A whopping one in eight adults in the US have tried GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, but despite their massive popularity, many people taking the drug do so in secret.
Certainly there are plenty of rumors about celebrities using the jab to stay skinny, but weight loss drugs have become incredibly common outside of Hollywood too — even if most people are keeping their usage hush-hush.
So if millions of people love it and have used it successfully to lose weight, why are Ozempic users’ lips still sealed? The Post talked to three people taking semaglutide, plus one weight loss doctor, to find out what’s motivating them to stay mum.
Taking the easy way out?
Jennifer*, a 50-something from New Jersey, has lost 40 lbs. in the year since she went on semaglutide.
She’d started with a BMI of 28.3 — in the “overweight” range — and got as low as 125 lbs. before she started lifting weights and putting on muscle.
“I love how full it makes me feel with very little portions,” she said. “I love that it has stopped my cravings for sweets and alcohol. I love my wine, but being on semaglutide stopped me from wanting my nightly two glasses. It felt great to not want to drink or want something sweet after dinner.”
Jennifer had tried everything before turning to the jab — keto, calorie deficit, fasting — but “nothing was really working.”
“I was hungry all the time. I would get completely frustrated and give up. Not to mention, my metabolism came to a screeching halt once I hit 45,” she admitted. “I hated it. I hated myself. I was sad. I was angry.”
But though she unequivocally loves the drug, she worries that people will judge her for “taking the easy way out” if they knew how she lost the weight.
That’s something Dr. Holly Lofton, the director of NYU Langone’s Medical Weight Management Program, has heard a lot from her patients.
I didn’t want to be lectured on why it’s bad or the possible negative side effects.
Jennifer, a semaglutide user from New Jersey
“[There’s] the idea that it’s an easy way out, which it’s not,” she told The Post. “You still need to follow lifestyle recommendations, like create a caloric deficit and exercise.”
She thinks a lot of people also have the misconception that people are only losing weight because the drugs make them feel sick and throw up — which is “completely untrue.”
“I think both the stigma that the medications are an easy way out and that the mechanism is through making your stomach not work are both myths that need to be dispelled,” she added.
Everyone’s got an opinion
Lorraine*, a 60-something who lives in New Jersey, spent her whole life on and off diets, starting her first one in the fourth grade.
“Every diet I went on, I always lost weight, but as soon as I had a bad day, it would set me off and I would have a hard time going back on. And I always ended up gaining it right back,” she said.
When she developed a health condition a few years ago — not one caused by excess weight, but thought to be less symptomatic at lower weights — she refocused on slimming down. For the past year an a half, she been ordering semaglutide from a compounding pharmacy that’s helped her maintain a 45-pound weight loss.
“It turns off the food noise to make me think, ‘Wait, do I really want this? Versus before I would just eat it whether I wanted it or not. I was mindlessly eating. Now it tells me, I’m kind of full, I really don’t want anymore,” she said.
But if people ask her how she lost the weight, she tells them she’s been sick and not hungry — not about the GLP-1.
Ultimately, she thinks anything related to her health — and that includes her weight — is her personal business. But she also knows people have some strong opinions about Ozempic and similar drugs.
I don’t want to trigger anyone’s own body image issues or eating disorder struggles by talking about my own weight.
Helena, a Wegovy user from New York City
“I do think there’s some bit of judgmental attitude out there,” she said.
Jennifer’s also been wary of opening up the floodgates to other people’s thoughts.
“I didn’t want to be lectured on why it’s bad or the possible negative side effects,” she. “I was worried about someone feeling compelled to tell me all the bad things about it and why I shouldn’t do it … It was working so well for me and I was feeling so good, I didn’t want to risk someone’s comment and or lecture to take that away from me.”
Lofton said she has patients who are hesitant to take GLP-1s — and then take them in secret — because they’re afraid they’ll be accused of vanity.
“I do have patients come to me and say, I don’t want to take Ozempic because I don’t want my friends to judge me. And I tell them, you will be judged if you lose weight, and you’ll be judged if you don’t lose weight,” she said.
Down with diet culture
Some of the criticism of Ozempic has been related to diet culture, which can make people who aren’t thin struggle with their self-esteem and turn to unhealthy habits.
Helena*, a 30-something from New York City, is attuned to that — even as she was unhappy with her own weight gain.
After having two kids, she said it’s “been really hard to maintain even the upper end of my typical pre-children weight,” so she got a low-dose prescription of Wegovy and has lost 12 lbs.
“I’m not looking to be super thin, but I really want to feel comfortable and look like myself,” she said. And while she’s taking the low and slow approach, she’s still mostly keeping her methods to herself.
“I don’t want to be part of any negative culture around food or perpetuate the impossible standards for or constant judgment of women’s bodies,” she explained.
“I also don’t want to trigger anyone’s own body image issues or eating disorder struggles by talking about my own weight. My close friends know I’m on it, but I don’t generally talk about my use of Ozempic, dieting or my weight in general around people I don’t know extremely well.”
Jealous much?
Lofton has also noticed another trend: When one person in a friend group loses a lot of weight, it can inspire envy from those who haven’t.
“I’ve seen a lot of times where they say, ‘OK, you took this medication and you lost weight, and now you’re making me look bigger in pictures.’ And that can bring about negative comments about taking the medication,” she said.
It happens in marriages, too.
They may whisper my name or the name of my clinic … but won’t say the name of what they’re doing.
Dr. Holly Lofton
“They’ll say, ‘My husband says I’m too thin. He wants me to stop,’” she said, adding that some female patients complain that they wish they hadn’t lost the weight or told their husband how they did it.
“Because that woman is starting to get attention from other people, and maybe it makes the man feel heavier or insecure.”
What makes them tell
One thing all of these women have in common — and a phenomenon Lofton has seen in her practice — is that when they think someone else is considering going on a GLP-1, they’re more likely to open up.
“The only reason I would share is if I thought I could help somebody,” said Lorraine, who has confided in a colleague who was also trying to lose weight.
Jennifer added, “It has helped me feel so much better about myself that I would like to share that with someone who was unsure about taking it. I want to help someone achieve the same happiness and success.”
Lofton said that some patients who are cagey with friends at first may hint at the secret to their success later.
“As time goes on, they’re more willing to share their story because they get so many compliments,” she said. “The person who is next to them says, ‘Tell me your secret,’ and they may whisper my name or the name of my clinic … but won’t say the name of what they’re doing.”
Smaller body, still on Ozempic?
Even once people have reached their goal weight, some continue to use GLP-1s to maintain — and they fear backlash, too.
“Their friends and family members are saying, ‘Why are you still taking this medication? You lost the weight!’ and they have this sense that they’ve ‘cured’ their weight problem,” said Lofton.
Though there’s an idea that they’re a “new person,” she stresses that they’re the same person — just with smaller fat cells.
“They’re probably healthier, they can probably move through the world with more ease, but they still probably have the fear of regaining weight because they know how that feels with their history of yo-yo dieting,” she said.
At the end of the day, the doc has seen lots of people who have dieted and exercised and still struggled to shed the pounds — until introducing a GLP-1 into their routine.
“I tell people, you can tell your friends whatever you want, but as long as we’re doing this safely, that the right decision for you,” she said.
*Names have been changed
