James Wills*, 55, started taking Wegovy six months ago. ‘I think it’s a miracle drug, to be honest,’ he tells Metro.co.uk.
‘I’m not one to jump on celebrity fads, but I’m a convert. Dieting is the most painful, boring thing in the world, so to have a little bit of help on it is fantastic. It’s a drug for the masses, not the elite.’
A semi-professional sportsman of two decades, James stepped back from competing last year, and alongside the fact he no longer had fitness targets helping him stay in shape, he found himself eating out of boredom.
Although he was still exercising daily – clocking up an impressive 1,000km every month from cycling alone – when he stepped on the scales after a particularly indulgent Christmas, he decided things needed to change.
He says: ‘I just thought, you know what? I need a little bit of an extra push. I’d heard a lot about Ozempic, so I did a lot of research and decided to give it a go. If it’s good enough for Sharon Osbourne, it’s good enough for me.’
Wegovy facts
- Wegovy, a brand name for semglutide, is one of two weight loss injections available on the NHS, and is typically prescribed, alongside diet and physical activity, to patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) classed as overweight or obese. It’s also available to purchase privately through specialist pharmacies.
- According to the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), it can help reduce the risk of heart and circulatory disease in people living with excess weight.
- Wegovy targets the parts of the brain which regulate appetite and promotes the release of insulin when blood sugar levels are high.
- This makes people feel more full, as well as reducing hunger levels and cravings for high-fat foods.
- The drug is self-administered weekly with an injector pen, into the upper arms, stomach, thighs or buttocks.
- A 2023 study on Wegovy, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found weekly use resulted in a smaller waistline and lower blood pressure, alongside reduced risk of death from heart and circulatory disease, heart attack or stroke.
- It’s not a magic cure though. Patients still need to change their diet and reduce the amount of calories eaten to see effects, and regular exercise is also recommended. Additionally, there is evidence of weight regain when people stop using Wegovy.
- Common side effects of semaglutide include sickness, diarrhoea or constipation, headaches, tiredness, heartburn and bloating, while rarer problems can include gallbladder disease, inflammation of the pancreas, an increased heart rate and kidney issues.
Getting rid of the dangerous visceral fat around his stomach was the primary motivation for changing his lifestyle, but James admits: ‘Sure, I wanted to look a little better too.’
It was easy to get hold of Wegovy, which is a brand name for semaglutide and works in a similar way to Ozempic (though the latter isn’t approved solely for weight loss in the UK, where it’s specifically prescribed for the management blood sugar in type 2 diabetes patients).
After putting his details into an online pharmacy, a fancy package of injectables arrived in the post.
Describing the process of injecting himself in the stomach each week, James says: ‘It doesn’t hurt at all – you don’t even feel it.’
He began to feel the effects of the drug almost straight away though, becoming full after less food and having fewer cravings.
At £160 to £260 (depending on the dose) per month, it’s not cheap, but James reckons he’s actually saving money overall.
‘My weekly shop went down by £40 or £50 easily, and that’s not including wine and Deliveroos which I spent about £80 to £100 a week on,’ James explains. ‘I’ve also saved a lot on toilet paper – I only go once a day now.’
Since his first injection in February, the tech business owner has lost 20% of his body weight. It’s not just about dropping the kilos though, as James’s blood pressure and visceral fat are both now back within a healthy range – and he’s even sleeping better and not snoring.
‘I feel healthier and mentally better,’ he continues. ‘My body is in as good a condition as it’s ever been. I’ve got muscles in my forearm I never knew were there, I’ve lost fat and my muscles have come out.’
His confidence has been boosted too; a far cry from ‘hibernating’ at home and feeling self-conscious about his ‘gut’.
James (who is single and says he’s ‘blessed’ to have never been married), says: ‘I look in the mirror and think, “F*** me, I look good” these days.’
Others have been equally complimentary about the newfound spring in his step too, and his exes remarking ‘wow’ when they see him now is a welcome consequence.
How Wegovy impacts your appetite
Wegovy impacts your appetite, but you won’t go off your food altogether.
James says: ‘I eat normally – low GI cereal with fruit for breakfast and a protein shake for lunch; I gave up my lunchtime bagel. Dinner is normally a salad of some type with chicken, maybe pitta and hummus.
‘On Sunday I had a sausage and a burger, as well as a bottle of wine with friends. Before I would have thought, “that burger was great”, and have a second one. I don’t do that now.’
You’ll likely want fewer fatty foods while taking Wegovy, but it’s important to balance eating in a caloric deficit with ensuring you get the nutrients you need.
Some people find their sex drive drops on semaglutide, as it can decrease the amount of dopamine (the pleasure neurotransmitter) released by more than just eating. Not for James, though, who says he’s having ‘better sex’ as a result of the drug.
‘If you have an impulsive drive for sex, it would affect that,’ he adds, ‘but I have a normal sexual appetite, so actually it’s made me enjoy sex more because I’m not as self-conscious of my body and I’ve got more energy.’
Apparently, Wegovy has also made an impact down below, and any fears people might have about it causing penis shrinkage are unfounded.
‘If anything it looks bigger, because you lose body fat around it and your overall mass gets smaller,’ James comments. ‘It’s like when you shave your bush and it makes it look bigger.’
Nonetheless, he doesn’t feel it’s made him more attractive to women, who he believes ‘aren’t interested in men’s bodies.’
‘They are interested in cars and money,’ says James. ‘The moral of the story is, you can be fat as long as you’ve got a big wallet and a nice car. You’ll still attract women.’
He’s managed to avoid the vast majority of potential side effects these weight loss drugs can cause, from diarrhoea to dizziness.
However, there have been some downsides. James’s transformation meant he needed to buy a whole new wardrobe, and he finds he gets much colder now, needing to wear thermals and multiple layers in June.
And while he did notice his face becoming more sallow as he lost weight, he leaned into the image overhaul and had fillers, which ‘made a massive difference’ to counteract the telltale ‘Ozempic face’.
James tends not to tell people he’s taking Wegovy, as some consider it ‘cheating’ – a viewpoint he refutes.
‘I think it’s a tool, much like you can use anything as a tool,’ he says. ‘It’s impossible to succeed without training and working out and eating more healthily. Yes, I perhaps wanted a bit of a quick fix. But it hasn’t been a quick fix.’
After reaching a plateau, James is now looking to come off the medication. But is he worried he’ll revert back to his old ways once he does?
‘I don’t know,’ he says. ‘I don’t want to be on it for the rest of my life, but it was almost impossible for me to lose the weight I wanted to lose without it. It’s like a little guardian angel on your shoulder saying “Don’t eat that!”.’
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