GLP-1 Drugs

Ozempic is an injectable GLP-1 drug. Many people today are using injectable drugs like Semaglutide, Ozempic, or Monjouro for weight loss. These drugs do “work” through the process of calorie restriction. But there are serious side effects associated with these drugs, as opposed to GLP-1 alternatives offered by clinics like ours.

• They can cause a sensation of fullness/loss of appetite by nausea, vomiting, or slowing down the “motility” (movement) of the digestive tract.
• Slowing down the digestive tract may allow bad bacteria to set up shop in your small intestine and overgrow.
• They cause many digestive issues like bloating, iron deficiency, and restless leg.
• For every 25 pounds of weight loss, 15 of those pounds will be muscle.
• When the drug is stopped and weight returns, none of that weight gain will be muscle.

You will be more metabolically unhealthy than before the drug because you will have lost the muscle mass you had. The weight that returns will be fat. Most of us have lived long enough to know that there is no easy way to lose weight without consequences. At Faith, Hope, and Wellness, we do offer a GLP-1 probiotic to help you get some of the benefits of these medications without the side effects. It can take up to 3 months to work, but this is a viable, effective, and safer option for those of you who want a more natural weight loss solution.

Things to Consider

• Be honest and aware of your habits and eating patterns, as well as your thought patterns (negative thoughts depress the mind, soul, and immune system). When you are stressed or bored, do you eat? Fasting for a period of time can help you pay attention to feelings and thoughts that come up or think about why you are eating again when you just ate. Sometimes we are not eating to be satiated, or we are eating a processed food, and our body says, “Hey, I still need nutrition,” and does not recognize that meal. I find that if I have a smoothie, I still feel hungry. I benefit from chewing my food.

• Don’t let numbers run your life. In our practice, we use continuous glucose monitors for information so you can see how stress, lack of sleep, illness, and food choices affect your body. This monitoring provides information so we can better support our bodies. This goes for the scale too. Instead of looking at that number, ask yourself: How do your clothes fit? Can you pick up something heavy you could not pick up before? Take the gains that may come from other areas.

• Men have a regular supply of testosterone but can feel off and not themselves when it gets too low, which can occur from toxins, poor sleep, poor food choices, lack of movement, and aging.

• Good hormone balance can help us feel better mentally, sleep better, and have a better sense of well-being, which means we can make the changes for ourselves that will help us meet our goals. Taking bioidentical hormones is not a guarantee of weight loss but can support our plan to that end and help us with strengthening our bodies as we age.

• Stress – What makes you unhappy, or what do you dread? This does not mean avoiding things you have to do. You cannot quit your job, but is it the right job for you? What can you do that you enjoy?

• Gratitude – What do you look forward to? How can you be content with what you have now? Sometimes I prescribe the “gratitude journal.” It is easy for our brains to go to negative thought patterns, especially if we have been doing it for a long time. Our brain is wired to problem solve. So when it learns that we think negative thoughts, catastrophize situations, and/or beat ourselves up when we make a mistake, it goes right to that solution for that problem. This is a well-traveled road in the brain, and gratitude and positive thoughts will help. It will take energy to take negative thoughts, evaluate them for the truth, and change them into a positive thought.

• Start by reframing the thoughts you currently have. For example: “I have to exercise” → “I am grateful that my body can do these movements.”