Ruder, At ObesityWeek, More Data and Questions About Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, and Retatrutide (2024) 331(1) JAMA 9

[keangkong]

Ruder, At ObesityWeek, More Data and Questions About Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, and Retatrutide (2024) 331(1) JAMA 9, doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.23141.

One of the more interesting things that this article discusses is how little diet and exercise help to lose weight in comparison to the modern weight loss drugs. Here is an excerpt: "in the Semaglutide Treatment Effect for People with obesity (STEP) clinical trials, people who received semaglutide alongside an intensive lifestyle intervention lost only 1% more of their body weight than those who received the drug without intense diet, exercise, and counseling interventions."

 

[chmuse]

Ruder, At ObesityWeek, More Data and Questions About Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, and Retatrutide (2024) 331(1) JAMA 9, doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.23141.

One of the more interesting things that this article discusses is how little diet and exercise help to lose weight in comparison to the modern weight loss drugs. Here is an excerpt: "in the Semaglutide Treatment Effect for People with obesity (STEP) clinical trials, people who received semaglutide alongside an intensive lifestyle intervention lost only 1% more of their body weight than those who received the drug without intense diet, exercise, and counseling interventions."

Can I just say that I appreciate how many of your links are easily downloadable so I can send them to my e-reader to read offline later?

Re: the article, I personally gave up calorie counting. I was leaning too far into old ED-like habits. I keep a general idea in my head on days I'm eating unhealthy crap, I order kids meals or just the smaller burger and diet soda without a side. But on days I have yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast, bean salad for lunch, and chicken thighs for dinner, I don't even think about it. And I'm losing weight just as fast as I did obsessively weighing everything and staying under my calorie goal to the point I weighed my vegetables on a food scale.

 

[penewbie]

Diet and exercise don't work long term on the population level, we have decades of research proving it, and probably over 90% of this forum as anecdotal evidence.

 

[hotdog!]

Can I just say that I appreciate how many of your links are easily downloadable so I can send them to my e-reader to read offline later?

Re: the article, I personally gave up calorie counting. I was leaning too far into old ED-like habits. I keep a general idea in my head on days I'm eating unhealthy crap, I order kids meals or just the smaller burger and diet soda without a side. But on days I have yogurt or cottage cheese for breakfast, bean salad for lunch, and chicken thighs for dinner, I don't even think about it. And I'm losing weight just as fast as I did obsessively weighing everything and staying under my calorie goal to the point I weighed my vegetables on a food scale.

This is exactly where I'm at. I've given up on calorie counting and exercise because it's impossible to stick with long term. I'm not a spring chicken, I've tried a lot. Even when I did everything obsessively, for science, for a year or longer, it never stuck. So I'm done obsessing and feeling like a failure because I can't keep up with what are impossible standards for me. It never turned into an automatic habit, it was always a hassle and I always hated it even when I tried to convince myself otherwise. I accept that it may mean I will always be 15-20 lbs over someone else's imagined ideal weight for me. I don't care, I want that mental freedom and mental space back. As long as I'm not morbidly obese and uncomfortable, I'm ok with overweight.

 

[hexagonal]

Ruder, At ObesityWeek, More Data and Questions About Semaglutide, Tirzepatide, and Retatrutide (2024) 331(1) JAMA 9, doi.org/10.1001/jama.2023.23141.

One of the more interesting things that this article discusses is how little diet and exercise help to lose weight in comparison to the modern weight loss drugs. Here is an excerpt: "in the Semaglutide Treatment Effect for People with obesity (STEP) clinical trials, people who received semaglutide alongside an intensive lifestyle intervention lost only 1% more of their body weight than those who received the drug without intense diet, exercise, and counseling interventions."

Interesting. I'm curious how adherence for the lifestyle intervention people is?

Lifting doesn't seem to impact the number on the scale too much (Hopefully in part because I'm adding some muscle mass...), but the weeks when I'm better about diet, cardio, or both, I definitely see more progress.

Energy must be conserved, so I don't see how significant lifestyle changes wouldn't have impact if people are actually following through.