#Jenny Craig

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

Royal watchers who labeled Meghan Markle "Ozempic Meg" were on to something.

NOprah's WeightWatchers purchased obesity drug semaglutide and is directing clients to their own telemedicine company for prescriptions.

One of the controversial things about this drug, though, is that a lot of people who are trying to get it don't necessarily medically qualify for it and they just want it so that they can get skinny. How is Weight Watchers going to deal with that?

Weight Watchers has recently moved into the obesity drugs market with the purchase of semaglutide, which works by helping the pancreas release insulin to move sugar from the blood into body tissues, slowing down movement of food through the stomach and curbing appetite. Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for semaglutide.

Ozempic is approved to treat Type 2 diabetes in adults while Wegovy is approved for weight loss in two groups: those 12 and older with obesity and adults who are overweight and also have least one weight-related health condition, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.

for the longest time, its whole kind of reason for being is to help people control their eating and up their fitness, and now they are getting into a medical approach to it, and that is a big shift.

Ryan Knutson: Is it possible that these drugs could just be another fad?

Andrea Petersen: I haven't heard that from anybody I've talked to. I think people do believe that this is a significant scientific advance and that it marks a real shift in the treatment of obesity.

Ryan Knutson: Welcome to the Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knutson. It's Tuesday, March 14th. Coming up on the show how a new class of drugs is revolutionizing the weight loss industry. For decades, Weight Watchers was one of the most popular ways for people to lose weight. And they did it by pushing lifestyle changes. The company has weigh-ins, branded food, and a famous point system.

Andrea Petersen: What they've done is they've assigned a point value to many, many, many foods. I mean most foods that you can think of. And you are given a certain number of points that you can use each day. And so you decide how you're going to spend those points. And the goal is to stay within that number of points to sort of achieve your weight loss goals.

Ryan Knutson: How has Weight Watchers' business been doing in recent years?

Andrea Petersen: They have been struggling. It's been a sort of turbulent time at the company. So in 2018, Weight Watchers actually really shifted away from this tight focus on weight loss. They actually changed their name to WW. And they largely stopped using the word diet and they tried to refocus their mission as being sort of more broadly about wellness. They also launched and scaled back a number of initiatives. They tried kind of personalized diet plans that many members found pretty confusing and also harder for members to talk to each other and about their experience because everyone was sort of on a different plan and so the kind of community support and sharing recipes and tips and tricks was really not working as well. And also their stock price has really struggled, and their membership has been down. They just reported their fourth quarter earnings, and the number of subscribers slid to 3.5 million from 4.2 million in the year ago quarter.

When I look around this room, I can't help but wonder, is Ozempic right for me?

Andrea Petersen: A lot of celebrities started saying that everyone they know is on it. One of my colleagues did a story about how it was really the talk of the Hamptons over last summer. So it seems to have just really entered the cultural conversation.

Ryan Knutson: Andrea says that some people have been using the drugs who don't meet the FDA's guidelines for it.

Andrea Petersen: These drugs are not for people who need to lose 10 pounds. I mean, these are really, the clinical indication, the FDA approval for Wegovy, which is the drug for obesity, indicates that the drug's for people with a BMI of 30 or more, or a BMI of 27 or more, plus at least one weight related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or type two diabetes.

Ryan Knutson: The CDC says a healthy BMI is between 18 to 24. The company that makes both these drugs, Novo Nordisk, said it complies with the law and doesn't condone off-label use. And that, "We trust that healthcare providers are evaluating a patient's individual needs in determining which, if any, medicine is right for that particular patient." This drug sounds revolutionary, but are there potential downsides?

Andrea Petersen: Well, I mean, there's definitely side effects. The most common side effects are things like nausea and vomiting. The FDA approval does note a potential increased risk of thyroid cancer. And then anytime there's a new drug on the market, sometimes it takes a while for us to know what some of the longer term side effects are. That's an issue with any medication. Sometimes you just don't know until things are on the market for several years.

Ryan Knutson: Despite the unknowns, a bunch of businesses have popped up to connect people with doctors who can prescribe the drugs.

Andrea Petersen: So we've seen this sort of story before. I actually covered Pfizer's Viagra back in the late '90s. I'm dating myself. And I remember you had online companies selling it. You had people who were doctors who were advertising home delivery services.

Ryan Knutson: And the same thing is happening now with Ozempic and Wegovy.

Andrea Petersen: I think anytime there is a drug that is meeting a demand, you get this sort of gold rush mentality. There's going to be people that are trying to meet that demand.

Ryan Knutson: After the break, Weight Watchers gets in on the gold rush. Last year, Weight Watchers got a new CEO, Sima Sistani.

Ryan Knutson: Sequence says it doesn't prescribe the medications to anyone who doesn't meet the FDA's BMI guidelines. Weight Watchers says offering access to the medications is a, "natural next step," and that it's in line with the company's focus on providing science backed weight loss programs.

Andrea Petersen: Talking to Gary Foster, who's the Chief Scientific Officer of Weight Watchers, he was saying that they plan to actually create specific programs for people who are on these medications. So specific sort of Weight Watchers plans, because when you lose this amount of weight, you tend to lose really important muscle mass as well. And there are things that you can do to help counteract that. And so he told me about an emphasis on strength training will be really important for folks on these drugs as well as consuming high protein foods. I mean, these can all sort of help counteract that potential loss of muscle mass. So what they were telling me is that they really see what Sequence offers as an adjunct to their existing services.

Ryan Knutson: One of the controversial things about this drug, though, is that a lot of people who are trying to get it don't necessarily medically qualify for it and they just want it so that they can get skinny. How is Weight Watchers going to deal with that?

Andrea Petersen: I mean, I asked this question. I said, "This is a kind of minefield to walk into." And they told me that they are going to follow the science. They're going to really adhere to the letter of what the clinical indications are. They were very explicit in saying that they do not have plans to offer this drug to people who don't qualify for it. When I talked to Dr. Foster, he said to me, "This is not a drug, we're not going to be prescribing this for people who want to lose 10 pounds before their high school reunion."

Ryan Knutson: Part of me is kind of surprised that these drugs have become so popular because I feel like as a society we have started to really move away from pushing weight loss and moved more toward a culture of body positivity.

Andrea Petersen: Well, I mean, that's the interesting tension. This is an interesting cultural moment in our discussion of weight loss. I mean, this also coincides with, we've had several years of the body positivity movement, that really tried to push back against the kind of shaming around people's bodies and people's weight. But at the same time, there's this really growing understanding that excess weight does have real health implications. And so companies who are in this sort of weight loss business have had to speak to both of these realities, and that can be a tricky thing to navigate.

[dailybehbeh]

Behbeh

[i-dont-even-noa]

I think people who greenlight diet company ads on social media should be publicly executed

[itsreaditandwow2]

Here you go. Merry Christmas, you fatty.

Shane Dawson

[rodspurethoughts]

BISTROMD CEO SHARES THOUGHTS ON JENNY CRAIG'S SUDDEN CLOSURE & OFFERS SUPPORT TO JENNY CRAIG CUSTOMERS

Jenny Craig's closure has left many customers without healthy meals. BistroMD offers 40% off on first week's doctor-designed, chef-prepared meals to support them. #BistroMD #JennyCraig #healthyeating #preparedmeals #weightloss

Surprising Company Closure Leaves Countless Customers Without Healthy Meals: bistroMD Provides Solution with Steep Discount on Doctor-Designed, Chef-Prepared Meals  NAPLES, Fla., May 5, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Shocking news came this week from a household name in the diet and weight loss industry as Jenny Craig announced its sudden closure of U.S.-based operations. After nearly four decades of…

[wwprice1]

10 awesome DC covers for October!

[mikemorris1988]

They react to skinny Cartman and they are not Thrilled

[spankerella]

Can we talk about how everything Benoit Blanc wears in Glass Onion is giving me a slightly understated Rex Brewster from Evil Under the Sun? Top pics Daniel Craig, bottom pics Roddy McDowall. Especially the swimsuit. Glass Onion costume design by Jenny Eagan. Fabulous.

[wan975]

A series of doodles

[who-platonic-ships]

Doctor Who Platonic Poll: Round 1, Teams 12

[simianamber]

Fictional art...exists only in the mind of the reader. All work © simianAmber

[frankbelloriley]

My mom's been in town for a few days, and we got into an argument because I insisted she (and my dad) put me into Jenny Craig as a fat teenager (which is why I don't like diet programs and they do not work for me) and she's insistent that she never did. And I'm just like...I don't have body dysmorphia for no reason, chief.

[soupsweet]

Some doodles I drew at like 4 am lol

I ALSO DREW KEVIN FINALLY YIPPEE

[graphicpolicy]

Wanda Maximoff's mystical might is shown off on the Scarlet Witch #1 variant covers

Wanda Maximoff's mystical might is shown off on the Scarlet Witch #1 variant covers #comics #comicbooks

[brunetterightsactivist]

Me every hour or so

[zekedms]

Not to make a serious post too much but remember how angry everyone rightly was about bread companies adding sesame because it's cheaper to poison people than clean your machinery?

Yeah well it's happening in other foods. I already posted about Kellogg's doing it to cereal bars and Austin Snack Crackers but now it's in greens CVS granola bars and Jenny Fucking Craig cheesecake which btw record level they added EVERY allergen to that shit.