Thinking About Ozempic for Weight Loss? Here’s What You Need to Know Before You Decide

Ozempic has become the new buzzword in weight loss — from influencers in Kenya to global celebrities showing off dramatic results. And if you’ve been struggling with your own weight journey, it’s only natural to pause and wonder: “Should I try this too?”

But before you make that decision, it’s important to understand what Ozempic really is, how it works in your body, and the part that many people don’t talk about. That’s what this blog is here to unpack.

Table of Contents

• Why You’re Even Considering Ozempic ↗

• What Exactly Is Ozempic (and How Does It Work)? ↗

• The “Wow” Results: Why Everyone’s Talking About It ↗

• The Part They’re Not Telling You: The Risks & Side Effects ↗

• And Then Comes the Regain ↗

• My Honest Take ↗

Disclaimer: Ozempic is just one brand name for the drug semaglutide. Think of it like this: in Kenya, many of us call every washing powder OMO, or every toothpaste Colgate — not because they’re all the same, but because those brands were the first to dominate our shelves and marketing. In the same way, Ozempic has become the “OMO” of semaglutide. There are other drugs with the exact same ingredient under different names, but Ozempic is simply the most recognised. So when we talk about its effects, remember we’re really talking about semaglutide as a whole — not just one label.

Why You're Even Considering Ozempic

I get it. You woke up one day and realised your belly now lies beside you on the bed when you go to sleep. Those clothes you had planned for that trip or event? They no longer fit, or they make you sit on the side of your bed and contemplate whether it's even worth it to go outside at all.

Or maybe it’s how your top gets swallowed by love handles.

Or how you’ve quietly become “the fat friend” or sibling everyone gives unsolicited advice to, or even the one they tell others: “Ikibaki nani atamaliza.”

I get it.

And that’s why I want to be real with you. This is a safe space where we can say things as they are, strip down to what our hearts and minds truly feel — and then actually do something about it.

So you have tried, in your own eyes, as much as possible to lose that weight:

• To reduce that tummy,

• To trim your thighs that rub against each other, causing tremendous discomfort,

• To get a less puffy, “chubby” face,

• And to have arms that aren’t too big to the point you get uncomfortable wearing short-sleeve or sleeveless tops.

Maybe you went to the gym, felt awkward even just walking into a room looking the way you felt was “not good,” got shouted at in the name of motivation, woke up sore two days later, and thought to yourself when you started preparing to go back, “Is this even worth it?”

Maybe you rushed online to buy “weight loss pills,” or forced green tea down your throat (I don’t know about you, but that stuff is hooorriible!), or tried some other tasteless weight loss drink—only to see no results, or results so minimal they weren’t worth the money you spent.

Or maybe you started a diet. Keto—cut out all the carbohydrate joy out of your life. IF—fasted into oblivion, fighting through hunger pangs, dizziness, headaches and body weakness in the name of “trusting the process” as you learned about “pink Himalayan salt” and whatnot for your fasting period, etc.

So, whatever you did—1, 2, or all of them—you found them to be “too hard,” “too expensive—the weight loss pills and teas didn’t come easy,” “impractical—to your routine, for example, in the case of the gym, etc.”

So one day, while scrolling your IG or TikTok feed, your favourite (or that popular) “body positive” influencer/celebrity came this time looking slimmer than ever or announced starting their weight loss journey, and they mentioned “Ozempic” as what they will be doing.

Pritty Vishy and Nimo Gachuiri, two Kenyan socialites getting their Ozempic shots. Photos courtesy Instagram/@prittyvishy, @nimo.o_

You followed their updates week after week as they came back slimmer, more confident — and in your mind, a little voice whispered: “Wueh, maybe this is exactly what I need.”

Before-and-after results of Kenyan socialite Pretty Vishy highlight the growing use of Ozempic for weight loss.

So you searched. The price shocked you — but another voice said: “It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. Because wueh, me I’m tired.”

And one click led to another until your research, your curiosity, and maybe even your desperation landed you here, reading this blog.

Because right now you’re wondering: “Coach, should I take Ozempic for weight loss? Is it safe? Is it effective? Where can I even get it?”

My job is to guide you to understand:

• What Ozempic really is.

• Whether it actually works for weight loss.

• And the big question: Even if it works, should you take it? And if yes, why? If "no", why not?

So before you buy into the hype, let’s unpack the science, the risks, and the truth behind Ozempic.

What Exactly Is Ozempic (and How Does It Work)?

Ozempic pens — a diabetes drug now making headlines in Kenya as a weight loss option.

Ozempic is an injection whose active ingredient is semaglutide. Scientifically, it’s called a GLP-1 receptor agonist. In plain language; it mimics a natural hormone your gut produces after eating called GLP-1. That hormone normally tells your pancreas to release insulin, helps regulate blood sugar, slows your stomach from emptying too fast, and makes you feel full.

Here’s the twist: Ozempic was actually designed for people with diabetes who need to lower their blood sugar. But because of the nature of how it works—suppressing appetite and reducing food intake—it’s been adapted (and heavily marketed) for weight loss. It’s the same way Viagra was originally created as a heart medication, only for people to realise its effects elsewhere, and suddenly it became a multi-billion-dollar business. Weight loss has become that “elsewhere effect” for semaglutide.

So, semaglutide (Ozempic) amplifies those signals:

• It makes you feel fuller quicker and for longer.

• It slows down your digestion so food lingers in your stomach.

• It nudges your pancreas to push more insulin while holding back glucagon (the hormone that raises sugar).

Result? Your appetite goes down, your blood sugar is steadier, and in the process, you eat less. That’s why in the big clinical trials, people lost serious amounts of weight on it. No one is denying that part.

Ozempic also contains things like disodium phosphate (to keep it stable), propylene glycol (a solvent), and phenol (a preservative), with water to make it injectable. They’re not the main story, but they keep the drug usable.

The “Wow” Results: Why Everyone’s Talking About It

Before-and-after photos of Kenyan content creator Kelvin Kinuthia highlight his 20kg weight loss with Ozempic.

Yes, in research — even the you-yourself-scrolling-the-internet kind of research — it’s clear that people on semaglutide lost a lot of weight over a short period of time. That’s why it has made headlines. And yes, that celebrity or influencer who made you aware of it probably looks objectively hotter, even if they’re quietly promoting the drug or the vendor selling it.

So I get it — it’s hard not to feel tempted. But here’s the good part: the fact that you’re here, pausing, questioning, and looking for answers before making a decision, is already a strong sign that you’re thinking for yourself. And that's good. But like every dream, you eventually wake up — and that’s when the hidden side of Ozempic shows itself.

The Part They’re Not Telling You: The Risks & Side Effects

Here’s the thing though: the way Ozempic works is by forcing your body to behave differently than it naturally would. It’s like an orchestra where one instrument is suddenly told to play louder, off-rhythm, or nonstop. At first, the song changes in an exciting way—but eventually, the rest of the symphony strains, and it’s no longer in harmony.

Your digestive system is slowed down unnaturally, your pancreas is nudged harder to release insulin, and your appetite regulation is being manipulated. For some, this leads to common side effects like constant nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, or stomach cramps. Others develop gallbladder problems, pancreatitis (dangerous inflammation of the pancreas), or even kidney strain if dehydration kicks in from vomiting.

And part of the problem is that if taken for long, your body will have changed so much, compromised so much, and been forced to adapt in so many unnatural ways, that whether you stop it or continue on it for years, your body becomes chaos. You might even never be able to fully go back to your natural rhythms.

This is where the biggest clash comes in: this drug works on the assumption that your body’s hunger and fullness signals are faulty and must be overridden. But hunger, for example, is not an error. It is a primordial signal designed to guide you toward nutrition. If you blunt, block, or force it aside, your body may no longer be able to accurately tell you when nutrients are needed.

Pregnancy is one of the clearest reminders that hunger is not a mistake — it’s a signal for life. When that signal is blocked, vital nutrients may never reach the body or the baby, leading to silent but serious risks.

Think of pregnancy: nutrients are literally required to create another human being. Or even now in your own body — cells, tissues, muscles wear out daily and need replacing to keep you young, strong, and revitalised. If your hunger signalling is corrupted, those vital systems may be starved without you even realising it.

This could mean miscarriage or premature birth in the case of pregnancy. Or, in your own life right now, it could mean developing health conditions linked to silent malnutrition — hormonal imbalances, thinning hair, brittle nails, osteoporosis, weakened immunity, low energy, anaemia, or even fertility challenges. All of these are real consequences that may creep in slowly over time, making it harder to trace them back to “that weight loss injection” you once took.

And with just this small understanding, I’m sure it’s already hit home: now imagine the other profound, unforeseeable side effects that arise when organs, cells, and systems you don’t even know exist are tampered with.

Down the line, this spirals into health challenges and even appearance issues—those mentioned above, arthritis, premature wrinkles—that you may never be able to connect back to “those Ozempic injections you took many years ago.” But the damage will have been done.

And this isn’t unique to Ozempic. It’s the same story whenever weight loss is forced unnaturally: gastric bypass (which literally cuts and reroutes your digestive system), liposuction, Brazilian Butt Lifts, extreme starvation diets and even fat-free “miracle” processed foods.

They all tamper with natural systems in ways that cause ripple effects. Some of those ripple effects show up quickly, others years later.

And Then Comes the Regain

Something I tell my clients all the time:

"What you do to lose weight is what you will need to maintain it." -Coach Jordan Sifuna

So, when you stop Ozempic, here’s what happens: your body goes back to its natural signalling, appetite comes back, and research shows many people regain most of the weight they lost. That’s why I always argue that if you’re going to commit effort anyway, it makes more sense to commit to a practical and sustainable way of eating—because eating is something you’ll keep doing your whole life. Even now, you’re probably eating, have just eaten, or are about to eat. So why not just learn to do it the right way?

My Honest Take

When it comes to losing weight, from what I’ve seen, Ozempic works almost as fast as my meal plans — which, in retrospect, and in some of my clients’ own words, “works like magic.”

And I say this not to promote my meal plans right now, but to give you a realistic and honest benchmark of what I know firsthand to be a better way to lose weight: through a practical, sustainable diet and by incorporating simple, realistic movements into your day-to-day life. That’s my closest-to-home reference, which is why I brought it up.

If your goal is practicality, sustainability, working with your body rather than against it, and you want to lose weight from a point of control where you understand what you’re doing with respect to yourself and your God-given body, I don’t think Ozempic is what you’re looking for. Because Ozempic and similar drugs are usually taken from a state of desperation—and that’s not where you want to be, even just for your mental health.

So there you have it: what Ozempic is, whether it works, and whether you should take it. I hope you’ve found value in this, and that next time you see those influencer transformations, you’ll pause and ask yourself: is this really the path I want for my health, or is there a more sustainable way?

Now that the core message is out of the way, I have to come do what the great Word has taught me — “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”

So here’s me acting, hehe: If you’d like a practical, sustainable way to lose weight that works with your body, not against it, I’ve laid out everything for you on my Start Here page ↗ where you can explore how best I can serve you.