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21. GLP-1s: What You Need To Know Before, During, and After
33 Plays1 month ago
GLP-1s are one of the most controversial topics in health and fitness right now, and most of the conversation is missing the point.
In this episode we're breaking down why they work, who they actually make sense for, and what you absolutely need to be doing if you're on one to protect your health long term.
Because 85% of people who take a GLP-1 gain the weight back. Here's how to not be in that group.
Topics covered:
- What GLP-1s actually do and why they work
- The muscle loss problem nobody is warning you about
- Why protein and strength training are non-negotiable on GLP-1s
- How to shift your nutrition focus when appetite is suppressed
- Breaking the stigma around who uses them and why
If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss the next one.
#GLP1 #MuscleLoss #OzempicWeightLoss
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Transcript
Introduction to Controversial Topics
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, my friends. Welcome back to another episode of the Basics of Balance. My name is Ariella. We are going to be talking today about a pretty controversial topic. having conversations as to why it's controversial kind of allows us to understand the reasoning as to why somebody might take something like this. And also just some things to keep in mind and how, you know, we live in a um extreme world right now. Okay. Like, you know, when somebody has an opinion, you know, that opinion they believe is true and fact. And here's the thing, that might be your opinion based on your experience. But what if somebody else has a different experience,
Exploring GLP-1s: Benefits and Misuses
00:00:40
Speaker
right? Context matters. So I think we need to kind of just understand, you know, GLP-1s, they're controversial because I think that they're
00:00:50
Speaker
are there is a group of people who are probably taking GLP-1s that don't necessarily need to be taking them, and they are probably making GLP-1s sound like something it is not. right for ah For a huge group of people, for a lot of clients that I have worked with, They are very beneficial tool. They are a a tool that has really allowed us to um cut down on some of the food noise that sometimes makes it really impossible to stay consistent as far as like your nutritional you know choices are concerned and your habits and your lifestyle. It's really allowed us to cut down on that food noise and therefore have more capacity, mentally speaking, to learn new habits, to to learn how to build your plate with balance in mind, and to build these skills that eventually, when you're off of the medication, you're able to continue practicing and therefore maintain the weight loss that you achieved while you were on a GLP-1.
Challenges with Weight Regain and Diet
00:01:53
Speaker
Because the truth is, 85% of people who will take a GLP-1 gain the weight back. And the the reason is, is that, you know, that group of people, they're taking, um you know, this kind of medication, but we're not changing anything about your lifestyle. And so when you're off of this medication, you basically just like keep living the lifestyle that got you to a place um to want to take a GLP-1 in the first place, right? But the thing is, is that, you know, a lot of times... um
00:02:24
Speaker
Well, I'll speak from my experience. When I'm working with somebody who has really struggled to lose weight and they really have tried everything, they've they've tried macros before, the foundation of what I help my clients understand and learn. They've tried tracking their food. They they understand the value of protein. They understand calorie deficits. They understand energy balance and all of these things, right? However, the way that our food is made is highly addictive. It is highly palatable, meaning... It's a flavor bomb in our ah mouths you know when we're having something like potato chips compared to a sweet potato.
Ariella's Evolving View on GLP-1s
00:03:02
Speaker
right Potato chips are going to provide a lot more happiness. It's going to you know trigger that dopamine a little bit more than eating a sweet potato. and so you know When somebody is really trying to make these changes, they are having an uphill battle because the way that our food is you know made is highly addictive, right? It makes it really hard to turn that food noise off because you're constantly craving things that you prefer, that taste better than quote unquote healthy and balanced food. You know what i mean? And so all of that to say,
00:03:34
Speaker
When GLP1s first came on the scene, I was not a fan of them. We live, we grow, right? We change our minds and that's part of um you know being humble and growing, right? We're not always right. I wasn't a fan of them initially because I didn't fully understand them. And my exposure to them was based on people that I would talk to that were taking GLP-1s like a magic pill, right? Oh, I'm just going to lose weight by taking this. And to me, as somebody who, you know, obviously understands the value of exercise in any lifestyle, exercise is just, it should be a habit, just like brushing your teeth. Exercise should be something in your every single day life, just like going to work, just like eating. You know what i mean? Like, so... As somebody who understands the value of living
00:04:24
Speaker
you know, a healthy and balanced lifestyle through habits like regular exercise, staying hydrated, eating enough balanced food, you know, all of these things. When I hear somebody that's like, oh, I'm just going to lose weight by taking this pill. It's like, okay, you're going to gain it all back because we're not making any changes. You know what i mean? Like we have to make sure that like, this is going to be a tool that's going to help us make those changes. And when we work with that tool, man, we're unstoppable, man, we're really going to see some progress. You know what i mean? Like mentally, physically, all of the ease, right? um And so I have since then changed my opinion because I have had the opportunity to, number one, do more research, right? Read up on it a little bit more. They're not as new. Things are evolving. But also, number two, I've coached a few people who I have seen firsthand how massively beneficial something like a GLP-1 can be for someone who, like I said, has done everything and they can't shut the food noise off. And we are constantly running up to a a roadblock in their journey. And this is allowing us to basically break through that roadblock and see more progress, but in a healthy
Maintaining Muscle During Weight Loss
00:05:31
Speaker
way, right? By not sacrificing their health, right?
00:05:34
Speaker
So here's the thing. When we're taking a GLP-1, the reason that it is ah allowing you to lose weight is because it is basically shutting off your hunger hormone, okay? You are eating less as a result because you're not as hungry. And so it's easier for you to eat less food because you are not dealing with hunger constantly, right? You're not having cravings because that hormone is not necessarily firing off like it used to fire off. And so you're not eating as much food. you are eating less food and you are seeing physical changes. That is the relationship there, right? However, when we are eating less food from a GLP-1, two big things that we want to pay attention to. Number one, the majority of that weight loss is coming from your muscle mass. If we do not have a proper strategy to preserve that muscle while you're losing weight. Okay. So let's back up really quick. The majority of what you are losing is muscle loss. And that's not great. Okay. I hope you can tell I'm a big fan of muscle. I hope you can tell society is catching up with that as well. Okay. And I hope you're along for the ride too. Uh, the more muscle you have, the, uh, the,
00:06:45
Speaker
More independent you're going to be as you age, the less limitation you will have as you age, the faster you are going to heal from illness and injury, the less likely you will get injured and or ill as you a Muscle is your metabolic goal, okay? And so when we're losing weight, we want to make sure that we are protecting our muscle at all costs. And when we drop calories too low, right? When we do too much too soon, when we drop calories too low, we are jeopardizing our muscle, all right?
00:07:13
Speaker
And so when we're taking something like a GLP-1, we are jeopardizing our muscle because we are putting our muscle at risk of um atrophying because we're not eating enough food and our muscle cannot be preserved if we're not eating enough food. It's the basic fundamental building blocks of preserving your muscle. And so when you're not eating enough food and of that food, you're barely eating any protein, you can further expect muscle loss. And that's not great, right? So when we are taking a GLP-1, it is massively important that we are making sure we're eating as much as we can, as much as that dosage will allow us to eat because obviously we have some food aversions with certain GLP-1s, right? um I have had clients in the past who um you know, they really
00:07:59
Speaker
get sick and they really get nauseous. And it's usually when they increase their dosage, but it's something that we have to learn to work around, right? And so when you don't have a lot to work with, when you can only eat as much as you can eat, well, we need to make sure that the choices that you are making are giving your body what it needs. We don't have to worry about being in a deficit as much. That's taken care of. How are we supporting your body as we are significantly eating less than we
Sustaining Health Post-GLP-1
00:08:25
Speaker
typically are? See what I'm saying? Like the focus shifts from, hey, we don't got worry about this. It's helping us with the food noise and staying in control of our appetite and our hunger and things like that. So let's shift our focus to really make sure we understand why dietary fat is so massively important for your hormones, for your digestion, for, you know, why carbs are so massively important for your recovery, for it. Why we we allow for a greater conversation or capacity is um has grown because we are not spending as much mental effort on thinking about food and trying to not eat too much food and, you know, all of that stuff.
00:09:03
Speaker
And so when you are on a GLP-1 and you're not eating as much food, the focus shifts to make sure we are preserving that muscle. And of preserving that muscle, we have to make sure that we are strength training and also eating enough protein. Okay. Talking about muscle here. We'll get into fiber in a second. Don't you worry. When are when we are strength training, we are stimulating our muscle, okay? We can't build muscle if we're not stimulating our muscle, right? We can't preserve our muscle if we're not stimulating our muscle, okay? So when we are on a GLP-1, we need to make sure we are ah preserving our muscle as much as possible because that's our overall quality of life. That is our overall health, all right? So in an effort to preserve your muscle, we have to make sure that strength training component is there. We have to, okay? We need to make sure we are lifting weights. We are loading our body. We need to make sure that we are eating enough protein within our limitations to at least do the best with what we've got. And so we kind of allow for an opportunity to you know slow down and learn how to build balanced meals. And eventually our palate changes. right Eventually our preferences change. Eventually our body gets used to this way of eating And it is now turning into a routine and a lifestyle. And it's just something you do now, right? So now when you're off the medication, we're we've already basically laid the foundation. We have ah you know set the foundation to be strong, no pun intended, to get in regular activity, to lift weights, to eat protein, to make balanced meals, to meal prep, all of these things, right? It's not just a free-for-all. It's a tool if we learn how to use it the right way. Now, in that same line of logic, making sure that we are giving our body enough of what it needs, you know, as it's not eating enough and depending on your dosage, that might be like really low caloric intake. We need to make sure that we're providing it with as many, um you know, vitamins and minerals and a fiber, right? Still things that are going to ah promote overall health. And and that's going to be making sure that we are eating nutrient dense foods, right? So kind of going back to that, like sweet potato and potato chip example, right? Both are potatoes, right? One is both our carb sources, obviously, one's more processed than the other, that sweet potato is going to give you a whole lot more nutrients and fiber than those potato chips will, right? So making choices like that, Um, to make sure that we are giving our body as much nourishment as possible. Again, within your limitation, you only have as many calories as your body is going to allow you to eat. Are we making sure that we are providing our our body with calories that are going to provide sustenance, right? That are going to provide fuel. That's going to at least give us as much as we can within our limitation. Uh, and so it just allows us to kind of build these skills into our regular routine, um
00:12:00
Speaker
And I even have, you know, worked with clients in the past where it's like, okay, listen, we need to get creative. Okay. So we you might not have a whole lot of appetite. We want to make sure
Responsible Use of GLP-1s and Health Strategies
00:12:10
Speaker
we're giving ourselves vitamins and minerals and things like that. Hey, we are supplementing with like a greens powder. um It's not necessarily something that, you know, a lot of people are a fan of um just in regular life, but we're When you are potentially eating like a third of the calories that your body needs, we need to make sure that we're squeaking in as much nutrition as possible. Are we taking a multivitamin? Are we maybe supplementing with you know certain things that um you know keep our body healthy and strong, making sure vitamin D, vitamin C, all of these things, right, we're taking into consideration. So the focus shifts from...
00:12:45
Speaker
I'm trying to stay in a deficit too. You don't need to worry about that. And could you imagine if you are somebody who is listening, not having to worry about the food noise, not having to worry about playing the mental gymnastics of staying in a caloric deficit, massively beneficial, but let's make sure we're doing it in the right way. I think that for a lot of people, um we look at things like GLP-1s as how I used to look at them, as kind of like a little a little cheat code. People are microdosing. people are you know You can get these um GLP ones in so many different ways now where you don't have to go to your doctor necessarily. They're definitely here to stay in some way, shape, or form. But we have to make sure that we are not doing these things and sacrificing our overall health at the end of the day. There will come a time where our bone health will come into play, okay? And the stronger your bones are, the
00:13:41
Speaker
the less likelihood you are going to break a bone that could lead to the reason you're no longer here as we age. And choices that we make every day as early as possible are going to basically dictate what our life looks like as we age, right? As we get older, are we going to break a hip and are we going to be able to recover from that? Well, your choice to take a GLP-1 could have a direct impact on your years later in life. So we definitely don't want to like look back and say hindsight is shoulda, coulda, woulda. If you want to take a GLP-1, okay, but let's make sure that we are not going to fall into the category that is losing muscle, that is going to gain the weight back, and that's going to pop up with health issues later on down the road because we wanted a temporary goal so much that that we were okay with sacrificing all of that.
Breaking Stigmas and Encouraging Support
00:14:33
Speaker
You know what i mean? Like we were okay with sacrificing all of the above. um
00:14:37
Speaker
And so I think that GLP-1s can be a fantastic tool, but I do think that, you know, there of course are going to be a group of people who are, you know, taking a GLP-1 when really we could just be a little bit more disciplined or we could, you know, try a different approach. It doesn't have to go from, um you know,
00:14:58
Speaker
I want to lose five pounds to I'm going to take a GLP one. But I think that those are the exceptions to the rule. And I don't want to make it about that. You know what i mean? I think that, you know, it's a very controversial topic. And I, you know, just really want to be clear for the right person with the right strategy.
00:15:14
Speaker
it It shouldn't be for the right approach. um you know Everybody has their reasons, which is why um you know it's not our place to kind of judge the reasoning as to why somebody might want to take a GLP-1. We have no idea what their background is. We have no idea how...
00:15:29
Speaker
you know, what they're working towards and how how easy or hard of a time they've had working towards that goal. You know what i mean? I think we need to remember to give people grace because they have the reasons why. And when we make blanket statements where society is basically looking at GLP-1s as such a negative thing, it creates a stigma, right? Similar to like mental health, right?
00:15:51
Speaker
I'm not going to get into that as much, but you know similar to mental health where it's like we have worked so long over the last few years to break that stigma. right We all have mental health problems. right I will be the first one to say i do, um but we all have struggles. right Life is not necessarily easy, but you know kind of how society forms these opinions creates different stigmas. right and I would hate for someone who could really benefit from using something like a GLP-1 with the right approach and strategy and whatnot. to not allow themselves to because there is a stigma against it, right? so obviously exceptions to the rules, of course, but I think you know overall it's definitely gonna be a net positive. Our culture really struggles with you know obesity and obesity-related illnesses and injuries and things like that. And i I think that this could be something that could, you know, kind of turn the tables around a little bit, you know, with guidance and a strategy and whatnot. So I hope that that kind of sheds some light, at least where I stand, and maybe just some some brain gains and some things to keep in mind if you are considering taking a GLP-1. And if you are on a GLP-1, you know, just some things to kind of keep in mind to make sure that you are, you know, doing what you can do to support your body.
00:17:05
Speaker
ah you know, as you're, you know, eating less and things like that. And just making sure that we're, you know, paying attention to things like muscle and making sure you're still getting your quality of nutrients and, you know, doing what you can so that you can be um part of the minority who thrives once you're off of them. And so I hope this was a helpful resource for you. If there's ever anything that I said that you want to learn more about or talk about, let's have a conversation. Otherwise, break the stigma. Don't let the stigma start um and have a wonderful rest of your day.
00:17:34
Speaker
Bye, guys.