Stop Looking for Shortcuts

Ozempic (semaglutide) was approved by the FDA in 2017, and brought to the market shortly thereafter. Semaglutide essentially signals to your body that you’re full, reducing the amount of food you eat, resulting in weight loss.

While the actual science is a lot more interesting than that, what matters is the outcome, namely the massive amount of weight people have been losing on Ozempic.

BUT, early data is showing that the weight rebound people are experiencing is drastic:

As you can see with the red line above, folks on Ozempic lost a tremendous amount of weight, almost 18% of their overall bodyweight.

But they gained most of it back after treatment ended. And, while there isn’t a ton of data on this yet, there’s no reason to think that weight regain would stop at their previous weight before Ozempic. Here’s the reason why, and the reason why you need to stop looking for shortcuts:

Metabolic Rate and How to Nuke It

Your body is burning calories, and that process is generally described as your metabolic rate. The amount of calories your body burns depends on a lot of factors, but the one I’d like to focus on here is body composition.

Muscle is metabolically expensive tissue. You burn a lot of calories building it, using it, and maintaining it.

Fat is not nearly as metabolically expensive. This is because fat is survival tissue, meant to keep us alive through winter.

When you take Ozempic/Semaglutide, you’re not going to be very hungry, so you eat less and lose weight. Cool. What they don’t tell you is much of that weight loss is MUSCLE, not just fat.

Remember, muscle is expensive tissue, so your body is going to get rid of that first, like that luxury car your neighbor sold the second he got laid off.

So while you’re lighter on the scale, your body isn’t burning nearly as many calories as it once was.

And when you stop taking Ozempic, you’re now just as hungry as you were before you started the treatment. So you eat more calories.

But now your body isn’t burning nearly as many calories, so you gain fat.

Terrible.

Now there is a way to do Ozempic right, but you’ll need to force yourself to eat a high protein diet, and train hard in the gym, both of which are difficult to do on their own.

A Better Approach

This may not be what you want to hear, but if you’re relying on Ozempic for your shortcut solution to a healthy bodyweight, you are probably going to have a bad time.

Here’s a better approach:

1. Count your calories and understand what you’re putting into your body

2. Eat a high protein diet with a goal of 1g per pound of bodyweight

3. Lift weights 3x a week and do cardio 3x a week

4. Do this consistently for years

Is the above easier than an injection??? NO, of course not.

But will it work better? Will it result in a healthy body composition that lasts? Will it make you feel way better about yourself, teach you discipline, and give you the body you actually want?

Yup.

So the choice is yours, Ozempic weight rebound shortcut, or slow and steady work until your friend you haven’t seen in years doesn’t recognize you (in a good way).

Until next time,
Brock

Q&A - Drop your questions in the comments (or respond to this email) and I’ll answer on next week’s issue!