I want to talk today about nutrition and GLP-1 medications, these are the new weight loss and diabetes medications like Ozempic, Zepbound, Wegovy, etc.
If you’re taking (or thinking of taking) one of these, have you ever wondered if how you eat matters when you’re on this medication?
The medication is doing the heavy lifting for you, you’re losing weight, maybe seeing better blood sugar control. So, does what and how you eat even matter anymore?
Yes, yes it does!
Watch or read on to learn more:
Nutrition & GLP-1s
Now, maybe you’ve been through tons of diets and it feels like a relief to not be on a strict diet plan. The good news is that it doesn’t take a strict diet plan to make sure your food and eating habits are actively contributing to your health.
I want to talk more about how you can make your food and eating habits work for your health in just second, but first a caveat.
So, I refer to myself as a weight neutral dietitian. And some might hear that term and wonder, how in the world does a weight neutral dietitian help people who are on weight loss medications? Well, good question.
In identifying as a weight neutral dietitian two of my intentions are:
- to de-center weight as a primary marker for assessing health
- to recognize the complexities of weight and weight loss attempts
As I’m sure many of your have experienced, you can do all the “right” things to lose weight but the scale doesn’t always budge. Yet diet and lifestyle changes can make a significant impact in health and wellbeing even if the scale isn’t changing.
I’m here to help people improve their health and wellbeing and sometimes on that journey there is weight loss and sometimes there is not. My benchmarks for success are improved health and wellbeing.
Ok, with that caveat out of the way, let’s get back to talking about how you can making your food choices and eating habits work for your health when you’re on one of these medications.
Step one is to make sure you’re eating enough!
In order for weight loss to actually help your health, it has to be done in a way that still meets all of your nutritional needs. Because of a toxic dieting culture that makes not eating seem virtuous, it can seem great when all of a sudden you have no appetite and you think “perfect, mission accomplished”. But no, weight loss that comes from not eating does not help your health. Eat regularly throughout the day and eat a wide variety of foods.
Next, work on your relationship with food
A lot of people who have had trouble with their relationship with food find that it can be less complex when on these GLP-1 medications. Are you familiar with “food noise”? Constant food thoughts running through your head, or a sense of hunger that can’t be satisfied. These medications can help to quiet this food noise. Now, other approaches, like Intuitive Eating, can also help, but for those who are already on one of the GLP-1 medications, this may be one of the benefits. If so, you can take advantage of this quieting of “food noise” to work on your relationship with food. Not everyone can or will want to stay on GLP-1s long term, but you can take advantage of this time with the reduced “food noise” to:
- interact with food in a new way
- learn what hunger, fullness and satisfaction feel like in your body
These skills are valuable for a healthy long term relationship with food and your body.
Finally, don’t just endure through gut side effects
Remember, that actually feeling well is part of health. And, having your gut feeling good is part of being able to get enough nutrition in. If you have nausea, vomiting, constipation or any other gut symptoms from taking a GLP-1, please know that you do not have to just endure these. You can discuss changes to your dosage or medication type with your doctor. You can also find a registered dietitian (like me!) to help you zero in on some strategies you can try to get rid of these side effects. Usually finding the right balance of food (not too much, not too little) is a helpful starting point.
Build a bigger care team
If you’re wanting a dietitian as part of your care team while you’re on a GLP-1 medication I would love to be your guide for that journey. And if you aren’t on one, and are curious about using a different approach, like Intuitive Eating, to reduce your “food noise” I’d love to hear from you. Please reach out to me here.
