For all of the hype surrounding weight reduction injections, together with Ozempic and Mounjaro, the elephant within the slimming room stays: what occurs while you cease taking the injections?
Wellness coach Rachael Sacerdoti shares her knowledgeable recommendation for all times after Ozempic, Mounjaro and extra…
“There is not any denying weight reduction injections comparable to Ozempic have revolutionised the slimming world,” Rachael begins, earlier than cautioning: “However as anybody with a watch on this panorama is aware of, identical to fad diets, the true problem is not dropping the load – it is retaining it off when the prescriptions finish.
“I am seeing an increasing number of ladies panicking about what occurs subsequent,” says Rachael, whose well being programme So Easy guides ladies by means of wholesome weight reduction and life-style modifications. “They’ve had incredible outcomes however have not constructed the foundations to keep up them.”
Coming off weight reduction medicine is not so simple as flicking a change, Rachael warns. “Your physique has been working underneath fully totally different guidelines. When these starvation indicators come roaring again – and belief me, they may – you want critical methods in place.
“The medicine buys you time, however it’s what you do with that point that determines whether or not you may nonetheless be sporting the identical denims six months later.”
Coming off Ozempic in midlife
“For ladies navigating midlife, the stakes of the post-Ozempic transition are even greater,” Rachael cautions. “Perimenopausal and menopausal ladies face an ideal storm of metabolic challenges that the drugs briefly masks. When hormonal fluctuations meet declining muscle mass and the return of a suppressed urge for food, it is a recipe for speedy weight regain.
Preserving weight off post-Ozempic
Rachael’s non-negotiable recommendation for sustaining your new weight, it doesn’t matter what weight reduction technique you comply with, is power coaching no less than 3 times weekly, “No exceptions,” she insists.
1. Energy coaching
It isn’t merely about the way you look, Rachael warns. “Weight reduction injections can torch muscle alongside fats, which destroys your metabolic charge. Every pound of muscle misplaced makes sustaining outcomes exponentially tougher when you cease.”
We have to keep our muscle if we wish to guarantee our weight reduction is sustainable, as muscle is essential for fats loss. “Each little bit of muscle you acquire is basically a bit of fat-burning furnace that works across the clock. It is your insurance coverage coverage in opposition to regain.”
2. Protein
Rachael’s second commandment is making certain you eat sufficient protein, recommending a minimal of 100g day by day. This simple guideline turns into essential through the transition part between ending your weight reduction injections and returning to pre-injection life.
“When pharmaceutical urge for food management disappears, protein turns into your greatest defence. It retains you fuller longer, preserves muscle and burns extra energy throughout digestion than anything.”
3. Midlife recommendation
“Ladies coming off weight reduction injections in midlife have to be notably strategic about their strategy,” Rachael provides. “The hormonal shifts of midlife can cut back muscle protein synthesis by as much as 20%, that means you are combating an uphill battle except you are intentionally counteracting it.
“The ladies of their 40s and 50s who keep their outcomes are non secular about progressive power coaching and hitting greater protein targets – usually 120-130g day by day reasonably than the usual 100g. I’ve additionally discovered that this group advantages most from monitoring metabolic age markers reasonably than scale weight alone – when these ladies see their organic age bettering regardless of perimenopause, it creates a motivation that outlasts any medicine.”
The blind spots
Having guided lots of of girls by means of weight reduction journeys, Rachael highlights 5 essential elements most individuals fully miss in terms of Ozempic and different weight reduction injections.
1. Rewired style buds
“No person talks about how these drugs briefly rewire your style buds,” she says. “I’ve had shoppers who abruptly could not abdomen their favorite takeaway whereas on Ozempic. That is your golden alternative to retrain your palate towards entire meals.”
Rachael recommends retaining a ‘style journal’ throughout medicine use and the tapering interval. “If you doc how your meals preferences shift, you’ll be able to establish hazard zones earlier than previous cravings blindside you.”
2. The psychological parts
There’s additionally a psychological aspect few talk about regarding weight reduction medicine. “These drugs give many ladies their first actual sense of management round meals. When that vanishes, there’s usually an emotional adjustment interval that catches folks fully off-guard. We assist shoppers develop particular mindfulness practices and set off administration methods earlier than they ever taper off.”
3. Sleep patterns
Optimise and ideal your sleep patterns earlier than stopping medicine to keep up outcomes, Rachael recommends. “Poor sleep destroys your starvation hormones, however the medicine masks this impact. When you cease, these disruptions hit you want a freight prepare except you’ve got already mounted them.”
4. Maintain going out
Do not waste the urge for food suppression by hiding at dwelling. As a substitute, use this time to grasp restaurant ordering, ceremonial dinner navigation and drinks administration with out counting on the medicine’s assist. These social abilities grow to be priceless while you’re not getting pharmaceutical help.
5. Do not use medicine as a crutch
“These drugs aren’t the enemy or the saviour – they’re merely a device. The query is not whether or not they work; it is whether or not you are utilizing them as a crutch or a catalyst.”
For these critical about sustaining their outcomes, Rachael’s message is evident: “Begin power coaching and upping your protein consumption now, not while you’re already truly fizzling out. The habits that may prevent six months from now are those you are constructing at the moment.”
Learn how to work with Rachael Sacerdoti