Headline news this week revealed that obesity isn’t caused by a lack of willpower. The new discovery comes from the British Psychological Society who suggest that modern sedentary lifestyles, genetic dispositions, socioeconomic factors, and even fat-shaming all play a part in the nation’s obesity crisis.
The breakthrough research introduces the idea that willpower on its own isn’t always enough to reach a healthy BMI, and that some people need additional help with weight loss – something that comes as welcome news to those that struggle with natural weight loss despite their best efforts.
However – there are medications available to help with weight loss for those that need it, which should relieve some of the stress and pressure that comes with trying to lose weight.
Help with Weight Loss
Everyone is aware of the advice to eat healthily and exercise, but what happens when this isn’t enough to reach a healthy BMI? Often, the stress that we place on ourselves to lose weight can have a negative effect on the rest of our health – and even on the results that we’re trying to achieve. Sometimes, you may need some extra help to ease the pressure and make weight loss easier. There’s a range of medication available to help people that are overweight achieve a healthy BMI, most recently, weight loss injections.
Whilst weight-loss injections might sound daunting or scary, they’re already helping thousands of people across the country to achieve their goal weight and to become healthy. They work by reducing your appetite so you feel much more satisfied after meals, reducing your appetite and allowing you to feel fuller with fewer calories.
If you try to eat much smaller portions without taking weight loss injections, it’s extremely likely that you’ll still feel hungry and uncomfortable, which then leads to eating more than you need, and often the wrong types of foods that are high in sugar and fat. However, with medications such as Saxenda, this risk is eliminated – allowing you to eat smaller, healthy portions without feeling hungry or deprived.
Effective Weight Loss
The most common weight loss injection is Saxenda, which first landed on UK shores in 2017. However, the type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic (semaglutide) is currently being trialled as a weight loss medication that’s injected weekly instead of daily. Both medicines work for obesity by mimicking n appetite hormone that’s usually released naturally after you eat, meaning that you become satisfied sooner, and for longer. However, it’s important to know that these injections don’t replace willpower, but complement it for effective weight loss.
Understanding that willpower is only a part of weight loss and not the reason for it is an important step towards people that need to lose weight receiving the help that they need without judgement, and injections can help with weight loss by making it comfortable and sustainable rather than stressful and difficult.
Saxenda and other weight loss medications are generally only prescribed if you need to lose weight – for example, if you have a BMI of over 30, or over 27 with a weight-related health condition. This is because a BMI over this can put you at risk of several health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, and some cancers amongst other life-limiting or even life-threatening problems. However, with many Saxenda users losing at least 5% of their body weight within 12 weeks of treatment, it proves to be an effective weight loss medication and helps many people to achieve their goal of becoming healthy in a realistic time period.
These injections may help to eliminate fad and unsustainable diets, and long term use of Saxenda is proven to be safe for those that hope to continue their weight loss journey to a healthy BMI. However, once you’ve reached a BMI of under 27, you may need to stop using Saxenda as you will have reached an ideal weight for your body.
It’s important to remember that Saxenda and other weight loss medicines are only available on prescription to help you into a healthy weight range. If you don’t meet the BMI criteria for treatment, it’s probably because you’re already at an ideal weight.
If you need to lose weight due to a high BMI and think that these injections might help you, you can read more here to help you make a decision.
