Losing weight is hard, but for many people, glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drugs like Ozempic or Wegovy can be very helpful. Of course, they aren’t right for everyone, but millions have been able to lose significant amounts of weight with them.

In general, this is seen as a good thing, but when it was revealed that popular wellness influencer Janelle Rohner was using GLP-1’s, it was quite the scandal. She has been popular for quite some time, talking to her followers about things like various diet options, tracking macros, lifestyle changes, exercise, and much more. She even sold a course to help people with tracking macros.

Not long ago, however, she put out a video that confirmed that she was on a GLP-1 and tried it after trying everything else, including things like keto, workouts, lifestyle changes, and more.

Many of her followers were outraged because she had long been making it seem like she lost the weight through natural changes in her life like diet and exercise. To make matters worse, many people bought her fat loss courses and felt betrayed that they spent $200 on a course about micronutrients when, in reality, the author of that course was just using an injection. One commenter on the video wrote:

“If you’re in the fat loss world and taking a GLP-1, you must disclose it. There’s nothing wrong with taking one but not disclosing it WHILE SELLING FAT LOSS COURSES is slimy as hell.”

People who want to lose weight are in many different situations. Some of them are more than happy to use a GLP-1 drug, but others prefer to try more natural options first, so they feel like they have been deceived if the influencer they are listening to was using the drug without telling them.

The GLP-1’s were designed to help diabetics, which they are very effective at, but they quickly became very popular for weight loss as well. In fact, since these drugs have become available, WeightWatchers has actually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. While there were undoubtedly many reasons for the company’s struggles, it is clear that this type of drug hurt its bottom line.

This type of PR crisis for the influencer will almost certainly cost her a lot of followers who wanted to learn how to do the hard work of losing weight in a healthy way. They are obviously very disappointed to hear that this influencer took what they see as the easy way out.

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