If you reached your weight loss goal with semaglutide, congratulations! It’s a huge achievement that takes hard work and consistency, and it gives your body a variety of benefits for years to come.
After reaching this goal, your excitement might be combined with uncertainty about how to keep the weight off. It’s an understandable emotion. You might feel that you’ll struggle without the help of the medication. (You might also consider a maintenance dosing program. More on that below.)
To ease your concerns, we asked Shirley Jiang, MD, Chief Medical Officer at ReflexMD, for some of her best tips and recommendations to help you navigate life after your therapy. All of these ideas can have a big impact on your wellbeing and help create healthy habits for life.
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Achieve a leaner, stronger, and healthier you!
1. Eat for good health
A healthy diet is critical after treatment, because when you were taking semaglutide it decreased the feeling of hunger.
“Once people stop using the medication, they won’t feel satiated as they once did,” says Dr. Jiang. That means you’ll feel more hunger than you did when on the med. Because of that, some people might find it hard to eat healthy or eat correct portions.
“This is one of the big reasons why people regain weight after coming off semaglutide,” she adds.
To navigate this, Dr. Jiang says, it’s wise to focus on good nutritional basics. “In general, a well-balanced, high-protein, and high-fiber diet is going to be beneficial for most people,” she says.
It’s also smart to avoid processed junk foods that are loaded with sugars, fats, and other unhealthy ingredients. Keep an eye on what you drink as well. Sodas, fancy coffee drinks, and juices tend to be sugar and calorie bombs.
Portion control is important as well, Dr. Jiang points out. If it helps, consider keeping a food journal. Track what you eat and drink, be mindful of your food choices, keep a tally of calories, and hold yourself accountable.
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2. Make fitness fun again
Continuing good exercise habits is crucial, says Dr. Jiang. “A big aspect of weight loss and maintaining your current weight is to make sure you’re getting adequate physical activity, both cardio and resistance training,” she explains.
As for how much exercise, the American Diabetes Association says 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise each week is the magic number. That translates into about 30 minutes on five days out of the week. But break it up however works for you!
It’s important to choose activities you enjoy rather than things you dread. Otherwise, you’ll fall off the exercise wagon fairly quickly. Consider spicing up your activity with fitness dance classes, swimming, biking, power walking with friends, pickleball … anything that gets you moving and keeps your heart rate up.
3. Sleep no less than 7 hours a night
Healthy eating and exercise probably aren’t a surprise, but sleep is often overlooked for the impact it has on weight loss. Sleep deprivation affects the hormones that regulate your appetite and calorie intake, research shows. And it can even lead to excessive snacking, especially foods that are high in fat and carbohydrates.
On the flip side, when you improve your sleep it can support your weight loss goals. A long-term study on overweight and obese women found better sleep increased the likelihood of successful weight loss by 33%.
Aim for 7 to 9 hours of good sleep per night. Build healthy sleep habits, which include having a regular bedtime, turning down the temp in your bedroom, and limiting screen time for an hour before bed.
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4. Keep refilling your water bottle
Drinking enough fluids is a super simple and effective way to help you stay lean. “It can help with weight management because you’ll feel more full,” Dr. Jiang says.
The amount you should drink depends on many different factors, but generally, you should drink enough so your urine is a very light yellow. Water is often the best choice. Unhealthy beverages like energy drinks and sodas have empty calories, sugar, and artificial ingredients.
5. Find unconditional support
“It’s easy to feel like once you’ve hit your goal weight, you stop using your personal trainers, physicians, dietitians, and more,” says Dr. Jiang. You’ll have more success, she says, “if you continue to work with whoever was helping you when you were on semaglutide.”
They can be especially important as you navigate life after taking semaglutide. They can work with you to make sure you maintain the weight that you worked so hard to achieve.
6. Consider a maintenance program
ReflexMD offers maintenance programs—at a much lower dosage—to help you transition off semaglutide therapy. Chat with a ReflexMD Wellness Advisor now to see if you qualify.
“Weaning off slowly often decreases the amount of rebound weight gain,” says Dr. Jiang. “Psychologically, it can be helpful because once you reach your goal weight, you don’t have to be afraid of going cold turkey.”
Your doctor may suggest it as a good option to try, along with building all these great health habits, depending on your long-term goals, medical history, and more.
With a few key habits and help from the experts who have taken you this far, you can set yourself up for health and success that will continue to pay off through your life.
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