Post GLP-1: Life After Weight Loss Medication

The Post-GLP-1 Plan: What Happens When You Stop the Medication? 

What happens when the GLP-1 medication stops but your weight loss journey continues? Consider these medications as training wheels on a bicycle—temporary assistance while you develop balance, confidence, and the skills needed for the long ride ahead.

Licensed nutritionist Catina Wilson explains that successful post-medication weight maintenance hinges on the habits formed during treatment. Those who approach their GLP-1 journey as an educational opportunity—embracing proper nutrition, hydration, movement, and strength training—position themselves to sustain results long after the prescription ends. While some patients with genetic predispositions may benefit from continuing maintenance doses, most can successfully transition off medication with the right foundation.

The conversation delves into the critical psychological aspects of weight management, examining how stress, sleep quality, and workplace environments impact hormones and hunger signals. One patient faced the tough choice between a sleep-disrupting job schedule and her health goals, highlighting how comprehensive weight management often requires reassessing multiple aspects of life. Perhaps most fascinating is how the body itself transforms—patients report that after adapting to cleaner eating, previously enjoyable indulgent foods suddenly make them physically uncomfortable, creating natural reinforcement for healthier choices.

Ready to build sustainable weight loss habits with or without medication? Visit ATLWellnessClinic.com or call 770-726-8978 for a free 10-minute weight loss consultation. Remember, developing lasting habits now creates the foundation for maintaining your results forever.

To learn more about Atlanta Wellness Clinic visit:
https://www.ATLWellnessClinic.com
Atlanta Wellness Clinic
1827 Powers Ferry Rd. SE, Bldg 1 STE 250
Atlanta, Georgia 30339
770-726-8978

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to the Atlanta Wellness Clinic podcast
hosted by licensed nutritionistand clinic owner, Katina Wilson.
We're here to kickstart yourweight loss journey because,
let's be honest, the only thingwe want gaining weight is our
wallets.
From medical weight loss andnutrition coaching to body
contouring, we help MetroAtlanta women get real results.

(00:24):
Let's dive in.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
OP1s are effective, but they're not forever.
In this episode, we explorewhat happens when the
prescription ends and how tocreate a smart, sustainable plan
for maintaining results longafter the medication is gone.
Welcome back everyone.
I am Millie M, co-host andproducer, back in the studio
with licensed nutritionist andclinic owner, Katina Wilson.
Katina, how's it going?
It's going great.

(00:50):
How are you Doing well?
Emotional eating is somethingso many people struggle with,
including myself.
I know our listeners will gaina lot from this conversation.
Let's talk about the post-GLP-1plan.
What happens when you stop themedication?

Speaker 3 (01:04):
Hopefully, as you were going through your GLP-1
journey, you thought of it asriding a bike with training
wheels.
Right, you're learning how toride that bike and eventually,
as you're learning to ride thatbike, you become more competent
and you take the training wheelsoff and you no longer need them
.
So hopefully, like as you're onthis journey, one of the things

(01:28):
that we work with our patientson is improved nutrition,
hydration, movement, especiallythe strength training.
Hopefully you know you'relearning all of these good
techniques and tactics and toolsso that when you come off the
medication, you will be able tosustain that weight loss over

(01:51):
time.
Now what I will say is theremay be some people who never get
off the medication.
We do have patients who willprobably be on it forever, and a
lot of it's because of geneticsor maybe even hormonal right.
So for those individuals, theytend to stay on more of a
maintenance dose.
They don't want to necessarilylose, but they don't want to
necessarily gain the weight backbecause of something that's

(02:14):
genetic, something that they'repredisposed to, that's going to
cause them to gain the weight.
So I do want to say that Mostpeople will come off, but there
are some, through no fault oftheir own that will probably
need to stay on the medicationreally for the for the rest of
their life.
But for those who don't want toand that's in our clinic that's

(02:34):
most of our patients theyreally want this finite you know
amount of time where they'reactually on the medication.
This is your opportunity toreally embrace nutrition,
getting the protein, eating moreclean, getting the fiber,
certainly getting dehydration.
If you're doing all of thosethings in partnership with the

(02:55):
medication, the weight's goingto come off.
If you continue to kind ofreinforce those habits once
you're off the medication youshould be able to maintain.
It's really just that simple.
So for us, when we have newpatients come in, that's one of
the first things that we talkabout.
We really try to understand,like, what their goals are.
Do they want to be on thismedications forever or do they

(03:17):
want to get off?
Most want to get off, and so wereinforce, starting from the
very first appointment andthroughout their journey, the
importance of clean eating tothe best of their ability.
You know, real foods, hydration, hydration, fiber and movement.

Speaker 2 (03:33):
So who are those patients that find themselves
doing a more long-term plan?
Do you know of or have you seenany side effects from being on
the medications long-term?

Speaker 3 (03:49):
Not really.
You know, these medicationshave been around for a very long
while.
There are people who arediabetic, and that's really you
know, kind of the basis of thesemedications to begin with.
That's primarily what they wereused for in the beginning.
And there have been people, youknow, as a result of being
diabetic, they've been on thesemedications for 10 plus years,
if not longer.
So these medications have beenaround for a while and so for
most again, the side effectsinitially are very minimal.

(04:10):
Longer term, we're notnecessarily seeing any major
side effects other than theweight loss and everything that
comes with losing weight, thatsort of thing.
So no, we're not seeing a lotof long-term issues, if you will
.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Understood.
And I love that bike analogybecause they say once you learn
how to ride a bike, you neverforget.
So it's one of those thingsthat I feel like once those
healthy habits are in place,even if you cheat a little bit
or fall off the wagon, youalways know you can get back on.

Speaker 3 (04:39):
And everybody understands that analogy.
I think just about all of us aschildren, at some point, you
know, we learn to ride a bike,and we didn't just jump on the
bike and we're immediately ableto go.
We started with training wheels, and so it's such a great
analogy because, regardless oflike who you are and where you
are in life, we all probablywent through that journey, and
so that's one of the reasons whywe do use that analogy in

(05:00):
clinic Love that.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
So is there a way that you all cause I know you're
not therapists, but againthere's so much psychologically
that's connected to weight losshow do you help your patients
establish those healthy copingmechanisms when they want to
emotionally eat?

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, no, that's such a great question Because we do
even sometimes with people whoare even on the medication.
Sometimes they'll call us andthey're like I'm still gaining
weight or I'm still having thecravings and they could be on a
fairly high dose of themedication.
So that's when we start to kindof dig in.
So tell me what's going on withlife, what are your sleep habits
?
Send me pictures of your food.
We want to see what your food,because you know our doctor he's
funny some people thinksomething's healthy and they're

(05:41):
really not right.
And so we're really trying tonot only educate but we're also
trying to coach, and so you knowwe will dig in in people's
business.
But we're really trying tounderstand, like well, what's
going on with them day to day,because stress is a huge factor
in you know, your ability tolose weight and so if you're

(06:03):
completely stressed, you knowyour hormones are out of whack,
especially that cortisol, youknow.
And sometimes you can just lookat a person and you see and
you're like, yep, they've got alevel of stress right.
People who work kind of oddhours and aren't getting much
sleep, it's going to throw thosehunger hormones off, and so
they are.
Even with the medication, theyare still going to likely be
hungry.
So we talk to our patients aboutthose things and you know and

(06:24):
what some different tactics arethat they could do or should try
.
You know whether it's meditationand things like that.
Or maybe, you know, reconsideryour health or that job, maybe
try a different job if it's notgoing to allow you to get the
appropriate amount of sleep.
We have one patient that wasliterally having to wake up
every two hours to do her job,and you know, and she was
struggling to lose the weight,and again, with that lack of

(06:47):
sleep throwing off those hungerhormones, you know, it was no
wonder that she was struggling.
And so she's got a toughdecision that she's going to
have to make.
You know, as it relates to herhealth versus her job, you can
have both.
You should be able to have both.
So she's got a tough choicethat she's going to have to make
.
So we try to ask a lot ofquestions, a lot of probing
questions.
We're listening with anempathetic ear.

(07:08):
But, you know, once we kind ofuncover what we feel like are
some of the root causes, we tryto coach our clients with
various tactics that they cantry.

Speaker 2 (07:16):
Sounds like a lifestyle change.
It is.
It absolutely is With jobs, notjust sleep.
But there's a lot of temptation.
I remember I started a job andthey took us out to eat and they
had cakes and cupcakes andcandy all within the first two
weeks and my body was like noma'am.
So there is a lot of temptationand at first I was thinking why

(07:37):
would you need to develop goodhabits if you have these
medications?
But I would think that seeingthe results would make you want
to stick with the habits.
Does that Absolutely?

Speaker 3 (07:48):
Absolutely, and so not even just seeing the results
.
But I'll use another example.
We had another patient.
She's going through thisjourney and she talks about the
fact that she's eating betterfoods.
Now you know the clean foods.
Now, when she goes to arestaurant and she eats
something bad, or she goes tosomebody's house and she eats
something that's like really,really indulgent, she doesn't

(08:09):
feel good.
So cleaning up your dietteaches you, in a way, like how
you should feel, how your bodyshould feel.
You know, if you're eating junkall the time, after a while it
just feels normal.
But once you clean it up andyou start to feel different,
when you start to eat somethingbad, something that's overly
indulgent, you don't feel sogood anymore and you don't like

(08:29):
that feeling.
And so we she and I chattedabout that a bit, because that
was reinforcement for her thatwow, I am going down a better
path, because eating this thingthat used to bring me so much
joy, now I just don't feel goodanymore.

Speaker 2 (08:45):
Wonderful side effect of changing your habits.
You can retrain your body andyour taste buds to create the
right things.
Thank you so much for openingup this discussion and giving
people a plan to step off ofthese medications and go on in
the future of their lives.
I appreciate you.
We'll see you next time, thankyou.

Speaker 1 (09:09):
That's a wrap on this episode of the Atlanta Wellness
Clinic podcast.
If you're ready to kickstartyour weight loss journey, and
not just your bathroom scale andfrustration, visit
ATLWellnessCliniccom or call usat 770-726-8978 for a free
10-minute weight lossconsultation, because the best

(09:31):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time right now.
See you next time.