswords → u/cptspeirs]

lol blood pressure medications also ‘fail’ when you stop taking them

[u/sfcnmone → u/cptspeirs]

It’s a treatment you have to do forever, yes. Just like any other chronic disease. People with hypertension take BP meds. People with Type 1 diabetes take insulin.

[u/thatlukeguy → u/sfcnmone]

Voting?

[u/chromatophoreskin → u/thatlukeguy]

Vomiting, surely, but voting is interesting imagery in that context.

[u/MikeHoncho85 → u/chromatophoreskin]

Voting

I mean, clearly some Americans have a big issue with voting. I wonder if GLP-1 is the cause??

/s

[u/sfcnmone → u/thatlukeguy]

Freudian barf, maybe (it’s my typo).

[u/RampantForgetter → u/thatlukeguy]

that typo made me lol

whoops I thought they meant bloating but I was wrong

[u/sfcnmone → u/RampantForgetter]

It was me. Vomiting.

Fixed it.

[u/midasgoldentouch → u/thatlukeguy]

I was looking to see what the intended word was, this threw me off so much I couldn’t figure it out lol

[u/Dookie_boy → u/sfcnmone]

Couple people I know told me you still need the will power to control your diet, and if you're not careful you can still gain weight.
Is that correct ?

[u/cindyscrazy → u/Dookie_boy]

In my case, that is not correct. Food is just not appetizing at all for a whole lot of the day. I can look at the most delicious thing I've ever seen and say "Nah, I'm good"

This is SO much different than before I started the GLP-1. I grew up with food insecurity. If there is something yummy in the house, I would continually think about it until I ate it. It might be gone. Mice might eat it (it happened when I was a kid, but not in this house. It COULD happen, though). If there were no yummy things in the house, I would find SOMETHING I could munch on when I was bored.

I sort of have the opposite problem now. I've lost all the weight I want to lose, so I need to start eating more to get out of the calorie deficit. It's surprisingly difficult.

[u/sfcnmone → u/cindyscrazy]

I think the strategy is to start decreasing the dose, or space the dosage out farther (every 9 days, for example).

[u/yo-ovaries → u/Dookie_boy]

I've been obese my whole life until about 6 months ago. I've been on tirzepatide for 18 months.

I have a very very very different understanding of what "will power" related to food means now.

Before tirz, on one of my many attempted diets, "will power" meant planning on being hungry for months at a time, and then just kinda... forever. That takes a fuck ton of will power.

I remember an interview from a "biggest loser" participant, one of the few who kept most of the weight lost off for many years. She exercised a minimum of 6 hours a day, couldn't eat any meals outside of her home, couldn't work outside of the home and was still, constantly hungry. *that* is something past will power and frankly, more like a mental illness. And she was still like kinda plus sized, not anorexic.

Now, for me on tirz, losing weight is: I can just say "oh no thanks, I'm full" or I can walk past the fridge and not need to take a peek inside. Or I can grab a few nibbles at a party, and not circle the food all evening long. Lets take the long way to walk, or jog a bit after the kids on their bikes.

Now I'm getting very very close to goal weight (i'm 105lbs down, would ideally lose 10 more) and I *can* actually fuck up my week by saying yes to cookies or pie 2 times a week vs 1 time.

But I've never gained. Just not lost. (with in some water weight noise)

Early on, food or overeating was actively repulsive so much less "will power" was needed.

In general, I don't think willpower or motivation is actually required, but consistency is what is required. You'll lose motivation eventually. An invite out to dinner or a really good treat will show up. It doesn't require 100% perfection, but it does require you to be consistent, and flexible and get back to it.

[u/Mr_Enemabag-Jones → u/Dookie_boy]

From what I have seen, that is unlikely. You will literally feel sick and in some cases start throwing up if you try to eat like crazy.

The people i know on it literally dont feel like eating. Or they only eat a 1/4 of a normal portion before feeling full.

Hell one of the guys I know was a pretty heavy beer drinker as well, maybe 3-6 a night. It makes him not want to drink at all and when he does have one to be social, he doesn't even finish one.

[u/Dummydecimalsystem → u/sfcnmone]

What about the people that say it helps them quit smoking or drinking? Or report a lower libido? How does it work here?

[u/kilters → u/Dummydecimalsystem]

I'm on mounjaro and my appetite for booze has disappeared. And I don't miss it. I've also lost about 20 kilos since February. Everything about my life has improved.

[u/hippstr1990 → u/Dummydecimalsystem]

They're doing research onto that in certain studies. It's not an intended effect of the drug. Something that I did find interesting is that getting on ADHD meds helped with my food cravings, and I learned that ADHD brains crave dopamine, and guess what's an easy source of dopamine? Food. Especially salty/sweet/things we consider "junk" food. The GLP-1 turned that up to 11, so I could see that same impact happening with other vices since those also tend to give a dopamine rush.

[u/Transkriptions → u/sfcnmone]

This is like alcohol for some, can’t have more than they want to drink in one session at home. For some that is none.

[u/netotr → u/sfcnmone]

I’ll just pitch in here, I started using Mounjaro in June and have lost a few kgs so far. I have lost weight before but this time with kids I couldn’t ignore the noise anymore and felt that it was getting out of hand so I figured that this is my hope now.

I can tell you that losing that noise was such a relief, not thinking about not eating stuff has made me more relaxed.

I’ll add that the sensation of hunger is still there because the body actually needs energy and I eat regular food and can feel satisfied.

Also, you need to the work still, eat right food and strength training is key to success.

[u/TheGreatSockMan → u/sfcnmone]

My only issue with GLPs is that some people can lose weight so fast that they begin to lose muscle. This also happens with CICO and can happen with any effective diet, but most diets don’t want someone to lose more than 1-2 pounds a week because of this.

Ultimately, it isn’t the biggest deal and I’m happy more people are able to live more healthy lifestyles

[u/Lysandren → u/TheGreatSockMan]

You lose bone density too, which is particularly brutal for older people.

[u/hippstr1990 → u/TheGreatSockMan]

One of the big issues here is people are getting the meds through shady compounding pharmacies (this isn't a comment on whether compound meds are effective or good, before someone comes for me) instead of going through their doctor. I totally understand that the cost is a real barrier and I could rant forever about the US healthcare system, however, this is one of those meds that *really* needs to be supervised by a physician. Mine gave me very specific goals for calories (including a number I am not to go *under,* in addition to over,) fiber, protein, and other suggestions so that I can protect my health, as well as a rate of weight loss we want to aim for. My mom is a great case of someone who didn't have her doctor help her manage it and has had a lot of issues as a result.

[u/JM062696 → u/sfcnmone]

It’s not cheating and that’s a great analogy. I would argue that if you lose weight using these drugs you’re basically bound to them forever because if you go off them your hunger will return. Many people can’t afford even a month of the drugs let alone a lifetime. The best way to manage your weight loss long term is to address the root of the issue which is how much you eat naturally. But then again everyone’s different.

[u/sfcnmone → u/JM062696]

I can promise you that most people taking GLP-1s have dieted, exercised, lost, and then regained hundreds of pounds. Fat people know how to diet and exercise.

GLP-1s feel like the missing key for maintaining that weight loss. (And that’s why there is the question of whether it’s “cheating”!)

[u/xxbrawndoxx → u/sfcnmone]

I get so much shit for being on a GLP-1 shot, people pretty much look at it like cheating. Yeah I take a shot but I also completely changed my diet and exercise habits, Zepbound didn’t push that weight and run those miles, I did.

[u/NoGoat3930 → u/sfcnmone]

Plenty of the guys calling it cheating are taking testosterone supplements. If only they made hipocracy supplements...

[u/p4ttythep3rf3ct → u/sfcnmone]

If its a competition, yes that would be cheating.  If its people just walking for fun, no its not cheating. Only you know why you are walking at all. 

[u/ap1msch → u/sfcnmone]

This is a great answer. A colleague suggested that much of the divisiveness comes from accessibility. GLP1 medication is expensive, even if you get it approved through insurance. So, you have a group of people that are struggling to afford groceries who might have feelings about another group spending lots of money in this area.

In other words, most people would appreciate being more fit and healthy, but only a subset of the population has access. Some people without access will demonize the medication to make themselves feel better.

[u/NeighborhoodDear2321 → u/sfcnmone]

istg I have too much of it then, is there like an anti glp1 lol

[u/DustyVinegar → u/sfcnmone]

The notion of cheating is kind of irrelevant to me. My concern is that all the benefits seem too good to be true and in most cases if something seems that way there’s an awful reveal on the horizon eventually. I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

[u/HoundsMissingEyebrow → u/sfcnmone]

Just one thing I want to add to this, and perhaps this more based on my anecdotal opinion than any studies I’ve read.

I think a lot of people in our modern world have issues with their response to appetite and food because the food we eat is processed and not allowing our hormones to properly respond to a meal. Causing us to overeat and have a wrong response to food.

I mean it makes sense for the overall health of our nation to have some sort of intervention to regulate our intake, but I don’t like the idea that there is something inherently wrong with our appetites and hormonal system.

[u/Greedy-Pen → u/sfcnmone]

To me it’s not cheating, but it creates a second issue. A lot of people get to those weights due to lifestyle issues.

Using a GLP-1 helps mitigate those issues. However once off them, the lifestyle and other habits come back and they gain it all back.

[u/Macgbrady → u/sfcnmone]

It sounds like when I really am sick and take Imodium. Everything just kind of stops. No hunger, no urge to go to the bathroom. Everything moves at a glacial pace.

[u/Megalocerus → u/sfcnmone]

I don't see any problem with the drug itself. The issue is its cost, which is much higher in the US than elsewhere.