Successfully maintain your weight loss results after transitioning off Semaglutide and other GLP-1 medications.

 

At this point, you’ve probably heard of Ozempic and Wegovy, two of the medications being used for weight loss that contain the active ingredient Semaglutide. These are two examples of medications that fall into a category called GLP-1 receptor agonists. Originally created as a medication to treat type two diabetes, GLP-1s work by lowering blood sugar, and slowing the rate of digestion. Basically, GLP-1s decrease your appetite and make you feel fuller quicker and for a longer amount of time so you’re likely to reduce your caloric intake.

While minimal long term data exists GLP-1s, when used for the management of diabetes, are intended to be used for the rest of the patient’s life. As far as weight loss goes, many of the physicians who are prescribing this medication feel the protocol needs to be the same, as most of the data shows that patients will gain back the weight they’ve lost when they stop using the drug. Unfortunately, taking GLP-1s long term is not an option for many people as it can be cost prohibitive and come with side effects like GI issues, thyroid cancer, pancreatitis, kidney disease, and mental health issues including thoughts of suicide.

So, how can you safely and effectively transition off GLP-1s while still maintaining the weight loss results you experienced from the medication? First, understand that you will most likely gain some of the weight back. The reason being, weight loss that occurs on GLP-1 is mostly due to the changes made to your food intake, not just the medication itself. When your appetite and cravings come back, eating a very low calorie diet is often unsustainable.

However, you can maintain some of the results by using your time on the medication to establish a new wellness routine. For example, during the times of the day you would previously snack, add a fun activity that you can keep up with once the medication stops. This will help prevent you from going back to your previous snacking habit. Same goes for overeating at meals. Be very aware of your portion sizes while you’re on the medication so you can mimic them, once you’re off the medication. Also, adding an exercise program will help you maintain your metabolic rate.

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Like any medical intervention, weight management requires the help of a team! The experts at PHC can, through nutrition counseling to establish sustainable eating habits, functional training to get you strong and looking your best, and acupuncture to regulate metabolism, make maintaining weight loss after Semaglutide as successful as possible. 

 

For more information or to schedule an appointment click here or call (303) 505-9313