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Since college, Brad Jobling has struggled with his weight, ranging from a low of 155 pounds to 220 pounds when he was in his 30s. She spent a decade tracking calories on Weight Watchers, but the pounds she lost always came back at 5. -Foot-5-inch frame.
About a year ago, the 58-year-old Manhattan resident took a new weight loss drug called Wegovi. He’s lost 30 pounds, and started eating healthy foods and exercising — habits behind many commercial diet plans and decades of conventional wisdom on sustainable weight loss.
Yet Jobling’s experience has also changed her perspective on dieting. He now sees obesity as a disease that requires medical intervention, not just behavior change. In fact, he thinks he will have to be on a drug like Wegovi for the rest of his life, even though it does take away his enjoyment of eating somewhat.
“I don’t understand how you can maintain (the weight) without medication,” Jobling said. “Obviously, it’s all about self-control. But I think it’s less of a struggle to actually maintain a healthy diet when you’ve got that support.
Like the lives of the people who take them, recent injectable drugs like Vegovi and its predecessor, the diabetes drug Ozempic, are reshaping the American health and fitness industries. They have been proven to be successful in eliminating unwanted pounds more quickly and easily than eating less and burning more calories alone. Such is their disruptive power that even established diet companies like Weight Watchers and brands like Lean Cuisine are getting makeovers.
Although celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey have publicly touted the drugs as revolutionary, some health experts worry that businesses without any expertise will begin distributing prescription drugs along with bad advice and unproven treatments.
A demand too big to ignore
At least 3 million prescriptions for a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists were issued each month in the U.S. during the 12 months ending in March, according to data from health technology company IQVIA. They include semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Vegovy, and tirazepate, the drug in Monjaro and Zepbound. Morgan Stanley Research analysts estimate that 24 million people, or 7% of the US population, will use GLPT-1 drugs by 2035.
The world’s leading diet programs have taken note of such statistics and have included popular medications in their existing membership plans.
WeightWatchers, founded in 1963, last year acquired telehealth provider Sequence, which helps members get prescriptions for weight loss medications. WeightWatchers continues its focus on behavior change as a cornerstone of weight loss, but has launched virtual clinics that provide customized exercise and nutrition plans, as well as prescription care, for individuals who lose an average of 20% of their body weight. Want to lose weight.
“Weight loss will be driven by the acceptance that weight loss is a health care issue,” Weight Watchers CEO Sima Sistani told analysts earlier this year. “This is a paradigm shift as weight loss has taken hold and, unfortunately, is often still seen as a vanity issue.”
The Mayo Clinic, which first offered the weight management plan in book form in 1949, has published an updated edition of the longtime bestseller, titled “The Mayo Clinic Diet: Weight-Loss Medication Edition.”
The Mayo Clinic diet program also expanded to include access to weight-loss medications and advice on managing any side effects, according to Scott Penn, CEO of Digital Wellness, whose company developed an online platform for the original program. Has gone.
Newer medications have made being overweight “much more of a medical condition,” he said.
Gym and diet food companies want to get involved
Luxury athletic club operator Life Time last year launched a membership program that offers comprehensive medical testing, personal training and a number of alternative treatments such as cryotherapy. Members of the Miora program can also obtain Ozempic and other weight-loss drugs through the medical staff of a clinic that opened in Minneapolis last year.
Jeff Zweifel, executive director of Life Time Miora, called the new drugs a “game changer” for the fitness industry.
“We have the opportunity and the obligation and the responsibility to work with medical providers to help people get outcomes and make sure that’s the way to go,” he said.
Fitness chains are relying on the idea that people taking the drugs will lose enough weight to overcome any self-consciousness or physical limitations that prevent them from exercising. Gym franchise Equinox launched a new personal training program in January for prescription-holders who want to preserve or build muscle while also shedding unwanted pounds.
The world of drug-assisted weight loss is also changing the ambitions of food companies. Sales of SlimFast, a line of meal replacement shakes and snacks sold in supermarkets, have declined as people turn to weight-loss drugs and retailers cut shelf space for diet products, the brand’s parent company said. Glanbia told investors in February.
Because the drugs suppress the appetite of people taking them, Glanbia and other companies are marketing their products as a source of adequate nutrients for people taking GLP-1. Swiss multinational Nestlé SA thinks it can capitalize on the popularity of the drugs and is expanding its Lean Cuisine frozen meals and OptiFast protein shakes.
“Diet is good again,” Nestlé SA CEO Ulf Mark Schneider told analysts in February. “It’s something that people used to do quietly, unsure of its consequences.”
Promising results and a wealth of unknowns
According to Dr. Lewis Aron, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medical School, research has shown that about a third of people lose 5% or more of their body weight through diet and exercise alone. In comparison, the diabetes drug Monjaro helped obese or overweight people lose at least a quarter of their weight when combined with restricted calories and exercise, a new study shows.
But some experts worry about businesses marketing the drugs or acting as fitness coaches for patients taking the drugs. Dr. Sian Wade, a health care consultant at global strategy and management firm Kearney, said she is concerned about the proliferation of clinics that don’t have as much experience with obesity and related health conditions.
“There is a potential concern that for some patients, (clinics) will not have the right expertise to be able to manage side effects, nutritional issues appropriately,” he said.
Because GLP-1 drugs are so new, it is unclear how many patients will adhere to their medication regimens, which cause intolerable side effects for some people. Another reason patients leave medications is cost. A one-month supply of Wegovi costs $1,300, and Zepbound costs $1,000.
‘New version of me’
Lisa Donahey, a 54-year-old actress and singer who lives in Los Angeles, started taking Monjaro under a doctor’s supervision a year ago to treat her type 2 diabetes. At the time, the 5-foot-7 Donahey weighed 260 pounds and was a veteran of diet plans like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, and NutriSystem.
Since then his weight has dropped to just under 190 pounds. she goes to the gym. Having always been cast as a character actor, he is looking for new roles. After using the drug to give her a “kick-start”, Donahey said she planned to wean herself off Monjaro after losing 40 pounds.
“I had a sense of despair that I was destined to do this and I couldn’t do it on my own,” she said. “Now, with my weight under control and a new version of me emerging, I feel so empowered, excited and hopeful.”
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