What Happens After Two Years on a GLP-1 Drug? 

GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Mounjaro have dominated headlines, but what is it actually like to live on these medications for the long haul? The truth is, it’s different for everyone. Remi Cruz of Pretty Basic recently opened up about her two-year journey with Mounjaro, unpacking the realities of how her life has changed.

If you want to join Cruz and her co-host Alisha Marie in-person to hear more conversations like this one, don’t forget to get your tickets to our next live event on May 17 in Los Angeles.

Renewed energy

“My energy is better now,” says Cruz. “I can walk more, I can exercise more, all those things.” Before starting on Mounjaro, Cruz recalls, “I’d eat so much food and then, boom, immediately I’d be like ‘I want to go back to bed.’” Her energy levels are now much more regulated.

Cruz’s co-host, Alisha Marie, noticed the dramatic change. “It felt like I had my best friend back,” she says.

A new relationship with food

One significant benefit noted by GLP-1 users is that it allows them to spend less time thinking about food. 

Cruz recalls feeling constantly hungry. “I never liked doing splitsies with anybody,” she says. “Because I was like, ‘I need my whole meal and then I need more.’ Whereas now, I can just have a bite of someone else’s food and not want to eat their plate and eat them and eat the table.”

The medication has also taught Cruz to be more gentle with herself about food, especially when enjoying big moments like vacation. “Maybe I eat everyone and the table,” she jokes, “and that’s also okay because I’m on vacation!”

Cruz says she has also learned to pay closer attention to her body’s signals. “Even when my medicine wears off and my body’s telling me I’m hungry, I can quickly be like, ‘No, you’re not hungry,’” she says. “ I had never experienced that before.”

Your hunger levels change

GLP-1s don’t completely eliminate the desire to binge eat, Cruz says. The effect is strongest on the first day of your dose. “As it goes on, you start to gain your appetite back because your body’s metabolizing it. So by day six or seven, I’m starting to feel the hunger cues more.”

But because of her new self-awareness around food, Cruz says, she is able to monitor her portions in a way she couldn’t before.

Confidence amid judgment

Cruz feels a lot more confident since losing weight, but it also invites a new form of scrutiny. 

Taking Mounjaro “changed the trajectory of my life, my relationship with myself, my relationships with other people, my relationship with work,” she says. 

However, she finds some of the online conversation around these weight loss drugs  concerning. “I get a lot of comments on TikTok or Instagram, and it’s very much like, ‘Ozempic is King,’ or like ‘Wow. Ozempic check.’ I’m not offended because obviously I’m on it, and I’m not gonna lie about it,” Cruz explains. But she recognizes the intention behind many of those comments “is to be rude.” 

At the same time, Cruz worries that the negative comments reinforce misconceptions that GLP-1s produce effortless weight loss. “Some people abuse it,” she says, adding that they “just take the medication and eat nothing and don’t take care of themselves. That’s only going to cause you more harm in the future.”

In addition to her medication, Cruz says, “I changed my lifestyle so much. I have built muscle, I have worked out. I eat better, I drink more water, and I take my supplements.”

For more candid discussions about body image, beauty, and wellness, listen to Pretty Basic. You can also join Remi Cruz and Alisha Marie in person at the Dear Media Edit, a live wellness event, on May 17 in Los Angeles. Get your tickets here.