Overweight mom loses 40LBS on Wegovy in ‘life-changing’ transformation

A mother of four who claimed she ‘tried everything’ to lose weight has opened up about how she dropped 40 pounds on Wegovy, saying the medication has changed her life.

Ashton Olivia Smith, 33, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, went viral on TikTok last week when she shared before and after photos of her physical transformation after taking the weight loss drug for nearly a year and a half.  

‘If you’re looking for a sign to start Wegovy/Ozempic, HERE IT IS!’ she captioned the post, which has been viewed more than 984,000 times. 

Wegovy and Ozempic are brand names for semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug that mimics the effects of the hormone that is naturally produced in a person’s stomach and pancreas. 

The mom of four said she lost roughly 40 pounds taking the popular weight loss drug 

Ashton explained that she started struggling with her weight in her 20s after having children

Ashton said she weighed 152 pounds when she started taking Wegovy around September 2021. By January 2022, she had reached her goal weight of 128 pounds 

These hormones signal to the brain that it does not need to eat, reducing a person’s appetite and food cravings. It also slows down the emptying of the stomach and increases the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas.

Ozempic was initially designed for diabetes, but doctors began noticing it had the added benefit of weight loss. This spurred the creation of Wegovy, a version of the drug designed specifically for that benefit.

Ashton has shared her experience with Wegovy in a previous video, saying she started struggling with her weight in her 20s after having children. 

The mom, who had four children from the ages of 21 to 29, insisted she tried everything to lose weight, including Phentermine and Contrave, prescription drugs used to treat obesity. 

‘Nothing worked, and if it did work, I was super jittery, which I hate, or the second I stopped taking it I gained the weight back and then some,’ she explained. 

‘I had heard about Wegovy when it came out a couple of years ago, and I was like, “Ugh, OK, at this point, whatever, I will try anything.” I didn’t want to get my hopes up.’

Ashton said at her heaviest, she was in the 160s, but she believes she weighed roughly 152 pounds when she started Wegovy around September of 2021. Her insurance covers her prescription, which costs upwards of $1,000 out of pocket.

Semaglutide is taken via a weekly injection, starting at 0.25 mg and gradually increasing to 2.4 mg — the highest dose — by month five.  

The mom insisted she tried everything to lose weight, including Phentermine and Contrave, prescription drugs used to treat obesity

Wegovy and Ozempic are brand names for semaglutide, a prescription drug that reduces a person’s appetite and food cravings 

The drug is meant to be injected weekly, but Ashton said she only takes it once every three to four weeks now because she doesn’t want to lose any more weight

‘I lost so much weight so fast that I was like, “Oh my God, this is magic,”‘ she recalled. ‘By January of 2022, I was down to 128 [pounds], which was my goal weight.’

For the past year, she has been taking the highest dose of Wegovy to maintain her weight, which ranges between 125 and 128 pounds. 

‘I know people are going to be like, “Well do you eat healthy? Do you workout?” I should not be sharing this on the internet, but I eat [terribly] and I haven’t worked out in a really long time,’ she admitted. 

Ashton explained that her issue was snacking at night for no reason, and the weight loss drug helped curb her cravings. 

She noted that she did experience some nausea, and she would sometimes get lightheaded when she stood up because she was never hungry and would forget to eat.  

Ashton only takes the drug once every three to four weeks now because she doesn’t want to lose any more weight.    

‘I kid you not when I say this medication changed my life,’ she said. ‘It’s why I talk about it and share it with everybody that I know.’

Ashton faced some backlash from commenters after sharing her transformation photos, with one person telling her she ‘looked better before.’ 

She filmed a follow-up in response, insisting that she didn’t start taking the weight loss drug to ‘look better.’ 

‘I got on Wegovy because I was overweight. To get on Wegovy, you have to have a BMI of 30 or a BMI of 27 with other weight-related health issues, which I had,’ she explained. 

Ashton has no problem clapping back at haters or calling out people who lie about how they are really losing weight in her cheeky videos 

The mom opened up about her experience in a recent video, saying her insurance covers her prescription, which costs upwards of $1,000 out of pocket

‘I got on Wegovy because I was overweight. To get on Wegovy, you have to have a BMI of 30 or a BMI of 27 with other weight-related health issues, which I had,’ she explained

Ashton faced some backlash from commenters after sharing her transformation photos, but she insisted her motivation for losing weight was her four children – not her appearance 

Ashton said it was her four children who motivated her to lose weight because she wanted ‘to be healthier and have more energy.’   

‘If you’re overweight, you know it physically hurts,’ she said. ‘I knew that I had to lose weight, so I could be a better mom for my kids, which was literally the ultimate goal.’

Wegovy and Ozempic, both of which are facing shortages across the U.S., have been touted as wonder drugs after initial clinical trials showed users could drop 15 percent of their body weight in 68 weeks.

Tech mogul Elon Musk openly credited Wegovy for supplementing his physical transformation last year, while the drug was rumored to be Kim Kardashian’s secret weapon for dropping 16 pounds in three weeks ahead of the 2022 Met Gala.

However, people may be surprised to learn that two-thirds of patients pile the pounds back on just months after coming off the drugs and most will need to keep taking the injections forever to keep their results.

Dr. Christopher McGowan, a North Carolina-based weight loss expert, told DailyMail.com that using the drug for weight loss is a lifelong ‘commitment.’

‘As soon as you stop that medication your body will start trying to promote weight regain once again. It’s a relentless process,’ he explained. 

‘It’s very similar to how we treat other diseases like high blood pressure or high cholesterol. If you start a medication, if your cholesterol and your cholesterol improves, you don’t stop the medication. You stay on it.’