Everyone’s On It… Should I Be Too?

“This is a personal reflection I’ve been sitting with quietly for a while. I don’t claim to speak for everyone, but I hope it resonates with anyone feeling torn about weight-loss injections or recovery.”

A Recovered Perspective on Weight-Loss Injections, Body Shame, and Honouring the Path I’ve Chosen.

I developed an eating disorder at 15. It would be over two decades before I made my way to a more peaceful place with food, my body, and myself. For years, I swung between restriction, bingeing, self-loathing, and desperate attempts to shrink myself into acceptability. I was completely trapped in diet culture.

And now, in my 40s, after all that hard-earned recovery, I find myself faced with something new, something I didn’t see coming.

Weight-loss injections are everywhere.

They’re on the TV, in social media feeds, in magazine articles and online forums. Friends are talking about them. Some swear they’ve finally “cracked it.” And every time I see another transformation post or hear another glowing review, there’s a familiar tug in my chest.

Should I be doing this too? Am I falling behind? Is it shameful to still be in a bigger body?

I want to be really honest with you, even after years of recovery, those questions can still echo in my mind. Not because I want to go back to old behaviours, trust me, I really don’t. But because we live in a world that still tells us thinner is better. Faster is better. Control is better. Even when we know where that road leads.

The Recovery No One Sees

It took me years to learn how to eat regularly. 

To stop swinging between extremes.

To listen to my body.

To not chase weight loss at all costs.

What I have now is something that doesn’t always make for dramatic “before and after” photos, but it’s everything. I eat. I rest. I move. I enjoy food. I don’t obsess over it. I trust myself most days.

And that didn’t come from a miracle drug or a 6-week plan. It came from slow, unglamorous, often painful work. Work that involved facing shame, rebuilding self-worth, and learning how to care for myself like I mattered, regardless of my size. And that is some deep, hard work.

But Still… The Pull

So when I see weight-loss injections being praised as the answer, I feel a mix of emotions.

Part of me feels calm, even protective: I know that’s not my path.

But another part, an old, familiar part, whispers: Maybe this time it would be different.

And that’s where the danger lies.

Because these injections might suppress appetite and lead to weight loss,but they don’t address the deeper work. And for those of us with a history of disordered eating, appetite suppression was never the full story. In fact, it was often the start of the spiral.

What Happens When the Injection Stops?

This is the part I wish more people talked about.

Yes, the weight might come off. But for many, it doesn’t stay off. Hunger returns. Old fears resurface. Shame gets louder. And the food noise, the mental chatter so many of us know too well, often comes back with it.

As someone who’s worked hard to build peace with food, I just can’t afford to play with that fire again. It took me too long to get here.

That’s what I’ve come to learn: healing, for me, isn’t about shrinking my body. It’s about expanding my life. And while the world keeps handing me new ways to control, suppress, and fix, my recovery asks for something different. It asks me to trust, to nourish, and to let things be.

This all came to the surface again after watching a video of a woman who had lost 10 stone. It changed her life. And truly, I felt joy for her. She looked radiant. Confident. Free.

But I couldn’t help but wonder, what is her food noise like now? What happens when the injection stops? Will the peace last, or will the old patterns creep back in?

I ask those questions not out of judgement, but because I’ve lived those patterns. I also used to work with people on strict weight-loss programmes. I’ve been on strict weight-loss programmes! I’ve seen all the incredible before-and-afters. And I’ve also seen what happens in the months and years after, when the weight creeps back, and the world stops clapping.

I want to be mindful not to make sweeping statements, because I know these injections have genuinely changed lives. For some people, they may offer a path that feels right and sustainable. But I also know, from my own journey and from the stories shared in my therapy room, that weight loss alone rarely silences the deeper struggles, the guilt, the shame, the obsession, the hunger that’s not really about food.

Some early research suggests weight is often regained when the medication is stopped. And honestly, that makes sense to me. Because unless something shifts on the inside, the patterns often return.

A Quiet Reflection

I suppose this is just an honest reflection, one that I’ve been thinking about for a while. If you’re on your own path with food, weight, or recovery, I see you. These are not easy things to talk about in a world that so loudly celebrates shrinking.

Whatever choices you make, I hope they come from a place of care, not punishment. From self-trust, not fear. And if you’re still finding your way, you’re not behind, and you’re not broken. You’re human.

And me? I still want change too. But not at any cost.

I Still Want Change:Just Not at Any Cost

I do sometimes wish my body felt lighter, more comfortable, or more energetic. That’s not a betrayal of my recovery….it’s human.

But I no longer believe I have to punish or override my body to get there.

Instead, I focus on small, gentle shifts over time. Always with kindness.

Tiny acts of care.

Changes rooted in respect, not rejection.

Because I’ve lived through the kind of change that costs you your joy, your health, and your peace.

I’m not interested in that anymore.

To Anyone Else Wondering…

If you’re watching this wave of weight-loss injections and quietly asking yourself,

“Should I be doing this too?”

…I see you.

You are not alone.

It’s okay to feel conflicted.

It’s okay to want change and still choose a slower, kinder path.

Your story doesn’t need to match the headlines.

Your healing doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s.

You are not failing because you’re not on a jab.

You are not shameful because your body is bigger.

You are not broken for wanting to feel at home in yourself without medication.

You’re Allowed to Stay Rooted in Peace

Every time I feel the shame creeping in, I remind myself:

I have already chosen my path. The one that’s right for me.

Not the one that promises fast results,

but the one that promises real freedom.

Not the one that flattens me into a number,

but the one that sees me as whole.

I won’t trade that for a temporary “fix.”

Because this peace I’ve found?

It’s too hard-won.

And it’s worth protecting.

Julie x