Struggling with a weight loss plateau while on Ozempic? It's a common experience, but it doesn't have to halt your progress. This article explores the reasons behind Ozempic weight loss stalls and provides practical tips to get your weight loss back on track.
Introduction
Many individuals start Ozempic with great expectations, often experiencing initial success. However, it's not uncommon for the scale to stop moving after a period of consistent weight loss, even when adhering to the prescribed plan. The good news is that hitting a weight loss plateau on Ozempic is incredibly common. Your body is simply adapting. Plateaus are a normal (and expected) part of the weight loss process, even with medications like Ozempic. While it can feel frustrating, it’s actually natural for your body to adapt. This article delves into the causes of these plateaus and offers actionable strategies to overcome them.
How Ozempic Aids Weight Loss
Ozempic is an FDA-approved medication primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes. Its active ingredient, semaglutide, mimics GLP-1, a natural hormone that regulates insulin levels. The groundbreaking drug also results in weight loss, so it is being used off-label as an antiobesity or weight loss solution. (Wegovy, another brand, is FDA-approved for weight loss).
Here's how Ozempic facilitates weight loss:
- Reduces appetite: Ozempic slows digestion, promoting a feeling of fullness and aiding in smaller portion consumption.
- Triggers insulin release: By stimulating the pancreas to release insulin, Ozempic helps prevent blood sugar spikes, particularly beneficial for individuals with type 2 diabetes.
- Lowers fat storage: Feeling full faster leads to reduced food intake, potentially minimizing the conversion of excess food into stored fat. Controlling blood sugar levels further prevents glucose from being stored as fat.
- Boosts metabolism: Ozempic can rev up your metabolism, which helps your body burn calories more efficiently.
Why Weight Loss Plateaus Occur on Ozempic
Ozempic can help you lose 15% or more of your body weight, studies show. Online users report even greater weight loss numbers. However, at some point, many hit a weight loss plateau.
Read also: Weight Loss Guide Andalusia, AL
Several factors contribute to weight loss plateaus while on Ozempic:
1. Body's Adaptation and Homeostasis
Your body is constantly working to maintain balance-what scientists call homeostasis. One of the key mechanisms behind this is a decrease in resting metabolic rate (RMR). As you lose fat and muscle mass, your body needs fewer calories to function. Hormonal shifts also play a role. Levels of leptin, a hormone that helps regulate hunger and metabolism, tend to drop with weight loss. Meanwhile, ghrelin, the hormone that stimulates appetite, can increase. This biological pushback is one reason plateaus are so common.
To understand why plateaus happen on Ozempic, it helps to look at how the body regulates weight.
2. The Body Fights Against ‘Starvation Mode’
Our body’s main goal is survival, which means keeping our vital organs like the heart and lungs functioning. To do so, it needs energy from the food we eat.
When we lose weight rapidly, our body starts to panic that we’re about to enter starvation mode. As a result, it begins to actively fight against weight loss and burns calories slowly. It may be why you find it hard to keep the weight off long term with Ozempic, Wegovy, or Mounjaro.
Read also: Beef jerky: A high-protein option for shedding pounds?
3. Individual Variability and Genetics
A lot of things can affect your response to any GLP-1 medication, including:
- Your genes
- Your metabolic rate (how fast your body naturally turns food into fuel)
- Your current health
“Some people feel the effects immediately and start seeing weight loss, whereas others need to be at higher doses to see results,” says Mir Ali, MD, medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.
4. Underlying Health Conditions
Registered Dietitian Rita Faycurry RD explains, “Ozempic and other GLP-1 agonist medications address specific issues in the body affecting weight loss, particularly related to insulin resistance. However, other preexisting conditions may prevent you from losing weight on Ozempic.”
These reasons include:
- A gut imbalance that is causing digestive issues.
- Food sensitivities that lead to bloating.
- Low thyroid levels, known as hypothyroidism, can slow your metabolism down, leading to weight gain.
- Mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, and certain eating disorders.
Adds Faycurry RD, “For example, some people on Ozempic continue to binge eat even though the drug is supposed to control hunger signals in the brain. This news may be frustrating to hear if you struggle with uncontrollable cravings but don’t lose hope. It just means that you may also need to deal with other factors behind your cravings, in addition to being on Ozempic.”
Read also: Inspiring Health Transformation
5. Lifestyle Factors and Dosage
- Dosage Adjustment: You may have been using a recommended dose when you started, but weight loss needs recalibration and re-evaluation at regular intervals. A healthcare professional can help adjust your medication based on how your body reacts to the medication.
- Evaluate your nutrition: Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can reduce cravings for sugary and fatty foods, giving you the mental freedom to make better choices. However, without addressing potential issues in diet and lifestyle like exercise, smoking, alcohol intake, and others, you may be disappointed with your weight loss on Ozempic.
- The body may need another medication: Our bodies respond differently to medication; what works for someone else may not be right for you. If you're certain about dosage, have improved your diet and lifestyle, and addressed underlying health conditions, talk to your healthcare provider if an alternative medication is right for you.
6. Ozempic is new; there are unknowns
Ozempic, Wegovy, and other such medications are gamechangers in the management of type 2 diabetes and weight loss. However, they are new drugs, and we may not fully understand exactly how they work.
Faycurry RD elaborates, “Some of my clients on Ozempic mention gastrointestinal issues, a lack of energy, the inability to enjoy their food, and being unable to listen to their bodies’ natural hunger and fullness cues. As a community, we still have a lot to learn about these meds.”
Similarly, the Ozempic weight loss plateau may be part of the design or not; it may be too soon to tell.
Practical Tips to Overcome an Ozempic Weight Loss Plateau
When progress plateaus on Ozempic, quality matters just as much as quantity. Here are some strategies to reignite weight loss:
1. Re-evaluate Calorie Needs and Intake
One of the most common causes of an Ozempic weight loss plateau is that your calorie needs have changed. It’s also possible to go too far in the other direction. Some people unintentionally undereat, thinking it will speed things up. Instead of guessing, try tracking your calorie intake for a few days. Make sure you’re maintaining a calorie deficit, but also be sure you’re eating enough to support your energy, muscle mass, and metabolism.
When people switch up their eating and exercise habits to lose weight, overcoming a plateau requires decreasing calories or increasing physical activity.
2. Prioritize Protein Intake
Protein intake is key. It helps preserve muscle mass, keeps you feeling full, and supports a healthy metabolism.
Eating more protein: Protein helps build more muscle mass, which helps you burn more calories.
3. Focus on Balanced Nutrition
Balance your plate with fiber-rich vegetables, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates like quinoa or sweet potatoes.
4. Adjust Your Exercise Routine
If your workouts haven’t changed in a while, or if exercise hasn’t been part of your routine, now is the time to switch things up. Start by adding resistance band training or strength training if you haven’t already. Building muscle helps your body burn more calories, even at rest. If you’re already active, try increasing the intensity of your workouts, changing your workout style, or simply moving more throughout the day. Even small changes, like taking the stairs or walking after meals, can make a noticeable difference over time.
- Changing your exercise routine. Devoting more time each week to exercise, switching up your workouts, and adding weight lifting to build muscle can all help you overcome a plateau.
5. Review Ozempic Dosage with Your Doctor
Sometimes, a weight loss plateau on Ozempic is a signal that it’s time to review your dosage. But, don’t ever try to adjust your dosage on your own. Always consult with your doctor first.
6. Optimize Lifestyle Habits
When you hit a weight loss plateau, it’s easy to zero in on food and exercise, but your lifestyle habits matter just as much. Stress raises cortisol levels, which can increase fat storage and slow your metabolism. Sleep deprivation affects your hunger hormones and makes it harder to make healthy choices. So, take a moment to evaluate your daily routine. Are you getting enough sleep? Grabbing takeout on busy days? Feeling constantly stressed or burned out?
- Setting a regular sleep schedule. Getting more sleep helps you consume fewer calories.
7. Consider Additional Support
In some cases, combining Ozempic with other tools, such as personalized exercise and nutrition guidance or a non-invasive weight loss procedure, is the best way to restart progress. Some patients benefit from combining Ozempic with other treatments to get their weight loss back on track.
8. Stay Hydrated
Drinking more water. Water can help suppress your appetite and boost your ability to exercise.
9. Mindful Adjustments and Patience
Making small adjustments, rather than massive changes, may be easier to handle and more sustainable over time, Haynes-Ferere says.
“I had to stop stepping on the scale every day, and instead rely on how my clothes fit. I also had to remind myself frequently that strength training was adding muscle tone, and the scale might not be my best friend,” Haynes-Ferere says. “I have experienced several plateaus in my weight loss journey, and I chose to focus on making small adjustments and reminding myself that this is not a race.”
10. Seek Professional Guidance
Your healthcare provider might be able to help you assess whether there’s still room for changes to your eating or exercise habits, for example. You may also need to reassess your weight loss goals, and determine whether you need to revise your target weight to make it more realistic - especially if you’re already pretty close to your goal and have already achieved numerous health benefits from weight loss, according to the Mayo Clinic.
But ultimately, the best way to overcome an Ozempic plateau starts with seeing your doctor, Velazquez says. Depending on your exact circumstances, they might adjust your medication dose or recommend that you make lifestyle changes like focusing on getting more sleep, managing your stress better, or increasing the number or intensity of your workouts.
It can be complicated to figure out why you’re not losing weight on Ozempic. You don’t have to do it alone. Fay can help you find a Registered Dietitian near you, covered by insurance.
What NOT to Do
The one thing you absolutely don’t want to do is get so discouraged that you stop trying to lose weight at all, and revert to your old eating and exercise habits.
One thing people shouldn’t do is stop taking Ozempic, Haynes-Ferere says.
“There are many different views about the long-term use of these medications, but we do not ask the patient with hypertension or diabetes to discontinue their medications when they become controlled,” she explains. “The very mechanisms of the medication that are so effective in weight loss are key for continued management of obesity.”
Long-Term Considerations
GLP-1 medications require a lifelong commitment if one hopes to avoid regaining lost weight, which can be expected when one stops taking them.
The cautionary note in the tirzepatide study is worthy of consideration. Semaglutide drugs have been available since 2017, and reported adverse effects are mostly limited to temporary gastrointestinal discomfort as the body accommodates to the drug.
However, a young or middle-aged person committing to semaglutide or the other diet agonists may be taking them for several, or even many, decades. By these standards, such drugs are new, and their very long-term effects on the body are not yet known.
Anyone embarking on a lifetime of semaglutide or similar medications should understand that their level of long-term risk is unknown.
Weight Regain on Ozempic
Weight gain while taking Ozempic or another GLP-1 “is not very common,” says Vukasinov. “But it may occur if the medication is suddenly stopped, or your diet and lifestyle didn’t change to meet your weight loss goals.” For instance, these medications can cause side effects like nausea, constipation, cramping, and acid reflux. If you’re uncomfortable, you may stop taking your weekly shot like you’re supposed to. That can keep you from losing weight. It can also be a sign that your doctor needs to change your medication to one that you can better tolerate.
You could also regain weight if you stop taking a GLP-1 too soon. For the best results, keep taking it as prescribed until your doctor tells you to stop.