Ozempic for Weight Loss: How Does It Work?

Ozempic for weight loss on image of person stepping on scale

You’re tired of stepping on the scale and seeing the number barely budge — or not move at all.

You’re not alone in the struggle. Research shows that one to two people out of five individuals worldwide are striving to lose weight. And they are using supplements, exercise regimens, and diets to make this happen.

If you’re not having weight loss success with these solutions alone, you may benefit from trying Ozempic for weight loss as well.

Before you give this drug a try, though, there are several things you should understand about Ozempic. Here’s a rundown on how this drug works and how it may help you to finally shed those extra pounds.

Let’s jump in!

shutterstock 329617628 min

What Is Ozempic?

Ozempic is a trending medication that can be injected into the body to help to control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 diabetes.

This drug is part of a medication class known as glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, or GLP-1 agonists. It mimics your body’s natural GLP-1, a human hormone that is released when you eat food.

GLP-1 targets the areas of your brain responsible for regulating food intake and appetite. Therefore, when you take Ozempic, you may feel fuller sooner. As a result, you’ll likely eat less food than you have in the past.

Ozempic also decreases your blood sugar after you have consumed food.

The drug is available in the form of a pen injector that is pre-filled. All it takes is one injection per week to experience its results over time.

Note that Ozempic isn’t a form of insulin. Likewise, you cannot use it as a replacement for insulin. For this reason, sufferers of type 1 diabetes, a condition where the pancreas cannot make insulin, cannot use Ozempic for this purpose.

However, in individuals with type 2 diabetes, Ozempic does stimulate the release of insulin from the pancreas when sugar is in the bloodstream.

In addition, note that Ozempic isn’t a stimulant like other medications for weight loss are. This means it doesn’t use stimulating effects for curbing your appetite.

How Does Ozempic Work for Weight Loss?

Ozempic is effective for weight loss because it slows down the gastric emptying process — how quickly the stomach gets rid of food.

Ozempic also works by blocking a human hormone that stimulates the release of sugar from your liver.

These functions help to decrease your feelings of hunger. As a result, you will likely eat less and, in turn, shed more weight.

Who Are the Best Candidates for Ozempic?

As a general rule of thumb, you may benefit from using Ozempic if your body mass index, or BMI, puts you in the obese zone. People with BMIs of 30 kg/m² or higher fall under this category.

In addition, let’s say that your BMI is slightly below this category but you have one or more comorbidities related to weight, like high cholesterol or blood pressure. In this situation, you may benefit from using Ozempic.

Safety of Ozempic

Ozempic is deemed an effective and safe drug because the Food and Drug Administration has approved it. However, the drug is safe to use only if you follow the instructions that come with it.

When your doctor prescribes Ozempic for you, you will start with a smaller dose once per week. This will allow your doctor to determine how you’re responding to Ozempic. Your doctor will then adjust the dosage until you have reached the amount that yields the best results for you over time.

shutterstock 124151698 min

How Long Will Losing Weight Take with Ozempic?

Your doctor will likely adjust your dose of Ozempic every four weeks until you have reached the smallest dose needed to achieve the target effect. You will likely reach your appropriate dose within a few months, which means you should start noticing weight loss at this time.

In addition, within a year’s time, you should be able to maintain your weight loss long-term.

It is not uncommon for people to lose more than 33 pounds after going on Ozempic, and some individuals end up decreasing their weight by 20%. This can have a profound effect on their overall health.

Still, when taking Ozempic, you will experience your desired results more quickly if you incorporate exercise and a nutritious diet into your daily regimen.

Speak with your doctor about how long you should use your Ozempic weight loss injections. Your Ozempic use may be short-term or longer-term depending on the results you’re getting and how well you are tolerating the drug.

Benefits of Ozempic

In addition to helping you to lose weight and control your blood sugar, Ozempic offers a wide array of other health benefits. Let’s take a look at the top benefits of taking Ozempic.

Improve Your Level of Cholesterol

Cholesterol plays a major role in your body’s proper functioning. However, when your body has too much of this fast, this can harm you. Specifically, it can lead to severe conditions like stroke and cardiovascular disease.

Fortunately, Ozempic can help with improving your cholesterol levels. The drug keeps cholesterol from being produced in your liver, therefore reducing the amount in your body.

Ozempic also works by helping to break down cholesterol in your blood. This will help you to decrease your overall cholesterol level.

Decrease Your Heart Disease Risk

Ozempic is also helpful to decrease your chances of developing heart disease.

That’s because, as we mentioned earlier, Ozempic helps to control the level of sugar in the blood. This reduces blood vessel inflammation and elevated blood pressure. All of these factors contribute to heart disease.

Decrease Your Stroke Risk

Yet another reason to take Ozempic is that it lowers your chances of suffering a stroke. This can be attributed to the fact that Ozempic lowers the amount of sugar in the blood, which reduces blood vessel damage.

Ozempic also blocks the actions that some enzymes in your body take. This is important because these actions play a role in stroke development.

Boost Your Level of Energy

If you struggle with low energy and feeling fatigued, Ozempic may also be immensely helpful for you. That’s because Ozempic increases the body’s energy levels.

Ozempic achieves this by helping your body to more effectively use the hormone insulin. Insulin helps the body to turn sugar in the blood into energy.

For this reason, when you begin to take Ozempic, you may notice that you feel more energetic. This means you may have an easier time getting through your workday or handling tasks around the house. It will also make it easier for you to exercise to continue to keep your Ozempic-fueled weight loss at bay.

Enhance Your Overall Well-Being

Ozempic can help you to feel better about your health — and your life — overall.

For starters, when you lose weight with the help of Ozempic, you’ll find it easier to do activities longer than you did when you were carrying around excess weight. A lower blood sugar level will also help you to feel less sluggish, giving you more stamina.

shutterstock 75550711 min

Enhance Your Digestion

Your digestive system is complex, as it involves breaking down food and absorbing nutrients. Your body has to generate enzymes for breaking down fats, carbohydrates, and proteins. Only then will your body digest its food properly.

Your digestive system also has to move food contents through your intestines so that they are properly absorbed.

Fortunately, Ozempic helps with all of this.

The drug simulates enzyme production to help with breaking down your food. Ozempic also helps to promote motility in your intestines. As a result, food can move through your intestines more effectively and efficiently.

Finally, Ozempic can decrease the production of acid in your stomach, as well as promote the healthy absorption of nutrients. In this way, Ozempic can enhance the operation of your digestion system overall.

Decrease Your Appetite

As we highlighted earlier, Ozempic can decrease your appetite. This is possible because the drug causes a hormone known as cholecystokinin to be released. This hormone sends the signal to the brain that your stomach is full.

Because you feel fuller more quickly, you are less likely to crave more food after you have eaten even a relatively small amount of food. As long as you follow your body’s fullness cues, you should have no problem with decreasing your calorie intake. The fewer calories you eat, the more weight you’ll lose.

Speak with your doctor about the right number of calories you should be consuming each day, as this varies from person to person.

Enjoy the Convenience of Ozempic

Finally, one of the top benefits of using Ozempic is that this drug is simple to use. Just inject yourself with the drug each week to keep your sugar levels under control and lose weight.

What’s great about this drug is that you don’t have to worry about remembering to take it every single day, or twice a day. Also, you can easily take your Ozempic injection in the office or at home.

Your doctor will show you exactly how to inject yourself with the drug beneath your skin.

Also, when you take Ozempic, you don’t have to follow any major food restrictions. You’ll also no longer have to monitor your blood sugar as closely at home. Just let the Ozempic work its magic.

Note that you should still visit your doctor regularly to track how the drug is working for you.

What to Watch for with Ozempic

When you first take Ozempic injections, you may experience a few side effects. Don’t be alarmed if you experience any of the following:

  • Constipation
  • Stomach pain
  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Nausea
  • Headache
  • Weakness
  • Drowsiness
  • Dizziness
  • Irritability
  • Confusion
  • Hunger
  • Sweating
  • Rapid heartbeat
  • Shaking

If you cannot tolerate the side effects that you experience at a full dose of Ozempic, your doctor might lower your dose. Or, they may ask you to stop taking Ozempic altogether.

So, tell your doctor if you start to feel pain in the stomach that doesn’t go away, for example. You might experience this pain with or without vomiting.

In addition, you should avoid using Ozempic if you discover that you’re allergic to it or its ingredients.

Be sure to tell your doctor if you have any medical conditions before trying Ozempic as well. For instance, if you have pancreatitis, your doctor may not recommend taking Ozempic.

You should also let your physician know about any herbal supplements or vitamins you are taking before you try Ozempic.

Also, keep in mind that the medication simply might not work for you for weight loss. In this case, you and your doctor can explore an alternative weight loss solution.

shutterstock 1220319118 min

Medication and Food Considerations for Ozempic Users

If you decide to take Ozempic, it is critical that you limit your alcohol intake. This is especially critical if you suffer from diabetes.

That’s because alcohol can impact the level of sugar in your blood. Ozempic may drop your sugar levels too low, particularly if you are consuming alcohol and haven’t eaten first.

Alcohol may also irritate the stomach. And this could exacerbate any of the gastrointestinal side effects that you develop while taking the medication.

Also, if you currently take oral medications, exercise caution when taking these medications and Ozempic together. This is true whether these medications are prescription drugs or over-the-counter ones.

As we mentioned earlier, Ozempic causes your body’s gastric emptying process to slow down. This may affect how much oral medication is absorbed by your body.

Be sure to tell your doctor about any medications you are currently taking before pursuing a prescription for Ozempic.

These are a few things to keep in mind if you are on Ozempic.

How We Can Help Those Considering Ozempic for Weight Loss

There’s no magic pill for losing weight. However, along with proper exercise and diet, Ozempic for weight loss can help you to achieve your weight loss goals long term.

At HGH Vallarta, we are proud to provide human growth hormone injections for weight loss, including Ozempic. Contact us to learn more about this potentially transformational weight loss solution, and shop now!