How an Australian woman lost 16kg after dieting and exercising didnt work
A middle-aged woman who let herself go after the traumatic deaths of two loved ones has revealed how Ozempic helped her regain control of her health.
A middle-aged woman who let herself go after the traumatic deaths of two loved ones has revealed how Ozempic helped her regain control of her health.
Melbourne grandmother Karen Holman, 52, has lost 16kg since she started taking Ozempic last September.
Ms Holmans housemate suddenly collapsed and died at just 33 years old in 2020, followed by her sisters death from terminal cancer in August 2023.
The heartbreak of her loved ones deaths took a massive toll on Ms Holman, and she quickly found herself neglecting her health.
I was obviously grieving and really depressed, I think thats the point that I just gave up on looking after myself at all. It had been a really difficult six months nursing my sister, Ms Holman told Daily Mail Australia.
My other sister Paula had started Ozempic maybe six months before.
I knew Ozempic was a thing, but I just assumed that I wouldnt be able to get it.
After my sister died, I got in touch with (online prescription and delivery service) Moshy, and almost immediately, I started losing weight - that gave me the encouragement to keep doing what I was doing, making those good eating decisions and exercising.
Ms Holman (pictured before using Ozempic) has followed the advice of Moshy to use Ozempic as a tool for sustainable weight loss
Ms Holman (pictured after using Ozempic) was struggling to recover her health after the traumatic deaths of two loved ones
Ms Holman lost 6kg in the first six weeks of taking Ozempic, leading to a massive difference in her health before her weight loss became more gradual.
I was 88kg when I started in September last year, and Im now 72kg, she said.
My fatty liver was reversed, my back problems improved, I was getting less migraines.
All those things that were impacting my life started improving from the very beginning, which was really encouraging.
While on Ozempic, Ms Holman also changed her eating habits.
I think the thing a lot of people worry about is that its kind of "cheating" - that you can eat whatever you want, but you lose weight anyway, so youre not actually learning good patterns, she said.
I know for me thats not how it works. If I dont eat healthily, I dont lose weight but if Im eating well and exercising, then its helping me lose weight.
I look at it as being something that gives you a little bit of a leg-up because diet and exercise alone werent working for me but with the assistance of Ozempic, I was able to stick to the healthy eating without giving up.
Ms Holman believes shes been lucky in her experience with Ozempic as she suffered no adverse side effects and didnt struggle to complete the weekly injections.
Moshy dietician Kirby Sorenson believes prescription weight loss medication, like Ozempic, can be the best way for people to lose weight when used in conjunction with holistic methods.
Since using Ozempic, Ms Holman (pictured after using Ozempic) has been more motivated to improve her lifestyle
Unfortunately, some people still see weight loss medications as the easy way out, leading to an unfair stigma. But a weight loss journey is never easy, it still requires a lot of work for it to be sustainable, she said.
To achieve success while taking Ozempic there needs to be a focus on overall diet, increasing physical activity and working on relationships with food which have been damaged by diet culture.
With the assistance of dietitians whilst on medication, we can work towards rebuilding this relationship with food and break out of diet culture and restrictive diets which lead to binges.
