How Real People feel about weight loss culture.

It’s a hot topic every January as the collective ritual to shed some winter pounds begins. But, with the inexorable rise of weight loss jabs, the inescapable addition of protein to just about anything, and a recession of the body positivity narrative, does this January feel a bit different?

We spoke to some real people to get their take on the UK’s weight loss culture. What it’s like, where it’s been, and where it’s going. In truth the conversation was dominated by one thing only: the jabs.

Summary.

• The jabs have changed EVERYTHING.

• People are happy for you…until they learn you’re on the jabs.

• Everyone is forging their own path, rightly or wrongly.

• How to come off them is the main worry.

• Body positivity influencers have betrayed their audiences.

• There are double standards for different types of disordered eating.

• If treatment prices rise, people will need to make choices.

• The effects on culture remain to be seen.

The jabs have changed EVERYTHING

We asked people about UK weight loss culture, and it quickly became clear that the weight loss jabs – like Mounjaro, Wegovy, and Ozempic – are now the basis of UK weight loss culture. 5 years ago, the same question may have prompted responses about dieting, Weight Watchers, fat-shaming, or body positivity. Now, the conversation is entirely dominated by who’s on them, who’s pretending they aren’t, and how to come off them without putting the weight back on. Brands in this space must understand that it’s no longer just a lifestyle conversation, but a medical one.

“The weight loss culture in this country is really funny. I’m on Mounjaro and I'm very open about it, but I find it really amusing how many people aren't.” – Nina, 56

“Everyone's on these fat jabs, and that seems to be the focus, instead of being positive about the way you look.” – Greg, 41

People are happy for you...until they learn you're on the jabs.

People on their own weight loss journey with the jabs told us the same story multiple times. People are happy for you when they see you’ve lost weight – “you look great”, “congratulations”, “how did you do it?” – that is until they find out you’ve “cheated” by using the jab. That admission, it seems, is taken as an invitation to unleash a torrent of negatives, fears, and reasons why you shouldn’t be using them. The feeling was this rarely came from genuine concern, and more from a place of jealousy and judgement. Being sensitive to the negativity people are facing will be important for brands who operate in this space.

“Even though they've just told me I look great, when I say I’m on Mounjaro, they say have you not seen the problem it causes, or what are you going to do when you stop, or that's expensive… there's always a negative comment first” - Laura, 26

“I was talking to a friend of mine who's also on Mounjaro, and she's got this theory that people now are too scared to say you've lost weight, or that actually saying anything about weight is such a minefield now people won't actually call you out on it.” – Nina, 56

Everyone is forging their own path, rightly or wrongly.

There are right and wrong ways to use the jabs, and they are intended to be used alongside professional guidance from your GP. However, people are finding their own ways of acquiring the jabs, dosing themselves, and finding (or ignoring) the support they need by themselves. Some people have taken the jabs as a way to continue poor eating habits, while others have found solace in WhatsApp support groups and lifestyle changes. Brands can acknowledge individual journeys and avoid one-size-fits-all promises, taking a more nuanced approach to messaging.

“My friend on Mounjaro will have a Twix, and that's it all day, she doesn't have any vitamins. Her hair's falling out because her body is basically being starved, and so it worries me that she's doing it the wrong way. I think they need to be better managed.” – Louise, 40

“I've got a WhatsApp group with a few friends, some of them are quite a lot larger than I was. It’s called ‘Fatties R Us’ – we're all on diets at various times and we’re all going to work together to lose weight.” – Greg, 41

How to come off them is the main worry.

People are thrilled with the results they had from using weight loss jabs, but apprehensive about what comes next. The whole concept is simply so new that people don’t really know how easy it is to stop using them, and whether they’ll regain weight. They feel like the end of yo-yo dieting, but if people can’t stop using them then they may not be the silver bullet hoped for. There may be a space for products to fill this growing space and help people continue with healthy habits.

“I’m at the point where I don't need it, so I'll just do another month, just in case, then I need a strategy and to see what happens, because I don't want to put it all back on again. It's kind of like you're locked in now forever.” – Greg, 41

“There's not enough education about it” – Laura, 26

Body positivity influencers have betrayed their audiences.

Nobody likes a hypocrite, and one of the biggest about faces in recent years has come from celebrities and influencers who built their stock in being happy in their own skin, being “big and beautiful”, and encouraging others to be so too. When the same faces shed weight rapidly and start singing the praises of being a lower weight, this feels like a real betrayal to their audience. Even more so when they’ve attempted to hide the fact they’ve done this with the help of weight loss jabs. Brands should always approach partnerships with caution, and remember that consumers will call you out if you don’t live up to values you once traded on.

“Meghan Trainor has lost a lot of weight. I don't know if she's on something to help her, but her song was all about being big and beautiful and loving yourself and now she's kind of… Barbie doll's not the right word, but you know, she's slim, blonde gone the opposite way to the body positivity” – Greg, 41

“Alison Hammond, who was for months swearing she was just doing healthy eating, and then broke down saying she's lost, you know, 12 stone because of Mounjaro, right? It's that needing to lie and the shaming, so she went out the window” – Nina, 56

There are double standards for different kinds of disordered eating.

While people saw weight gain and weight loss as part of their own personal responsibility, there’s a sense that in the UK we stigmatise those who are seen to be overeating. This tends to be seen as a choice, whereas those who undereat are handled with more care, viewed has having a condition, and not in their right mind making their own choices. This double standard is troubling, but at the same time people don’t want their weight to be over-medicalised either. Brands should make sure they’re not piling more misery onto people who may already feel badly about themselves. Kindness will win in the end.

“I would qualify for it with my health conditions, but because it's not yet been introduced to certain GPs, I just pay for it anyway. I don't want to divulge all that information to and go well actually I qualify for it because of X, Y, Z, so I kind of just have to grin and bear it and say if it's helping me, it's helping me.” – Laura, 26

“Being obese is not healthy, obviously. You know, and obviously under-eating is, you know, is not healthy either. It's getting that fine balance between the two. If you're grossly, grossly overweight, and it's causing you all sorts of issues, you need to do something about it yourself. You can't expect the, you know, the state to fund your actions” – Michael, 64

If treatment prices rise, people will need to make choices.

The weight loss jabs have become so central to so many people’s weight loss management that economic forces surrounding them could have profound effects on other categories. If the prices of treatment go up, people will likely forgo other products, services, and activities to be able to continue. Brands in categories considered treats will likely be the first and deepest to suffer.

“There's going to be a lot of people that are going to find that unaffordable, but they won't stop. They will find the money for it and they will miss out on other things or get themselves into debt” – Louise, 40

“Maybe you're not spending as much on things like snacks, meals and days out, but you'll be using it for other things. Someone's cashing in somewhere on this, so whether it's the pharmaceutical companies or the people dispensing it, someone's making a lot of money out of it somewhere” – Greg, 41

The effects on culture remain to be seen.

With all the changes that have happened in weight loss culture, it remains to be seen what the long-term knock-on effects are going to be, for individuals, society and for businesses too. There are already signs of brands and businesses adapting their offering for a nation with smaller appetites such as restaurants offering smaller portioned “Mounjaro Menus”.

“I just think it's very easily accessible, which could cause problems in the long run. But then in addition to that, I think it's taking over everyone's lives.” - Laura, 26

“I’m paying £150 a month, but I'm not buying all these meal deals or I'm not buying snacks and all this stuff. So basically it's cancelled itself out and probably better off because I'm not spending all this extra money on meals out and takeaways and stuff like that." – Greg, 41