Lifestyle and Behavior Modifications to Maximize Results with GLP-1 Use
During administration of a GLP-1, it is important that you adopt healthy lifestyle and behavior modifications to help support your body and maintain weight loss. This involves things like consuming a variety of nutritious foods, staying active, and practicing overall healthy habits that help to set you up for success. Once you stop taking the GLP-1, their effects no longer work, meaning it is very common to see individuals fall back into old habits and routines and gain back some of the weight that was lost. Therefore, in order to maintain weight loss, it is important to start implementing a healthy routine involving exercise and nutritious foods.
In terms of nutrition, it is best to eat a diverse diet that prioritizes whole foods and limits processed foods. Processed foods can be filled with sodium, sugar, and other harmful additives while being low in important nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and fiber. By consuming whole foods like fruits and vegetables and cooking meals at home, you can be aware of what ingredients you are adding and can adjust it to support your personal goals. For foods consumed that are processed, it is important to read food labels to check for what exactly is in the food; some quick things to look for is how much sodium, calories, protein, and fiber the food has. High protein and fiber content means the food will help keep you satiated and full, instead of a snack such as potato chips which taste great but often do not have much nutritional value.
Considering that protein increases satiety and helps keep you fuller for longer, it actually has similar effects to the GLP-1 itself, which also results in a decreased appetite! You should aim to consume a minimum of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight; while on the GLP-1, however, you can even increase that to 1.0 to 1.2 grams per kilogram per day. Here at Ready Steps, we offer several high-protein meal and snack options that help facilitate healthy eating and can also be brought on-the-go to support your busy schedule. Here is a link to explore some of our meals and snacks.
Volume eating is another great way to help keep you full through the consumption of nutritious foods. This is when you consume low-calorie foods that have a high fiber or high water content (like vegetables). These foods allow you to eat more and fill up your stomach without getting the added calories. While everything is okay in moderation, it is important to aim to consume the mainly nutritious foods to help maintain weight loss.
Physical activity is also an important aspect to maintain weight loss. The CDC recommends that adults receive a minimum of 150 moderate-intensity physical activity a week, and at least 2 days of strength training. This can be split up across the span of the week, for example exercising for 30 minutes 5 days a week. However, in general, you can just aim to increase overall movement and try to get your body moving more. This can mean going on daily walks, parking in a parking spot far from the entrance, or even cooking. Anything that gets you on your feet and moving is acceptable!
Breaking old habits and forming new ones to support your new lifestyle will help maintain weight loss and maximize results of administration of a GLP-1. Ready Steps RD Kristina Spellman says, “I want you to be thinking “what would my future self be doing to be the healthiest version of me today?”. If you start to build up healthy habits now to manage your stress or manage your sleep hygiene, you would be able to look back at that list of little habits that you have changed over time and pull them together into an entirely new script for long-term change”. If you would like more information on habit formation, check out this link to our blog post about the Habit Loop! By implementing some of these lifestyle and behavior modifications, success and results can be long-term!