Why Celebs Are Using Ozempic For Weight Loss 'Maintenance'
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In March, Rebel Wilson, 44, opened up about taking Ozempic to help her "maintain" the nearly 80-pound weight loss achieved during her "Year of Health," which involved major overhauls to her diet and exercise routines, she shared with The Sunday Times. And in late 2023, Oprah Winfrey told People a similar story, revealing that she has used a weight loss medication “as a tool to manage not yo-yoing."
Oprah said she started taking the medication before Thanksgiving “because I knew I was going to have two solid weeks of eating.” And instead of gaining eight pounds like she did around the holidays in 2022, she said she only gained half a pound on the medication.
These drugs are typically used to help people with obesity lose, on average, about 15 percent of their body weight. But A-listers like Rebel and Oprah are talking about something different: They're saying they use the drugs to help maintain the weight loss already achieved. And in Rebel's case, she's made it clear she initially lost weight through diet and exercise. But is using these drugs as a maintenance tool really something experts recommend?
Ahead, doctors break down everything to know about how these drugs can be used.
Meet the experts: Dina Peralta-Reich, MD, the director of New York Weight Wellness Medicine; Steven Batash, MD, a gastroenterologist and lead physician at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss Center; Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California
Can I use Ozempic for weight loss maintenance?
Yes. Doctors say they’ve seen patients successfully use the medication as a maintenance tool, and not just for initial weight loss.
“We have patients who use the medication to lose weight, and then we have patients who have already lost the weight and use the medication to keep the weight off,” says Dina Peralta-Reich, MD, the director of New York Weight Wellness Medicine.
Steven Batash, MD, a gastroenterologist and lead physician at Batash Endoscopic Weight Loss Center, also sees patients using these drugs to maintain existing weight loss. “[It] is becoming a trend, particularly among those seeking to sustain their weight loss achievements,” he says. And with several big-name celebs talking publicly about using the drugs in this way, “it’s no wonder that people are also jumping on the bandwagon,” Batash adds.
Both Oprah and Rebel said they used injectable weight loss medications over a shorter period. And while it’s generally recommended that people use these medications long-term —they are, after all, considered a longterm, lifelong medication—Peralta-Reich says there’s no requirement that you stay on them. That means it's okay to start and stop use as needed to help keep weight off.
Yelena Kibasova, a 39-year-old content creator, has also found success using an injectable weight loss drug to maintain results she already achieved. In 2008, she had weight loss surgery in 2008 after trying to lose weight for years.
While Kibasova says she maintained her weight loss of almost 150 pounds for nearly 16 years through daily exercise and healthy eating, she recently gained 20 pounds after undergoing three rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF). “I was having a really difficult time losing the regain,” she says.
Now she’s on Zepbound, a medication recently FDA-approved for weight loss. “The medicine is helping me lose [the weight regain],” she says. After a week on the medication, Kibasova says she's lost six pounds, but she's not sure if she'll keep taking Zepbound after losing the remaining IVF weight. "My intent is to stop it but it will depend on how I feel once I reach that point," she says. "The shot is just an extra boost to get out of the obese range."
Kibasova says she “absolutely” would have tried injectable weight loss medications first if they were available back in 2008 when she had surgery. “Medicine is not for everyone, but it has been incredible in helping those who suffer from the disease of obesity,” she says.
How do these medications work?
Both semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepetide (Zepbound, Mounjaro) function in a similar way. Semaglutide mimics a protein in your body called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), explains Mir Ali, MD, a bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA. That protein activates the GLP-1 receptors in your body, leading to an increase in the production of insulin, which then helps move glucose into your body’s cells where it’s used for energy.
Semaglutide helps slow down the movement of food through your gut, making you feel fuller, longer, Ali says. It also sends signals to your brain that make you feel less hungry, so you end up consuming fewer calories.
Tirzepetide is similar to semaglutide, but it targets GLP-1 receptors, along with something called glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptors, Ali says. It's basically like semaglutide, but targets two receptors instead of one. While both medications are effective for weight loss, research has shown that people tend to lose more weight on tirzepetide.
Are there risks with using weight loss medications for maintenance?
All medications come with potential side effects, Ali says. “The most common side effects are gastrointestinal issues, like nausea, diarrhea, and constipation,” he says. “But there are also more serious but rare risks, like pancreatitis. You just need to be monitored for those.”
People using these medications for weight loss maintenance can still regain the weight when they go off the medications, Ali says. “It’s very easy to regain the weight because the patient’s metabolic system returns to what it was before the medication,” he says.
It's also important that the patient does more than take medication to sustain their weight loss, Peralta-Reich points out. “If someone is also exercising regularly and eating healthy, going off the medication should not have a significant impact on their weight,” she says. Ali agrees, saying that dietary and lifestyle changes can help maintain weight loss in the long-term.
Batash stresses that using medications like Ozempic isn’t a slam dunk for weight loss, regardless of whether you’re using it for weight loss maintenance or to drop initial pounds. “Success varies from person to person,” he says.
If you’ve lost a significant amount of weight and are having trouble keeping it off, Ali recommends talking to your doctor about next steps. Because while medications like Ozempic and Zepbound aren’t recommended for everyone, doctors say they can definitely help when it comes to maintaining weight loss.
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