How an Australian woman lost 16kg after diet and exercise failed

A middle-aged woman who “let herself go” after the traumatic deaths of two loved ones tells how Ozempic helped her regain control of her health.

Karen Holman, a 52-year-old grandmother from Melbourne, has lost 16kg since she started taking Ozempic in September last year.

Ms. Holman’s housemate suddenly collapsed and died in 2020 at the age of 33, followed by her sister who died of terminal cancer in August 2023.

The deaths of her loved ones had a tremendous impact on Mrs. Holman and she soon began to neglect her health.

“I was clearly in mourning and really depressed, I think that was the point where I completely gave up looking after myself. It was a really difficult six months looking after my sister,” Ms Holman told Daily Mail Australia.

‘My other sister Paula had started Ozempic about six months earlier.

‘I knew Ozempic existed, but I always assumed I wouldn’t be able to get it.

‘After my sister passed away, I reached out to (online prescription and delivery service) Moshy, and almost immediately I started losing weight. That gave me the motivation to keep doing what I was doing: eating healthy and exercising.’

Ms. Holman (pictured before using Ozempic) followed Moshy’s advice to use Ozempic as a sustainable weight loss aid

Mrs. Holman (pictured after using Ozempic) struggled to regain her health after the traumatic deaths of two loved ones

Mrs. Holman lost 6 kg in the first six weeks of taking Ozempic. This made a huge difference in her health, but after that the weight loss was more gradual.

“When I started last September I weighed 195 pounds, and now I weigh 165 pounds,” she said.

‘My fatty liver disappeared, my back pain improved and I suffered less from migraines.

“Everything that was impacting my life improved from the start, and that was very encouraging.”

While Holman was taking Ozempic, she also changed her eating habits.

“I think a lot of people worry that it’s a kind of ‘cheating’ — that you can eat whatever you want and still lose weight, so you’re not actually forming good habits,” she said.

‘I know it doesn’t work that way for me. If I don’t eat healthy, I won’t lose weight, but if I eat well and exercise, it helps me lose weight.

‘I see it as something that gives you a helping hand, because dieting and exercise alone didn’t help me, but with the help of Ozempic I was able to stick to the healthy eating pattern without giving up.’

Ms Holman believes she has been ‘lucky’ with her experience with Ozempic, as she has not suffered any side effects and has had no difficulty adhering to the weekly injections.

Dietitian Kirby Sorenson of Moshy believes that prescription weight loss medications like Ozempic can be the best way for people to lose weight when used in conjunction with holistic methods.

Since using Ozempic, Ms. Holman (pictured after using Ozempic) has become more motivated to improve her lifestyle

“Unfortunately, some people still see weight loss drugs as the easy way out, which leads to unfair stigma. But a weight loss journey is never easy, it still requires a lot of work to maintain,” she said.

‘To be successful with Ozempic you need to focus on your overall diet, exercise more, and work on the relationship with food that has been damaged by diet culture.

“With the help of dietitians and while using medications, we can work on rebuilding the relationship with food and breaking the diet culture and restrictive diets that lead to binge eating.”