Exercise is secret to staying thin after Ozempic jab – as studies show most regain most of the weight they have lost

Dieters who stop using the latest slimming drugs can avoid putting the weight back on by starting an exercise regime.

While weight-loss medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy have soared in popularity in recent years, studies show that many users who stop the expensive weekly jabs regain most of the weight they have lost.

But research has found that those who begin regular exercise before they stop taking the drugs regain only a small amount of weight when compared with those who do not.

The injections, first developed as a diabetes treatment known as GLP-1 medications, reduce users’ appetites. 

Research has found that those who begin regular exercise before they stop taking the drugs regain only a small amount of weight (stock image)

Clinical trials show that patients who take semaglutide – the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy – lose 15 per cent of their body weight on average.

The new study, carried out by scientists at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark, found that patients who stopped taking a GLP-1 drug called liraglutide regained, on average, nearly 20lb over a year. 

However, those who took part in an exercise regime with a fitness professional while they were on the medication regained only about 8lb.

Researchers argue this is because patients got into the habit of exercising and continued doing so after they halted the jabs.

The drugs, which have gained many celebrity fans which has helped trigger worldwide shortages, allow dieters to lose weight quickly but have a number of uncomfortable side effects such as nausea, diarrhoea and stomach pain. 

They can also be expensive, with private patients in the UK paying as much as £300 a month.

Last year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak labelled the medicine ‘a game-changer’ and announced a pilot scheme that would allow GPs to offer the jabs to obese patients. 

However, some users say they have experienced such severe side effects they have forced them to come off the drugs. 

In June 2023, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed that he had been taking semaglutide – and was losing 4lb to 5lb a week. However, he decided to stop the treatment after experiencing vomiting spells.