Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs, such as semaglutide and liraglutide) can be used to help people lose weight. When taken alongside lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and exercise, these prescription medications have been shown to be effective for promoting weight loss. 

NOVI Optimum Plus is our holistic medical weight loss program that includes an FDA approved GLP-1 RA medication, guidance from a specialist doctor, and diet and fitness coaching from a health coach.

However, there are some people who later wish to stop taking these medications. When people stop taking GLP-1RAs, they may worry that they’ll regain the weight that they lost while taking the medication. Although this can happen, there are ways to help reduce the amount of weight that you may gain back after stopping GLP-1RAs.

Key Takeaways

• After stopping a GLP-1RA, a number of individuals may regain a portion of the weight that they lost while taking the medication.

• This occurs mostly because of increased hunger, which leads people to eat more and to regain weight.

• Being diligent about a healthy lifestyle will help to prevent weight regain. This includes exercise, a healthy diet, and getting enough sleep.

• Self-tracking, including monitoring your weight, physical activity, and food intake, can be helpful to ensure that you stay on track.

• Professional support can be very helpful in reducing weight regain.

Why weight regain can happen

While you’re taking a GLP-1RA (such as semaglutide or liraglutide), you tend to feel full for longer after eating. Without the medication, you’ll likely feel a lot hungrier. This could make it easier to overeat.

However, after spending time on these meds, you will tend to get used to eating less food than you used to. As long as you stick to these healthier habits, you can maintain the weight loss that you experienced while on semaglutide. Some people find themselves backsliding into their previous unhealthy lifestyle, particularly if they don’t have support to help them maintain it. Finding that support can help you to avoid weight regain after stopping GLP-1RAs.

Studies have shown that weight regain after stopping GLP-1RAs is common. In one study, one year after stopping weekly injections of semaglutide, participants had regained about two-thirds of the weight they had lost while on the medications. It’s important to note that a lifestyle intervention program had been included while they were taking semaglutide, and this was also stopped along with the medications, meaning that these people had no support for helping them to prevent weight regain.

Although it’s very common to regain weight after stopping GLP-1RAs, this doesn’t mean that it’s inevitable. There are proven ways to help reduce the amount of weight that you regain, or even to prevent yourself from gaining weight at all. Although these require you to be diligent and persistent, they are effective at helping to reduce weight regain after weight loss.

How to reduce weight regain

There are a few different methods that you can use to help reduce the amount of weight that you regain after stopping a GLP-1RA. These methods won’t completely replace the medication, but they can help to replicate some of its effects.

Follow a diet that helps to reduce severe hunger and promotes satiety

GLP-1RAs have beneficial effects on blood sugar control, and they also help to keep you feeling full. You can get both of these beneficial effects by following a diet that’s relatively low in refined carbohydrates and high in protein. Compared to a low fat diet, a low-carbohydrate diet has been shown to promote satiety, meaning that they help to keep you feeling full. It’s also well-established that low-carb diets have beneficial effects on blood sugar; in fact, they are one of the effective diet management regimes for people living with diabetes.

In addition, ensuring that you’re eating a lot of fiber (found in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains) will help to keep you feeling full.

Maintain your portion sizes

One of the biggest benefits of taking a GLP-1RA is that it helps you get used to eating healthy portion sizes. After you stop taking the medication, it’s crucial to maintain these new healthy habits. 

One way to help you maintain your portion sizes is to carefully track your food intake in the last few weeks before you stop the medication. Make a log of everything you eat. You could even take photos to help you remember. Particularly in the early period after stopping the medication, pay close attention to how much food you’re eating at a time, and make sure that it’s similar to what you ate while on the GLP-1RA. Using smaller plates and bowls will also help you to avoid overeating.

Exercise

Physical activity is one of the best things that you can do for your overall health. It’s also been shown to help prevent weight regain. One study found that, after achieving significant weight loss, people who exercised for at least 150 minutes (two and a half hours) per week regained only about a third to half the amount of weight that was regained by those who exercised less. Although that’s the minimum, there were more benefits for those who exercised a bit more, about an hour a day. 

If this amount of exercise seems unachievable, start with smaller steps. Even just a ten minute walk per day will be better than being completely sedentary. You can then gradually increase this until you’re exercising enough to help protect your long term health as well as prevent weight regain.

Sleep 

Although many people think of diet and exercise as important components for weight management, sleep isn’t always the first thing that comes to mind. However, studies have actually shown that people who don’t get enough sleep are more likely to gain weight. This is believed to occur because sleep deprivation alters levels of hormones like ghrelin and leptin, which makes people feel hungrier. Getting enough sleep also helps you to have the energy to do things like exercise and eat well.

If you have trouble getting enough sleep, try keeping your sleep times consistent – meaning that you go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends. There is actually research showing that doing this reduces your risk of being overweight. It may also help to ensure that your bedroom is as dark and quiet as possible, and to ensure that the room isn’t too hot. If you’d like more support in improving your sleep, our health coaches can definitely help you with this.

Self-monitoring

When you’re trying to maintain weight loss, it’s important to have a way to track your progress. Some studies have shown that, when trying to lose weight, weighing yourself every day may be beneficial. It’s important to remember that weight can fluctuate, so it’s important to weigh yourself at the same time each day – first thing in the morning is best. In addition, pay attention to long-term trends, and don’t worry about the small daily fluctuations.

It’s important to keep in mind that some people develop an unhealthy fixation with their body weight, which can detract from enjoyment and quality of life. Pay attention to whether you’re becoming overly concerned about your weight. Weighing yourself once a day is okay, but if you find that you’re weighing yourself multiple times a day or can’t stop thinking about your weight, then you may want to seek some support for this.

It’s also a good idea to track your food intake as well as your exercise. This will let you know how you’re doing, and give you a chance to adjust as needed to help prevent weight regain. For physical activity, many people use wearables to track their steps. For food intake, you don’t have to track every single day, but doing a complete food diary for a few days each month will help you to ensure that you’re staying on track. At NOVI, our clients have access to our custom-designed app to help them do this, and we encourage them to continue using it for as long as they need to.

Support

Although there are scientifically proven ways to change your lifestyle to help you maintain a healthy body weight, there are also many challenges to achieving this. It can be very helpful to have support in helping you to stay on track, and reduce or prevent weight regain after stopping a GLP-1RA.

Our NOVI Optimum program is designed to help support people in achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight. Our clients receive support from many different professionals, including doctors, nutritionists, and health coaches. Our custom app helps make it easy and convenient to do the tracking that you need to help you stay on track. The right support and technology will help in maintaining the weight that you lost while on a weight loss medication.