LIFE AFTER OZEMPIC: THE NEW FRONTIER
Photo Cred: THE KIT
If you are someone who has spent your life struggling with weight loss, you know this struggle is real. Most likely you’ve tried a myriad of diets only to lose some weight and gain it back shortly thereafter. Many fellow struggling dieters will harken back to the days when they could just “diet” and the weight would come off quickly, but now when employing those same tactics– nothing seems to work! The weight just won’t budge and when you do move the scale it seems to take such a herculean effort that you can hardly focus on anything else.
Enter semaglutide…
Ozempic, an injection drug that no one ever heard of 5 years ago, now no one on earth hasn’t heard of it. Originally intended to treat Diabetes and Heart Disease, now millions of people have been using it for “off-label” weight-loss…and for many–it’s working. According to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science combined prescriptions of GLP-1s (glucagon-like peptide-1) have more than quintupled since 2021, exceeding 36 million in the 12 months ending in November 2023. The injection of semaglutide mimics the hormone released in the GI tract when eating, prompting the body to produce insulin, consequently reducing glucose in the blood and also affecting the part of the brain that reduces appetite and signals satiety. Simply put: you just don’t have the same impulse to eat or drink anymore so you eat a lot less. For anyone who has struggled with weight loss, the idea that food no longer controls your life is like a dream come true! No more food cravings, impulsive eating, mindless snacking, counting calories or paying attention to your macros—finally you can focus on everything else in your life other than your relationship with food, right? And the weight just seemingly starts to fall off! People report losing an average of 20% of their starting body weight.
As promising as all this sounds, there are the issues. Suspending the side effects that many have on the medications including: nausea, dizziness, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and constipation there are also the still too early to know long term side effects that researchers warn about that include: thyroid tumors and cancer, pancreatitis, hypoglycemia, acute kidney injury, hypersensitivity reactions, acute gallbladder disease and others. However, despite these side effects and potential health risks, many are willing to gamble that they will come away unscathed and that the idea that they can finally live a life in a body that they have only dreamt about is a bet they are willing to take even if the price tag for uninsured prescriptions is approximately $1,000.00 per month.
LIFE AFTER OZEMPIC
You’ve lost your weight, you’re feeling incredible! Your cholesterol and blood pressure are all within normal range. You have renewed energy and greater self esteem and confidence. Life seems generally better and other than the expense of the medicine and some side effects, you reason that it was all worth it and then some! But now what? Do you continue on this drug forever? Early clinical tests have shown that the majority of those who stop taking the medicine gain most of their weight back, much like conventional dieting. Only about 17% of those who stopped taking the drug kept the weight off, roughly the same rate of most non surgical, non pharmaceutical weight loss. You tell yourself: “I will be the exception. I will not regain all my weight once I am off this medicine.” But secretly you worry, but what if I do? What if once the feelings of hunger come rushing back, will I somehow be able to manage food differently than I had before?
The answer to this daunting question in my humble opinion is: generally no. If the medicine that blocked your want to eat no longer exists, you will find hunger again and you will eat with an appetite that you had pre-medicine. The caveat to this however is that if you work to change your relationship with food, to modify behaviors around eating, to implement life altering strategies of changes in lifestyle then YES you can keep the weight off that has been lost.
As a health coach we work with clients on a 1-1 basis to address a myriad of health concerns and to help people go after their health goals in ways that are doable and sustainable. After doing this for 4 years, I have found that people seeking to lose weight need more help with behavior modification than with the actual foods they eat. This could not be more true for those people who are coming off Ozempic. These individuals need to work 1-1 with a health coach so that they can get the guidance, support and behavioral shift changes they need in order to keep their weight off for good! Without a coach, my concern for post ozempic patients is that they will look to the same behaviors or dieting that got them where they were before Ozempic. And recycled behaviors yield the same results!
Everyone who works with Luxe Health Coaching comes into their health journey at a unique place. Some people, many in fact, are very food savvy–they know many of the right foods to eat. But leading a healthy life is not just about what we eat! It’s about what we eat, how we eat, where we eat, how quickly we eat, when we eat and then after all that—it has to do with so much more than just eating!!! Our body is the most cleverly designed network. It is so good at adapting to whatever is inputted. But just because it functions, doesn’t mean it functions optimally. If you want to live your healthiest, happiest life then focusing on your health in profound and new ways is the greatest gift you can give yourself and the ones who love you. Weight loss is not easy, but it is possible no matter what your age. If you have taken Ozempic or other similar medications and have lost your weight–EMAIL US today! We are your insurance policy to ongoing success and to making sure you keep your weight off once and for all.