I’m the poster girl for Ozempic. I shed 100lbs in a year then quit the shots for good… I’ve found a way to stay slim naturally

Aisling McCarthy has been called the ‘poster child of Ozempic’ but her dramatic transformation hasn’t been easy.

The mother-of-one had long struggled with her weight and endured constant pain all over her body due to fibromyalgia, a nerve condition and arthritis that caused mobility issues.

Health issues along with her pregnancy led her to ‘eat my emotions’ and she regularly snacked on sugary popcorn, chocolate, cake and ice cream, reaching 245lbs.

McCarthy, who had to quit his job in 2018 after his pain increased, was exhausted every day. From Slimming World, which focuses on low-calorie, filling foods, to Slimfast, a diet of shakes, dieting ‘under the sun’ to get rid of excess fat.

But nothing worked and he was constantly starving.

But her saving grace came in May 2022, when her doctor prescribed Ozempic as a last resort after all other weight-loss strategies had failed. She lost 80 kilos in just one year, then another 20 kilos within a year of quitting her ‘fat loss shot’.

Now, more than two years since his last shot, he has maintained his weight at 149 lbs; This is an incredibly “rare” feat.

McCarthy, 43, told the Daily Mail: ‘My doctor calls me the ‘poster boy for Ozempic’.

‘I’m a very rare occurrence, even on the internet. ‘People say they’ve never seen anyone maintain their weight for as long as I have.’

Aisling McCarthy (pictured left before Ozempic and right after) lost 80 lbs on Ozempic

Studies have shown that many people who stop taking semaglutide, the main ingredient in weight-loss medications like Ozempic, regain most of the weight they lost.

A 2022 study of 327 people using the medication found that participants regained two-thirds of their previous weight a year after stopping the medication.

McCarthy, from Cork, Ireland,He started taking Ozempic in May 2022, taking 0.25 milligrams (mg) each week, then increasing the dose to 0.5 mg in June and July, and finally taking 1 mg.

While some insurance in the US covers the cost of weight loss drugs, this is not the case in Ireland, where McCarthy was paying $163 per pen of Ozempic.

However, he admitted that he initially took the medication ‘all wrong’, not eating enough and feeling tired and moody due to low energy as a result.

However, switching to a high-protein diet will be key to maintaining weight loss even after stopping the medication.

For breakfast he ate boiled eggs and toast; lunch consisted of a toasted sandwich with bacon, egg, and avocado, and a typical dinner consisted of chicken sausage and bacon with beans.

He allowed takeout with his family on weekends, but opted for a small pizza instead of the 12-inch pie he normally orders.

McCarthy is seen in a bikini with her daughter Bethany. She said she wouldn’t wear something like that before taking the medicine

Doctors recommend lifestyle changes such as a protein-rich diet and prioritizing exercise while taking Ozempic.

Strength training is especially recommended to maintain muscle mass while promoting fat loss to prevent the sagging and sunken appearance that some people experience when losing weight too quickly.

While McCarthy’s fibromyalgia and arthritis made it difficult for her to get much exercise, she said she began to become more active as her weight decreased.

McCarthy lost about 0.5 to 1 lb per week; This wasn’t as dramatic as other drug users losing 2lbs a week, but he said he was pleased with the speed of his transformation.

When she first started taking Ozempic, she suffered from nausea, foul-smelling burping, and bloating; These were both commonly reported side effects.

Research shows that Around one in five people taking a 1mg dose of Ozempic experienced nausea, while many patients anecdotally described experiencing a ‘sulfur burp’ when using the drug.

McCarthy is shown above at his heaviest, left, and after losing weight, right.

He said that he followed a diet while using Ozempic, which he could continue when he stopped taking the drug, and that it helped him maintain his weight.

By February 2023, 10 months after his weight-loss shot, McCarthy had lost 80 pounds and was looking to quit drugs.

Although she was finally happy with her new body, she was stressed about the impending semaglutide shortage. At the time, Ozempic was like ‘liquid gold’, which was not available almost anywhere.

McCarthy said: ‘When you use these drugs you see a lot of people get down to a size eight or six and you feel like you have to be that way for people to see that the drug is working.

‘I’m 14, it’s healthy and I’m happy about it.’

In Ireland, a size six to eight is equivalent to a US size two to four, while a size 14 is equivalent to a US size 10.

He vowed to keep his diet the same after stopping Ozempic and was confident he could easily follow it without needing weekly injections.

But he couldn’t stop the cold.

He gradually reduced his dose of Ozempic, reducing his weekly dose to 0.5 mg in April 2023 and reducing it to 0.25 mg the following month before discontinuing the drug completely.

“I didn’t want to quit cold turkey,” he said. ‘[Because otherwise] When your appetite starts to return… you suddenly have a craving for food you haven’t had before.’

And it worked; His appetite was ‘no different’ and he wasn’t feeling any sudden increase in old cravings. Although his weight fluctuates now, he said he’s only lost about 20 pounds in the year since quitting drugs.

He added that the scale has not returned to pre-Ozempic levels and that he is not worried about regaining what he has lost.

A UK study found that people using Wegovy experienced rapid weight loss, losing 18 percent of their weight in 68 weeks, but regained two-thirds of their original body weight in the year after stopping weekly injections.

The photo above shows McCarthy’s shorts. She is so excited to drop from a size 20, which is a US size 16, to a size 14, which is a US size 10.

While using the drug, he had also received counseling to identify triggers for eating and how to cope with them, resulting in healthier eating habits that helped maintain post-Ozempic weight.

According to McCarthy, she found that one of her triggers was family stress and her refusal to use a cane, which left her immobile from pain and spent most of her time eating at home.

‘If you eat emotionally like me and can’t clear your mind, then why are you doing this?’ said McCarthy.

‘As soon as you stop taking the drug you will sabotage yourself.’