People judge weight loss more harshly when GLP-1 drugs are involved, study finds

[RetCurious]

OMG, I'm so glad you mentioned "sin", because make no mistake about where this is coming from.... these social norms have very deep roots in both religous and cultural history. The terms were(are) gluttony and sloth, two of the Seven Deadly Sins. Gluttony (excessive eating/induglence) and sloth (lack of discipline, laziness, failure to exercise) have been so engrained in western culture that a heavy body is seen as a morally compromised body.

"This perception reflects a broader psychological bias known as effort moralization, where greater effort is equated with higher moral worth."

The old "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" bias...

Chances are those "skinny bitches" were judging you anyway and I suspect most are one step away from espousing their membership to "the master race".

 

[Troposphere]

I was out to lunch with two of my coworkers who have recently lost a ton of weight. They both shared that they are on GLP1s. Their transformations have been truly amazing. One of them has started wearing jeans again because she is proud of how she looks again. I had/have a lot less to lose than them, but their stories inspired me to go down the grey market road. I am so grateful that they trusted me to share because I wouldn't be where I am now without that info. It is total nonsense that people should be ashamed of using these medical interventions. I see that these coworkers are much happier in their new bodies and that is enough for me.

 

[ultima thule]

Same story as with steroids. Silly theories spread by the people who are afraid to give a try something which is considered as "dodgy". And the truth behind peps and roids is that people who use it put much more effort to achieve their goals. At the end of the day it's a personal choice and we still live in the world, where we can decide about ourselves and our choices...someone who choose that way of getting to the proper weight, or just desired body build, can theoretically hurt only oneself...so anybody who wants to judge would better f...ck off.

 

[birdwhacker]

Sadly , a lot of people really are pretty bigoted towards obese people.

No shit. After losing twelve pounds people treat me much differently than they used to, laugh a little harder at the same jokes, cut me more slack for the bad jokes and the poor eye contact. Just looking a little better does wonders. Obese people, I don't know if I'd say I'm bigoted towards them but it definitely takes more effort to warm up to them. I like attractive people and I think most people do.

Totally agreed! This is about ourself, our goals and our struggles. Personally I am open about my use of glps as I don’t see why it should be stigmatized.

To an extent. It makes me feel better about myself, and improves my physical/mental health, but it's also very much about how others perceive me and to be honest I wouldn't be on a GLP if I was the only person in the world.

I'm open about it too, but I wonder if I should reconsider that.

Another recent study found that older age was associated with more negative and stigmatizing views of anti obesity medications, while younger age had more positive views.

That's not surprising. GenX seems to be one of the most judgemental generations alive. Old people in general. Hell, as I get older I get more judgemental. The kids will say the same shit about me in a few years.

Same story as with steroids. Silly theories spread by the people who are afraid to give a try something which is considered as "dodgy".

Eh let's not take it too far. I agree that people unfairly judge steroid users, assuming that they didn't put in any effort which just isn't true, but let's not pretend that their aren't good reasons for the stigma.

 

[Appelss12]

Yes they are. I tell no one

 

[Turbo-Farmer]

I can’t hide it from anyone. Losing 50# and my gut is quite noticeable. I have no shame about the fact I take tirzepitide. Most people are supportive, however many are of the opinion that they’d never take injections. I counter with the fact that I had to do something before my pre-diabetes progressed.

With diet and exercise I was able to keep in shape until I hit 52, then my metabolism started to slow and even fasting, eating healthy, and running everyday couldn’t keep me healthy.

I often get the “couldn’t you just eat less” kind of myopic thinking that if I had the willpower I would be able to lose weight. But I try to explain “that’s not how diabetes works”.

People are going to have their preconceived conception about weight and I still fell like an overweight person in a skinner body.

I try not to let people get me down and hope that someone who’s struggling will hear all the benefits that come with my choices.

 

[msyntakz]

Personally at this point (age 37) living my whole life overweight and depressed, likely from a combination of the weight and hormone issues, I plan on living happily from here. That is going to involve long term use of peptide and hormone injections to make corrections, and anyone having a major objection to it is making no effort to understand/listen. I don’t need those kinds of low effort relationships in my life anymore.

 

[mybodyisasewer]

I hate to say this but... I used to be pretty fat, 6 foot at 250+ lbs (zero muscle) in my early 20s. I actually stopped weighing myself at one point it was so depressing. I did most of my weight loss and muscle gain the old fashioned way down to 190 lbs, and it took many years of hard work and discipline. Eventually it occurred to me that I was treated differently by people, and it really fueled a contempt for humans in general for me.

And I've heard that people who used to be fat are the harshest critics of fat people, and I never understood that. It sucks to lose weight, it was almost impossible for me. There's a huge cohort of people who will simply NEVER lose weight without these drugs. I feel really bad for obese people, I do my best to treat them kindly. Heck if I had access to reta in 2015 I would have done it then too.

I have 2 friends now who are getting on tirz through doc/ins and they both seemed pleasantly surprised when I strongly encouraged them to take it. I can tell they see a stigma to these drugs and they both hesitated to even tell me, a friend, who happens to be the most pro-drug pro-liberty person on the planet.

Better living through chemistry isn't new. New drugs are always coming out. The people who are against this come off as wildly ignorant to me.

It's not "cheating" if you're not in a drug-tested competitive sport. And calling it a "shortcut" isn't the dis they think it is. If a shortcut improves your quality of life, it's just your best path.

We have a long way to go.

 

[5byfive]

That's not surprising. GenX seems to be one of the most judgemental generations alive.

I don't know about the most judgemental, but I think definitely more blunt.

How different generations answer this question "Am I fat?"

Boomer: You could probably lose a couple of pounds

Milenial: No, you're beautiful

Gen Z: We don't body shame, of course you're not

Gen X: I have 5 fat friends, and you're 4 of them

 

[birdwhacker]

I don't know about the most judgemental, but I think definitely more blunt.

Said the GenX I've always described myself as obese and most of my friends will happily tell me the truth. You're confusing GenZ with Gen Alpha – I'm GenZ and pushing 30.

Funnily enough GenX usually insists that I'm not fat.

 

[deleted.user.16]

What people don't understand about trying to lose weight is how hard your body fights back against you. They think that if you ate the same amount as them, you would feel the same as them and that all the extra food you eat is for extra pleasure on top of what you already need to feel satisfied. They can't wrap their heads around the idea that how you physically feel on 2000 calories a day is what they would feel eating 1000 calories a day. Most people are not very smart and cannot easily understand that their experience doesn't also apply to everyone else. A lot of people are also desperately insecure and need to cling onto the thought that they are better than another group of people.

What's even more weird is how people on GLP meds can act the same way toward other people on GLP meds who aren't having as much success as them. You don't see it much on this forum but I see it a lot on other platforms. Someone will post "I'm on X.X mg of Tirzep and not losing weight" and everybody will mock them for not dieting or exercising enough and roll their eyes at another lazy glutton expecting an "easy fix". Like...........did the GLP shots make you lose your memory of your entire life before GLP meds???

 

[gimmeshelter]

Sadly this comes from a place of ignorance and jealousy

 

[ultima thule]

On the other hand, when I've lost 42kg/93lb without any drugs, just on diet and activity, people who didn't see me for a while were asking if I was sick (probably thinking about cancer, but didn't mention). Only one fella asked me if I'm on Ozempic. My answer was: "Lad I'm not a celebrity to use that kind of stuff" And look at me now....

 

[deleted.user.16]

But I'd like to push back on the idea what people wanted to microdose or get off the medication are all doing it for irrational/psychological/judgy/hateful reasons. There are lots of reasons to want to get off. One of them is that I want to get pregnant in a few years (maybe even more than once) and will have to get off them. Another is that it is legally dubious and some jobs are extremely strict about investigating if you do legally dubious things. Another is that all drugs have risks. I know it's a small risk, but it's not zero, and the higher the dose and the more times you inject, the higher the risk is. So I'm in the camp of "I'm taking this drug for now but I'm not happy about it and will try to keep doses low and try everything I can to get off." It doesn't mean I have any kind of negative thoughts about people who are taking the max dose for life.

 

[spanky2026]

I'm continually surprised by the number of people who have watched me for DECADES try to lose weight, and FAIL - and when a medication comes out and I start shedding weight like crazy it's somehow suddenly wrong. Why? You know nothing else worked for me, why aren't you cheering this new breakthrough? Geeze

 

[Estarossa19]

Shiet, if you want to experience this firsthand visit the r/loseit subreddit and mention any sort of success on GLP's and watch the hate come in. I'm willing to bet those that hate the most are the ones actually using GLP's to lose weight but acting like they're doing it on their own

 

[Grogu]

That's not surprising. GenX seems to be one of the most judgemental generations alive. Old people in general.

Welp! Didn’t realize until this afternoon that as a GenX that I’m officially lumped in with the “Old people” , but I the guess judgmental thing is probably true, although I’d like to thinking of it as tough love. And do I have plenty of tough love to go around.

 

[sheilarae74]

I think a lot of people are biased about GLP users because they don't really understand how GLPs work. Then there are the people who don't understand what it's like to have lifelong issues with weight.

As for the GenX thing. I agree. We were raised by boomers and the silent generation. We don't sugarcoat.

 

[deleted.user.16]

Shiet, if you want to experience this firsthand visit the r/loseit subreddit and mention any sort of success on GLP's and watch the hate come in. I'm willing to bet those that hate the most are the ones actually using GLP's to lose weight but acting like they're doing it on their own

Every weight loss subreddit seems to hate every other weight loss subreddit. The CICO people hate the keto people and the IF people, the IF people hate the CICO people. The GLP people hate any mention of any kind of diet. The r/loseit people hate every other group. And every single community on the internet will tell you that fasting for 2 seconds will immediately give you an eating disorder and kill you. Go figure.

 

[rusticroost81]

Not too surprising that society has negative connotations regarding weight-loss medications, but that people using the medications are “viewed as less moral, competent, and deserving.” is kind of sad…

This is why I don't discuss any of my glp or peptide use with anyone. Although, to be fair, people are critical and judgemental no matter what anyone who is overweight does. Just look at social media. People post their gym trips (get ridiculed), post their healthy what I eat in a days (get blasted and calorie checked), even an overweight person posting what zero calorie flavored water they're drinking gets them mocked. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. It's really sad.