My life seven months after Ozempic

[Cozytoesandtoast00]

I thought this post may be helpful to those who are on Ozempic or have just come off.

I started Ozempic in December last year. I wasn’t hugely overweight but was just in the obese category and had been struggling for years to get it off.

The drug worked really well for me initially. I lost about 2.5 stone, which was enough for me fall into the normal weight for my BMI. I was able to fit into into size 12 clothes comfortably and some size 10’s. I stopped taking it in April last year.

My appetite look around 2-3 weeks to return to normal.

I decided that I would attempt to eat less to stop the weight from returning. This didn’t work and I quickly gained nearly a stone.

I came to the conclusion that in order to keep the weight off I would need to make significant changes to how I approached food. I my opinion people who get fat generally have a poor insulin response to carbohydrates (including sugar)
We can’t just “eat less” as a normal slim person would or we wouldn’t have reached the obese stage in the first stage.

I now have cut out sugar for the most part and limit carbs to the evening meal. I also try and eat my first meal nearer towards lunch time. I’m not perfect though and do not stick to this all of the time. I certainly won’t at Christmas.

I have found the key to keeping it off is to get back on in when you slip up. I slip up very often, my last one being a week long. I do need to weigh most days to keep a check on myself.

I feel happy and that this way is sustainable for keeping the weight off. I’m now about half a stone heavier than when I stopped Ozempic but keeping to that weight easily and I’m still in the normal weight catagory.

Fantastic to hear! Thank you for posting and well done.

Well done! Not easy but much better for you than using a drug. Good advice r.e sugar, it really is to blame for weight gain.

Really interesting, thanks so much for sharing

Thank you for posting this. I've 39lbs lost in the year I've been taking ozempic I've another 31lbs to go to being a normal weight, endocrinologist has introduced metformin as well.

Controlling the insulin response is definitely the key, I’ve been taking saxenda but now I can’t get hold of any. I’ve been successfully limiting carbs (but not keto) for a few months and it works.

maybe we all need to follow the mantra
control the insulin >control the weight

How do we control insulin? I've been. Waiting for tier 3 support nhs/was hoping for drugs but they aren't prescribed here.

In the meantime (I'm living with morbidly obese) I'm overhauling my diet and trying to cook from scratch etc.

I've seen insulin response and bad insulin reposnse mentioned in relation to people with obesity but don't really know what it means - or how to solve it?

I'm amazingly not diabetic (which I thought was to do with insulin?)

Totally agree OP

People get very upset at any mention of low carb but this is what it means, lowering the amount of sugars your body consumes and has to process, in any format.

its not about cutting out food groups for people who are going to start frothing about that

Whether that is achieved with support of tools like medication, slimming groups or surgery, ultimately that is best way to go about it for those of us who find carbs really affect how our bodies work and how it affects cravings and appetite.

@OneMoreStepAlongTheRoadIGo
As I understand it (I’m not medical) if you have a bad insulin response then your body does not process carbohydrates well. Instead of using them for energy it stores them as fat. The only way to control it is to eat less carbohydrates. The trouble is a lot of nice things are carbohydrates, bread, potatoes, fruit, rice, pasta etc. The keto diet cuts out practically all carbohydrates but is quite drastic and too drastic for me.
I try and limit the number of times I eat carbs in a day to once and then a small portion. I’ve lost nearly two stone after years of doing WW and slimming world etc and not losing at all

For me personally, even long before I had weight loss surgery it was cutting out the main culprits and anything made of them, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes (although I didnt find potatoes quite as triggering)

I also cut out bread and bready products because I noticed a pattern of my joints being swollen and painful when I ate it.

I still eat some carbohydrates because Im trying to balance things out after surgery to get enough fibre in, so I do eat oats for breakfast but that is not my favoured type of breakfast and one day I would like to get back to a majority protein breakfast

The rest of my day consists of protein with veg/salad including pulses/lentils etc

There is very little in the shops I can buy as a ready thing or convenience food and anything 'healthy' has actually very little nutrition in it, consequently I make all my own foods.

I find its what you do 80-90% of the time. I had a forkful of victoria sponge yesterday, its fine. I shared a bag of crsips last night as we went out and a small glass of wine, thats also fine.

I couldnt do that all day or eat several though or then it goes back into the patterns I got away from.

Brilliant to hear. I have lost 5 stone since April, have had a month off and appetite is starting to return so I will be restarting next weekend. I need to lose another three stone I think to be a healthy BMI so hoping to be done by Easter so a year for 8 to 10 stone which was what I set out to do. I think I will continue with a dose a week to maintain.

Well done!
What's the best way to get hold of it? I need to lose a couple of stone and have yo-yoed a lot for 25 years. My issue is I am never not hungry. Yes I have done low carb but I cannot sustain it and it didn't really help me feel less hungry.

Wow doggy well done! Was that through nhs. I'd like to lose 10 stone eventually ...

No I paid privately, I asked my doctor and even tho by BMI was 42 she said no. I actually used Ryselbus as I didn't fancy injection but it's the same drug, just a tablet instead.

Thanks for posting this OP.
I'm going to give it a try because I just can't stop eating all the time and my weight is getting out of control.

You can lower your insulin by eating low carb foods or changing the timing of your meals.
I’m not losing now as I did that via Ozempic but I am able to maintain.
I eat lower carb foods in the daytime but not in the evening. I still eat potato, pasta and rice with my evening meal. However, I find that I gain if I eat too much pasta or bread. I hardly ever eat bread.
I still eat the odd packet of crisps!

I agree with this mantra!
A lot of people don’t realise that if you limit your insulin response you also limit your hunger.

Well done. That’s a brilliant loss!

Thanks sounds like you're doing amazingly! I've registered that I'm working on my diet with the Dr as have to do 2 years to be eligible for tier 3. I'm hoping in 2 years time to have lost some of the 10 stone and perhaps get help then with the rest!

But want to learn all I can, and change all i can, in the mean time.

I used Juniper but I’m not sure if this is the best company to use now.
It wasn’t as popular when I started.

Good luck!