<\/p>\n \u201cGLP-1 medication helps you lose weight, your habits determine whether you keep it off,\u201d she says. \u201cThe hard work doesn\u2019t stop just because you\u2019ve reached your goal weight.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest Videos From Studies suggest that many people regain a significant amount of weight after stopping GLP-1 drugs, with one meta-analysis<\/a> finding they will regain around 60% of the weight lost within one year, and eventually regaining around 75% before weight plateaus.<\/p>\n But that doesn\u2019t mean everyone will go back to their starting weight, says Patel, explaining that weight regain after stopping GLP-1 meds isn\u2019t a \u201cpersonal failure\u201d it\u2019s just biology.<\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Patel explains that when you lose weight, your body perceives it as a threat to survival. It reacts by making you hungrier, increasing cravings and slowing down the amount of calories you burn in an attempt to save energy.<\/p>\n GLP-1s help quieten those hunger signals. But when you come off the drugs, many people feel hungrier than ever, despite taking steps to maintain their new weight.<\/p>\n Patel says it\u2019s the healthy habits built during, as well as after, taking GLP-1s that will protect you when you come off the treatment. Here, she shares her five strategies to help you keep the weight off.<\/p>\n 1. Plan ahead with healthy food <\/p>\n GLP-1s reduce food noise and appetite, but these can return with a vengeance when you stop.<\/p>\n \u201cSuddenly you start focusing more on food and feeling hungrier. You need to rebuild the body-brain trust that the medication gave you a taste of,\u201d says Patel.<\/p>\n What to read next<\/p>\n \u201cIt means you need to make structure your ally. You want to make sure you are eating regular meals rather than skipping them, because if you have long gaps in between eating that is going to amplify your cravings.\u201d<\/p>\n And this is when you\u2019re likely to turn to unhealthy foods. \u201cIt\u2019s going to make you more tempted to eat foods like crisps and biscuits,\u201d says Patel. \u201cBuilding a routine is really important, and you almost need to make healthy eating as simple as possible, for example, having your three go-to meals you eat on repeat.\u201d<\/p>\n Patel says planning ahead and having a well-stocked fridge with healthy ingredients takes decision fatigue out of the equation when you\u2019re tired and hungry.<\/p>\n \u201cI travel so much for my job, and when I get home I\u2019m tired, but I know that if there\u2019s healthy food in the fridge, I\u2019m much more likely to eat healthily.\u201d<\/p>\n 2. Check in with your emotional triggers<\/p>\n One reason people regain weight after coming off GLP-1s is because they go back to their old habits without addressing the root cause of why they overeat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s easy to focus purely on what you eat, but we know that behaviour is driven by far more than hunger,\u201d says Patel.<\/p>\n \u201cCravings after GLP-1s are also about sleep, stress, emotions and habits; they’re all going to shape your environment and influence appetite.\u201d<\/p>\n She says it\u2019s important to check in with your emotional triggers as a way to control cravings.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen a craving hits, ask yourself: am I hungry? Am I angry? Am I anxious? Am I lonely? Am I tired? Am I bored? What hunger am I experiencing right now? Because sometimes food noise can be an unmet emotional need in disguise, especially for women.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I find with many people I work with is they start feeling the food noise and their appetite comes back about two weeks after coming off the medication, depending on which drug they are on. Of course it\u2019s variable from person to person.\u201d<\/p>\n She suggests that more research is needed to understand why some people\u2019s cravings come back stronger than others. But being curious about why you\u2019re having cravings can help tackle the issue.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you just used the medications to reduce your appetite but your eating patterns and coping strategies didn\u2019t change during treatment, then I would suspect the return of appetite might feel harder to manage afterward, and your cravings would go through the roof when you came off the drugs.<\/p>\n \u201cBut if you really worked on understanding and getting curious about what your cravings were trying to tell you, being compassionate with yourself, then you are going to be more likely to keep the weight off.\u201d<\/p>\n Patel suggests becoming your own \u201cbiggest cheerleader\u201d and \u201creally understanding the signals that your body is giving you.\u201d<\/p>\n 3. Make protein and fiber your priority <\/p>\n Eating enough protein and fiber is just as important when you come off weight loss drugs as it is while you\u2019re taking them.<\/p>\n \u201cYour muscle mass drives your metabolism, and we can protect it by eating enough protein and fiber,\u201d says Patel.<\/p>\n Muscles are metabolically active, so maintaining or building muscle helps support a higher resting metabolic rate. When you don\u2019t eat enough and calories are low, the body can break down muscle for energy, which can slow metabolism and affect weight gain over time.<\/p>\n Protein is important because it helps preserve lean muscle during fat loss, supports muscle repair and growth and naturally increases fullness (satiety).<\/p>\n Fiber supports fullness, appetite regulation and metabolic health\u2014stabilizing blood sugar, improving insulin sensitivity, and lowering cholesterol\u2014while also being good for the gut.<\/p>\n Good sources of protein include chicken, tofu, yoghurt and cottage cheese, while good fiber sources include vegetables, fruit, flaxseed, berries and chia seeds. Combine the foods in meals or opt for foods like lentils, which tick both high protein and fiber boxes.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net\/flexiimages\/7uepuckkxv1645106070.svg\")
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