“Diet And Exercise Alone Weren’t Enough For Me To Lose Weight—Here’s What Helped Me”

10 min readThe following story was sponsored by Novo Nordisk. Keytsiia is a real Wegovy® patient and paid spokesperson for Novo Nordisk. Sometimes one photo is all it takes to spark a change. For Keytsiia, a North Carolina school district administrator, a snapshot of her sitting on a motorcycle in 2016 was the wake-up call she needed to start focusing on losing weight. Keystiia had been an avid rider since 2009, and a trip to the local dealership to browse new bikes was her husband’s attempt to uplift her. It didn’t have the intended effect, but instead, that single photo became the catalyst for a decade of positive momentum.At the time, the mother of two weighed the most she had ever weighed.“The icing on the cake came the next week [after seeing the photo] when I went to pull on my pants for work and realized I couldn't button them up,” she says. “I knew that I needed to make a change.”Diet And Exercise Alone Weren’t EnoughThese events led Keytsiia to schedule an appointment with a doctor, who told her options were to either exercise more and eat less or to consider bariatric surgery. She decided to commit fully to the lifestyle approach and stuck with it for more than three years. However, despite making lifestyle changes, Keytsiia wasn’t seeing the results she hoped for and began to question whether her hard work was worth it.“I started feeling like no matter how hard I was trying, no matter how healthy I tried to eat or how consistent I was with working out, it wasn’t enough,” Keystiia says. “After a year, I had only lost a handful of pounds. I hadn’t lost the weight I had hoped to.” Looking for a different approach, Keytsiia enlisted in a weight-loss program with a nutritionist, who helped her adjust her eating patterns and food choices. But even with those healthy changes, she wasn’t seeing the progress she hoped for.Introducing Wegovy To My Weight Management PlanWhat finally moved the needle, and helped her lose weight and keep it off, was adding a weight-management medication to her overall healthcare plan of diet and exercise.In January 2023, Keytsiia’s doctor suggested WEGOVY® (semaglutide) injection 2.4 mg.Wegovy® (semaglutide) injection is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to:help adults and children aged 12 years and older with obesity, or some adults with excess weight (overweight) who also have weight-related medical problems to lose weight and keep the weight off.reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight. Wegovy® (semaglutide) tablets are a prescription medicine used with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity to:reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events such as death, heart attack, or stroke in adults with known heart disease and with either obesity or overweight.help adults with obesity, or some adults with excess weight (overweight) who also have weight-related medical problems to lose weight and keep the weight off.Wegovy® contains semaglutide and should not be used with other semaglutide-containing products or other GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines.It is not known if Wegovy® injection is safe and effective:to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events (death, heart attack, or stroke) in people under 18 yearsto help children under 12 years of age lose weight and keep the weight offIt is not known if Wegovy® tablets are safe and effective for use in people under 18 years of age.What is the most important information I should know about Wegovy®?Wegovy® may cause serious side effects, including:Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer. Tell your healthcare provider if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of thyroid cancer. In studies with rodents, Wegovy® and other medicines that work like Wegovy® caused thyroid tumors, including thyroid cancer. It is not known if Wegovy® will cause thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in peopleDo not use Wegovy® if you or any of your family have ever had a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2)Do not use Wegovy® if:you or any of your family have ever had a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2)you have had a serious allergic reaction to semaglutide or any of the ingredients in Wegovy® injection or Wegovy® tablets. See symptoms of serious allergic reaction in “What are the possible side effects of Wegovy®?”Wegovy® FlexTouch® pen: Do not share your Wegovy® FlexTouch® pen with other people, even if the needle has been changed. You may give other people a serious infection or get a serious infection from them.Please see Medication Guide and Prescribing Information, Including Boxed Warning, for Wegovy® at: Novo-pi.com/wegovy.pdf, and see additional Important Safety Information below.“You mean, like, inject a needle?” she asked the doctor, who explained that the medication would be an injection under the skin in her stomach, thigh, or upper arm. In addition, she and her doctor discussed the potential side effects of WEGOVY, which can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation, as well as other conditions.“I was hesitant at first,” says Keytsiia. “But I did some research on the WEGOVY website, which made me feel more comfortable about it. After a conversation with my doctor, I decided to start WEGOVY along with diet and exercise. That’s when the progress began.”“I did experience nausea at first, but I worked with my doctor to help manage it,” says Keytsiia, who is a WEGOVY Patient Ambassador and has been compensated for her time by Novo Nordisk. “That’s just my experience, and everyone is different, so be sure to discuss any side effects with your healthcare professional and work with your healthcare team to see if WEGOVY may be right for you.”Rediscovering The Joy Of ExerciseIn addition to the injections, Keytsiia knew it was still important to reduce calorie intake, exercise, and make other healthy lifestyle changes. “I joined the WEGOVY WeGoTogether program, where I spoke with my coach about habits, planning meals, setting up times to go to the gym, and spending time with my family,” she says.Rather than an exercise routine that she didn’t really enjoy, Keytsiia was advised to do dedicated strength training three days a week and focus more on incidental exercise, like getting in more steps throughout the day. “My WeGoTogether coach told me, ‘Working out should be fun. It should be something you enjoy,’” she says. Keytsiia took that advice and now loves going for walks with her husband.Months into her journey with WEGOVY, Keytsiia lost weight and was noticing some physical shifts. “It was actually working!” she says.The Journey ContinuesToday, Keytsiia is still working toward her ultimate goal—to try indoor skydiving. It has a weight limit, which has become her personal “goal” weight.“There are plenty of women of color who have the same issues as me. I want to show them that they aren’t alone.”In the meantime, she continues to ride motorcycles, including in a recently organized ride to raise awareness for dementia. Aside from supporting a meaningful cause, the event highlighted how far she’s come on her journey. “It was roughly four hours of riding,” she says, adding that it requires a lot of strength. “It’s almost similar to being on a bicycle, where at some point you get fatigued because you’re trying to control this machine with your body and keep it upright.”After spending the past few years focused on her own journey, Keytsiia wants to start inspiring others. “I want people to see my progress and how hard I’ve worked to get to lose weight and keep it off with WEGOVY alongside diet and exercise,” she says. “There are plenty of women of color who have the same issues as me: not being able to lose weight and not feeling seen. They don’t have someone to relate to and get that motivation from. I want to show them that they aren’t alone. There are people out there like them. This can be your story, too.”Important Safety Information What is the most important information I should know about Wegovy®?Wegovy® may cause serious side effects, including:Possible thyroid tumors, including cancer. Tell your healthcare provider if you get a lump or swelling in your neck, hoarseness, trouble swallowing, or shortness of breath. These may be symptoms of thyroid cancer. In studies with rodents, Wegovy® and other medicines that work like Wegovy® caused thyroid tumors, including thyroid cancer. It is not known if Wegovy® will cause thyroid tumors or a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) in peopleDo not use Wegovy® if you or any of your family have ever had a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2)Do not use Wegovy® if:you or any of your family have ever had a type of thyroid cancer called medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC) or if you have an endocrine system condition called Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN 2)you have had a serious allergic reaction to semaglutide or any of the ingredients in Wegovy® injection or Wegovy® tablets. See symptoms of serious allergic reaction in “What are the possible side effects of Wegovy®?”Wegovy® FlexTouch® pen: Do not share your Wegovy® FlexTouch® pen with other people, even if the needle has been changed. You may give other people a serious infection or get a serious infection from them.Before using Wegovy®, tell your healthcare provider if you have any other medical conditions, including if you:have or have had problems with your pancreas or kidneyshave type 2 diabetes and a history of diabetic retinopathyare scheduled to have surgery or other procedures that use anesthesia or deep sleepiness (deep sedation)are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Wegovy® may harm your unborn baby. You should stop using Wegovy® 2 months before you plan to become pregnantare breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Breastfeeding is not recommended during treatment with Wegovy® tablets. It is not known if Wegovy® when received through an injection passes into your breast milkTell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Wegovy® may affect the way some medicines work and some medicines may affect the way Wegovy® works. Tell your healthcare provider if you are taking other medicines to treat diabetes, including sulfonylureas or insulin. Wegovy® slows stomach emptying and can affect medicines that need to pass through the stomach quickly.What are the possible side effects of Wegovy®?Wegovy® may cause serious side effects, including:inflammation of your pancreas (pancreatitis). Stop using Wegovy® and call your healthcare provider right away if you have severe pain in your stomach area (abdomen) that will not go away, with or without nausea or vomiting. Sometimes you may feel the pain from your abdomen to your backgallbladder problems. Wegovy® may cause gallbladder problems, including gallstones. Some gallstones may need surgery. Call your healthcare provider if you have symptoms, such as pain in your upper stomach (abdomen), fever, yellowing of the skin or eyes (jaundice), or clay-colored stoolsincreased risk of low blood sugar (hypoglycemia), especially those who also take medicines for diabetes such as insulin or sulfonylureas. This can be a serious side effect. Talk to your healthcare provider about how to recognize and treat low blood sugar and check your blood sugar before you start and while you take Wegovy®. Signs and symptoms of low blood sugar may include dizziness or light-headedness, blurred vision, anxiety, irritability or mood changes, sweating, slurred speech, hunger, confusion or drowsiness, shakiness, weakness, headache, fast heartbeat, or feeling jitterydehydration leading to kidney problems. Diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting may cause a loss of fluids (dehydration), which may cause kidney problems. It is important for you to drink fluids to help reduce your chance of dehydration. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea that does not go awaysevere stomach problems. Stomach problems, sometimes severe, have been reported in people who use Wegovy®. Tell your healthcare provider if you have stomach problems that are severe or will not go awayserious allergic reactions. Stop using Wegovy® and get medical help right away, if you have any symptoms of a serious allergic reaction, including swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat; problems breathing or swallowing; severe rash or itching; fainting or feeling dizzy; or very rapid heartbeatchange in vision in people with type 2 diabetes. Tell your healthcare provider if you have changes in vision during treatment with Wegovy®increased heart rate. Wegovy® can increase your heart rate while you are at rest. Tell your healthcare provider if you feel your heart racing or pounding in your chest and it lasts for several minutesfood or liquid getting into the lungs during surgery or other procedures that use anesthesia or deep sleepiness (deep sedation). Wegovy® may increase the chance of food getting into your lungs during surgery or other procedures. Tell all your healthcare providers that you are taking Wegovy® before you are scheduled to have surgery or other proceduresThe most common side effects of Wegovy® may include: nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, stomach (abdomen) pain, changes in skin sensations, headache, tiredness (fatigue), upset stomach, dizziness, feeling bloated, belching, low blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, gas, stomach flu, heartburn, and hair loss.Please see Medication Guide and Prescribing Information, including Boxed Warning, for Wegovy® at https://www.novo-pi.com/wegovy.pdf.Wegovy® is a prescription medication.You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088.© 2026 Novo Nordisk All rights reserved. US26SEMO00074 September 2026Caitlin is a health and fitness journalist based in New York City. In addition to Women's Health, she writes for publications including The Wall Street Journal and Runner’s World. She's completed 12 marathons, including the six World Marathon Majors, is semi-fluent in French, and volunteers as a greeter on The High Line. Follow her on Instagram or LinkedIn.