A TheraLight red light therapy bed is pictured at the MIORA clinic at the Life Time at Target Center, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Minneapolis. Luxury athletic club operator Life Time launched a program that offers comprehensive medical testing, personalized training and a host of alternative therapies like cryotherapy. The Miora program also offers Ozempic and other weight loss drugs through the clinic that opened in Minneapolis last year.
Like the lives of the people taking them, recent injected drugs like Wegovy and its predecessor, the diabetes medication Ozempic, are reshaping the U.S. health and fitness industries. They have proven successful in eliminating unwanted pounds more quickly and easily than consuming fewer and burning more calories alone. Such is their disruptive power that even established diet companies like WeightWatchers and brands like Lean Cuisine are getting makeovers.
WeightWatchers, which was founded in 1963, last year acquired telehealth provider Sequence, enabling members to get prescriptions for weight loss drugs. WeightWatchers is sticking with its focus on behavior change as the cornerstone of weight reduction but launched virtual clinics that provide customized exercise and nutrition plans, as well as prescription care, for individuals who want to lose 20% of their body weight on average.
Jeff Zwiefel, executive director of Life Time Miora, called the new drugs a “game changer” for the fitness industry. Since the drugs suppress the appetites of people taking them, Glanbia and other companies are marketing their products as a source of adequate nutrients for people taking GLP-1s. Swiss multinational Nestle SA thinks it can benefit from the drugs' popularity and is expanding its Lean Cuisine frozen meals and OPTIFAST protein shakes.