Nowadays, seemingly every time someone looks like they’ve lost a significant amount of weight the “O” word comes up—meaning Ozempic. That’s what happened when fans noticed that Jessica Simpson appeared to have lost weight in a November 2022 Pottery Barn Kids post on Instagram. Fans began tossing around the “O” word, wondering if the singer, actress, and fashion designer has been taking the injectable medication. But in a recent interview with Mickey Rapkin published on July 6 in Bustle, Simpson essentially said “O, no,” when asked about such Ozempic speculation.

Rapkin quoted Simpson as saying, “Oh Lord. I mean, it is not.” She added, “It’s willpower. I’m like, do people want me to be drinking again? Because that’s when I was heavier. Or they want me to be having another baby? My body can’t do it.” Simpson may have published a memoir called Open Book in 2020. But there’s no indication that her life has been a O-pen Book, as in using an Ozempic pen injector once a week. So all of that sounds like a hard “no” to O.

Ozempic is not the only medication that contains semaglutide, the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist that people have been using to lose weight. GLP-1 receptor agonist and semaglutide may be not as easy to say as Ozempic. So when people speculate about someone using Ozempic, they may be speculating about whether that person is using Wegovy or Rybelsus as well since these two medications also contain semaglutide. Of these three medications, only Wegovy has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for chronic weight management in adults. Ozempic and Rybelsus have received FDA-approval specifically for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Nevertheless, it looks like lots of people have been using various semaglutide medications in many cases off-label in attempts to shed pounds.

Now, Ozempic has been getting a lot of attention because a number of celebrities and social media influencers have been talking about the medication lately. Some such as Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, and Elon Musk have mentioned taking Ozempic or Wegovy. Others such as Khloé Kardashian, Crystal Kung Minkoff, and Julia Fox have pushed back on claims that they are taking such medications. Unless you happen to be something like an Ozempic Injection Pen, you can’t be sure who is actually taking the medication and who isn’t.

Just because someone has appeared to have lost weight doesn’t necessarily mean that the person is taking Ozempic, Wegovy, or some other weight loss medication. There are, surprise, surprise, other ways to lose weight. When trying to shed pounds, you should always try appropriate lifestyle modifications first. This may include improving your diet and increasing physical activity if possible. These may not be that easy to do if you have a very demanding job, live in neighborhoods not conducive to such changes, or otherwise don’t have the means. For example, modifying your diet may be a lot easier if you have a personal chef or live near the produce section of Whole Foods and don’t have to take out a loan to buy anything there.

A note about the “it’s willpower” comment from Simpson. Certainly, willpower is important in modifying your lifestyle and maintaining such modifications. However, it is important to remember that one’s appearance is not simply the result of willpower or the lack thereof. You’ve probably seen people whose idea of fasting is eating fast food faster or who regularly exercise their right to not exercise yet still seem able to maintain a svelte appearance. On the other hand, there are people who maintain very, very disciplined lifestyles and have a tremendous amount of willpower yet can’t seem to shed pounds. Willpower alone may not be enough. Plus, willpower can be a lot easier if, for example, you have someone named Will or whatever preparing your food, serving as a trainer, maintaining your daily schedule, or otherwise making your life easier.

Again, looks can be very deceiving. You can’t tell what people may be doing or taking O-nly by looking at them. Yet, new flash, that’s what many people keep doing, speculate solely based on appearance.

So, expect more and more O-speculation—as in “O” did he or didn’t he or “O” did she or didn’t she— to O-cur on social media and basically everywhere. That’s a bit of a shame. Because such speculation may lead people to O-verlook other weight loss options and O-vershadow the continuing need for more systems approaches to the obesity epidemic. While Ozempic and other GLP-1 receptor agonist can help in the right situations, they aren’t the be “O” and end “O.”