How to get the ‘Wegovy effect’ when you can’t get Wegovy

The rush for the jab overlooks the simple formula all dieters know works, writes Charlotte Lytton

Diet and exercise might be boring, and a hell of a lot harder work than injecting yourself with Wegovy once a week, but it works long-term (iStock)

The clamour was inevitable: Wegovy’s arrival on private prescription in the UK this week is the golden ticket for those searching for a no-effort way to slim. Since the weight-loss jab circulated in Hollywood last year – and was credited for a raft of stars suddenly looking more svelte – demand has been insatiable; which may well happen here, now that a month’s worth of doses can be bought for £200-£300 (or about the same as a swish gym membership).

Semaglutide, originally designed as a diabetes drug called Ozempic, has been found in trials to trigger a 15 per cent loss in body weight over 68 weeks. Its effect soon became so notable that global shortages ensued, as patients urged their doctors to prescribe it “off-label” (where a drug is given for reasons outside of those it has been created for).

The launch here of Wegovy, explicitly branded as a weight-loss medication, coincides with its creators Novo Nordisk this week becoming the most valuable company in Europe. While its short-term credentials are compelling, those who stopped taking the appetite-inhibiting drug regained two-thirds of the weight they had lost within a year, per a study published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. Not that those results have dented its popularity, which “makes sense in today’s day and age of worshipping immediacy over hard-earned results”, says Sandy Macaskill, co-owner and master trainer at Barry’s UK. “The nation would be in a much better position if everyone was rushing to do some exercise” – rather than to take an effort-free shot.