Ozempic has been a hot topic over the past 12-18 months, garnering much attention as the new 'magic pill' (or injection) for weight loss. But if you’ve been living on Mars and haven't heard of it, Ozempic belongs to a class of drugs known as GLP-1 agonists, which have been used to treat diabetes for nearly 20 years. Somewhere along the line, doctors noticed that it not only helped diabetics manage better blood sugar levels but also led to significant weight loss.
This discovery led to Ozempic being prescribed off-label to help overweight individuals achieve weight loss and improve overall health outcomes. However, within the fitness industry, I've heard a lot of chatter from trainers about the downsides of using medication for weight loss.
This is in large part I believe due to them feeling threatened about what these medications might to to their livelihood.
“People just need to use more willpower.”
“Training and good nutrition solve all of this; using drugs is ridiculous.”
“Just stop eating junk and start training; then you won’t need the prescription.”
I see it differently. With 20 years in the fitness industry, I've witnessed many hard-working clients who never quite get where they want to go despite training hard and eating right. They remain 5-10kg from their goal weight. Then there are those who are more overweight and feel success is out of reach. The mountain is too high to climb, gyms are intimidating, and food is solace.
Full disclosure: I own a business adjacent to my traditional gym business called SANAMethod, combining medical expertise with exercise and nutritional interventions to help clients lose weight, improve health, and live better lives.
What I've seen here is a much higher level of success, even though our clients don’t train as often or as hard, aren't overly motivated to train, have a lifelong battle with higher body mass, and often lack self-belief.
The difference?
Ozempic prescription and use (or its better-looking cousin, Mounjaro).
Hunger, largely genetic, drives caloric intake. Naturally skinny people tend to have lower appetites. In contrast, those who tend to be bigger have much bigger appetites due to genetics, trauma, and emotional relationships with food. If you have a bigger appetite, chances are you won’t out-train it, out-willpower it, or outlast it with sheer discipline. The data is solid on this, with 98% of people who lose significant weight putting it back on again.
But now the game has changed. Pharmacology allows us to decrease the appetite. These medications increase gastric transit time, making you feel fuller longer, stabilise blood sugars, reducing cravings and 'food chatter' in the brain, increase lipolysis (fat burning), and lead to a drastic reduction in overall calorie consumption.
The end result? Less hunger, less snacking, smaller meals, less thinking about food, less effort, and easy weight/fat loss.
But what about risks and side effects? The media loves a headline, leading to lots of 'doom and gloom' around these medications. However, the risk associated with using these medications is far smaller than the risk of being overweight. Excess body weight is associated with a massive risk increase in cancer, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disease.
It is my belief that we as Personal Trainers need to come to a point of thinking truly about whats in the best interests of the client, and less fearful about our clients achieving success larrgely from this new intervention option.
Afterall, a structured strength training routine is essential for these medications to work well for the long term. Pumping the muscles regularly will preserve lean mass and decrease how much of the weight loss is coming from muscle loss, a bad but common scenario that can easily contribute to rebound weight gain.
If you care about your health and want to do something about it, this doesn't have to be a binary question of how to approach it. GLP-1 medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro can make losing weight significantly easier and act as an adjunct to making healthier food choices much easier.
The cost of these drugs is often offset by the decreased amount of money you'll spend on food. Combine it with quality exercise and sound nutritional choices, and your success is assured.
This post is obviously not medical advice, but the observations of a fitness expert on the role that medication can possibly play in improving your health. Talk to your Doctor to find out if this is approach could be suitable for you.
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