Nowadays, seemingly every time someone looks like they’ve lost a significant amount of weight the “O” word comes up—meaning Ozempic. That’s what happened when fans noticed that Jessica Simpson appeared to have lost weight in a November 2022 Pottery Barn Kids post on Instagram. Fans began tossing around the “O” word, wondering if the singer, actress, and fashion designer has been taking the injectable medication. But in a recent interview with Mickey Rapkin published on July 6 in Bustle, Simpson essentially said “O, no,” when asked about such Ozempic speculation.
Rapkin quoted Simpson as saying, “Oh Lord. I mean, it is not.” She added, “It’s willpower. I’m like, do people want me to be drinking again? Because that’s when I was heavier. Or they want me to be having another baby? My body can’t do it.” Simpson may have published a memoir called Open Book in 2020. But there’s no indication that her life has been a O-pen Book, as in using an Ozempic pen injector once a week. So all of that sounds like a hard “no” to O.
Such O-speculation about Simpson probably emerged because a number of celebrities, personalities, and social media influences have been talking about Ozempic, oh, quite a lot. Some such as Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and Elon Musk have mentioned actually taking Ozempic or Wegovy. Whereas others such as Khloé Kardashian, Crystal Kung Minkoff, and Julia Fox have received O-tention for pushing back on claims that they were taking such medications. Of course, unless you happen to be something like an Ozempic Injection Pen, you can’t be sure who is actually taking the medication and who isn’t.
Attention to Ozempic has skyrocketed this year after clinical trials produced some “O my” results on how taking semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, may lead to some very rapid weight loss. People have been using Ozmepic as a synonym for semaglutide probably because GLP-1 receptor agonist is not as easy to say, as I’ve covered for Forbes. Therfore, O-speculation can also be We-bit of speculation as in Wegovy or some Ry-speculation as in Rybelsus, two other medications that contain semaglutide as well. Of these three medications, only Wegovy has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for chronic weight management in adults. Ozempic and Rybelsus have received FDA-approval specifically for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Nevertheless, it looks like lack of FDA-approval has prevented lots of people from using using various semaglutide medications off-label in attempts to shed pounds.
Just because someone has appeared to have lost weight, though, doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or some other weight loss medication. There are, surprise, surprise, other ways to lose weight. When trying to shed pounds, you should always try appropriate lifestyle modifications first. This may include improving your diet and increasing physical activity if possible. These may not be that easy to do if you have a very demanding job, live in neighborhoods not conducive to such changes, or otherwise don’t have the means. For example, modifying your diet may be a lot easier if you have a personal chef or live near the produce section of Whole Foods and don’t have to take out a loan to buy anything there.
A note about the “it’s willpower” comment from Simpson. Certainly, willpower is important in modifying your lifestyle and maintaining such modifications. However, it is important to remember that one’s appearance is not simply the result of willpower or the lack thereof. You’ve probably seen people whose idea of fasting is eating fast food faster or who regularly exercise their right to not exercise at all yet still seem to be able to maintain a svelte appearance. On the other hand, there are people who maintain very, very disciplined lifestyles and have a tremendous amount of willpower yet can’t seem to shed pounds. Willpower alone is not always enough. Plus, willpower can be a lot easier if, for example, you have someone named Will or whatever preparing your food, serving as a trainer, maintaining your daily schedule, or otherwise making your life easier.
Again, looks can be very deceiving. You can’t tell what people may be doing or taking O-nly by looking at them. Yet, new flash, that’s what many people keep doing, speculate solely based on appearance.
So, expect more and more O-speculation—as in “O” did he or didn’t he or “O” did she or didn’t she— to O-cur on social media and basically everywhere. That’s a bit of a shame. Such speculation may lead people to O-verlook other weight loss options and O-vershadow the continuing need for more systems approaches to address the worsening obesity epidemic. While Ozempic and other GLP-1 receptor agonist can help in the right situations, they aren’t the be “O” and end “O.”
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