this post was submitted on 06 May 2026
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Not The Onion

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[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 25 points 1 day ago (3 children)

No shit Sherlock, doesn't take a fucking genius to see that people have been losing weight by a variety of methods since weight management was even a thing. It's just fucking easier with GLP-1 agonists. I haven't read the article, is the blurb supposed to be dripping in sarcasm or something?

[–] Ilovethebomb@sh.itjust.works 50 points 1 day ago (5 children)

No, they actually talk about other drugs that have a similar effect as alternatives.

They just really didn't think that headline through.

[–] reversedposterior@lemmy.world 11 points 1 day ago

They probably did, they just wanted it to be clickbait as with most things online these days

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 2 points 1 day ago

Yeah that was my suspicion, thanks for clarifying.

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[–] Hegar@fedia.io 26 points 1 day ago (29 children)

people have been losing weight by a variety of methods

Surprisingly, they have not.

Before GLP1s, weightloss was a myth. 99. something % of people (edit 99.2% of women) who meet the medical definition of obese will always be obese despite a lifetime of effort.

We know for certain from decades of research that weightloss from willpower alone, even with diet plans or excersize plans is functionally impossible. The best they do is yoyo effects - no diet has ever produced perminant weight loss on a real scale.

Very rarely a statistically insignificant sample size enjoy permenant weight loss and these individuals are held up to show it's possible and you can do it too! But that's just not true, and we know it's not true because decades of stats show again and again that perminant weight loss just does not happen.

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 6 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Horseshit. I literally know multiple people who have lost weight and kept it off.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If you know several people who met the medical definition of obese and have perminantly left that category then you know several outliers, which is entirely possible.

But that is just not representative. Over 99% of obese people do not lose weight. Those few outliers are heavily visible and celebrated so it feels like there must be more.

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 1 points 20 hours ago

Yeah, I'm not trusting an article that makes a lot of claims that are contrary to my lived experience and everything else I've ever read but cites nothing.

[–] stray@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

If 99% of people aren't a thing, then 1% of people are. That's like 80 million people.

[–] Lodespawn@aussie.zone 1 points 20 hours ago

Yeah, I'm not trusting an article that makes a lot of claims that are contrary to my lived experience and everything else I've ever read but cites nothing.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I don't say this often...that was a great article. Thanks for sharing.

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago

😊 Right? It really stuck with me. One of those articles that ties together so many obvious and not so obvious pieces into a really clear picture. And in HuffPo no less!

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (3 children)

Fun fact: glp1 weight loss isn’t permanent either.

You have to keep taking it.

So now all you’ve done is added some pills.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 day ago (1 children)

And?

Beats the shit out of having to weigh and track every calorie for the rest of your life.

People act like willpower is an infinite resource.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (4 children)

Sounds like a miracle, doesn’t it?

Miracles don’t exist.

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[–] Hegar@fedia.io 4 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Yep!

The altered hormone balance is what allows weight loss and if that reverts than so does weight loss.

I know this "you have to keep taking them" argument is big in anti-glp1 circles, but I don't think it's very good - the same is true of vitamin supplements. You have to keep taking them or the deficiency comes back. They still help.

I don't care for glp1s myself but i've heard how happy they make some, so i don't judge others' choices.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

“I know this ‘if you go off the diet plan you gain weight’ argument is big in anti diet plans, but…’”

I get that gol1s help people regulate their caloric intake. Don’t get me wrong.

But acting like they’re some miracle when they’re not is counter productive, particularly given that the core issue is ultimately behavioral in the first place.

People who’ve gotten to obesity have done so are more likely to revert to the same habits that led to it in the first place. Unless there’s something fairly radical about their lifestyle.

For me that change was finding a few gymbro friends who both cared enough to keep me going and genuinely celebrated my losses (and gains, weightlifting was part of the exercise thing.)

I’m not a gymbro, and I never will be, but being around them is sort of like a smoker finding new friends who don’t smoke. It makes it easier.

The other more important change was therapy. Lifelong habits don’t change easily, and therapy makes that much easier.

The point being here that GPL1 is not the only way to get there; and in terms of society’s health, almost certainly not the best solution. (That solution would require prevention, and corporations don’t like that.)

[–] Hegar@fedia.io 1 points 18 hours ago

GPL1 is not the only way to get there

Except that for the overwhelming majority, functionally everyone, they are.

I'm not a propent of the drug. I'm slightly wary, I don't want it and i don't bring it up to others. But I don't judge people who do.

It sounds like you're part of the incredibly small minority who have been able to lose weight. Congratulations! It sounds like you worked long and hard to find a regimen that works for you.

Literally 99% of obese people will never find what you found. For them, these drugs are the ONLY realistic option to perminantly lose weight. Nothing else has been shown to work in more than 1% of cases.

[–] RBWells@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago

And blood pressure medicine, and plenty of other drugs. If benefits > risks & costs, who cares?

[–] stray@pawb.social 2 points 1 day ago (2 children)

How is that different from like antidepressants or thyroid medication, etc? You'll have symptoms again if you stop the pills.

[–] JasonDJ@lemmy.zip 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

The difference is the social understanding.

Nobody gets thyroid-shamed. People understand hyper-/hypo-thyroidism as an objective symptom of a physiological problem.

Obesity is not viewed the same, though it really should be.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did I say anything about other medication?

No?

Why bring it up?

“These other things aren’t a permanent cure either!” Is a lazy response.

The original comment was acting like gold-1s are a cure where traditional weight loss isn’t. The reality is if you go off them, the same thing happens as going off your diet.

[–] stray@pawb.social 1 points 1 day ago (1 children)

They're a cure for having an uncontrollable appetite, which makes dieting difficult to impossible.

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

So if you stop taking them, you retain your controlled appetite?

Spoiler: nope.

They’re not a cure for anything.

[–] stray@pawb.social 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

That's so pedantic, but yes, they're a treatment for an uncontrollable appetite. Do you mean to suggest that you're against medical treatments which are not cures?

[–] FuglyDuck@lemmy.world 1 points 1 hour ago

It’s not pedantic when the original commenter I was responding to was saying that traditional weight loss wasn’t a permanent cure, for the same reason that gol1s aren’t a cure… but then framing them as a cure.

They’re not permanent and they do have risks associated with them (pancreatitis and GI tract issues iirc,)

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[–] zkfcfbzr@lemmy.world 8 points 1 day ago (1 children)

I read this whole thread thinking I was on /c/TheOnion, not /c/NotTheOnion, and thought the joke just went over your head.

Wow, it's really not the Onion. What a headline. I gave the article a brief skim and it seems to be sarcasm-free.

[–] Aatube@piefed.social 3 points 1 day ago

!pukedtheonion