My client’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine as I tried to explain her recent dramatic weight loss – at least a stone in a matter of weeks, I estimated. ‘It’s stress… there’s a lot going on at home. And my husband is very busy at work,” she says.
A probable story. I’ve been a personal trainer for over 25 years and I knew instantly that, like many of my other regular clients who suddenly lost a significant amount of weight this year, this woman had started taking Ozempic or another of the new hits’ miraculous’ to lose weight.
She looked absolutely emaciated and, in addition to losing weight, she had also lost muscle strength, all telltale signs that she was using a weight-loss punch.
The women I coach in a particularly affluent part of the country generally fit into a certain category: in their 40s and 50s, they have husbands in such high-paying jobs that they don’t have to work themselves.
They see me because they want me to help them manage the weight gain that can so often accompany menopause: that padding around the abdomen and lack of muscle tone that can suddenly appear as your 40s move into your 50s.
This can certainly be reversed, and I have a great reputation for transforming women’s figures in this way, which is why everyone seems to seek me out, but it takes a lot of work and consistency on your part to get results.
It’s very disappointing for me, then, to see woman after woman fall for Ozempic’s quick fix.
I estimate that at least five of my clients, of which I have about 40, have succumbed to the blows this year alone.
Many of the clients Sam sees have been inspired by celebrities such as Davina McCall and Gabby Logan, who looked great during menopause thanks to their sensible and well-publicised exercise regimes.
Only one has admitted the truth to me, while others have made up excuse after excuse for the sudden haggard look that comes over them. Doing more weights. Eliminating sugar. Pain after losing a parent. Worries about money (as if!).
All of these women have been on my books for a minimum of five years, and when I started training them they all told me the same thing: they wanted to be strong and lean.
I showed them how to train with dumbbells and kettlebells, instructed them on the importance of working their pelvic floor while training, thus improving their core, and showed them particularly important exercises (like weighted lunges) to improve their balance, which is very important. maintain it as we age.
Their weight slowly decreased, their muscle tone improved, and they glowed with health. They were inspired by celebrities like Davina McCall and Gabby Logan, who looked great during menopause thanks to their sensible and well-publicized exercise regimens.
Then, earlier this year, I noticed that one woman had a particularly haggard appearance; In my experience, Ozempic users lose weight on their face first.
The weight was lifted off his shoulders, a stone in a matter of a month or so. She looked well, but now she seemed emaciated.
Then, along with the weight loss, came what I consider to be the most obvious sign of Ozempic use: a complete failure in muscle strength and tone.
In that month, this woman who previously happily did chest presses with weights of a minimum of 15 kg, suddenly could barely lift 6 kg.
Sam notes that many of his clients who have used Ozempic lose muscle mass as well as fat, and another common side effect is constipation.
Yes, he was losing weight, but, disastrously, it was at the expense of his overall health and fitness.
I can only assume that women don’t want to tell me about using Ozempic because they feel embarrassed. Celebrities may admit to having used it, but in the social circle in which these women live, there is still some shame in choosing the easy option.
The only woman who did She confesses to using Ozempic after I probed her and she admitted she was desperate to lose the last of the bloat clinging to her figure.
He struggled to resist fatty foods and wine, but with Ozempic his appetite diminished.
She was delighted to have reached her goal weight, even though Ozempic had given her terrible headaches and terrible constipation. The latter is a well-known side effect: Clinical trials show that the injection can cause constipation in up to 12 percent of users. But she was thin. And that’s all he cared about.
It really depresses me to see women worshiping the cult of thinness again when they were apparently so dedicated to developing their strength.
Only one of my clients has had his doctor prescribe Ozempic for health reasons. You are taking a very low dose, appropriate for your health needs: you have type 2 diabetes, for which the drug was originally developed (and for which it is licensed).
The others, however, have sought private prescriptions for the weight-loss vaccine. And as they eliminate fat, they no longer look toned.
Their lack of muscle mass may seem like a small price to pay for a size 10 figure, but once these women lose their hard-earned strength, they’re unlikely to get it back.
They are in the “use it or lose it” phase of their lives. It is much more difficult to regain muscle when you are between 50 and 60 years old.
The point is that muscle really matters: it is metabolically active and requires more energy to maintain than adipose tissue. People with greater muscle mass burn more calories even when they don’t exercise.
And once the muscle is gone, you’re trapped in a vicious cycle: Without muscle tone, you’re much less likely to maintain weight long-term.
So that first tempting Ozempic injection could well mean that these women are stuck on long-term weight loss injections to maintain their thinness, with all the well-publicized side effects that go hand in hand with these injections.
Even more worrying is that it is the muscles that improve our balance and make us much less likely to fall when we are older.
I wonder if my clients really understand the potential lack of mobility and loss of independence they could face in a matter of years, all in the pursuit of the old goal of being thin, at whatever cost.
- Sam Brooks is a pseudonym.