How is that different from covid vaccines? The long term risk wasn't known, but covid was super dangerous for a subset of the population, so for those it was absolutely a risk worth taking, and so is obesity.
Now we have to wonder when people are going to try mandating these. I can imagine the argument will be "of course not, covid was killing everyone and contagious. Well, obesity is killing everyone and driving up healthcare costs. But my body my choice! But not when it can harm other people! Etc"
What weight did you start out from? 40-50 kg is what I'd like to lose after all, I think.
To be honest I do the cardio mostly to stay healthy, I am not convinced it contributes much to the weight loss. I had to pause the cardio twice for a week while on holidays and lost the same amount of weight those weeks. I do take vitamins supplements though.
In term of meal, I take some supermarket ready meal, typically pasta. So it's not even an unpleasant diet. But just that for the day, no dessert. I think cutting sugar is key. I do allow myself a glass of red wine in the evening.
Now I am no doctor, I don't necessary recommend it, it is just that it worked for me, and allows to make an intense but concentrated effort. Another downside of a fast weight loss like that is loose skin, will probably take a few more months and some weight lifting to remediate that.
I stopped eating processed foods and cut nearly all my sugar intake. It was a total lifestyle change and I lost 40 pounds in the process. I’ve been off of it for nearly a month, kept off the weight so far, and never felt better.
That said...
For me, I went from 276lbs to 162lbs at my lowest in about 9mo on Tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound). 85% of the loss was in the first 100 days. I was putting in all the effort I possibly could aside from taking the drug, but I attribute the drug for most of my actual long-term success. It made things I had tried to do in the past (eating healthy, eating properly sized portions, regulating my snacking/late night binges, drinking) much easier. I call it a PED for dieting. Losing the weight also made exercising at first tolerable, and these days downright enjoyable and something I look forward to on training days.
Since I hit my lowest I have put on about 25lbs of lean muscle mass by hitting the gym for resistance training at a regular consistent schedule. When you see the results I did so rapidly in one direction, it's highly motivating to know you can "put in the work" and see results in the other. I'm now about 187lbs at 5'11" with a body fat percentage of just under 12% from my latest DEXA scan. I plan to try to stabilize at around 11% or so, since the studies on it show 12% is where the major long-term health benefits start to accrue. After that I will begin to focus on increasing my VO2MAX (e.g. cardio fitness) as much as possible. I'll be at 2 years from starting Tirzepatide this coming March.
The drug in combination with lifestyle changes can work wonders. I am but one example, and not much of an outlier at this point.
I used to worry about "outing" myself when I first started taking it, but after seeing the results I did and having friends ask me what the hell I was doing to see such success I realized I could no longer pretend it was "eating less and moving more" - I didn't want to be part of the problem.
Hope it helps someone reading this!
* Once the actuaries see the long term data I imagine insurance companies will foot the bill entirely for them as a cost-saving measure. The only thing strong enough to override a doctor's "I bet it's your period" is "I bet it's your weight."
* It is genuinely far far easier to maintain weight than lose it. Your body establishes a new set-point and you +/-10 lbs around it naturally.
Can't speak for these drugs specifically but after losing 100lbs my appetite adjusted, got higher energy, far less effort to do (well everything) but working out especially.
But yeah, that's a good point I suppose. Fewer side effects than meth that's for sure.
Only a conjecture, since as OP said, the long-term effects haven't been studied for us to be so sure.
No it's not. Diet is just what you eat. It can be healthy or unhealthy.