Doctor says GLP-1 users should 'absolutely not' make three common mistakes when trying to lose weight
Topics: Weight loss, Health
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
Topics: Weight loss, Health
Taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss can have amazing results, but according to a doctor, you need to make sure you’re not doing these three things and letting it impact your health.
GLP-1 medications were initially licensed in the treatment of diabetes and target hormones to manage someone's blood sugar levels.
However, it also targets the part of the brain that controls appetite, leading to users eating less food.
Not everyone is aware of how to safely take GLP-1 drugs, so they can benefit from the weight-loss properties without dealing with nasty consequences.
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Sometimes, users will go from 0-100 in a bid to lose as much as possible.
With the added stress of 11 per cent of people in the US currently using a GLP-1 for weight loss, it means that there’s many people to educate on how to use them.
This is why an expert has shared just how much he doesn’t recommend going down a route of misuse.
Dr Spencer Nadolsky, an obesity specialist and the co-host of the Docs Who Lifts Podcast, revealed there are three things you should never do when on a ‘GLP1 medicine’.
First up on the things you should ‘absolutely not do’, is to ‘not go up on your dose if you don’t have to’.
The expert stressed that if ‘you’re having great appetite’ and ‘feeling great’, there is no reason you should increase your dose just so you can increase your weight loss.
He said: “The rule of thumb is if you’re losing about a half a per cent to one per cent of your total body weight and you’re feeling really good, there’s literally no reason to go up.”
Dr Nadolsky explained that if ‘200 pounds and you’re losing one to two pounds per week’, then that’s great progress as long as you feel good on the dosage.
He went on to warn that ‘if your doctor is forcing you’ to up your dose, you need to ‘push back’ against the advice.
Number two on the list of what not to do, is to not go crazy with minimizing your diet.
He explained that simply eating less than what you normally do isn’t all that’s required, unless you already have a healthy diet.
Dr Nadolsky explained: “Sometimes people really want to stress test these medicines, so instead of eating five or six slices of pizza, they’ll just eat one or two.”
He added: “But in the beginning, the medicine can make you nauseous and high fat foods can make you feel even worse and then make you want to quit the medicine.”
He said if you need to ‘nudge yourself to a healthier dietary pattern’ to really reap the rewards of a GLP-1 medicine.
This includes things like fruits, vegetables, and whole foods.
Lastly, the doc recommends not increasing your ‘dose so much that you absolutely cannot eat’ and ‘eliminating your appetite’.
He explained that the ‘goal is to eat fewer calories, not no calories’ and to go at a steady pace.