{"id":25089,"date":"2023-06-21T10:06:01","date_gmt":"2023-06-21T17:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/?p=25089"},"modified":"2023-10-18T11:48:20","modified_gmt":"2023-10-18T18:48:20","slug":"weight-loss-journey-before-after-ozempic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https://www.realself.com\/news\/weight-loss-journey-before-after-ozempic","title":{"rendered":"Why I Decided to Take Ozempic After Losing 100 Pounds Naturally"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ah, Ozempic<\/a>—quite possibly the most talked-about and polarizing FDA-approved injection since Botox. In case you’ve been offline the past six months, Ozempic and Wegovy are brand names for semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1 antagonist) that is essentially a string of amino acids that, once injected, decreases blood sugar level and suppresses appetite. Initially used to treat diabetes, Ozempic was first approved for medical use in patients with type 2 diabetes, to regulate blood sugar levels, manage weight, and decrease the risk of cardiovascular disease. However, in June 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Wegovy for long-term weight management and triggered a whirlwind of hot takes on who “should” and “shouldn’t” be using the drug. (The Real Housewives<\/em> even joined the conversation<\/a>.)<\/p>

For people like me, who’ve been overweight and dealt with weight fluctuations their whole life, taking semaglutide for weight loss sounds like a dream. Why? Because losing weight “naturally”—i.e., without surgery or prescription medication—is very hard. Trust me, I’ve done it. From May 2017 to May 2018, I lost 100 pounds through diet and exercise alone. No procedures, nutritionist, personal trainer, or health coach—just protein shakes, detoxifying cleanses, a bit of intermittent fasting, and my Planet Fitness membership. But let it be known: it wasn’t just casual dieting and exercise. This kind of weight loss was “achieved” by eating 1,000 calories or less and exercising up to four hours a day. (Like I mentioned, I was not under a physician’s guidance at this time and would not recommend following this plan.)<\/p>

I was a newly freelance writer in New York City, with a flexible schedule that allowed me to commit to this intense lifestyle and a budget that forced me to say yes to walking everywhere and barely spending money on food. I weighed 250 pounds on May 1, 2017, and 150 pounds by the end of April 2018.<\/p>

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Before and after my 100-pound weight loss<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>
Interested in Ozempic?<\/small><\/div>Find Doctors Near You<\/a><\/div>

Due to how unsustainable my weight-loss journey was, maintaining my new weight proved to be a challenge. Somewhere between the middle and end of 2019, I began upping my calories and decreasing the hours spent moving my body on a daily basis. Then came the pandemic. Like most people who did not have a front-line job, I spent the majority of 2020 indoors, sitting in front of a screen, doing little exercise. As a result, since 2019 I’ve regained about 70 pounds and that weight hasn’t easily come off with more casual exercise and intuitive eating.<\/p>

When the chatter began that celebrities were using Ozempic as a way to shed weight and get red carpet ready quickly, I felt defeated at first. I was finally at a place where I was accepting of my regain after such drastic weight loss, and then came society telling me that the body-empowerment movement is over and we’re idolizing smaller bodies again. But then I realized I was a candidate for this drug and could use it to feel more comfortable—physically and mentally.<\/p>

For my prescription, I sought out Dr. Azza Halim<\/a>, a board-certified anesthesiologist and regenerative medicine physician with offices in Florida, California, and Illinois, who says that candidates for semaglutide are prediabetics, those with a BMI greater than 30, or those with BMI of 27 who also have other underlying health issues such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or metabolic syndrome\/diabetes. When it comes to drug interactions, Dr. Halim advises against combining Semaglutide with any type of insulin, acetazolamide, anticonvulsants, tricyclic antidepressants (such as amitriptyline, nortriptyline), or monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI).<\/p>

For patients who are not prediabetic and have to pay out of pocket, the price of prescription semaglutide depends on the brand, your doctor, and where you’re located but can be an average of $1,750<\/a> a month. In comparison to the little money I was spending on my weight-loss journey a few years ago, semaglutide is obviously more costly.<\/p>

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