If you’re losing weight on Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or another GLP-1 medication, then you may have read that muscle atrophy is a common side effect. I help folks in the Capital Region preserve muscle mass while on GLP-1 medication, so the weight you lose is fat, and the strength you keep is yours.
To avoid losing muscle mass while using GLP-1 medications, you need to do three things consistently: eat enough protein, lift weights 2 to 4 times per week, and lose weight at a controlled pace. GLP-1 medication changes your appetite, but it doesn’t change how muscle works. In a calorie deficit, your body sheds whatever it isn’t using, and muscle is one of the first things to go. I offer GLP-1 Muscle Preservation which includes both strength training and nutritional coaching.
Losing muscle isn’t a side effect of doing something wrong. It’s what rapid weight loss does by default. Research on GLP-1 weight loss has measured lean mass losses approaching 40 percent of total weight lost in some patients. Here are four reasons why are bodies resopnd this way during GLP-1 treatment:
GLP-1s make a big deficit almost effortless to reach. Your body funds that deficit from fat and muscle both unless something gives it a reason not to.
When hunger disappears, meals shrink or get skipped entirely. The first casualty is almost always protein.
Muscle is built from protein and kept with protein. Under-eat it for months and your body breaks down muscle to cover the gap.
Without resistance training, your body has no reason to hold onto muscle it isn't using while the scale drops.
My three step process for maintaining muscle during GLP-1 Treatment includes:
1
We lift 2 to 4 times per week with progressive resistance.
2
I coach protein-first eating that works with a suppressed appetite instead of fighting it
3
We’ll track your weight each week, and as the scale drops and your lifts hold, that’s the proof the weight coming off is the weight you wanted gone.
Prevent muscle loss during GLP-1 treatment.
Starting GLP-1 treatment is the first step. I’ll help with the rest!
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