The Truth About GLP Support Nobody’s Telling You

Why GLP Support Isn’t Working the Way You Thought It Would

Why Your Scale Stopped Moving (Even Though the GLP-1 Is Still Working)

Hey friend, let’s talk about the thing I know a lot of you are quietly wondering about right now: why did my weight loss stop?

If you’re on a GLP-1 and the scale has been sitting in the same spot for weeks, I want you to hear this before anything else — you didn’t do anything wrong. This isn’t a willpower problem, and you’re not the exception to the rule. What you’re experiencing has a name, a mechanism, and real research behind it. So let’s actually walk through it together, the way I would if you were sitting across from me at this table or on a  client zoom call.

I’m going to get a little nerdy in places, because this deserves more than “just eat less and move more.” You’re smart, you’ve done the hard part, and you deserve the real explanation — not another vague Instagram caption so lets dig in!

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First, the honest truth about the medication

I’ve said this before and I’ll keep saying it: GLP-1’s are a tool. Not a cheat code, not a shortcut, not a moral failing to need one. The mechanism is straightforward — it helps put your body in a calorie deficit by quieting appetite and slowing digestion. That’s it. That’s the whole job description. Yes there are other anti-inflamatory responses and adaptations that happen but that is the big lift.  The main thing!

Which means everything that happens around the medication — your food, your muscle, your metabolism — is still very much up to the body’s own rules. And your body has some pretty stubborn rules when it comes to losing weight.  I know you know this. That is probably a lot of why you CHOOSE to use this tool.  The mechanics of losing weight can be challenging and complicated.  I see you, but we are going to try to simplify it.

Rule #1: Your metabolism adapts to less food, on purpose

Here’s the piece almost nobody explains clearly. When you eat less for a sustained period, your body doesn’t just sit there passively burning the same number of calories. It recalibrates. Researchers call this metabolic adaptation (sometimes “adaptive thermogenesis”), and it’s been documented for decades — starting with the Minnesota Starvation Experiment in the 1940s and confirmed again and again since.

One of the most well-known modern examples comes from a study that followed contestants from The Biggest Loser years after the show. Their resting metabolic rate dropped by an average of 610 calories a day by the end of the competition — a decline larger than their weight loss alone could explain — and much of that suppression was still present six years later. A separate analysis of the CALERIE trial (a rigorous, 12-month controlled feeding study) found that resting metabolic rate dropped by roughly 100 calories a day with weight loss, and about 40% of that drop wasn’t explained by the loss of body tissue itself — it was the body actively turning down the dial.

In plain terms: your body doesn’t know the difference between “intentional weight loss” and “famine.” So when calories stay low for a long stretch, it quietly resets its idea of what “maintenance” means, and adjusts downward to protect itself. That’s not a flaw in you. That’s a wildly effective survival mechanism doing exactly what it is designed to do.

Rule #2: Muscle is the first thing to go if you’re not protecting it

This is the part that keeps me up at night as a coach, because it’s so preventable and so rarely discussed at the prescriber’s office.

Body composition sub-studies from the major GLP-1 trials — STEP 1 for semaglutide and SURMOUNT-1 for tirzepatide — found that roughly 25 to 45% of total weight lost was lean mass, not fat. That’s a strikingly consistent finding across the research since: multiple case series and systematic reviews put the number in the same 25–40% range. That ratio isn’t unique to GLP-1s — it happens with any significant, relatively fast weight loss — but because GLP-1s produce larger total weight loss, the absolute amount of muscle at stake is bigger too.

Why does this matter for your plateau specifically? Because muscle is metabolically expensive tissue — it’s part of what determines how many calories your body burns just existing. Lose muscle, and you lose some of your engine along with the weight. That compounds the metabolic slowdown from Rule #1.

The encouraging part: this is one of the most fixable pieces of the whole puzzle. A 2015 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that a high-protein, high-leucine supplement preserved muscle mass in older obese adults during intentional weight loss, and more recent case series specifically in GLP-1 patients have shown lean mass can be maintained — even gained — when people combine adequate protein (roughly 1.6–2.3 g per kilogram of fat-free mass) with resistance training three to five days a week. Clinical trials are now underway (the LEAN-PREP study, for one) specifically testing resistance training and protein intake as a countermeasure during semaglutide and tirzepatide treatment. The mechanism is being taken seriously enough that researchers are actively racing to solve it — which tells you it’s real, and it tells you it’s solvable.

Rule #3: The quiet part — “food noise” going down doesn’t mean intake is optimized

One of the things GLP-1s do best is turn down what’s now being called “food noise” — the persistent, intrusive mental chatter about food that has nothing to do with actual physical hunger. Researchers have started studying this formally; a large survey of people on semaglutide found a sharp, measurable reduction in food noise, and brain imaging studies show decreased activity in food-craving-related reward circuits on the medication.

This is genuinely one of the most life-changing effects of these drugs for the people who’ve struggled with it. But here’s the catch: less food noise can also mean less attention to food altogether — smaller meals, skipped meals, and a quiet slide toward inadequate protein and calories without anyone noticing, because the usual internal alarm bells (hunger, cravings) have gone quiet too. That’s how someone can end up under-fueling without ever consciously deciding to.

The pitfall nobody wants to admit: sometimes it’s still just too much food

I need to say this next part gently, but honestly, because I think it gets skipped over in almost every GLP-1 conversation I see online.

Not every stall is metabolic adaptation. Not every stall is muscle loss. Sometimes — and I’ve sat across from clients where this was exactly it — the real answer is simpler: they’re still eating more food than their body needs, even on the medication.

Here’s why this happens, and why it’s not a character flaw. If years of habits were built around eating when you weren’t physically hungry — stress eating, boredom eating, eating on autopilot with highly calorie-dense foods — those habits don’t just vanish the moment a prescription starts. GLP-1s quiet a lot of the physical hunger signal, but eating driven by habit, emotion, or environment doesn’t run on hunger signals in the first place. It runs on cue and routine. So someone can genuinely feel less hungry and still find themselves reaching for the same calorie-dense foods out of habit — just a little less often, or in slightly smaller portions — and the math still doesn’t work out to a deficit.

This is the part I think gets lost in a lot of the marketing around these medications. A GLP-1 is not an easy button. It doesn’t erase the calories in a splurge, and it doesn’t override the basic physics of weight management: you still need to be in a genuine calorie deficit, taking in less energy than you burn, for the scale to move. If someone is indulging regularly, eating past fullness out of habit rather than hunger, or simply moving less than they think they are, they can be fully compliant with their medication and still land at maintenance calories or above — and no amount of appetite suppression will produce fat loss from there. The medication can make the deficit easier to create. It cannot manufacture the deficit on its own if the food side of the equation doesn’t line up.

This is exactly why “am I actually eating less than I’m burning” has to stay part of the conversation even after starting a GLP-1 — not because it’s about willpower, but because it’s about whether the mechanism the drug relies on (a calorie deficit) is actually in place.

So what actually fixes a stall?

Not more restriction. That’s the instinct — cut further, try harder — and it’s exactly the wrong direction once your body has already adapted downward.

What I coach clients through instead is a structured, cyclical approach, rather than one long, straight line of restriction:

Phase 1 — Focused Fat Loss. A real, sustainable calorie deficit for a set window (often around 8–12 weeks), anchored by adequate protein and resistance training to protect muscle. This is also where we take an honest look at intake — even briefly tracking food for a week can reveal whether the deficit the medication is supposed to be creating is actually there, or whether habitual eating has quietly closed the gap.

Phase 2 — Reverse. Calories come back up deliberately, restoring the body’s sense of safety and rebuilding maintenance at a higher, more sustainable number.

Phase 3 — Return to Fat Loss. From that restored baseline, we cycle back into a deficit — and the body responds again, because it never got the chance to shut all the way down.

I want to be straight with you about the research here, because I promised you the real version, not the Instagram version: the idea that reverse dieting directly “boosts” your metabolism is supported but not blatantly obvious— most overfeeding studies show only small, mostly weight-driven increases in energy expenditure, not some dramatic metabolic reset. Where the evidence is genuinely encouraging is in adherence and sustainability. A 2025 study in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition compared a reverse-dieting approach against jumping straight back to maintenance calories, and found meaningfully better adherence and lower attrition with the gradual approach. In other words — the value of reverse dieting may be less about tricking your metabolism and more about giving your body and your habits room to actually stick, so you’re not white-knuckling a restrictive diet indefinitely or swinging wildly between extremes.

That distinction matters. I’d rather tell you the honest, slightly less dramatic truth than sell you a metabolism myth.  What I do know is this system and approach works. I have seen clients continue to lose weight even in a reverse diet. It keeps them consistent. It keeps them compliant. We have helped clients lose over 100 lb even without GLP support using this exact method. Eating plenty of food to sustain performance, longevity, muscle mass and quality of life!  Amen to that my friend!

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Coach’s Corner

Before you decide a stalled scale means something has gone wrong with you or your medication, I want you to sit with this: a plateau is information, not an indictment.

Your body isn’t broken, and you are not failing at something that’s supposed to be simple. You’re running into a well-documented, well-researched physiological response — one that has a name, a mechanism, and a body of science behind it, and one that responds to the right adjustments, not to more willpower.

GLP-1 support creates the opportunity for the work to finally work. It was never supposed to do all of it alone. That’s not a knock on the medication — it’s just an honest description of what it’s for.

If you’re on a GLP-1, doing everything you know how to do, and the scale still isn’t adding up — please hear this the way I mean it: it’s not a willpower problem, and you’re not the exception. You may simply be missing the nutrition and training guidance most prescribers don’t have the time or training to give you.

That’s exactly what coaching is for.  Please reach out if you would like some guidance on your personal journey.  We are here to help!

With Love, Amie

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References

• Fothergill, E. et al. (2016). Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after “The Biggest Loser” competition. Obesity, 24(8).
• Martin, A. et al. (2022). Tissue losses and metabolic adaptations both contribute to the reduction in resting metabolic rate following weight loss. International Journal of Obesity.
• Wilding, J.P.H. et al. (2021). Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity (STEP 1). New England Journal of Medicine, 384, 989–1002.
• Locatelli, J.C. et al. (2024). Resistance training preserves lean mass during weight loss with GLP-1 receptor agonists: systematic review. Obesity, 32, 1234–1247.
• Verreijen, A.M. et al. (2015). A high whey protein, leucine, and vitamin D supplement preserves muscle mass during intentional weight loss in obese older adults. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 101, 279–286.
• Preservation of lean soft tissue during weight loss induced by GLP-1 and GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists: A case series. PMC.
• LEAN Mass Preservation With Resistance Exercise and Protein During Semaglutide/Tirzepatide Therapy (LEAN-PREP Study). ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT06885736.
• Moser, M. et al. (2025). Survey on GLP-1 receptor agonists and food noise reduction. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.
• What Is Food Noise? A Conceptual Model of Food Cue Reactivity. PMC.
• Rodriguez Da Silva, V. et al. (2025). The effects of reverse dieting on mitigating weight regain after a caloric deficit: a preliminary analysis. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition.
• Adherence and compliance rates across post-dieting strategies: a preliminary analysis. PMC.

This article is for educational purposes and reflects general research findings. It is not a substitute for personalized medical or nutritional guidance from your prescribing provider or coach.

This is me. A piece of the puzzle that makes me who I am.

I was so scared! 

I didn’t want to have surgery. Breaking my hip and repositioning it and then wearing a brace for almost a year.   To a 10 year old that sounded awful.  

But what was the alternative? 

Exercises that I had to do two times daily and a 3 mile walk every single day.  😳 Again to an 10 year old, that sounded overwhelming….but it was still a better option to me than the alternative.   

And so it began. 

My parents helped me map out how many times I would have to walk up and down our mountain dirt road to equal 3 miles. And every morning and evening I would lay in bed, completing these tedious and annoying exercises.  

From about 8 on my hip imbalance progressively got worse and manifested itself in being severely pigeon toed. In going to specialists we found there was two options. Surgery or trying physical therapy & an exercise plan to see if we could correct things before they continue to progressively get worse.   

 My parents strongly encouraged me to try the physical therapy route before we consider surgery and I was on board. Surgery and wearing a brace for a year sounded awful.  I wanted nothing to do with it. However, the walks and the exercises every single day that sounded dreadful.

To be honest, I feel like first memorable experience with hardship and adversity is what began to build and teach me resilience, commitment, and dedication. 

Every morning, I would wake up earlier than my brothers. I would complete my boring exercises in my bedroom while it was dark and quite. No one but my dad was awake yet. When I was finished, I would bundle up and head outside to complete my mile and a half walk. All alone while my brothers were fast asleep in bed.   

I’d go to school, walk home from the bus and head out for my 2nd mile and half walk. All the while my brother and neighbor kids were riding bike or canoeing in the irrigation ditch outback. And there I was walking up and down dirt road. Having to intentionally consciously think about every step. Concentrating on how I placed my foot every step, thinking about the position of my hip and hoping that this would work. 

I did this for an entire year. 

Through beautiful spring mornings where the dew glistened on every blade of grass in the hayfield to the gorgeous fall, where frost would slowly melt as the sun would rise.  In the beautiful summer mornings where the wrestling Aspen leaves would fill my ears with song and through the mountain snowstorms that felt like the clouds would never stop dumping the fluffiest white snow all over. As my snow boots took one step in front of the other. I felt proud that I committed to do the work.

I feel like the story is similar to so many of our clients. To get the results we desire without taking the shortcut can be a lonely hard road.  Sometimes while others play, it means dedication when we don’t want to be. It means commitment when we want to let it go.  It means facing adversity head on when we would just like to turn and run.  

A year later revisiting the specialist they couldn’t believe their eyes. My hips and gate had virtually transformed to be close to normal. No surgery was needed, and I was able to stop my rigorous routine of walking and exercises.  However they emphasized the need to continue to focus on every step, ensuring that everything stayed balanced as possible.  

I’m not here to judge you or shame you if you choose to take the easy path.  But if you did, where are you now. Have the results stuck. Are you happy with where you’re at or is there still progress that needs to be made? 

I’m here to remind you that WE ALL need to do the work to get the results. 

I will not say it won’t be hard, because it will be. I’ve been there, it sucks. However, you working for your results and for what you desire will taste so much sweeter than taking any shortcut.  

My team and I are here for you, my friend. 

Every single one of us has experienced adversity, setbacks and challenges, and although we may not handle each of those perfectly, we’ve chosen to be resilient and forward.  

And we can help you do the same.   

Please know we’re here for you to guide you on your journey to elevate your health! 

1. Understand the Metrics

The first step to maximizing the use of your WHOOP data is to understand the metrics it measures. Here are some of the key metrics and what they mean:

• Heart rate: This is the number of times your heart beats per minute. It gives an indication of your cardiovascular fitness level and the intensity of your workouts.
• Heart rate variability (HRV): This measures the variation in time between each heartbeat. A higher HRV indicates better recovery and a lower risk of injury and burnout.
• Sleep: WHOOP tracks the duration and quality of your sleep, including how much time you spend in each stage of sleep.
• Recovery: This metric takes into account your HRV, sleep, and other factors to give you a score indicating how well your body has recovered from previous workouts.
• Strain: This measures the intensity and duration of your workouts and gives you a score indicating how much stress you have put on your body.

By understanding these metrics and how they relate to your body’s performance, you can start to optimize your training and recovery.

1. Use the WHOOP App

The second step to maximizing the use of your WHOOP data is to use the WHOOP app. The app provides a dashboard that shows you all of your metrics and allows you to track your progress over time. You can also set goals and receive personalized insights and recommendations based on your data.

Here are some tips for using the app:

• Check your recovery score each morning: Your recovery score is a key indicator of how well your body has recovered from previous workouts. Use this information to adjust your training intensity and volume for the day.
• Set goals: The WHOOP app allows you to set goals for various metrics, such as sleep and strain. Use these goals to stay motivated and track your progress over time.
• Review your sleep data: WHOOP provides detailed information about your sleep, including how much time you spend in each stage of sleep. Use this information to optimize your sleep habits for better performance.
• Use the strain coach: The strain coach is a feature in the WHOOP app that provides  recommendations for how much strain you should be putting on your body each day. Use this feature to optimize your training volume and intensity for better results.

1. Take Action on the Data

The third and final step to maximizing the use of your WHOOP data is to take action on the data. Simply tracking your metrics is not enough. You need to use this information to make informed decisions about your training and recovery.

Here are some examples of how to take action on your WHOOP data:

• Adjust your training volume and intensity based on your recovery score and strain coach recommendations.
• Use your sleep data to optimize your sleep habits, such as going to bed earlier or avoiding caffeine in the evening.
• Identify patterns in your data, such as how your HRV changes based on your diet or stress levels.
• Use your WHOOP data to identify areas for improvement in your overall health and wellness, such as increasing your daily activity level or reducing your alcohol consumption.

In conclusion, WHOOP provides a wealth of data about your body’s performance and can help you optimize your training and recovery for better results. By understanding the metrics, using the WHOOP app, and taking action on the data, you can maximize the use of your WHOOP data and achieve your health and fitness goals

Honestly it’s a toss up between Protein and Carbs but don’t forget about hydration. That is key too!

Protein is needed to rebuild and repair the muscle that you are breaking down.

Carbs not only give you the energy you need for an intense workout, they also support recovery and muscle growth.

Try to include both in your pre-workout and post-workout nutrition routine.

Regardless of whether you want to burn fat or build muscle, you’ll need three things to help your muscles recover: good carbs, lean protein and plenty of water.

 

Are you hitting workouts or runs and feeling slow or fatigued and you just don’t know why? 

Do you feel like you’re losing strength but don’t understand why? 

 

“Thank you for teaching me how to listen to my body. I finally understand that what might feel like failure really is success because although I might not perform the best, I understand that my body was not prime to do so!” -LH 

This feedback was from a client who has really had to learn to listen to her body.  She would hit workouts and leave frustrated and sad! Once we helped her to see what the factors were going into that workout and how to scale and adjust things accordingly she realized she wasn’t a failure.  She wasn’t getting slower or weaker, she just needed to listen more.

If you are having these thoughts or feelings reach out. We can help!

Listen up!!! YOUR WRONG!

Typically women have about 10% of the testosterone men do. This means that the likelihood of a woman getting bulky with a focus on strength training is very low! Can it happen?  absolutely, we see it all the time. 

Those ladies that look like that have trained long and hard for that physique and the performance that the physique gives them!

You lifting 3 to 4 times a week is not going to do that! 

Stop being afraid to lift heavy! 

Summit Health has helped over 300 people find a better path to HEALTH, WELLNESS & NUTRITION!  300 people! Wow. And to think we are just getting started! 

We started out with 0 clients and right away 3 people showed trust, faith and confidence in our ability.  And the rest is history.  When we look at clients served it’s not just the 2500+ pounds we have helped people to lose.  Want to know what really matters to us…it’s 

• The confidence our clients have gained.
• The ability to run and play with their kids.
• The clothes that were sitting at the back of their closet that they finally get to wear!
• The photos they aren’t afraid to share of their beach vacation.
• The energy they have to slay the day! Everyday! 
• The quality sound sleep they have always desired but never attained.
• The millions of emails and advertisements that they get to scroll on by because they don’t need the “fat loss secrets” or the “secret supplement” because they have learned what a balanced healthy diet looks like FOR THEM! And they are LIVING IT! 

 

I’m not asking you…..I am ASKING you.

 

So many clients come to us ready for FAT LOSS and wanting to see immediate changes! We get it! We need changes. However … .If your body is not READY for fat loss no matter how hard we try, it will not happen. 

 

So how do we get ready?  

 

Regulate your intake and output.

Start by tracking your food simply to see what you’re eating each day.  Is it close to your daily needs?  Is it a roller coaster each day? One day SUPER HIGH and the next SUPER LOW?

How about output?  Do you hit the gym 5 days one week and none the next?

 

Just start by seeing where things are at and that will give us an accurate idea of where to take things to see progress as fast as possible.

 

Are you trying to follow an exercise plan but you keep “falling off the wagon?”  What is the hang up for you?

 

Do you have a specific exercise plan or template to follow?

Solution: Something like a couch to 5K is great or even if its walking we need a time or a distance target!  We need parameters to follow!

Have you created the time and scheduled the space in your day to make this happen? 

Solution: Sit down and look at your calendar.  Carve out 3-4  times each week that you realistically can make Movement a priority. 

Are you lacking accountability?  You have the plan, you have the time scheduled but you keep skipping out!

Solution: Grab a friend who is in the same spot and create a check in routine weekly.  Hire a coach who can not only create the plan but also sees if you have completed each workout and how it went.

This is something Coach Chad does each and every week.  Not only is he AMAZING at helping people get out of pain because of injuries or restrictions he can help create a simple virtual training plan specific to your needs and then he looks at your results and progress each and every week and adjust the plan the next week.

For some this is exactly what they need. Its affordable and it creates the urgency and the commitment to actually do the work!  

Why training 6-7 days a week may be causing more harm than good!

There is a point in training when more is not always better.  We want to stimulate, not annihilate.  If you are not eating enough food to support the calories needed to train 6-7 days per week you will end up LOSING MUSCLE instead of gaining it!  Your body will start to eat it as fuel because it does not have enough.  The other factor is recovery.  If you do not take enough time to recover those muscles do not have the time to rebuild stronger and healthier than before!  So remember, more is not always better.