I’m a personal trainer for lunch ladies who swear they’re losing weight through dieting or stress – but I know their Ozempic secret… and they don’t realize the dangers they face

My client’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine as she tried to explain her recent, dramatic weight loss – at least a stone in a few weeks, I guessed. ‘It’s stress… there’s a lot going on at home. And my husband is so busy at work,” she says.

A likely story. I have been a personal trainer for over 25 years and I knew immediately that this woman, like several of my other regular female clients who have suddenly lost a significant amount of weight this year, had in fact started using Ozempic or another of these substances . the new miracle shots for weight loss.

She looked decidedly thin, and in addition to losing weight, she had also lost muscle strength – all telltale signs of using a weight-loss shot.

The ladies I train in a particularly affluent part of the country generally fall into a certain category: in their late 40s to early 50s, they have husbands in such high-paying jobs that they don’t have to work themselves.

They see me because they want me to help them manage the weight gain that so often comes with menopause — that filling around the belly and lack of muscle tone that can suddenly strike in your 40s and into your 50s.

This can certainly be reversed – and I have a great reputation for transforming women’s figures in this way, which is why they all seem to be looking for me – but it takes hard work and consistency on their part to get results.

So it’s so disappointing for me to see woman after woman fall for Ozempic’s quick fix.

I estimate that at least five of my female clients – of whom I have about forty – have succumbed to the needle this year alone.

Many of the clients Sam sees are inspired by celebrities like Davina McCall and Gabby Logan, who looked great during their menopause thanks to their well-publicized, sensible exercise regimes.

Only one has admitted the truth to me, while others have come up with excuse after excuse for the sudden gaunt look that catches their eye. Do more weights. Omit sugar. Grief after the loss of a parent. Money worries (as if!).

All of these women have been on my books for at least five years, and when I started training them, they all told me the same thing: they wanted to be strong and lean.

I showed them how to train with weights and kettlebells, instructed them on the importance of engaging their pelvic floor while exercising to improve their core, and showed them especially important exercises (like weighted lunges) to help their balance. improve – what is so important to maintain as you get older.

Their weight slowly dropped, their muscle tone improved, they glowed with health. They were inspired by celebrities like Davina McCall and Gabby Logan, who looked great during their menopause thanks to their much-publicized, sensible exercise regimes.

Earlier this year I noticed a woman looking particularly attractive – in my experience, Ozempic users lose weight from their face first.

The weight fell off her, a stone within a month or so. She had looked good, now she looked emaciated.

Then, along with the weight loss, came what I think is the most obvious sign of Ozempic use: a complete failure in strength and muscle tone.

Within that one month, this woman, who previously happily lifted weights of at least 15 kg, suddenly could barely lift 6 kg.

Sam notes that many of her clients who have used Ozempic lose both muscle mass and fat, with another common side effect being constipation.

Yes, she was losing weight, but disastrously, it was at the expense of her overall health and fitness.

I can only assume that women don’t want to tell me about using Ozempic because they are ashamed. Celebrities may admit to using it, but in these women’s social circles there is still a certain shame about taking the easy option.

The only woman who did Confessing that I used Ozempic after examining her, admitted that she was just desperate to get rid of the last bit of bags clinging to her figure.

She had difficulty resisting fatty foods and wine, but with Ozempic her appetite decreased.

She was thrilled to have reached her goal weight, even though Ozempic had given her terrible headaches and terrible constipation. The latter is a known side effect: clinical studies show that the injection can cause constipation in as many as 12 percent of users. But she was thin. And that was all that mattered to her.

It makes me so depressed to see women worshiping the cult of skinny again when they were seemingly so dedicated to building their strength.

Only one of my clients was prescribed Ozempic by a doctor for health reasons. She is taking a very low dose, appropriate for her health needs: she has type 2 diabetes, which the drug was originally developed to treat (and is licensed for).

However, the others have requested private prescriptions for the slimming shot. And as they trim away their fat, they no longer look toned.

Their lack of muscle mass may sound like a small price to pay for a size 10 figure, but once these women lose their hard-won strength, they’re unlikely to regain it.

They are in the ‘use it or lose it’ stage of their lives. It’s so much harder to gain muscle back in your late 50s or 60s.

The point is that muscles really matter: they are metabolically active and require more energy to maintain them than fat tissue. People with greater muscle mass burn more calories, even when they don’t exercise.

And once the muscle is gone, you’re trapped in a vicious cycle: without muscle tone, you’re much less likely to maintain your weight in the long term.

So that first tempting Ozempic injection could well mean that these women are stuck with long-term weight loss shots to maintain their slimness – with all the well-publicized side effects that go hand in hand with these injections.

Even more worrying is that it is the muscles that improve our balance and make us much less likely to fall as we get older.

I wonder if my clients really understand the potential lack of mobility and loss of independence they may face in just a few years, all in the pursuit of the age-old quest to be thin – at whatever cost.

• Sam Brooks is a pseudonym.