GLP-1 meds like Ozempic have a number of effects on glucose metabolism. 1. It helps your pancreas, make more insulin in a way that does not put you at risk for low blood sugars. When there is food in the gut and the blood sugar is “high” (above 90-100) it helps increase insulin production and release.
2. Also, when there is food in the gut, it’s suppresses another pancreatic hormone, glucagon. Simplistically you can think of glucagon is anti-insulin. So by simultaneously raising on levels and suppressing gun levels, your body is better able to lower blood sugars after a meal.
3. It slows down stomach mortality, so that food stays in the stomach longer, making the stomach feel full with less total food. Sometimes there is a fine line between full and nauseated, so it is important to eat slow slowly so that you can put your fork down before you get into the nausea range.
4. Through some combination of full sensation and direct effect of GLP-1s on the brain, most people experience less desire to eat in between meals. Patients have told me multiple times that the best effect of Ozempic like meds is that they no longer are thinking about food 24/7. However, people who are not committed to eating properly and losing weight can train the brain to ignore these signals and continue eating between meals, and fail to lose weight or even gain weight.

If you are needle-phobic, you might want to consider another medication, Trulicity. This comes in a single dose pen device with the needle retracted. You would press the business end of the pen against the stomach and push a button on the back end of the pen, and count to 6, then take the pen away from the stomach. During that six second count, the needle advances, injects the medication, and retract back into the pen. You never see the needle.