If you’ve ever lost weight only to regain it—sometimes more than you originally lost—you’re not alone. Research shows that the majority of people who lose weight through diet and exercise, with or without pharmacotherapy, regain most or all of it within five years. For decades, this pattern was blamed on lack of willpower or discipline.
In May 2025, the New England Journal of Medicine published the first head-to-head clinical trial comparing two of the most effective anti-obesity medications on the market: tirzepatide (Zepbound) and semaglutide (Wegovy). This was the phase 3b open label extension of the SURMOUNT-5 clinical trial involving 751 non-diabetic obese patients. The main finding was that tirzepatide led to significantly more weight loss than semaglutide over 72
