How to support your wellness while on GLP-1s

Over the last few decades, the prevalence of obesity, prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes  (T2DM) has been on the rise. In fact, a CDC study estimated that between 22-30% of U.S. adults have metabolic syndrome [1].

Many try everything to lose weight and regain health, but nothing seems to work. It’s because much effort is put into dieting without knowing the true cause of weight and health struggles. 

The key to sustainable weight loss lies in improving metabolism, the process by which the mitochondria, the powerhouses of your cells, convert food into energy. When your body’s engine is healthy, it’s not only easier to manage health and weight issues, but you are also more likely to feel energized and motivated. 

Excess weight can disrupt this process and increase the risk of developing metabolic-related conditions.

This is why GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy, which aid weight loss, have gained significant popularity over the last few years. 

In the last quarter of 2022, 9 million GLP-1 prescriptions were written in the United States. Over the past two years, the share of U.S. healthcare patients using semaglutide has increased threefold to 1.7%. This number is expected to rise, with 93 million Americans estimated to benefit from the drug. 

But how exactly do these GLP-1 agonists work, and what else should you know about them?

How GLP-1 aids weight loss

GLP-1 agonists are a class of medications used primarily to treat type 2 diabetes [2] by mimicking the action of GLP-1, a hormone that regulates appetite and insulin production. 

In addition to treating diabetes, these medications have been clinically proven to help with weight loss [3], making them a popular choice for individuals looking to shed pounds and improve their health markers.

For many people, maintaining a healthy weight is a constant struggle, often leading to a cycle of restrictive diets and yo-yo dieting, where lost weight is quickly regained. In fact, studies suggest that more than half of people will regain the weight they lost from traditional diets [4]. 

Here are a few reasons why people regain weight:

Metabolic inflexibility: Your mitochondria use carbs and fats to produce energy. When you’re metabolically flexible, your mitochondria can easily and efficiently switch between fuel sources. You burn more fat at rest and between meals, so you don’t need a large calorie deficit to lose weight, and you burn carbs after meals, which prevents fat accumulation. When your mitochondria cannot easily switch between burning both fuel sources, metabolic inflexibility results, which is at the root of weight loss struggles and weight regain. 

Metabolic adaptation: Extreme calorie restriction can slow your metabolism, making it harder to continue losing weight and easier to regain it once normal eating resumes.

Hormonal changes: Weight loss can lead to changes in hormones that regulate hunger and satiety, such as fibroblast growth factor-21 (FGF21) and adiponectin, resulting in increased appetite and cravings [5].

Psychological stress: Constantly striving to lose weight can be mentally exhausting, leading to stress and emotional eating, which can further hinder weight loss efforts.

GLP-1s help with weight loss by:

• Enhancing insulin secretion, which temporarily improves the body’s ability to lower blood glucose after meals by shuttling more glucose to the mitochondria. When cells can effectively uptake glucose, it reduces fat accumulation. 

• Inhibiting glucagon, which reduces the release of glucose from the liver.
• Slowing gastric emptying to promote satiety and help with appetite control.

Common concerns regarding GLP-1 

While GLP-1 medications offer hope, they are not without their own set of challenges:

Weight regain

Some patients experience weight regain once they discontinue GLP-1 therapy, especially if they have yet to make lasting lifestyle changes [6].

Muscle mass loss

Weight loss achieved through medication alone may reduce lean muscle mass, which is crucial for mitochondrial abundance and efficiency.

Overlooking the root cause

GLP-1 treatment can be a great way to jumpstart weight loss, but it treats the symptoms of excess weight and high blood sugar without treating the root cause. One root cause of weight gain is an inefficient metabolism.
Increased dosage dependency  

Over time, patients may require higher doses of GLP-1 medications, which can exacerbate common gastrointestinal side effects and make long-term management more challenging.

No macronutrient guidance  

The right balance of proteins, carbs, and fats is needed for sustainable weight loss, optimal nutrition, healthy metabolism, and exercise support. Many people taking GLP-1 medications don’t receive the proper nutritional coaching to support sustained weight loss.

Low energy and activity levels

Reduced calorie consumption can sap energy, making it harder to maintain an exercise routine.

Lack of data-driven support

Without real-time tracking or clinician monitoring, adherence and progress often go unchecked.

How to improve your wellness while using GLP-1s 

Muscle mass

While GLP-1 medications are effective for weight loss, they may potentially lead to muscle mass loss as a side effect [7]. Muscle tissue is metabolically active and packed with mitochondria, meaning your mitochondria burn more calories at rest compared to fat tissue and make the switch to carb burn when you need a quick energy boost. Losing muscle decreases your mitochondrial abundance, which can slow your metabolism and make it harder to lose weight in the long term. 

Lumen provides a daily nutrition plan that follows ADA recommendations for macros, specifically optimized for GLP-1 patients. 

Because GLP-1 medications may be used alongside exercise to maximize weight loss results, measuring metabolism before high-intensity training like weightlifting is important to avoid muscle breakdown. With Lumen, you can track how your body uses carbs and fats and gain lifestyle insights and personalized recommendations to maintain a balanced diet and preserve muscle mass. 

For example, if you’re burning fats before heading to resistance training, that’s a sign to eat some fast-digesting carbs to provide the right fuel for your mitochondria to power your muscles. In the absence of carbs, you risk breaking down muscle mass for a quick energy boost.

Insulin sensitivity  

Insulin sensitivity allows your body to efficiently use glucose for energy, preventing excess sugar from being stored as fat. It’s a key factor in achieving and maintaining weight loss and reducing the risk of metabolic syndrome. 

Chronically low insulin sensitivity, also known as insulin resistance, means your insulin cannot efficiently shuttle glucose from your bloodstream to your cells. Instead of glucose going into the liver or muscle cells, your body stores the excess sugar as fat, which is how weight gain occurs.

You can improve your insulin sensitivity while on GLP-1s by:

• Managing your carb intake and timing it around exercise
• Adding vegetables to every meal
• Increasing physical activity, including walking 
• Prioritizing complex carbs, like brown rice and quinoa 
• Eating healthy fats, like fish, walnuts, and flaxseeds

Recent clinical results [8], published in Obesity Facts, showed that participants who followed Lumen’s lifestyle recommendations for 12 weeks achieved successful weight loss, body fat reduction, decreased HbA1c, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, and triglycerides.

Measuring your wake-up breath

Start your day with a wake-up breath measurement to understand your baseline metabolic state. Your Lumen device will give you a score from 1 to 5 to indicate whether you are burning fat after an overnight fast. 

Waking up in fat burn signals healthy mitochondria and balanced habits. A carb-burn reading may suggest areas to adjust, from nutrition and sleep hygiene to stress and activity, and can help pinpoint why you’re waking up tired and struggling to lose weight.

Finding your fasting sweet spot

Measure your metabolism to know when to break your fast. Begin by measuring your metabolism when you first wake up to establish a baseline and determine whether you’re burning carbs or fats for fuel. 

Continue measuring your metabolism every hour. The goal is to remain at level 1 or 2, which indicates fat burn. During a fast, your mitochondria should be burning fat for fuel. 

When you shift towards carb burn (level 4 or 5), this indicates you should break your fast, as your glycogen stores are getting critically low and leading your body to break down muscle for energy.

Improving your metabolic flexibility

Lumen helps you reset your metabolism with real-time metabolic measurements and insights, AI health coaching, biofeedback, and personalized lifestyle recommendations. See your progress in real time with instant biofeedback and track how your metabolic health improves over time through your Flex Score. 

The synergistic effect of GLP-1s and Lumen’s wellness support

Lifestyle modification through Lumen’s AI-powered health coaching helps users build sustainable habits, optimize nutrition, and enhance metabolic health, which boosts adherence and long-term weight loss while on GLP-1s. 

New findings from Lumen’s retrospective analysis of metabolic measurements taken by 7,200 Lumen users on GLP-1 medications support this. 

The study revealed consistent improvements in step count, workouts, and metabolic flexibility, resulting in enhanced weight and fat loss. 

More importantly, these benefits were not limited to the beginning of the journey but continued to build over time.

Daily steps of Lumen users at baseline averaged 4.8K. By three months, users were walking 16% more (an increase of 1000 steps), which was maintained by the 6-month mark.

In terms of exercise, users started with an average of 3.1 workouts per month. By three months, this doubled to 6.3 workouts per month, and by six months, it reached 6.7 monthly workouts. 

Metabolic flexibility, measured by the Flex Score, showed one of the most substantial improvements. The Flex Score is a weekly updated rating that combines nutrition, activity, exercise, and metabolic breath data to provide a measure of how well the body switches between burning carbs and fat for energy. At three months, users improved their Flex Score by 27% compared to baseline. By six months, their Flex Score improved by 30%. 

At three months, users recorded an average weight reduction of 3.8% and a decrease in fat percentage of 6.3% compared to their baseline. By six months, users had averaged a 5.6% weight reduction and an 8.0% decrease in fat percentage.

With rising GLP-1 prices and the risk of regaining weight after discontinuation, lifestyle habits and foundational health are more important than ever. Delivering this through AI health coaching and wellness tech is the next inflection point in healthcare. 

Lifestyle modifications, including strategies to improve nutrition, fitness, sleep, and stress management, support both adherence and metabolic health, which can enhance long-term weight loss during and after GLP-1 use. The outlook is one of a better healthspan and quality of life.

Get your habits up to speed with your GLP-1s

Sustaining weight loss and staying healthy while using GLP-1 medication requires a holistic approach that addresses the challenges experienced by GLP-1 patients and supports long-term success by focusing on improving the body’s engine and building healthy habits.

When you combine the benefits of GLP-1 agonists with real-time metabolic and lifestyle insights provided by Lumen, you can support overall wellness and weight management efforts and maintain muscle mass.

Sources

[1] Moore, J. X., Chaudhary, N., & Akinyemiju, T. (2017). Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence by Race/Ethnicity and Sex in the United States, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-2012. Preventing chronic disease, 14, E24. https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd14.160287

[2] Müller, T. D., Finan, B., Bloom, S. R., D’Alessio, D., Drucker, D. J., Flatt, P. R., Fritsche, A., Gribble, F., Grill, H. J., Habener, J. F., Holst, J. J., Langhans, W., Meier, J. J., Nauck, M. A., Perez-Tilve, D., Pocai, A., Reimann, F., Sandoval, D. A., Schwartz, T. W., Seeley, R. J., … Tschöp, M. H. (2019). Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). Molecular metabolism, 30, 72–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molmet.2019.09.010

[3] Singh, G., Krauthamer, M., & Bjalme-Evans, M. (2022). Wegovy (semaglutide): a new weight loss drug for chronic weight management. Journal of investigative medicine : the official publication of the American Federation for Clinical Research, 70(1), 5–13. https://doi.org/10.1136/jim-2021-001952

[4] Hall, K. D., & Kahan, S. (2018). Maintenance of Lost Weight and Long-Term Management of Obesity. The Medical clinics of North America, 102(1), 183–197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mcna.2017.08.012

[5] Kuckuck, S., van der Valk, E. S., Scheurink, A. J. W., Lengton, R., Mohseni, M., Visser, J. A., Iyer, A. M., van den Berg, S. A. A., & van Rossum, E. F. C. (2023). Levels of hormones regulating appetite and energy homeostasis in response to a 1.5-Year combined lifestyle intervention for obesity. Frontiers in physiology, 14, 1010858. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2023.1010858

[6] Jensterle, M., Rizzo, M., Haluzík, M., & Janež, A. (2022). Efficacy of GLP-1 RA Approved for Weight Management in Patients With or Without Diabetes: A Narrative Review. Advances in therapy, 39(6), 2452–2467. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12325-022-02153-x

[7] McCarthy, D., & Berg, A. (2021). Weight Loss Strategies and the Risk of Skeletal Muscle Mass Loss. Nutrients, 13(7), 2473. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072473

[8] Buch, A., Yeshurun, S., Cramer, T., Baumann, A., Sencelsky, Y., Zelber Sagi, S., Serebro, M., Greenman, Y., Mor, M., & Eldor, R. (2023). The Effects of Metabolism Tracker Device (Lumen) Usage on Metabolic Control in Adults with Prediabetes: Pilot Clinical Trial. Obesity facts, 16(1), 53–61. https://doi.org/10.1159/000527227

Disclaimer

The information provided here is strictly informational and educational. It does not serve as medical advice or a health assessment and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Consult with your healthcare professional before making any significant changes to your diet or exercise routine.