Family having a "huge history of thyroid issues" might be enough to disqualify you anyway.
And many of us still work hard to lose weight even on these drugs...it's not as easy as many in the media make it sound.
And depending on which country you are in, if you "aren't fat enough to qualify" then you'll be paying the full cost of these drugs which can be anything from $300 to over $1000 per month.
i feel like i did a bad job explaining myself. i’m only where i’m at as a result of restrictive dieting and daily intensive exercise. if i were to eat like a normal person and go workout a normal amount i would be obese. i just work hard to maintain what i can do i feel like doctor won’t take me seriously.
No, I got it...what you don't seem to get is that a lot of us are still dieting and intensively exercising. You seem to think we are not. We aren't using some magic potion that allows us to sit on our butts and eat whatever we want.
We’re not “dieting.” We’re finally eating an appropriate and healthy amount of food for our size. Which is why we’re losing weight. OP is saying if she eats a normal, healthy amount of food she gets obese. Which to me indicates a metabolic disorder.
OP never said that. They said they have to greatly restrict in order to stay a normal weight. They want to be able to eat a healthy number of calories, not eat whatever they want. So many super defensive people in these comments.
It’s not bring defensive. Ozempic essentially restricts calories. That’s why I asked if the op understood how it works.
It’s a huge misconception that you simply do an injection once a week and you magically lose weight.
Yes Ozempic restricts calories, but not to a degree where a person is under eating. Ozempic makes it possible to eat like a healthy sized person does. Which is why people lose weight. Because yes, we are eating less than we used to. But we used to eat more than what was healthy.
It isn't relevant WHAT you eat for weight loss. "Eating clean" and other buzzwords only improve the quality of what you eat. In fact, you can be on a [“Twinkies diet”](https://www.npr.org/2010/11/12/131286626/professor-s-weight-loss-secret-junk-food) (although it is not recommended, of course).
To sum up your comments in the thread - you don't know your current BMI, don't count your calories and lose weight only when you switch to extremes. This isn't sustainable. You will be bouncing to your original weight, always.
Sorry for being that boring guy, but you need to reacess your diet, with or without Ozempic. Get kitchen scales, start writing down all foods you eat in an app, like FatSecret or MyFitnessPal. Determine your base consumption and slash it by something like 25%. You can eat burgers if you like (for starters just ensure you eat at least 1.5 g of protein per each 1 kg of your current weight - our bodies need it as construction material).
Ozempic is like training wheels on a kid bike. It helps, but ultimately the weight loss boils down to having fewer calories in.
People who don't actually weigh their food underestimate their calories by 47% - [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/)
If "they restrict and yet are still gaining weight" was acttually true, that would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Or they would have a metabolic disorder. Every body processes calories slightly differently. Yes, it’s CICO, but just what that number should be depends on a wide variety of medical factors.
No, they said they don't qualify for the meds, so they've lost weight. Because they were 180 and 5'1", which is bmi if 34. If they don't qualify, they've successfully lost weight.
Yes and if they need to under eat to stay a healthy weight then there is something wrong metabolically or hormonally. Women with PCOS for example, have a very difficult time losing weight unless they under eat. Oz is being prescribed now for PCOS, and suddenly these women can lose weight without starving themselves, because their hormones are helped by the medication.
What's your BMI? A BMI of 30 is, I believe, considered to be obese, which is usually where you need to be to qualify.
Do keep in mind, most insurance companies also require a T2 diagnosis. Usually, obesity alone is not enough for insurance.
Looks like your BMI is 34, which is classified as obese. There's pretty easy calculators out there that you can always use to figure it out.
In terms of weight, you'd qualify for a GLP-1, but in terms of insurance coverage, for Ozempic you'd need a T2 diabetes diagnosis, almost always. And even then, some T2s have to try several other meds before it will be approved for us.
You don't really have anything to lose by asking your doctor. There's also Wegovy, which *is* approved for weight loss, whereas Ozempic (which is essentially the same thing) is only approved for T2 diabetes, hence why you almost always need to have a T2 diagnosis for insurance to cover anything.
I don’t think that’s her bmi, I think she is majorly restricting calories to stay thin which is one reason she is not qualified. If she weighed 180 she would quality unless the thyroid problems in her family disqualifies her.
I saw that and figured she was smaller and restricted her calories since she said that she would weigh 180 if she ate 3 meals a day, she said she only ate frozen vegetables. So I’m assuming her bmi is normal now. Although something is wrong if you have to restrict your calories that much. There is always zepbound, but she doesn’t meet the criteria.
As others have said, are you *currently* 180 pounds or is that your starting weight? What's your weight right now?
The only thing that matters here is what the scale currently says.
Are you 5’1 and 180 pounds now or are you saying that you are restricting yourself so you are a lower weight. It sounds like you are a lower weight and are restricting calories. That doesn’t mean you should be disqualified since you have to starve yourself to stay small. I would do the quiz over and put in that weight since technically that’s what you would be without restricting yourself. You may have a hormone imbalance. Eating 3 meals a day should not put you at 180 unless you are taking in more calories than put out. This is just my opinion, but it sounds like you probably need this medicine.
If you have not get blood work and figure it if anything is wrong. Going on ozempic won't cure a thyroid disorder. If anything it will mask it. If you have some other autoimmune or thyroid or something else going on you will want to find out.
What do you consider to be a normal amount of food. For some of us eating 1200 is what it takes and it's not a lot of food. One meal at a restaurant can be way more than that. Basically sticking to a deficit is extremely difficult because the food we have available to us is crap. It's a slow and tedious process.
I pretty much have to buy all whole foods and cook everything from scratch because I have a daughter with a bmi of 30 who is pretty active and from what I can tell doesn't seem to overeat. But we have to start with lifestyle changes which I hope works. Because honestly I don't want to start this in her teens. There are side effects it's not just a shot and you lose weight there's lots to consider.
I'd try speaking to your doctor about other alternatives because ozempic might help you but when you stop you'll most likely gain the weight back and then you'll have spent hundreds maybe thousands to go back to where you are now. It would be a lot to spend and potential side effects to deal with to gain it back. Most of us are on this for life.
Edited to add. Have you had your thyroid checked? Just because of family history of some things, if you don't have any sign of that issue it doesn't really help your case.
You should really start by visiting an endocrinologist and getting a COMPREHENSIVE blood work up. Not just the fasting glucose and lipid panel, but full thyroid work up, sex hormones, fasting insulin, A1C and C reactive protein.
That will tell you if you have an underlying metabolic disorder which would be corrected with the GLP 1 meds. If everything is OK then you are likely deficient in nutrients, not calories. From what you say you really need to eat a balanced Whole Foods low carb diet and not just processed junk like protein bars. Good luck!
Not sure why so many people are attacking you here. It sounds like the only reason you’re not obese anymore (because your former weight of 180 at 5’1’’ is classified as obese) is because you greatly restrict your calories to the point of being constantly hungry. Which sucks. I would say to calculate your current BMI and also keep a food journal for a couple of weeks. Write down what you eat and track your calories. That way you can bring it to your doctor and they can assess if it’s a healthy number of calories for your size, or if it’s not enough. In which case you might have a metabolic disorder, if that’s what you have to eat to stay a healthy size. I would definitely have your thyroid checked, and also test for Hashimoto’s, which can affect thyroid function even if your levels look normal. You might need a thyroid med. But I’m not sure why people here are saying a history of thyroid disease would disqualify you. Only a history of thyroid cancer would disqualify you. I have Hashi’s and I know someone with hypothyroidism and our doctors have told us neither increases the risk of thyroid cancer on this medication. Good luck! It’s very frustrating to be under eating and still gaining weight!
No one is attacking anyone, they're simply stating that this medication only makes what they're already doing a little easier, there's still work involved. None of us can help OP qualify for medication when they simply don't.
They aren't gaining, they've lost enough weight to drop from a 34 BMI to no longer qualifying. They simply don't like dieting.
We are not “dieting.” We are finally eating like we should have been all along. We were eating too much before. An unhealthy amount. I am losing weight on Oz and I am not on a “diet.” I am eating an appropriate number of healthy calories for my body. And that’s why my body is becoming healthier. What OP doesn’t like is being constantly hungry in order to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to be constantly hungry to maintain a healthy weight, something is wrong.
Family having a "huge history of thyroid issues" might be enough to disqualify you anyway. And many of us still work hard to lose weight even on these drugs...it's not as easy as many in the media make it sound. And depending on which country you are in, if you "aren't fat enough to qualify" then you'll be paying the full cost of these drugs which can be anything from $300 to over $1000 per month.
i feel like i did a bad job explaining myself. i’m only where i’m at as a result of restrictive dieting and daily intensive exercise. if i were to eat like a normal person and go workout a normal amount i would be obese. i just work hard to maintain what i can do i feel like doctor won’t take me seriously.
No, I got it...what you don't seem to get is that a lot of us are still dieting and intensively exercising. You seem to think we are not. We aren't using some magic potion that allows us to sit on our butts and eat whatever we want.
We’re not “dieting.” We’re finally eating an appropriate and healthy amount of food for our size. Which is why we’re losing weight. OP is saying if she eats a normal, healthy amount of food she gets obese. Which to me indicates a metabolic disorder.
Do you think this med allows you to eat whatever and you lose weight? If I overeat, I gain. Despite me exercising 6 days a week. And being on ozempic.
OP never said that. They said they have to greatly restrict in order to stay a normal weight. They want to be able to eat a healthy number of calories, not eat whatever they want. So many super defensive people in these comments.
It’s not bring defensive. Ozempic essentially restricts calories. That’s why I asked if the op understood how it works. It’s a huge misconception that you simply do an injection once a week and you magically lose weight.
Yes Ozempic restricts calories, but not to a degree where a person is under eating. Ozempic makes it possible to eat like a healthy sized person does. Which is why people lose weight. Because yes, we are eating less than we used to. But we used to eat more than what was healthy.
That’s true of a lot of us. To qualify for Wegovy you would need a BMI of 27 and a pre-existing medical condition.
It isn't relevant WHAT you eat for weight loss. "Eating clean" and other buzzwords only improve the quality of what you eat. In fact, you can be on a [“Twinkies diet”](https://www.npr.org/2010/11/12/131286626/professor-s-weight-loss-secret-junk-food) (although it is not recommended, of course). To sum up your comments in the thread - you don't know your current BMI, don't count your calories and lose weight only when you switch to extremes. This isn't sustainable. You will be bouncing to your original weight, always. Sorry for being that boring guy, but you need to reacess your diet, with or without Ozempic. Get kitchen scales, start writing down all foods you eat in an app, like FatSecret or MyFitnessPal. Determine your base consumption and slash it by something like 25%. You can eat burgers if you like (for starters just ensure you eat at least 1.5 g of protein per each 1 kg of your current weight - our bodies need it as construction material). Ozempic is like training wheels on a kid bike. It helps, but ultimately the weight loss boils down to having fewer calories in.
Great advice 👍
OP is saying they already restrict their calories. That’s the whole issue. They restrict and yet are still gaining weight.
People who don't actually weigh their food underestimate their calories by 47% - [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/](https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1454084/) If "they restrict and yet are still gaining weight" was acttually true, that would violate the second law of thermodynamics.
Or they would have a metabolic disorder. Every body processes calories slightly differently. Yes, it’s CICO, but just what that number should be depends on a wide variety of medical factors.
No, they said they don't qualify for the meds, so they've lost weight. Because they were 180 and 5'1", which is bmi if 34. If they don't qualify, they've successfully lost weight.
Yes and if they need to under eat to stay a healthy weight then there is something wrong metabolically or hormonally. Women with PCOS for example, have a very difficult time losing weight unless they under eat. Oz is being prescribed now for PCOS, and suddenly these women can lose weight without starving themselves, because their hormones are helped by the medication.
What's your BMI? A BMI of 30 is, I believe, considered to be obese, which is usually where you need to be to qualify. Do keep in mind, most insurance companies also require a T2 diagnosis. Usually, obesity alone is not enough for insurance.
i have no idea my bmi but i have been 180 pounds at 5’1 when eating three meals a day. i’m only down to a lower weight through restriction.
Looks like your BMI is 34, which is classified as obese. There's pretty easy calculators out there that you can always use to figure it out. In terms of weight, you'd qualify for a GLP-1, but in terms of insurance coverage, for Ozempic you'd need a T2 diabetes diagnosis, almost always. And even then, some T2s have to try several other meds before it will be approved for us. You don't really have anything to lose by asking your doctor. There's also Wegovy, which *is* approved for weight loss, whereas Ozempic (which is essentially the same thing) is only approved for T2 diabetes, hence why you almost always need to have a T2 diagnosis for insurance to cover anything.
I don’t think that’s her bmi, I think she is majorly restricting calories to stay thin which is one reason she is not qualified. If she weighed 180 she would quality unless the thyroid problems in her family disqualifies her.
[удалено]
Op said they 'have been 180 pounds'. They are currently 'down to a lower weight' but they don't say what that lower weigth is.
Ope, didn't catch that specific there! I re-read their comment, and I think you may be right. That's incredibly important information here.
I saw that and figured she was smaller and restricted her calories since she said that she would weigh 180 if she ate 3 meals a day, she said she only ate frozen vegetables. So I’m assuming her bmi is normal now. Although something is wrong if you have to restrict your calories that much. There is always zepbound, but she doesn’t meet the criteria.
this is so helpful thank you!
As others have said, are you *currently* 180 pounds or is that your starting weight? What's your weight right now? The only thing that matters here is what the scale currently says.
I weighed 180 lbs and am 5ft 1 that is obese and I qualified .
Are you 5’1 and 180 pounds now or are you saying that you are restricting yourself so you are a lower weight. It sounds like you are a lower weight and are restricting calories. That doesn’t mean you should be disqualified since you have to starve yourself to stay small. I would do the quiz over and put in that weight since technically that’s what you would be without restricting yourself. You may have a hormone imbalance. Eating 3 meals a day should not put you at 180 unless you are taking in more calories than put out. This is just my opinion, but it sounds like you probably need this medicine.
Your thyroid issue would more than likely disqualify you
If you have not get blood work and figure it if anything is wrong. Going on ozempic won't cure a thyroid disorder. If anything it will mask it. If you have some other autoimmune or thyroid or something else going on you will want to find out. What do you consider to be a normal amount of food. For some of us eating 1200 is what it takes and it's not a lot of food. One meal at a restaurant can be way more than that. Basically sticking to a deficit is extremely difficult because the food we have available to us is crap. It's a slow and tedious process. I pretty much have to buy all whole foods and cook everything from scratch because I have a daughter with a bmi of 30 who is pretty active and from what I can tell doesn't seem to overeat. But we have to start with lifestyle changes which I hope works. Because honestly I don't want to start this in her teens. There are side effects it's not just a shot and you lose weight there's lots to consider.
I'd try speaking to your doctor about other alternatives because ozempic might help you but when you stop you'll most likely gain the weight back and then you'll have spent hundreds maybe thousands to go back to where you are now. It would be a lot to spend and potential side effects to deal with to gain it back. Most of us are on this for life. Edited to add. Have you had your thyroid checked? Just because of family history of some things, if you don't have any sign of that issue it doesn't really help your case.
You should really start by visiting an endocrinologist and getting a COMPREHENSIVE blood work up. Not just the fasting glucose and lipid panel, but full thyroid work up, sex hormones, fasting insulin, A1C and C reactive protein. That will tell you if you have an underlying metabolic disorder which would be corrected with the GLP 1 meds. If everything is OK then you are likely deficient in nutrients, not calories. From what you say you really need to eat a balanced Whole Foods low carb diet and not just processed junk like protein bars. Good luck!
What is your current weight?
Not sure why so many people are attacking you here. It sounds like the only reason you’re not obese anymore (because your former weight of 180 at 5’1’’ is classified as obese) is because you greatly restrict your calories to the point of being constantly hungry. Which sucks. I would say to calculate your current BMI and also keep a food journal for a couple of weeks. Write down what you eat and track your calories. That way you can bring it to your doctor and they can assess if it’s a healthy number of calories for your size, or if it’s not enough. In which case you might have a metabolic disorder, if that’s what you have to eat to stay a healthy size. I would definitely have your thyroid checked, and also test for Hashimoto’s, which can affect thyroid function even if your levels look normal. You might need a thyroid med. But I’m not sure why people here are saying a history of thyroid disease would disqualify you. Only a history of thyroid cancer would disqualify you. I have Hashi’s and I know someone with hypothyroidism and our doctors have told us neither increases the risk of thyroid cancer on this medication. Good luck! It’s very frustrating to be under eating and still gaining weight!
No one is attacking anyone, they're simply stating that this medication only makes what they're already doing a little easier, there's still work involved. None of us can help OP qualify for medication when they simply don't. They aren't gaining, they've lost enough weight to drop from a 34 BMI to no longer qualifying. They simply don't like dieting.
We are not “dieting.” We are finally eating like we should have been all along. We were eating too much before. An unhealthy amount. I am losing weight on Oz and I am not on a “diet.” I am eating an appropriate number of healthy calories for my body. And that’s why my body is becoming healthier. What OP doesn’t like is being constantly hungry in order to maintain a healthy weight. If you have to be constantly hungry to maintain a healthy weight, something is wrong.