Belarusian woman lost significant weight on Ozempic and explains why it's difficult

Hanna before and after weight loss. Photo: interviewee's archive

"Ozempic blocks the feeling of hunger, you simply don't want to eat"

Hanna says she started gaining weight almost 22 years ago, after her first childbirth.

The woman used various methods to cope with excess weight:

"All those attempts with food and sports yielded very short-term results. Weight decreased, but then returned shortly after, and then new weight was added."

Hanna went to fitness classes, aqua aerobics, shaping, ran, and worked out with a trainer in the gym. She also looked for ways to restrict her diet.

"Back then, diets were still in fashion, and I was young and didn't understand what that meant from a psychological point of view and why it was harmful. I tried various protocols: for example, in the morning you eat an apple, and in the evening - only buckwheat, or you do fasting days, sit on some Japanese, Kremlin diets.

Павялічыць

Photo: interviewee's archive

I also tried the plate rule, where most of the plate is filled with greens, with protein and complex carbohydrates. I did this without counting calories, although I did try counting calories at one point. I tried not to eat sugar, to bake food instead of frying it," the woman recalls.

Hanna explains why, in her opinion, those attempts failed:

"The body and psyche are very connected, and accordingly, any physical symptoms have a psychological component. When the psyche can't cope with something, the body takes it on."

When it comes to weight, most often it works through emotions. In a family, we sometimes learn not to show them, we learn to live without our own boundaries, and then something happens to a person — and those emotions come alive. Then a person can use food to protect themselves from those emotions in different ways: eating them away or building scenarios where excess weight helps maintain the status quo and hold unlived emotions in the body.

Hanna notes another confirmation that her excess weight had psychological roots:

"Over these 22 years, I had several episodes when I lost weight very quickly without doing anything for it. These were times of crises with my husband, when we were on the verge of divorce."

Павялічыць

Photo: interviewee's archive

After 2020, when the Belarusian woman moved abroad, she gained even more weight. Then Hanna was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and prescribed appropriate medication, and the woman noticed that on those medications, she stopped snacking, managed to overeat less, and no longer wanted to drink a glass of champagne on weekends.

After this, Hanna heard about Ozempic, researched the topic, and decided to try it. The medication was prescribed by an endocrinologist, meaning the woman is taking the drug according to indications.

"At some point, I decided that I wanted to try and close this issue from another side. Some internal conflicts that contribute to excess weight can be so deep that you might understand everything in therapy, but it will be very difficult for you to shift it," Hanna explains.

She has been injecting Ozempic once a week since July 2025. There were no major side effects, only in the first month Hanna felt nausea when she ate something with a lot of fats. And her hair started to fall out a bit more.

"The drug blocks the feeling of hunger; you simply don't want to eat as before. Accordingly, you must remember to eat and make sure your food has enough nutrients," Hanna explains about her routine on Ozempic.

Why some people stop injections

The Belarusian woman knows stories where people didn't lose weight even with injections, and even large doses of Ozempic didn't help. It also happens that people start a course of treatment, but then fear the changes that occur to them and stop Ozempic.

Павялічыць

Photo: interviewee's archive

Hanna says that her clients who lose weight on medication often feel they cannot cope with new emotions. These are not always pleasant emotions — often, for example, anger or irritation:

"Ozempic blocks the feeling of hunger, and you can't eat away your emotions as usual. Most of us don't even realize how deeply ingrained that mechanism of emotional eating is within us. When it's taken away, what was being eaten away becomes obvious."

Therefore, Hanna advises remembering the benefits of psychotherapy. When a person's usual way of dealing with emotions is taken away, they need to learn to cope with them in new ways and finally fully experience what they couldn't experience before.

Therefore, in Hanna's opinion, injections are not as simple a way to lose weight as many say. And even more: such weight loss can influence a person so much that they decide to get rid of some relationships altogether.

In 10 months on Ozempic, Hanna lost 25 kg. She engages in dancing and running, and is also looking for a trainer to start working out in the gym.

Hanna says that Ozempic helps establish a better relationship with food:

"While you don't feel like eating, you can build a system so that by the time treatment ends, you already have a familiar foundation. You can rely on it to prevent setbacks."

Павялічыць

This is how Hanna looks now. Photo: interviewee's archive

She already has a plan for how to maintain her new weight. Hanna has started working on her diet, although she admits that the new habits are still unstable. She manages not to eat late, always has breakfast, and ensures that her daily diet includes fiber and some protein.

Hanna now weighs 73 kg, her height is 165 cm. Is it time to stop losing weight?

"Soon it will be a year since I started treatment, and I will go for a follow-up consultation with an endocrinologist. Then it will be clear what's next. I would like to lose about 10 more kg of weight and consolidate the result," the woman says.

Hanna urges understanding towards people with excess weight:

"Weight is very often not something a person consciously chooses. In most cases, when people have excess weight and cannot cope with it, it's not a lack of willpower, but an eating disorder.

Such a disorder is formed through trauma, through emotional distress sometimes in childhood. One should not judge such people, and one should not judge those who decide to help themselves, including with injections or surgeries."

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