A lot of you enjoyed the article I wrote a few weeks about semaglutide. I received a lot of questions, so I wanted to write a more thorough piece about it.
The most common question I received was some variation of “should I try it?”.
Obviously, I can’t tell you the answer to that, but I can give you my opinion on who it might be most effective for. Of course, there are lots of considerations and your suitability for semaglutide does not only come down to these things – but I think it’s a good place to begin!
Semaglutide mimics a hormone released by your gut after a meal, which lets your brain know you’re full. This is how it reduces your appetite.
And so, if you’re significantly over weight and experiencing associated side effects like poor blood sugar control, and you’re genuinely struggling with improving your diet due to severe food cravings, hunger and severe overeating, then semaglutide could well be an effective aid.
Do note the key word here: “aid”.
Semaglutide can make it easier for you to put long term strategies into place and create some positive traction on your journey by reducing your appetite and balancing your insulin levels. But, you must remember that it is one piece of a bigger picture.
If you use semaglutide to lose weight and then just go back to your old habits, then it’ll end up not being much different to other diets. Only significantly more expensive!
If you do it right, then semaglutide certainly has the potential to be really helpful for this person.
I’ll write more next week about how “doing it right” might look.
But the person I don’t think semaglutide is the right option for is someone who is not really eating a lot and is yet struggling to lose weight.
I meet a lot of people who are living on strict low calorie diets, with no (or very few) deviation or off days. They often feel like they’re doing everything right, and are increasingly tempted to try semaglutide to give them a shove in the direction they’re hoping to go.
But, because appetite and blood sugar control aren’t the issues for this person, I don’t think it will give them the result they’re looking for. Instead, making some very gradual changes to their diet and exercise routine will help to speed up this persons metabolism and get the scales moving for them again.