Would you believe that there’s a medication that can quiet the constant mental chatter around food for the first time in your adult life, but it could also cause you to lose muscle, age your face, and trap you in a cycle that’s hard to escape? Both of those are true.

When a drug can help someone lose 50 pounds and get off diabetes medication, that’s a miracle. But when that same drug leaves someone unable to eat, losing muscle, and facing a lifetime of injections just to maintain their weight—that’s a conversation we truly need to have.

So, today we’re taking a deep dive into GLP-1s—Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and what’s coming next.

How to preserve muscle when taking GLP-1 medications

Consume 1.2–1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight daily, spread across meals
Try to eat something containing 25–30 grams of protein within about two hours after doing a strength workout
Consume easily digestible protein sources when your appetite is low (shakes, yogurt, collagen, or bone broth)
Commit to doing resistance training at least two to three times a week
Monitor your body composition for any early signs of muscle loss

Bio: Stephanie Gray

Stephanie Gray, DNP, MS, ARNP, AGNP-C, ABAAHP, FAARFM, is a functional medicine provider helping men and women build sustainable, optimal health and longevity. A nurse practitioner since 2009, Dr. Gray completed her doctorate focusing on estrogen metabolism from the University of Iowa in 2011 and holds a Master's in Metabolic Nutritional Medicine from the University of South Florida's Medical School.

Dr. Gray is one of the Midwest's most credentialed female healthcare providers. She completed an Advanced Fellowship in Anti-Aging, Regenerative, and Functional Medicine in 2013 and became Iowa's first BioTe certified provider—now the state's only platinum provider with over 10,000 pellet placements. She is also certified as a SIBO doctor-approved practitioner, mold-literate provider, and ReCODE 2.0 practitioner for cognitive decline prevention.

An Amazon best-selling author, Dr. Gray wrote Your Longevity Blueprint and Your Fertility Blueprint, and hosts the Your Longevity Blueprint podcast. She co-founded Your Longevity Blueprint Nutraceuticals with her husband, Eric. After her own ten-year fertility journey, she now specializes in helping couples optimize reproductive health through functional medicine. Having lost her grandmother to vascular dementia, she is personally committed to helping families avoid cognitive decline. Dr. Gray founded the Integrative Health and Hormone Clinic in Hiawatha, Iowa.

In this episode:

How muscle preservation becomes non-negotiable when your appetite is suppressed
Why protein timing matters more than total calories when on GLP-1 medications
The importance of resistance training when taking GLP-1s
The value of in-body scans for catching any muscle loss that may be occurring early on
Why tapering off GLP-1 medications starts on day one, not at the finish line
How natural GLP-1 stimulation can support or extend the effects of GLP-1 medications
Why body composition, not weight loss, determines long-term outcomes when taking GLP-1s
How the next generation of GLP-1 agonist drugs could improve our longevity

Links and Resources:

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