Key takeaways:
The prescription weight loss medication Wegovy helped Nikki Moore lose 40 lbs.
But she doesn’t want to take medication forever.
Transitioning off of Wegovy will mean being disciplined when it comes to calories and exercise, Nikki says.
Save on related medications
Nikki Moore says she’s had ups and downs with her weight most of her life. But once she started taking Wegovy, she found it easier to lose weight.
Nikki, a 46-year-old single mom in Connecticut, says that since high school, she’s tried everything from Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig to low-carb diets and working out to manage her weight.
At one point, she even considered having gastric sleeve surgery to remove part of her stomach.
But after losing more than 100 lbs — and then gaining some of it back during the pandemic — she found Wegovy (semaglutide), a weekly injectable medication, helped her lose weight.
Inspired by her young son
In 2017, when her son was 3 years old, Nikki says she decided to make a real difference in her weight for her health.
“He inspired me to lose weight because I wanted to be here for him,” she says of her son. “I wanted to see him grow up, and I wanted to be physically active with him. I didn’t want to be a stationary mom. I remember one time I was chasing behind him, and I was out of breath. He had a lot of energy that I just did not have.”
Choosing to change her diet
At 340 lbs, Nikki was initially interested in weight loss surgery. But the idea of surgery was pretty intimidating, she says. Before making a decision, she saw a nutritionist who put her on a liquid diet. Nikki decided to follow the liquid diet to lose weight instead of surgery. She drank meal replacement shakes at every meal.
“I was able to do it for 2 or 3 months,” she says. “But I was low on energy. I started replacing two meals with shakes and doing one high-protein, no-carb meal.”
On top of the low-carb diet, she started exercising.
“I just started walking,” she says. “I had no clue what I was doing — mostly I was just doing anything I could do at that point. Because my weight was so heavy. Just movement alone was helping, along with the food and calorie reduction.”
Within a year, she lost 100 lbs.
She also made adjustments when she cooked for her son.
“He eats pizza. I’m more of a junk food eater. So, we never had fast food,” she says. “He loves chicken, and I’m a chicken eater. So, if I made chicken, I would still make him sides like macaroni and cheese, and I would just eat the chicken and broccoli or green beans or something like that.”
Then, the pandemic hit.
Pandemic weight gain
During the pandemic, Nikki walked outside because she couldn’t go to the gym. But in January 2021, the winter weather kept her from getting outside and exercising as much. It wasn’t long before she was eating carbs like cookies and cake again.
“My son wanted a cake, so I would bake a cake. I would bake cookies, and I started eating the carbs again,” she says. “It was out of boredom and being stuck in the house. I just thought I was looking online, experimenting with recipes and eating. I was also wearing leggings a lot. I didn’t realize I was gaining weight.”
Nikki regained about 30 lbs to 40 lbs. At one point, she was up to 275 lbs. Dieting and going back to her low-carb lifestyle helped her to get back to 250, she says.
“I would lose weight and gain it back again,” she says. “I would be disciplined, and I’d do everything I was supposed to do. And then, somehow, I would slip right back into it. Or I’d cut out walking, and then I would end up gaining the weight back. It was a yo-yo. I couldn’t break past 240 lbs. I was gaining and losing the same 40 lbs.”
Choosing Wegovy injections
In 2023, Nikki and her doctor decided to try another option: a prescription for Wegovy. And over the course of a few months, Nikki was able to get down to 220 lbs.
“I’m at the lowest weight I’ve been in my adult life,” she says.
“The first month, I probably lost only 2 lbs, but I was extremely tired,” she says. “I did notice that my cravings had changed. I’m a sweet eater and a junk eater, but I wasn’t even eating it. I thought, whatever it’s doing, it’s working cause I’m not eating sweets or anything.”
While she was losing weight, she also started walking and exercising again.
Taking the medication requires that she give herself an injection once a week. In November 2023, after she noticed her appetite increasing, her doctor upped her dosage. The first two injections made her nauseous for a few days, she says, but since then the side effects seem to have worn off.
Still, the shots have made fried or greasy foods taste somewhat metallic, she says. And the injections have given her some constipation, but she’s able to manage it by drinking plenty of water.
With her insurance covering the shots, her cost initially was around $230 per shot. After getting a coupon off the manufacturer’s website, the cost dropped to around $24 each, she says.
Transitioning off of Wegovy
Wegovy is meant to be taken long term. But Nikki says she doesn’t want to take the shots forever. Her goal is to get to a target weight and then taper herself off of the medication.
She has started walking 2 miles a day again and jumping rope every morning. With the exercise and discipline, she says she wants to stop using the medication at some point.
Her new year’s resolution is to be disciplined about her diet and exercise.
“My goal is 180,” she says. “I need to be under 200 lbs for my height and shape. I’m approaching that, and I’ve been losing weight consistently. When I get there, they will start me on [taking the medication] every other week. But you have to keep up the habits that you’re doing while you’re on it. My doctor said I was going to have to practice the same discipline off it that I did when I lost the weight before.”
For now, Nikki says she’s happy with the progress she’s made and the way in which she’s made it.
“I hope within the year it’s something I don't need anymore. I’m satisfied with it, though,” she says. “It has honestly helped me, because when I don’t have the discipline — which I struggle with occasionally — it has been that tool for me.”
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