Your GLP-1 May Not Be the Real Issue

[Don]

What keeps getting under my skin in these GLP-1 discussions is the sheer volume of vague figures being tossed around alongside pleas for guidance.

Take a typical post: "3-4 weeks in on this GLP-1 at X dose, down only 1 kg.. what am I doing wrong?"

The starting point shouldn't be whether the GLP-1 performs miracles. It should be whether its core action is taking effect. Has hunger been blunted? Have cravings dropped? Are u consuming less without a constant battle against appetite?

GLP-1s ARE NOT FATBURNERS! They don't magically melt fat off ur body. What they mainly do is make a calorie deficit achievable by dialing down hunger and food noise

When appetite suppression is obviously happening and several months pass with only 1 kg gone, the likeliest answer isn't that the GLP-1 stopped working. The likeliest answer is that a consistent calorie deficit still isn't there.

Plenty of folks will happily inject compounds but won't give up a week to log what they actually eat. That's usually where the truth hides.

And let's be fair, 1 kg lost in a month is far from terrible. Still, when someone begins a GLP-1, particularly with a substantial amount of excess body fat to lose, expectations tend to run higher. If the scale stalls, go back to fundamentals:

Log ur food intake.

Move more each day.

Add structured exercise.

Prioritize food quality, not merely eating "less" of the junk.

Dropping from 3 bags of chips nightly to 2.5 bags is technically progress, but it isn't a nutrition plan.

Another mistake I see is people chasing extreme appetite suppression. The aim shouldn't be a dose so high that u can hardly eat a slice of bread. The aim is a dose that makes adherence easier while still letting u hit ur protein and calorie targets (don't do agressive diets and don't be scared of calories)

GLP-1s should be a tool, not the entire plan.

Lasting success comes from habits around food that hold up even once the GLP-1 is gone. Swapping some fast food for better options, learning portion control, moving more, and understanding ur calorie intake will always outweigh simply raising the dose.

THAT BEING SAID!

Hundreds of people in this community, who deserve a great deal of respect, have gone through a real GLP-1 journey and ticked every one of these boxes along the way, some sooner, some later, but the goal remained the same. Consistency beats intensity.

This forum exists to help u connect with those experiences. Many users here have achieved significant weight loss and built sustainable habits. Look up their journeys, ask questions, and learn from them

Most of them are more than willing to help because they remember exactly where they started

 

[endlrls]

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

 

[woundcarping]

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

 

[endlrls]

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Indeed: for certain people, that path will bring muscle wasting and a total collapse of metabolism along with it.... Sure, you could end up "skinnier".... and up to a certain point, healthier, yes... The same holds for where you get your information... provided you know the right places to search...

 

[Skidude]

These posts being seen as controversial never fails to catch my attention.

Is it really effortless to keep up your steps when you're exhausted or coming off a long shift?

Is cutting out sugars and fats so that the little you do eat actually counts as nourishment a sacrifice or not?

Tracking macros so that protein, fiber and other nutrients add up to enough — does that not demand work?

To me it works like an escalator: walking isn't required, but you get there faster (and better off) when you do.

And beyond that.. the effects these glp1s produce vary enormously from person to person, with some gaining far more than others.

GOOGLE: In clinical trials, about 10% to 14% of people on semaglutide (such as Wegovy or Ozempic) are categorized as "non-responders". These individuals fail to achieve a clinically meaningful weight loss benchmark (typically a \(<5\%\) reduction in total body weight) despite full adherence to treatment.

In my case, it genuinely let me reach something I had chased my entire life, and I think I was exactly the kind of person this drug was meant for- and no... it is not cheating, it is healing.

Follow your own path, keep yourself happy, and don't absorb the negativity or the extreme camps.

 

[Don]

Skidude said:

These posts being seen as controversial never fails to catch my attention.

Is it really effortless to keep up your steps when you're exhausted or coming off a long shift?

Is cutting out sugars and fats so that the little you do eat actually counts as nourishment a sacrifice or not?

Tracking macros so that protein, fiber and other nutrients add up to enough — does that not demand work?

To me it works like an escalator: walking isn't required, but you get there faster (and better off) when you do.

And beyond that.. the effects these glp1s produce vary enormously from person to person, with some gaining far more than others.

GOOGLE: In clinical trials, about 10% to 14% of people on semaglutide (such as Wegovy or Ozempic) are categorized as "non-responders". These individuals fail to achieve a clinically meaningful weight loss benchmark (typically a \(<5\%\) reduction in total body weight) despite full adherence to treatment.

In my case, it genuinely let me reach something I had chased my entire life, and I think I was exactly the kind of person this drug was meant for- and no... it is not cheating, it is healing.

Follow your own path, keep yourself happy, and don't absorb the negativity or the extreme camps.

100%

 

[Don]

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Naturally, it varies from person to person. Are you aiming for total appetite shutdown, or simply a bit of support that makes it easier to stay in a deficit?

Those two paths can produce wildly different results. Someone might drop 10 kg in a month, while another person sheds 5 kg over the same period. Yet the 1st likely sacrificed a lot of muscle in the process, whereas the 2nd may have held onto most of their lean mass — to me, that second result is the better one.

The number on the scale by itself doesn't capture everything

 

[CNCCurrency]

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

That's how I see it. Honestly, I'm surprised by how little effort it took for me to drop over 100lbs. I'd call it ridiculously easy in my case.

 

[woundcarping]

Don said:

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Naturally, it varies from person to person. Are you aiming for total appetite shutdown, or simply a bit of support that makes it easier to stay in a deficit?

Those two paths can produce wildly different results. Someone might drop 10 kg in a month, while another person sheds 5 kg over the same period. Yet the 1st likely sacrificed a lot of muscle in the process, whereas the 2nd may have held onto most of their lean mass — to me, that second result is the better one.

The number on the scale by itself doesn't capture everything

For my own situation: over roughly the past 6 months I've dropped 60lb, and during that same stretch I've put thousands of dollars into labs and DEXA scans.

A set of bathroom scales ran me about $40.

Across the most recent 40lb of that weight loss, lean mass lost came to ~2lb.

 

[Don]

woundcarping said:

Don said:

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Naturally, it varies from person to person. Are you aiming for total appetite shutdown, or simply a bit of support that makes it easier to stay in a deficit?

Those two paths can produce wildly different results. Someone might drop 10 kg in a month, while another person sheds 5 kg over the same period. Yet the 1st likely sacrificed a lot of muscle in the process, whereas the 2nd may have held onto most of their lean mass — to me, that second result is the better one.

The number on the scale by itself doesn't capture everything

For my own situation: over roughly the past 6 months I've dropped 60lb, and during that same stretch I've put thousands of dollars into labs and DEXA scans.

A set of bathroom scales ran me about $40.

Across the most recent 40lb of that weight loss, lean mass lost came to ~2lb.

I said it before—taking it slow works out better. That ratio is solid, honestly, you did great!

 

[Elgordoboy]

Don said:

What keeps getting under my skin in these GLP-1 discussions is the sheer volume of vague figures being tossed around alongside pleas for guidance.

Take a typical post: "3-4 weeks in on this GLP-1 at X dose, down only 1 kg.. what am I doing wrong?"

The starting point shouldn't be whether the GLP-1 performs miracles. It should be whether its core action is taking effect. Has hunger been blunted? Have cravings dropped? Are u consuming less without a constant battle against appetite?

GLP-1s ARE NOT FATBURNERS! They don't magically melt fat off ur body. What they mainly do is make a calorie deficit achievable by dialing down hunger and food noise

When appetite suppression is obviously happening and several months pass with only 1 kg gone, the likeliest answer isn't that the GLP-1 stopped working. The likeliest answer is that a consistent calorie deficit still isn't there.

Plenty of folks will happily inject compounds but won't give up a week to log what they actually eat. That's usually where the truth hides.

And let's be fair, 1 kg lost in a month is far from terrible. Still, when someone begins a GLP-1, particularly with a substantial amount of excess body fat to lose, expectations tend to run higher. If the scale stalls, go back to fundamentals:

Log ur food intake.

Move more each day.

Add structured exercise.

Prioritize food quality, not merely eating "less" of the junk.

Dropping from 3 bags of chips nightly to 2.5 bags is technically progress, but it isn't a nutrition plan.

Another mistake I see is people chasing extreme appetite suppression. The aim shouldn't be a dose so high that u can hardly eat a slice of bread. The aim is a dose that makes adherence easier while still letting u hit ur protein and calorie targets (don't do agressive diets and don't be scared of calories)

GLP-1s should be a tool, not the entire plan.

Lasting success comes from habits around food that hold up even once the GLP-1 is gone. Swapping some fast food for better options, learning portion control, moving more, and understanding ur calorie intake will always outweigh simply raising the dose.

THAT BEING SAID!

Hundreds of people in this community, who deserve a great deal of respect, have gone through a real GLP-1 journey and ticked every one of these boxes along the way, some sooner, some later, but the goal remained the same. Consistency beats intensity.

This forum exists to help u connect with those experiences. Many users here have achieved significant weight loss and built sustainable habits. Look up their journeys, ask questions, and learn from them

Most of them are more than willing to help because they remember exactly where they started

Top post on this forum. I would reply, but anything I add would be unnecessary—you have covered it all.

 

[BNLFL]

woundcarping said:

Don said:

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Naturally, it varies from person to person. Are you aiming for total appetite shutdown, or simply a bit of support that makes it easier to stay in a deficit?

Those two paths can produce wildly different results. Someone might drop 10 kg in a month, while another person sheds 5 kg over the same period. Yet the 1st likely sacrificed a lot of muscle in the process, whereas the 2nd may have held onto most of their lean mass — to me, that second result is the better one.

The number on the scale by itself doesn't capture everything

For my own situation: over roughly the past 6 months I've dropped 60lb, and during that same stretch I've put thousands of dollars into labs and DEXA scans.

A set of bathroom scales ran me about $40.

Across the most recent 40lb of that weight loss, lean mass lost came to ~2lb.

I'm nearly at my target and ought to figure out a maintenance dose, yet I'm still stuck with some really stubborn belly fat.

 

[Jfrick11]

woundcarping said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

All you actually need to do is keep raising the dose until a caloric deficit kicks in... no point acting like shedding fat takes some superhuman grind.

One hour of minimum wage per week is more than enough for the big 3 GLP of choice, some bac, and syringes.

Hmmmm.... Provided that the sole aim is a smaller figure on the scale, then perhaps.... . When what matters is long-term health, keeping muscle, nutrition, fitness, and something you can stick with, a good deal of effort is still required. "Simply increase the dose until you're in a deficit" comes across as a surprisingly fad-diet style of thinking.

 

[lessthanhalf]

Don said:

What keeps getting under my skin in these GLP-1 discussions is the sheer volume of vague figures being tossed around alongside pleas for guidance.

Take a typical post: "3-4 weeks in on this GLP-1 at X dose, down only 1 kg.. what am I doing wrong?"

The starting point shouldn't be whether the GLP-1 performs miracles. It should be whether its core action is taking effect. Has hunger been blunted? Have cravings dropped? Are u consuming less without a constant battle against appetite?

GLP-1s ARE NOT FATBURNERS! They don't magically melt fat off ur body. What they mainly do is make a calorie deficit achievable by dialing down hunger and food noise

When appetite suppression is obviously happening and several months pass with only 1 kg gone, the likeliest answer isn't that the GLP-1 stopped working. The likeliest answer is that a consistent calorie deficit still isn't there.

Plenty of folks will happily inject compounds but won't give up a week to log what they actually eat. That's usually where the truth hides.

And let's be fair, 1 kg lost in a month is far from terrible. Still, when someone begins a GLP-1, particularly with a substantial amount of excess body fat to lose, expectations tend to run higher. If the scale stalls, go back to fundamentals:

Log ur food intake.

Move more each day.

Add structured exercise.

Prioritize food quality, not merely eating "less" of the junk.

Dropping from 3 bags of chips nightly to 2.5 bags is technically progress, but it isn't a nutrition plan.

Another mistake I see is people chasing extreme appetite suppression. The aim shouldn't be a dose so high that u can hardly eat a slice of bread. The aim is a dose that makes adherence easier while still letting u hit ur protein and calorie targets (don't do agressive diets and don't be scared of calories)

GLP-1s should be a tool, not the entire plan.

Lasting success comes from habits around food that hold up even once the GLP-1 is gone. Swapping some fast food for better options, learning portion control, moving more, and understanding ur calorie intake will always outweigh simply raising the dose.

THAT BEING SAID!

Hundreds of people in this community, who deserve a great deal of respect, have gone through a real GLP-1 journey and ticked every one of these boxes along the way, some sooner, some later, but the goal remained the same. Consistency beats intensity.

This forum exists to help u connect with those experiences. Many users here have achieved significant weight loss and built sustainable habits. Look up their journeys, ask questions, and learn from them

Most of them are more than willing to help because they remember exactly where they started

I don't think what you're describing is incorrect, but my own view differs somewhat.

On one end you have people who simply take the GLP medication and change nothing else, and on the other end you have people who take a very small dose while relying on standard diet and exercise strategies to shed pounds — in that second scenario, the diet and exercise are doing the heavy lifting, and the GLP is contributing little or perhaps just trimming appetite a bit.

I'd also add that the right approach probably varies with how severe the obesity is. For someone with overweight, lifestyle changes may carry more weight, whereas for people with BMI's of 40+ or those dealing with significant chronic illness, that may not hold.

From what I've read and from my own experience, long term weight loss maintenance through diet and exercise alone is really quite poor. A few percent of people can sustain massive weight loss that way, but most put the weight back on eventually.

When it comes to eating, there's a common belief that it sits under conscious control, and to some degree — particularly in the short term — that is certainly true. But I'm not at all convinced the conscious mind governs food intake over the longer term. The systems built into us that regulate appetite, hunger and eating behaviour are extraordinarily complex and convoluted, shaped over deep evolutionary time, and they resist interference, which explains why it took so long to develop anti obesity drugs that actually work without killing you. This matters, I think, because deliberately controlling what and how much you eat through conscious effort drains mental resources, and over the long haul that is not an unlimited supply. So cognitive control of eating tends to fail eventually, as external or internal stressors push its importance aside and control slides back toward earlier, less deliberate and less conscious eating patterns. Exercise follows a similar pattern — if it demands effort and cognitive control, or if it feels aversive, it won't be sustained long term.

That's essentially my reasoning for viewing weight loss via GLP drugs as primarily a diet and exercise matter as a possible recipe for long term failure, since those strategies on their own, without the glp drugs, don't work well.

If you begin a GLP drug without making any special changes, appetite drops and metabolic state improves; the lower appetite produces a calorie deficit and weight comes off. Eventually, after dose increases, a new balance point is reached where reduced energy expenditure plus the extra hunger caused by weight loss offset the GLP effect, and a plateau settles in at a lower weight with no further loss. What's interesting is that people's food choices and purchasing choices shift toward healthier options on GLP therapy without any conscious input. And crucially, the weight loss is maintained long term as long as glp therapy continues.

I'm absolutely in favour of eating healthier foods and exercising. I recently came across a study showing overweight fit people were 3 x less likely to develop cardiovascular disease than unfit skinny people, with worse odds for those who were both overweight and unfit. But I don't really accept that exercise or diet functions as a long term weight control strategy — they're a good idea for overall health, yet for weight loss their effectiveness beyond the short term is more debatable.

So I regard GLP drugs as the treatment for obesity. Nothing before has ever come close, ( except surgery, but long term results aren't great and it carries a lot of adverse effects ) and they keep the weight off long term while lowering the chances of cardiovascular disease, stroke, many cancers, possibly drastically improving survival if you have cancer, preventing and treating diabetes, high blood pressure , high lipids , etc etc

As far as I'm aware there is more or less no real research on GLP non reponders, so arguing that calorie counting and deliberate food restriction might work for that group, or that glp failure in those patients stems from food choices worse than responders', doesn't really have any solid support. If those strategies worked, I think they would work, but I see no evidence that long term weight loss is achieved by diet, apart from small amounts with intensive effort and support and a few rare people who manage large weight loss long term.

I see plenty of evidence that people on GLP drugs improve their food choices, and I'd argue a fair bit of this isn't mediated via conscious thought — they make you less hungry and full more easily, so the kinds of foods you feel like eating change, and there are direct aversive effects on desire for extra high calorie foods as well. The overall reduction in hedonic desire for food comes alongside a general reduction in thinking about food and hunger. That part happens unconsciously. Adding deliberate improvements is a good idea, but I don't think conscious food choices function as a long term weight loss method — they remain a good idea for overall health and wellbeing, though. It's possible that restricting types of food is more sustainable than restricting amounts, such as low calorific density or keto, mainly because it requires less ongoing conscious effort.

 

[Skidude]

Coke and Pepsi can both be enjoyable — there is no need to turn that into an either/or fight.

Taking the medication by itself, without any extra help from diet or exercise, does come with clear upsides, and "non-responders" are few; include tirz and reta in the calculation and that group gets even smaller.

What we do know is that responses vary from person to person, and the research points to the medicine having boundaries.

On top of that, once someone stops, a lot of people put the weight back on unless better strategies have taken root.

My take is that everyone here is putting in effort to improve, which means nobody is "cheating," and whatever path a person picks comes out of work, time, and commitment.

I like the Coke and the Pepsi!

Now, on the question of deliberately choosing what to eat and how much.

This short, entertaining video explains how your gut may make some of those choices for you, and how what you feed it shapes what you crave:

 

[Don]

lessthanhalf said:


What you are saying here is not wrong , but I do have a different perspective on it.

The two extreme approaches are just use the GLP drug and do nothing different versus use a very small dose and then apply standard diet and exercise strategies to try to lose weight, in which case the diet and exercise bit is doing the work, and the GLP maybe doing not much or reducing appetite slightly.

I also think the approach may need to be a bit different depending on the degree of obesity, where lifestyle changes might be more useful in people with overweight as opposed to those with BMI's of 40+ and those with significant chronic illness

I think from my reading and personal experience that long term weight loss maintenance from diet and exercise is pretty much really poor, a few percent can sustain massive weight loss through diet and exercise, but most regain the weight sooner or later.

One of the things about eating is that people like to believe it is under conscious control, and to some extent especially in the short term it is definitely controllable, but I am not at all sure the conscious mind has control over food intake in the longer term. The built in mechanisms controlling appetite, hunger and eating behaviour are insanely complex convoluted and from deep evolutionary time, and are very hard to interfere with, which is why it has taken so long to get anti obesity drugs that actually work without killing you. I think it matters because deliberate conscious control of food intake types and quantities takes mental effort, and in the long term this is not an unlimited resource, so that cognitive control of eating long term usually fails, as external or internal stressors override its importance and control slips back into earlier less deliberate and less conscious eating patterns. Exercise is pretty similar , if it takes effort and cognitive control to do it or it is aversive, it is not sustained long term.

This is my basic logic for seeing losing weight with GLP drugs as mainly about diet and exercise as a possible set up for long term failure, as those strategies without the glp drugs do not work well.

If you start a GLP drug with no special changes, then it reduces appetite, and improves metabolic state, the reduced appetite causes a calorie deficit and weight loss occurs. Eventually after dose increases a new balance point is reached where lower energy expenditure plus the added hunger from weight loss balance out the GLP effect, and a plateau is reached at a lower weight and no further weight loss will occur. Interestingly peoples food choices and buying choices improve towards healthier options on GLP therapy without conscious input. And most importantly the weight loss state is maintained long term if glp therapy is continued.

I am absolutely in favour of eating healthier foods and exercising. I saw a study recently where overweight fit people were 3 x less likely to get cardiovascular disease than unfit skinny people, with worse odds for overweight and unfit. But I do not really agree that exercise or diet is a long term weight control strategy, they are a good idea for overall health, but for weight loss the effectiveness except in the short term is more debateable.

So I see GLP drugs as the treatment for obesity, nothing before has ever come close, ( except surgery but long term is not great and has a lot of adverse effects ) and they keep the weight of long term, while reducing chances of cardiovascular disease, stroke, many cancers, possibly drastically improve survival if you have cancer, prevent and treat diabetes, high blood pressure , high lipids , etc etc

As far as I know there is more or less no real research on GLP non reponders, so to argue that in that case calorie counting and deliberate food restriction might work in that group or that glp failure in those patients is due to food choices that are worse than responders , does not really have any solid support. I think if those strategies worked , they would work, but I see no evidence that long term weight loss is achieved by diet , other than small amounts with intensive effort and support and a few rare people who achieve large weight loss long term.

I see a lot of evidence that people taking GLP drugs improve their food choices, I would argue that a fair bit of this is not mediated via conscious thought, they make you less hungry, and full more easily, so the types of foods you feel like eating change, and there are direct aversive effects on desire for extra high calorie foods as well, and the overall reduction in hedonic desire for food goes along with a general reduction in overall thinking about food and hunger. This is the bit that happens unconsciously, adding in deliberate improvements is a good idea, but, I do not think that conscious food choices work as a long term weight loss method, but are still a good idea for overall health and wellbeing. It is possible that restricting types of food is more sustainable than amounts, such as low calorific density or keto, mainly as it requires less ongoing conscious effort.

Click to expand...

I feel like we're slightly missing each other's points here.

At no stage did I argue that a very small dose plus willpower is the answer, and I never claimed diet and exercise by themselves can fix obesity. That's exactly why I avoided naming any particular dose.

What I had in mind was a threshold where the effect kicks in, rather than a fixed number on the pen. How much appetite suppression counts as optimal differs across individuals. Depending on someone's relationship with food, their eating patterns, their mental health, and how severe their obesity is, the amount of appetite reduction they need could be far greater than what works for someone else.

All I'm really saying is that there's a space in between "gritting your teeth through a diet" and "so suppressed you struggle to eat enough to cover your nutritional needs."

Take someone at 120 kg who has eaten 5000–6000+ calories daily for years. I don't believe the ideal result is that they abruptly drop to 1000 calories a day just because their appetite got switched off entirely. That isn't what support means to me.

As I see it, the aim is for GLP-1s to quiet the food noise, the cravings, the binge urges, and the endless mental fight over food, while the person can still take in enough protein, micronutrients, and calories to fuel their body and hold onto lean mass while losing weight.

I fully accept that obesity is largely biological and that GLP-1s are the best obesity treatment available to us so far. My small disagreement is that I don't believe the target should automatically be either maximum appetite suppression or a mere 5% suppression. The target, in my view, should be a level of appetite suppression that keeps adherence sustainable while preserving adequate nutrition and a healthy pace of weight loss. That range shifts from one person to the next; some might need 20% suppression, others perhaps 50%, but chasing 95% isn't the right approach and goes too far.

So I think a chunk of ur reply is responding to a stance I don't actually take, and I still respect that, because we all sometimes skim a long block of text and go "OH HE'S SAYING ITS BLACK AND WHITE BUT ITS GREY TOO!"

 

[tendency]

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

Truthfully, I'd push back on that—it isn't true across the board. A lot of folks on a GLP find that the medication handles everything on its own; they don't have to put in effort to change, monitor, or keep tabs on their eating or daily habits. Actually, let me walk that back—getting any food down might itself become a chore! So it makes sense that the idea of this being a shortcut or a cheat could take root in some people's minds.

 

[endlrls]

tendency said:

endlrls said:

It still gets under my skin whenever people outside this space say "It's cheating." For a GLP to actually do its job, you've still got to put in the effort.... Nice post!

Truthfully, I'd push back on that—it isn't true across the board. A lot of folks on a GLP find that the medication handles everything on its own; they don't have to put in effort to change, monitor, or keep tabs on their eating or daily habits. Actually, let me walk that back—getting any food down might itself become a chore! So it makes sense that the idea of this being a shortcut or a cheat could take root in some people's minds.

I guess that works up to a certain point, if "pharmacological starvation" is the route you want to take ... Losing muscle mass worries me so much that I'm actually thinking about lowering my dose again....

 

[dancs]

Skidude said:

Coke and Pepsi can both be enjoyable — there is no need to turn that into an either/or fight.

Taking the medication by itself, without any extra help from diet or exercise, does come with clear upsides, and "non-responders" are few; include tirz and reta in the calculation and that group gets even smaller.

What we do know is that responses vary from person to person, and the research points to the medicine having boundaries.

On top of that, once someone stops, a lot of people put the weight back on unless better strategies have taken root.

My take is that everyone here is putting in effort to improve, which means nobody is "cheating," and whatever path a person picks comes out of work, time, and commitment.

I like the Coke and the Pepsi!

Now, on the question of deliberately choosing what to eat and how much.

This short, entertaining video explains how your gut may make some of those choices for you, and how what you feed it shapes what you crave:

Pepsi tastes awful.

 

[Powerslide]

dancs said:

Skidude said:

Coke and Pepsi can both be enjoyable — there is no need to turn that into an either/or fight.

Taking the medication by itself, without any extra help from diet or exercise, does come with clear upsides, and "non-responders" are few; include tirz and reta in the calculation and that group gets even smaller.

What we do know is that responses vary from person to person, and the research points to the medicine having boundaries.

On top of that, once someone stops, a lot of people put the weight back on unless better strategies have taken root.

My take is that everyone here is putting in effort to improve, which means nobody is "cheating," and whatever path a person picks comes out of work, time, and commitment.

I like the Coke and the Pepsi!

Now, on the question of deliberately choosing what to eat and how much.

This short, entertaining video explains how your gut may make some of those choices for you, and how what you feed it shapes what you crave:

Pepsi tastes awful.

my spouse would say the same. Dr Pepper forever