Celebrity weight loss drug Ozempic and its counterparts like Mounjaro and Wegovy are still highly debated within the health industry. Famous faces such as Sharon Osbourne have come out to slam what some have called a game-changer for those needing to shed pounds, with ‘Ozempic face’ being the common term trolls like to throw out there.
Ozempic was the first weight loss injection to make headlines in 2021, despite the diabetes medication being approved to help those with Type 2 for four years prior. The next one to hit the market was Novo’s Wegovy, which used the same ingredients to treat obesity. It was the first weight-loss drug to be approved by the FDA in eight years. Since then, we’ve had Mounjaro, which followed a year later, with pharmaceutical companies seemingly jumping on the bandwagon. This was then approved in other countries, such as the UK, after the success in the States.
1. I needed to try Mounjaro for weight loss – because I did everything else
Considering taking a prescribed medication to shed pounds doesn’t come lightly. Although waves of stories of almost perfect celebrities taking the drugs to look better in a skintight dress has caused it to have a bad reputation, it’s a real lifeline for some people.
I suffer with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and have done since my teens.
It’s a condition which affects the reproductive system, and one in 10 women%20is,6%20million%20women%20have%20PCOS.) are believed to suffer from it too. Although, it’s more of a spectrum than a checklist, as each person with PCOS has various symptoms and struggles.
For me, I have cysts on my ovaries, unmanageable periods, hormone imbalance and insulin resistance with the added bonus of struggling to lose weight.
So when it came to trying our Mounjaro for weight loss, it was the end of the road for options at this point. I had tried all the fad diets. Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Keto, No Sugar Diet, low calorie. You name it. Now, it’s been five weeks, and I’ve realized there are several things that have happened since then, and hopefully for good.
2. The stigma around weight loss isn’t going to change
Casting our minds back to 10 years ago, or 20, and mental health wasn’t taken as seriously and sensitively as it is today. If someone told a friend or boss they were suffering from depression, they’d be told to smile more, go outside for a walk and get some sunshine to fix the problem.
Thankfully, over time, this is dissolving and more focus on how mental health is just as important and fragile as physical ailments is rising.
But when it comes to weight loss, that stigma is going anywhere soon, even with the likes of Ozempic and Mounjaro.
Kim Kardashian can’t pose in a slinky dress on Instagram without being told she needs to ‘come clean’ about using the drug. Even Barbra Streisand called out film star Melissa McCarthy on her carousel of photos, asking if she had used it for millions to see.
3. It’s not just a gimmick
Let’s get down to how Mounjaro works.
This medication contains active ingredient tirzepatide. It helps to suppress appetite, so candidates consume fewer calories, as well as improving insulin resistance. Certain areas of the brain are turned on to make you feel full, for longer, and you eat less, helping with the old-age equation, more calories out than calories in = weight loss.
It also aids the body to use insulin more effectively to control blood sugar levels and reduce spikes, in turn, supporting the loss of fat tissue as well.
Insulin resistance, a struggle for diabetics and other conditions like PCOS, is when the body doesn’t respond to the insulin the body makes or takes through medication. But because the body can’t use it, it increases blood sugar levels to try to make more of it, creating an endless and harmful cycle.
Just perusing Reddit with fellow patients taking Mounjaro for weight loss, both diabetics or not, see positive results about their blood sugar and success.
4. There’s no easy way to lose weight
One of the biggest gripes naysayers have over the drug is seeing it as the ‘easy’ way out.
For me, I kick-started a serious health and lifestyle change last summer in July. For someone who works remotely, I would spend hours sitting each day with little exercise, so I changed that. I began swimming three times a week and going for long walks once or twice a month, reduced ordering takeout and junk food, and albeit slowly, I lost some weight.
This wasn’t the first time, either, mind you. I have tried various diets and exercise for more than 10 years.
I was down 25 pounds in four months, which was a nice, slow and steady pace. But after those four months I stalled, and nothing I did changed the outcome.
After a few months of the scale being stuck, I increased my exercise even more and turned to a Low GI diet, to reduce sugar intake even more. I was now swimming four to five hours a week and walking 5k every single weekend.
Nothing happened.
I didn’t lose a single pound.
After six months, I researched Mounjaro knowing I had to do something for weight loss.
I took the plunge and within the first month I lost 12lbs. Finally. I didn’t stop what I was doing, though. Those habits I tried to learn came with me on the journey too. I still exercise the same amount and eat even cleaner. If you eat junk food, meals high in sugar and fat on the injection, you’re likely to become ill – so you can’t just take it and eat McDonald’s every day. It’s not easy.
It may seem a lot, but I have a lot to lose – it’s relative, and it won’t always be this way.
There’s no ‘cheating’, you still have to do what you’re meant to. But the active ingredient is working to ensure my hard work shows results it should because of my PCOS.
5. The health industry is still divided
My doctor laughed at me when I sought help last summer. I booked an appointment asking for guidance when the weight wouldn’t budge.
But TV star Ricki Lake told the world she was ‘p****d off’ when her doctor urged her to take Ozempic to shed pounds because if she tried it alone it ‘wouldn’t work’.
There’s still a divide on weight loss drugs like Mounjaro or Wegovy, despite the successful trials.
Much like any medication, there will be side effects, and some will have a better time than others. But you can have adverse reactions to standard painkillers, too.
It’ll be some time before there is a consensus, but I am not going to wait around for it.
6. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t
Everyone has opinions on weight loss, so if you tell them you’re taking Mounjaro or Ozempic they already have something on their mind.
‘You’re not eating enough’, ‘you’re having too many carbs’, ‘don’t eat eggs every day’ – the list is endless.
There are studies left, right and center on health and fitness. You can always find one that proclaims one method is an advantage or disadvantage.
Scroll through TikTok and find any content creator who is bigger than a size 2 and you’ll see horrible comments. Even if the video is nothing related to food, exercise or body image, at the top there will be someone shaming them for the sake of it.
- THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR WALKING: I did 10,000 steps every day for a month, the results speak for themselves
7. Finally, my body isn’t working against me
The scales had crept up every single year of my life, and I never realized how much ‘food noise’ consumed me on a daily basis.
Walking through the supermarket, and I’d be thinking about products on each aisle. If I was exhausted, upset, or stressed, I’d feel my brain seeking junk food or takeout because I ‘deserved it’.
Now? Silence.
I don’t crave chocolate or chips and can go throughout the day eating clean, healthy meals. Guess what? They’ve never tasted so good.
For me, using Mounjaro to aid my weight loss has been a game-changer. I won’t suggest for everyone to use it. But if you are interested, and meet the requirements, do your research and speak to your doctor. It’s not an easy or light decision. Also, please don’t just use social media for your decision-making process.
Any person who is overweight, is, because of a variety of factors. It’s not because they’re lazy, or ‘can’t be bothered’. Trauma, family, experiences and medical conditions do exist and in a lot of cases, are life sentences.
Now, my life sentence has been overturned, and I’ve got the key.
