Protecting Your Strength While Using GLP-1 Medications: A Nutritionist's Guide

How Do You Preserve Muscle Loss When Using Medical Weight Loss Medications? 

Dropping pounds on GLP-1 medications? The number on your scale might be moving, but are you losing the right kind of weight?

Licensed nutritionist Catina Wilson tackles one of the most overlooked aspects of medical weight loss - preserving precious muscle mass while shedding unwanted fat. When these powerful medications suppress your appetite, your body might turn to muscle for energy instead of fat stores. Catina shares the protein-focused nutrition strategy that ensures your body composition improves even as your weight decreases.

Most valuable are the practical implementation strategies shared throughout the episode - from meal timing techniques that work with medication-suppressed appetite to the accountability tools that ensure you're losing fat, not muscle. The Atlanta Wellness Clinic's comprehensive approach combines medical intervention with nutrition science and body composition tracking to deliver transformative results.

Ready to transform not just your weight but your body composition? Visit atlwellnessclinic.com or call 770-726-8978 for a free 10-minute weight loss consultation. Because successful weight loss isn't just about getting smaller - it's about getting stronger, healthier, and more confident in the body you deserve.

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 (00:33):
Medical weight loss medications can be powerful
tools, but how can you ensureyou're losing fat, not muscle?
Here's how to protect yourmuscle mass while shedding
unwanted weight.
Welcome back everyone.
I'm Millie M, co-host producerhere in the studio with licensed
nutritionist and clinic owner,katina Wilson.
Katina, how's it going?

Speaker 3 (00:50):
Hello, hello, hello again.

Speaker 2 (00:52):
So, katina, can you just fill everyone in how do you
preserve muscle while usingweight loss medication?

Speaker 3 (00:59):
Question the number one thing that we tell our
patients when they come into theclinic and they sign up for one
of our GLP-1 programs is toreally try to focus on getting
in the right protein.
So for all of our patients, wedo supply a meal plan, and that
meal plan really over-indexes onprotein.
You know protein for breakfast,proteins as snacks, protein for

(01:23):
lunch and dinner right, wereally try to over-index and we
even supply our patients withdifferent kinds of shopping
lists.
And when we're talking protein,we're talking healthy proteins,
right, you know.
So the lean chickens and beef,that sort of a thing, nuts,
cottage cheese, eggs, beans youknow for sure we want people to
try to get as much protein,because when you're on these
kinds of medications you'rereally not hungry, and so when

(01:45):
you do eat, it's important tomake sure you're eating the
right kinds of foods,particularly like proteins, and
so we really try to encourageour patients to focus on eating
the right kinds of proteins.
The other thing that we do is wespend a lot of time talking to
our patients about theimportance of exercise, and a
lot of people, when they thinkexercise, they immediately think

(02:07):
cardio Cardio is great forcardiovascular health, but when
you're trying to preserve muscle, you really have to do some
form of resistance training.
When you think resistancetraining, it's definitely like
weightlifting, doing squats,calisthenics, those kinds of
things, or even Pilates or barre.
Those are very popular types ofresistance type training.
The more resistance that you'redoing, the more you're giving

(02:29):
your body an opportunity to notonly build muscle but also
maintain muscle as you're goingthrough this fitness journey are
there any adverse effects ofhaving too much protein, because
we've talked about that a lotum, I think it depends on the
person, and it depends on what'sgoing on with their health, and
they certainly should have aconversation with their doctor.
For some people, especially ifthey've got kidney types of
issues, too much proteinpotentially could be a bad thing

(02:52):
.
Certainly, though, when you'reeating a lot of protein, you
definitely want to make sureyou're staying adequately
hydrated.
Water is extremely importantbecause you want to flush out
not only the toxins, but youalso want to flush out many of
the excess things that comealong with having a high protein
diet.

Speaker 2 (03:08):
Makes sense.
So what role do vitamins andsupplements play in maintaining
muscle mass?

Speaker 3 (03:13):
Yeah, there are definitely some great
supplements that are out thereAmino acids in particular, that
can help a lot of people.
Creatine is very popular andit's a combination of various
amino acids that are known tohelp not only build but also
preserve muscle.
Glycine is another one that'ssuper popular for maintaining
and building muscle and thosesorts of things.
So supplements certainly canhelp.

(03:36):
Now, it's not one size fits allbecause, depending upon the
supplement, it can have adverseeffects, depending upon what's
going on with the individual.
So make sure that, as you'reconsidering any type of
supplement within your diet,that you're having these kinds
of conversations with yourdoctors and that you're picking
and choosing the right things orsome sort of a healthcare
provider that can help make surethat you get the right types of

(03:56):
supplements.
The supplements can absolutelyhelp with preserving muscle as
well.

Speaker 2 (04:02):
Are there any specific weight loss medications
that minimize muscle lossbetter than others?

Speaker 3 (04:09):
Are you talking like the GLP-1 medicines specifically
?
I wouldn't say so.
I mean, these medicines work sowell and they tend to.
Not only do they remove thefood noise, so people aren't
craving all the different foods,but it also slows down
digestion.
So, people who are on thesemedications, they're going to be
full, they're going to besatiated a lot longer, and so,

(04:31):
regardless of whether you're onthe first generation GLP-1 or a
second generation, they workabout the same just in terms of
what they do to the body.
I would not say that one isbetter than the other.
In terms of trying to preservemuscle, and again, because these
medicines work so well and theywork so fast, the risk is that
the body starts to eat away atthe muscle instead of the fat,

(04:52):
and so our goal is to focus ongetting the right kind of
nutrition intake, focus on theprotein and definitely try to
focus on some level ofresistance training.

Speaker 2 (05:02):
Do you recommend any tips or tricks, I guess using
timers or calendars or thingslike that?
So do you find some of yourclients don't?
I mean, obviously don't want toeat as much as they did before,
but are there any ways to makesure people are getting adequate
, actual meals in on top of thevitamins?

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, no, timers are great.
You know, I do that sometimesto remind myself to drink water
right, and I even have a specialwater bottle that does remind.
So there's a lot of likeelectronics and things out there
that will help remind you.
There are apps that are outthere that can also help remind
you.
You know it's time to eat, it'stime to drink, that sort of a
thing, you know.
So there are different appsthat are out there that people

(05:40):
can use.
You can also go the old schoolway and put little time blocks
on your calendar and that way itpops up on your phone or
whatever device you're using.
It is important to remember toeat.
One of the things that we dohere is weekly check-ins with
our clients and we do ask likeare you eating?
You know, are you rememberinghow?
About your hydration?
And again, when we do our bodyscans, we're going to see all
that.

(06:00):
We're going to see how hydratedyou are, are you really
drinking the water?
We're going to see between onemonth versus the next did the
amount of fat go down or did theamount of muscle go down?
We'll be able to tell.
Somebody can say yes, but thescan doesn't lie.
Our scans will tell the storyof whether somebody is actually
really like working on theirprotein, really staying hydrated

(06:20):
, really doing the resistancetraining, because, again, we
want to see that muscle numbereither stay the same or start to
go up and we want to see thatfat number go down.

Speaker 2 (06:29):
Perfect.
Catch you on the next episode.
Have a great one, thank you.

Speaker 1 (06:38):
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

(06:59):
time to start was yesterday.
The second best time right now.
See you next time.