GLP-1 medicines like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) are broadly hailed as weight reduction recreation changers. So when you’re taking certainly one of these new medicine and the size does not appear to be budging, chances are you’ll be questioning what is going on on.
Typically it is a matter of being affected person, as it could take a couple of weeks earlier than you discover outcomes, and plateaus could be a regular a part of weight reduction. That mentioned, you should not rely solely on Ozempic to achieve your purpose.
“With a view to see the outcomes demonstrated in research, GLP-1 medicines ought to be mixed with dietary and life-style interventions,” says Samantha Flanagan, DO, an weight problems drugs specialist with Temple Well being in Philadelphia. For max success, it’s worthwhile to avoid some widespread missteps that place key life-style adjustments on the again burner.
1. You’re Not Exercising
“An exercise prescription is an important a part of all long-term [weight loss] plans,” says Richard Siegel, MD, an endocrinologist and a codirector of the diabetes and lipid heart at Tufts Medical Heart in Boston.
The clinician who prescribed your weight reduction drug also needs to assist your effort to enhance your train habits. In the event that they don’t, it may be a crimson flag that you just’re not getting the thorough weight reduction therapy and experience that you just deserve. Some sources resembling on-line clinics and med spas, maybe significantly people who present compounded GLP-1s, could also be much less more likely to provide life-style recommendation and assist.
2. You Didn’t Change Your Weight-reduction plan
Whereas it is extra widespread for folks to wrestle with consuming sufficient on a GLP-1, not everybody on the treatment finally ends up decreasing their total caloric consumption the important thing to profitable weight reduction.
“Sure dietary habits can result in larger caloric consumption and less-balanced vitamin,” says Dr. Flanagan. “These embody issues like grazing (snacking all day however not consuming any true meals) and alternating between skipping meals and consuming bigger, unhealthy meals.”
3. You’re Not Taking It as Prescribed
It is okay to decrease your dose or cease taking your GLP-1 altogether, but it surely’s essential to take action with the steering of your healthcare supplier. If there are components which are making it tough so that you can take your treatment as prescribed, they can enable you troubleshoot and discover a routine that works higher for you.
4. Your Different Medicines Are Interfering
These medicines ship essential advantages, so that you should not simply cease taking them for the sake of weight reduction, says Flanagan. As a substitute, speak along with your physician about your treatment plan as an entire. Collectively, you’ll be able to work out tips on how to enhance your weight reduction plan whereas retaining some other well being circumstances underneath management.
5. You Want a Larger Dose
You could want the next dose of a GLP-1 (or some other treatment, for that matter) so as to obtain the outcomes you’re in search of, even when you’ve made the really helpful life-style adjustments. “Some folks have a really vital response on the lowest dose of treatment,” says Siegal. “Others want the next dose to attain a weight lack of 5 p.c (of their physique weight) or extra.”
It is value giving your physique slightly little bit of time when you’re not seeing the quantity on the size pattern downward. However when you’ve plateaued after a month or two at your present dose, speak along with your physician, says Siegal. So long as you are assembly your dietary wants and your uncomfortable side effects are manageable, chances are you’ll determine collectively to extend your dosage.
6. Stress or Unhealthy Sleep Is Sabotaging Your Weight Loss
No matter whether or not you are taking a GLP-1, power stress and an absence of high quality sleep aren’t useful for wholesome weight administration. “That is one thing I speak rather a lot about with my sufferers,” says Flanagan.
The Takeaway
- Whereas GLP-1s usually include the expectation of serious weight reduction, quite a lot of components can affect how your physique responds to those medicines.
- It’s essential to mix your GLP-1 with dietary and life-style interventions resembling common train, a balanced eating regimen, and high quality sleep to attain desired outcomes.
- If you happen to’re not seeing the outcomes you need, attain out to your healthcare supplier, who can assist troubleshoot your present treatment dose, join you with a registered dietitian-nutritionist, and discover different components which may be hindering your weight reduction success.
