Gabriela was trying to lose the weight she’d gained during the Covid pandemic. But a few stubborn kilos just wouldn’t budge.
She had tried everything, she says. Going on a stricter diet; being more consistent with her high-intensity workouts six days a week.
But “nothing worked” for the Brazilian lawyer who weighed 76kg (11st 13lb) and is 1.69m tall (5ft 6in).
Then, friends let her in on a secret – they’d been using weight-loss injections and were thrilled with the results.
So despite being a long-standing fitness fanatic, Gabriela, 40, decided to do the same.
She bought her first Ozempic jabs in February 2024 from a pharmacy in Rio de Janeiro – with no prescription – and began taking them without medical oversight.
The results were almost immediate.
“It was surreal,” recalls Gabriela, which is not her real name. “I’d go to a Japanese buffet, eat six pieces of sushi and feel like I’d had a whole rack of ribs.”
The transformation was noticeable, but it didn’t last. When she stopped taking the injections, slowly but surely, the weight crept back.
That’s when Gabriela’s new routine began. She would stop taking the jabs when she was satisfied with the way she looked. But when the reflection in the mirror wasn’t quite what she wanted, the process would begin again.
She’s been going through this cycle for a year now.
“When I look in the mirror and like what I see, everything in life feels easier,” she says.
Doctors warn that people like Gabriela, who have no medical need for weight-loss jabs and are taking them intermittently and without clinical supervision, are gambling with their health.