I’ve had a lot of different weights in my life and I knew I had reached one of those weights that is difficult to get back from. I was in my danger zone for months, slowly edging closer to fat. And then one day I got there. And I was unhappy. And low energy. And unmotivated. And eating to feel better for a few seconds.

I heard about Ozempic and knew it worked well for many, but wasn’t willing to spend $1,000 a month for it. Nevertheless, because I searched for weight loss injections, Instagram started showing me ads for telehealth companies that offered compounded forms of semaglutide, the active ingredient at a fraction of the cost.

So I was like, “shoot me up please!” and clicked the ad. But the ad led to a sketchy website that lacked credentials. I detected it quickly and searched for other companies. I eventually landed on one, filled out a brief form and failed to qualify – I was 5 pounds under the weight needed.

A month or so later – wishing I had fibbed about the 5 pounds – I was at the weight needed and qualified for treatment based on the information I provided during the signup/in-take process. About a week later, my semaglutide arrived in an ice package with a supply of very small needles.

I let it sit in my fridge for 5 days out of fear before finally deciding to do shot 1 on a Thursday so I had time to recover if there were side-effects before the weekend. I measured out the starting dose and stuck the little needle in my arm. It was painless.

And then I kind of became very observant of my body over the next few hours looking for the effects. I certainly didn’t become hungry as the hours passed. In fact, it was close to 10 pm, 8 hours after I took the shot, that I forced myself to eat a yogurt and a banana. They were delicious, but I was full after.

The next morning, largely because I’m an idiot, I woke up and drank 3 Nespresso pods on an empty stomach before getting into the shower. By the time I got out of the shower, I was very nauseous. It was the worse part of my whole experience and, to be frank, it wasn’t that bad. Plus, I googled “coffee Ozempic” and saw that I shouldn’t have upped my intake on any empty stomach while my body was adjusting.

Appetite wise, it was honestly quite difficult to eat the first few days and I was fine with that. I stuck to yogurt and bananas and rice. I added apples and oatmeal. Progressed to carrots and hummus. Then salads.

And it was all so delicious. I couldn’t eat much as I got full quickly, but I really enjoyed it. Overall, food wasn’t that big in my mind the first few days and I worked to consume about 1000-1200 healthy calories with protein as I honestly could have gone without eating.

Thus I definitely think it is unwise to start Ozempic if you are planning to go to a restaurant you’ve always wanted to visit or are expected to eat a lot at a gathering. You simply won’t be able to consume much in the beginning. That has been my experience even two months in. And I definitely have saved more on eating out (and drinking) than I have spent on the medication.

(As for drinking, be very careful the first time you consume any alcohol. I did not enjoy two glasses of wine a few days after my first shot and haven’t really had a desire to drink since.)

Energy wise, I was definitely lagging and tired, especially in the evening. Part of this was likely due to my low caloric intake and when I added in protein shakes, I noticed an uptick in energy.

Oh, I forgot to mention the weight loss. That was the awesome part. I started at 170 pounds. I lost 3 pounds the first week. Then another 2. Then another 2. I then plateaued for a week before the dose was increased in week 5.

And then the weight loss resumed. More importantly, the weight was coming from all the right places, especially my stomach. I noticed the impact by the second week and others could see it by the 5th. In just about 8 weeks, I lost close to 10% of my body mass, almost all of it from my stomach. My BMI would no longer qualify me for treatment by quite a bit. Everyone could notice the change.

At this stage, around 8 weeks in, what is most striking to me, is that I couldn’t even eat junk food if I tried. It tastes terrible to me. I am eating healthier than I ever have and it in no way feels like a compromise. My body now craves healthy, unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

I plan to continue the medication and healthy eating until I reach normal weight, which doesn’t feel so far at this point. And now that my energy has come back, I’m planning to incorporate exercise beyond trying to get steps in.

In the future I will share more, but for now, I wish everyone the best of luck on their journeys and hope my compilation of third party verified telehealth providers helps you find the right site to start Ozempic-ing with.