Want the skinny on the magic pill everyone is talking about? If you’ve ever considered trying Ozempic or a similar weight loss drug, you’re not alone! In this episode, I share the pros and cons of Ozempic, my honest and objective perspective, and my top weight loss tips.The hard truth is that weight loss is difficult! With Eli Lilly’s announcement of a phase 3 trial for a cheaper, oral weight loss pill, this topic is hotter than ever. One thing to consider is that a quick fix pill doesn’t make you healthier or ensure the weight stays off, whereas doing strength and nutrition work guarantees a healthier tomorrow. When we get down to it, it’s not the weight loss itself that’s hard, it's the behavior modification that supports a healthy lifestyle that some people struggle with. I share my analysis of the Ozempic results, and the conclusion will surprise you! In particular, the reasons why you are better off without taking a weight loss drug and instead joining my program, the Body Composition Project, where participants lose double their body weight in half the time of what Ozempic clinical trials report. Crazy, right?! I then explain why a mindset shift is essential to long-lasting weight loss, how to improve your insulin sensitivity, and the importance of building muscle to lose fat. Remember, you have the power to change your body composition today. Why wait!Ready for a great night’s sleep? Try Beam’s best-selling Dream Powder and get up to 40% off for a limited time. Visit shopbeam.com/HOLLYP and use code HOLLYP at checkout.You can get FREE access to my 4-week Strength Without Stress program right now! Thisprogram will help you reduce the systemic inflammation that’s caused by overly intense orlengthy workouts. It’ll help you build and maintain valuable lean muscle withoutthe fatigue from other programsTo get free access to Strength Without Stress, post a Review wherever you listen. Grab a screenshot of your review before you post it and upload at: https://www.hollyperkins.com/reviewThis is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197–grab it while you can for lifetime access.Be sure to Follow and Subscribe so you'll know exactly when new episodes are available on Tuesdays.Topics coveredThe temptation of effortless weight lossWeight loss IS hard! Weight loss medications work, but at what cost?Why behavior modification is so challengingThree key misunderstandings about weight loss drugsReasons why you’re better off without weight loss medicationWhy a mindset shift is key to sustainable weight lossRemember, not eating causes weight loss AND muscle lossResources MentionedResearch on Eli Lilly's oral weight-loss pill shows promising resultsResearch on healthy weight loss maintenanceResearch about understanding a diabetes diagnosisResearch about the effect of semaglutide on overweight adultsResearch summary on the impact of semaglutide on obese adultsResearch on resistance
Want the skinny on the magic pill everyone is talking about? If you’ve ever considered trying Ozempic or a similar weight loss drug, you’re not alone! In this episode, I share the pros and cons of Ozempic, my honest and objective perspective, and my top weight loss tips.
The hard truth is that weight loss is difficult! With Eli Lilly’s announcement of a phase 3 trial for a cheaper, oral weight loss pill, this topic is hotter than ever. One thing to consider is that a quick fix pill doesn’t make you healthier or ensure the weight stays off, whereas doing strength and nutrition work guarantees a healthier tomorrow. When we get down to it, it’s not the weight loss itself that’s hard, it's the behavior modification that supports a healthy lifestyle that some people struggle with.
I share my analysis of the Ozempic results, and the conclusion will surprise you! In particular, the reasons why you are better off without taking a weight loss drug and instead joining my program, the Body Composition Project, where participants lose double their body weight in half the time of what Ozempic clinical trials report. Crazy, right?! I then explain why a mindset shift is essential to long-lasting weight loss, how to improve your insulin sensitivity, and the importance of building muscle to lose fat. Remember, you have the power to change your body composition today. Why wait!
Ready for a great night’s sleep? Try Beam’s best-selling Dream Powder and get up to 40% off for a limited time. Visit shopbeam.com/HOLLYP and use code HOLLYP at checkout.
You can get FREE access to my 4-week Strength Without Stress program right now! This
program will help you reduce the systemic inflammation that’s caused by overly intense or
lengthy workouts. It’ll help you build and maintain valuable lean muscle without
the fatigue from other programs
To get free access to Strength Without Stress, post a Review wherever you listen. Grab a screenshot of your review before you post it and upload at: https://www.hollyperkins.com/review
This is a limited-time offer before it sells for $197–grab it while you can for lifetime access.
Be sure to Follow and Subscribe so you'll know exactly when new episodes are available on Tuesdays.
Topics covered
Resources Mentioned
Follow Me:
Find me on Instagram: @hollyperkins
Learn more on my website: hollyperkins.com
Connect with me on Facebook: facebook.com/HollyPerkinsFitness
Disclaimer: Content and information as part of The Holly Perkins Health Podcast is for general interest, education, and entertainment purposes only. The use of information on this podcast or materials or products linked from this podcast or website is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical or mental health condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their healthcare professionals for any such conditions.
Holly Perkins 00:00
You've probably heard of Ozempic and other injectable GLP-1 agonists by now. But did you know that Eli Lilly just announced the results of the phase three trial for an oral version of this type of weight loss drug? And while it may seem like a miracle magic pill, let's look a bit closer. The headlines sound impressive, but do the results live up to the promise? And should you consider taking them? This one is interesting, so keep listening.
Holly Perkins 00:34
Hello and thank you for being here. If you are new, welcome. I'm Holly Perkins, and I help women, mostly over 40, to improve body composition to at least 70% lean muscle, so that you can reduce the risk of disease and stay in the game of life and out of the rocking chair. If you've ever thought, maybe I should try Ozempic, or one of those types of drugs, you're not alone. And I'll admit that for a mini minute, I personally got dazzled by this idea of effortless weight loss. And I thought, hmm, it would be nice to just like, drop a few pounds quickly and easily. I think that crosses any woman's mind at some point. It just seems easier, right? And right there—
Holly Perkins 01:30
That just proves they got to me too. That is how powerful the marketing has been for these weight loss drugs. You cannot get away from the allure of the ease of losing a few pounds, whether you need to lose a few or a lot. I have friends and clients taking Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro—those are the most popular of the brand names—and so I've got firsthand experience, and have also had the chance to do some real research on these drugs, because I want to know, is this a weight loss miracle for people who struggle to lose weight?
Holly Perkins 02:13
So I'll be the first to tell you that weight loss is hard. It literally goes against every fiber of our drive to survive. And if you're struggling to achieve a lower number on the scale so that you can be truly healthy, know that however you slice it, it's going to take some kind of action. You're going to have to do something, right? You know that, yeah. So if weight loss happened effortlessly, you'd know. And if it wasn't obvious for you, it would be for me, because I spend my days helping women to become at least 70% lean muscle.
Holly Perkins 02:58
It doesn't happen by accident, especially if you're someone who has struggled to achieve an ideal body weight or body size. Regardless of what those numbers are, we would know at this point if there was an easy and effortless way to do it. There's not.
Holly Perkins 03:15
If your body fat puts you in the at-risk category, or if you are healthy but you simply don't like the body fat that you have, you know it doesn't feel good. If you have a relationship with your body where you feel it needs to be smaller, tighter, leaner, or at a lower number on the bathroom scale, every day you're reminded that you need to lose weight, quote-unquote. That's not me saying that. I think you're perfect just the way that you are. And the truth is, if that is the messaging going through your head every day, that honestly just sucks, right?
Holly Perkins 03:53
So if you're sick of the nonstop mental chatter about your weight, let's fix it. In this episode, you're going to hear the pros and cons of some of these weight loss medications. You're going to get, I think, a somewhat honest and objective perspective on it from someone who is and has coached people on these medications. And you're going to get some of my best tips for how to do it if you are going to use these medications, but also some tips on how to do it without medication.
Holly Perkins 04:28
And you're going to get some real truths behind the scenes of the fine print on a lot of these medications. But first I'd like to play a little game, if you would. So imagine that I appear before you right now, and in each closed hand, I've got a hidden magic pill, and you get to make a blind choice between one of these two hands. Each hand holds a solution to help—
Holly Perkins 05:00
You lose weight. In my left hand is option one: a simple, easy, effortless way to help you lose weight by doing almost nothing. It makes weight loss easy—that's the upside—but there's no guarantee that it'll be easy to keep the weight off, and in fact, the research shows that you'll most likely gain the weight back at some point. But that's the downside to option one. Okay? Also, option one helps you lose weight, but it doesn't make you healthy otherwise. Think of this option as the ultimate in instant gratification, giving you what you want now, but it comes with the gamble of tomorrow.
Holly Perkins 05:49
That's the downside. But in my right hand is option two, and it's like, in many ways, the opposite of option one. Instead of gratifying you now, it asks you to put in the effort today—that's the downside—but the upside is that when the weight comes off (and it will), it will be forever. You'll need to be patient for it to work, but all of your tomorrows will be better because of it. And with the weight loss also comes optimal health and vitality. It's like you get an extra reward for delaying gratification with this option, and you're forever changed for the better. If you haven't already caught on to my little game, which is quite transparent—
Holly Perkins 06:44
Option one’s solution to your problem is weight loss medications like Ozempic and the weight loss pill that's on the horizon (more on that in a moment). And option two is the solution that actually improves the quality of your life forever, but it requires the effort now. And that option is simply just using strength training and nutrition to, quote-unquote, lose the weight by improving your body composition. It's literally this simple: the weight loss medications do work, but at what cost and to what degree? And as always, I've got some research that is going to blow your mind—blow your mind when you see the truth about how effective these weight loss medications actually are. And hint: they're actually not that impressive.
Holly Perkins 07:38
When you really understand the fine print behind the headlines. Last week, Eli Lilly announced the results of their phase three trial of their pill form of a GLP-1 called Orforglipron. And I'm gonna say it slow, because that is a tongue teaser. And no one's gonna refer to it as Orforglipron. They're going to come up with a brand name for it, but they are confirming that it demonstrated, quote-unquote, statistically significant efficacy results consistent with injectable medicines like Ozempic and the others. The announcement went on to say that the company is already stockpiling the pills because they anticipate high demand next year when they assume the drug will be approved by the FDA. Think about that for a moment.
Holly Perkins 08:32
They're already stockpiling the pills because they, wink wink, assume that it will be approved by the FDA. That tells you something right there. Now, because it's a pill and it's not an injectable, it naturally makes the medication cheaper and more accessible to more people. And now this could be good for people who are morbidly obese, who have diabetes, who are really at risk of death because of this illness. And so this is potentially an upside, and the spin that the news media is going to offer you is that it's making it more accessible to more people who need it, who have diabetes, right? And while that is true, we also know probably the majority of people taking these medications don't even have diabetes.
Holly Perkins 09:22
They're using them for weight loss. And so unless I can convince the public otherwise, which I'm going to try and do, we can pretty much assume there's going to be a second wave of frenzy and popularity when this weight loss pill is released next year. Of course, the media is abuzz right now with this news, and many people are very excited, because more people will be able to have access to this magic pill. It appears to be a weight loss miracle, right? A pill form.
Holly Perkins 10:00
Um, of these injectables, which are really in high demand, and a lot of people can't get their hands on them, and by the way, they're very expensive if it is outside of your insurance. If you don't have diabetes and you're taking a lot of these for weight loss, you get to decide whether it's a miracle or not, or whether it's right for you or not. But there is more to the story. And let me first be crystal clear, I am incredibly sympathetic to the obesity epidemic. It's a big reason why I'm in business.
Holly Perkins 10:35
I feel for anyone who struggles with weight loss. It is hard. And to anyone who does struggle with achieving a healthy body weight size—as defined by body composition, not by societal standards and not by just your opinion of the number on the scale—this is not about body weight or body size. This is about how much of your current body weight is body fat, putting you at risk of myriad diseases. So, according to the 2017–2018 data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, this is known as NHANES by the US government, nearly one in three adults, almost 31%, are overweight.
Holly Perkins 11:24
Now, sadly, overweight is still defined by BMI. I don't agree with that. It should be defined by body composition, but that's my other podcast episodes. Go have a listen. Also, that data from the US government shows that more than two in five adults, nearly 43%,
Holly Perkins 11:44
have obesity, and about one in eleven adults, which is only 9%, have severe obesity. But severe obesity is the one that's really, really scary, because you're a ticking time bomb. And this is where these weight loss injectables can actually really serve a very beneficial purpose. Day in and day out, I am a coach. I am not just someone who sits here and looks at research and creates podcasts. You may not know that about me, but I create podcasts based on what I'm seeing in my coaching practice.
Holly Perkins 12:14
After 30 years of being in practice, I counsel women on the best methods for improving body composition and therefore improving their health. I know how hard this conversation is for some people. I know that when a person is overweight or obese, it is incredibly difficult to break free and change your life. I know it. These people have been my clients. At the root of obesity is behavior change. In order to change your biology, you're not broken. Your biology may be off track. That's because we need to change your behaviors that are causing your biology, causing your disease, disorder, or upset. And I'm not sure that there is a tougher nut to crack than behavior modification. It's the hardest. Listen, weight loss is actually pretty easy.
Holly Perkins 13:13
If you're willing to follow the program, to follow the plan, to stay the course of action, it's actually really easy. My clients are doing it every single week. The hard part is the behavior modification. Weight loss can be a significant challenge for some people, especially who struggle with behavior modification. But listen, weight loss is not a challenge for everyone. I'm blown away by how quickly some women do improve their body composition and lose weight because they put their head down, they take their marching orders, and they go.
Holly Perkins 13:46
But it's important to understand that it all really comes down to lifestyle choices the person is making. And therefore, I do believe there is a time and place for weight loss medications or interventions, because they can serve as a jumpstart and help improve insulin sensitivity. As I said, I have firsthand experience as a coach working with people who have opted to try the GLP-1 agonists, like Ozempic, any of the injectables, and I've witnessed all of the day-to-day realities that go with it. I've been in the trenches with my clients.
Holly Perkins 14:26
After looking at the research, clarifying the fine and small print, and seeing it in practice, in real humans day-to-day, I am shocked to find that the buzz around these drugs is far bigger than the actual value they provide. So if you've wondered about these drugs, have considered taking them, or even if you're someone who is actually taking them now, or if you've actually tried them and, quote-unquote, failed…
Holly Perkins 15:00
I hope that my perspective today will help you, because I even have a number of clients who have tried them and it didn't work for a number of reasons, and soon you'll know why. So stay with me. There are three key misunderstandings about these drugs that you may not know. Let's jump in. When we look at the fine print and go behind the curtain of the big headlines to look a bit closer, you may find the claims are actually not all that impressive. Let's start with this new Ozempic pill by Eli Lilly, which is called Orforglipron. Again, no one's going to tell you the name of that, because it's a terrible name. They're going to come up with some snazzy, awesome brand name for it. So stay tuned, because that's coming in 2026, and you can say you heard it first here.
Holly Perkins 15:49
So according to Eli Lilly's own press release, linked in the show notes from April 17, 2025, quote, "The investigational once-daily oral pill reduced weight by an average of 16 pounds at the highest dose in a key secondary endpoint." You don't need to worry about that last little bit too much, but I'll explain it. Basically, a key secondary endpoint is that it wasn't the purpose of the trial. The purpose of the trial was to see how this pill impacted A1c levels, which I'll get to in a moment. So you may be thinking, ooh, wow, I would love to lose 16 pounds like that, right? Headline sounds amazing, but that's just the headline. So let's look closer. First—
Holly Perkins 16:44
Actually, the number is 15.8 pounds, but they just conveniently rounded up to 16, okay? And that is compared to the control group that was taking a placebo. This is wild. This gets so interesting. So basically, one group is taking the pill, the actual medication, and then the other control group is just taking a sugar pill, a placebo. Guess what? The placebo group taking the sugar pill lost 3.4 pounds. I think this is hilarious. So this could suggest, I think it does suggest, that simply believing you're taking the pill helps you to lose weight—3.4 pounds! That helps you to lose the weight just believing you're taking a magic pill. Think about that for a moment.
Holly Perkins 17:33
Okay, it's not my point here. Here's the thing that really got my attention: participants achieved this weight loss—the 15.8 pounds—number one, at the highest dose of the drug, and number two—drum roll, please—after 40 weeks. Forty weeks. Think about that for a moment. I calculated that through the help of Alexa—that's nine months. That's only 1.76
Holly Perkins 18:05
pounds of weight lost per month. Not even two pounds of weight loss per month. Let's round that up. I'm going to give them the benefit of my doubt—two pounds in an entire month. To put this into perspective for a moment, if you're not running the numbers in your head based on your current body weight, I want to put this into perspective. I have a participant right now inside of my group coaching program, The Body Composition Project, who has lost nearly five pounds in less than one month—and she's gained muscle! So the actual fat loss is even greater than five pounds, really and truly. I'm not here to brag, although I wish I could, and I should. I'm not.
Holly Perkins 18:55
I actually sit here in awe when I looked at these numbers and was like, oh my gosh, I've really landed on a methodology that is super, super powerful. But really and truly, I'm not here to sell you on my program. So let's take this magic weight loss pill idea a step further. The clinical trial showed that A1c levels—and that's a measure of insulin sensitivity, in case you don't know what it is, it's how we determine a diabetic state in a person. It's not just your blood sugar response. It's not just glucose blood sugar levels. It's insulin sensitivity.
Holly Perkins 19:32
So this clinical trial showed that A1c levels dropped by as much as 1.6% over the 40 weeks, and that participants taking the highest dose of this drug achieved an A1c less than or equal to 6.5%, which is below the American Diabetes Association's—that's ADA—defined threshold for diabetes. I cross-referenced this, linked in the show notes below at the ADA website. What they don't say here is that, according to the ADA, an A1c between 5.7% and 6.4% is considered pre-diabetic. So, in other words, this medication helped people lower their A1c below the diabetic level—full stop. Which is: diabetic level is between 7 and 9.5%. So this got them out of the category of diabetes, but they are still in the pre-diabetic category. Again, that headline sounds wow and impressive, right?
Holly Perkins 20:42
They reduced their A1c by 1.6% so that they are below 6.5% and out of diabetes, but they're still pre-diabetic. So it's a place to start for sure. High five there, absolutely, without a doubt, it's better than nothing, right? But after 40 weeks—nine months—I can tell you right now, I promise you this: I've been in practice for 30 years, and the vast majority of those 30 years, no one was taking medications. Anyone and everyone, even you, my friend, is capable of doing this through diet and exercise alone, without the need for medication, especially where the dropout rate is as much as 8% because of the adverse side effects of diarrhea, nausea, constipation, and vomiting.
Holly Perkins 21:38
If you know of anyone who's been on these medications, you've heard the complaints. So it makes me wonder: do these weight loss drugs work simply because they make you feel like crap, and so you can't eat? Something to ponder, huh? Up next, I'm sharing two other considerations that don't get talked about in the fine print, and I'm going to share the results of my own unofficial and informal study after participants completed a 24-week nutrition and strength training program—and the results are going to shock you. I mean it. You'll also get my three tips for statistically significant weight loss without medication.
Holly Perkins 22:25
But first, I want to say something that will change your life, if you're willing to hear me, and I say this with love and with a deep desire to help women actually become healthier. It's why I do what I do. Because I believe that when you're healthy, when you are strong, when you are fit, you'll feel powerful, invincible, and unstoppable. And I believe that is how we will change the world and make it a better place. Can you imagine if you, your sisters, your mother, your daughters, your female friends, all felt great today and every day? Can you imagine if we were all unstoppable and positive and happy and doing our thing because we feel great?
Holly Perkins 23:22
Wouldn't that be something? And this is going to sting a bit, but if you'll try it on for size just for a moment, it'll be the game changer that you're looking for. The people who choose weight loss medications believe that they can't do it for themselves. They believe that it's easier to take an injection or a pill than it is to show up for a 30-minute workout. Week after week, they'd rather have nausea than hunger. For them, it's easier to change their diet because everything they eat causes diarrhea—makes it easy.
Holly Perkins 24:02
They are more willing to suffer pain today than to suffer the pain of choosing different foods, of saying no to the foods that aren't serving their goal. For most people, taking a pill is easier than putting in the work week after week. This isn't an obesity problem, my friend, this is a personal mindset problem. It is uncomfortable to delay the gratification of skipping a workout and eating a delicious food. If this resonates for you, or if you're taking weight loss medication right now, please know this. Use it to give you the jumpstart that you need. Use it to inspire you to work out. Use it so that you don't desire indulgent foods, so that you can train yourself.
Speaker 1 25:00
Yourself to eat the vegetables. Use it only as a tool to help you create new habits so that when you get off the medication, you're able to keep going forward on your own good habits. You can become better than ever. You can become leaner than ever and optimally healthy on your own. You do not need the medication, and you'll be better without it. Here's why.
Holly Perkins 25:33
According to the clinical trial of Ozempic, after 68 weeks on the medication, 86.4% of participants lost 5% or more of their body weight. 69.1% lost 10% or more of their body weight. I looked at the study, and after 68 weeks—do the math—it's nearly 16 months. By the way, it's almost a year and a half. The highest weight lost was 15% of body weight from baseline. As always, I've linked the research in the show notes. Let's break down and look at this fine print a bit more. This means if you weigh 200 pounds, you could maybe lose 10 to 15% of your body weight. That is 20 to 30 pounds. But again, keep in mind, this is after nearly a year and a half.
Holly Perkins 26:36
Okay. Some studies have shown that nearly 60% of the weight lost was from fat loss. That means nearly 40% is muscle loss. So that 30 pounds that you might lose with medication comes with 12 pounds of muscle loss. So in the end, even if you did achieve those maximum expectations, you're only going to lose 18 pounds of fat. To me, those are sobering numbers when it doesn't have to be this way. I'd like to demonstrate another way that's actually more effective, and it leads to permanent body composition changes that also promote healthier living in general, forever—and not to mention good bone density.
Holly Perkins 27:30
I now have nearly 50 case studies backed up by DEXA scans—not BMI—of participants following my methodology of nutrition and strength training inside of my program, The Body Composition Project. I have not yet officially documented the numbers, even though I'm planning to. So I don't have the means and the averages, but I can report this: several participants have achieved the following results. Number one, between a 12 to 15% reduction in body weight in less than 24 weeks. That's six months—not nine months or 18 months. Number two, 6.2% improvement in lean muscle mass in 24 weeks—a body composition improvement of as much as 10%. I think there's actually some that are more. I gotta look at the number again.
Holly Perkins 28:30
I think it could be as much as 12.5% in 24 weeks. If you're listening close to these numbers, if you're a numbers geek like I am, my clients are losing double the body weight in half the time of the weight loss medications. Several clients have lost more than 20 pounds in 24 weeks. If math isn't your favorite topic, that is 3.33 pounds per month, and this includes the gaining of lean muscle mass. So if we remove the consideration of the weight gain of muscle, we're actually closer to five pounds of fat loss per month compared to the medications at less than two pounds per month—1.75 to be exact.
Holly Perkins 29:25
After observing these numbers—again, these results were determined via DEXA scans, the most accurate form of testing that we have today—I've gleaned the following three tips for weight loss without medication. Number one, it has to start with a mindset shift: that you can do it yourself, that you are strong enough to make these changes. You have to want this for yourself, and you have to want to actually be
Holly Perkins 29:59
healthier, not just skinnier. And you have to understand that skinnier does not equate to healthier. There are people out there that will lead you to believe that weight loss will make you healthier, and it is not true. I've proven that through numerous episodes here on The Holly Perkins Health Podcast. And these are not my opinions. I'm giving you the research to show this, always linked in my show notes. Number two tip if you want to lose the weight without medication: the value of weight loss medications is that they improve insulin sensitivity and they improve blood sugar regulation. That is it.
Holly Perkins 30:44
That is the only magic to these things. Now, some people will tell you the benefit is they kill your appetite and they make you nauseous so you don't want to eat. So, well, that is, in essence, fasting. And yes, fasting can, in the short term, improve insulin sensitivity. But that's literally all these medications are doing. All they're doing is improving insulin sensitivity. That is it. And guess what? You can do it on your own. Here's how: number one, by eating every three to four hours religiously, other than the hours that you're sleeping.
Holly Perkins 31:18
Number two, combining protein and carbohydrates every single time you eat. Do not eat protein alone. Do not eat carbs alone. And number three, choosing high fiber, low glycemic load foods—not glycemic index, glycemic load. And the third tip, if you want to lose weight without medications: use muscle building to burn off the body fat. Focus on muscle building, not losing weight, and stop using the scale to measure your progress because it's going to throw you off. Like I said, my client right now lost five pounds on the scale, but she also built muscle. I know she did. I'm looking at her progress photos, and so if she's striving for a 30-pound weight loss after a month, she'd be like, wah-wah, I've only lost five pounds.
Holly Perkins 32:12
She's actually lost probably closer to six pounds of fat, pure fat, in the first month—but you're not going to see it on the scale. Resistance training mitigates all muscle loss that occurs during caloric restriction and weight loss, according to a meta-analysis linked in the show notes below. Simply losing an appetite and not eating causes weight loss, but it also causes muscle loss, and we know that progressive, resistant strength training mitigates all of that.
Holly Perkins 32:52
The last misunderstanding to get clear on is that it is now common knowledge that most people regain the weight after taking these medications. A study published in 2022 following participants who had taken semaglutide—which is Ozempic—for over a year found that a subset of participants regained about 12% of their body weight within a year after stopping the drug. Let's put those numbers back into my example from earlier. If you weigh 200 pounds and lose the maximum possible number of 20 to 30 pounds over 12 to 18 months on the medications—I'll even be generous here, let's say that you do lose the 30 pounds—you would then weigh 170 pounds on the scale, right? A 12% regain in body weight equals
Holly Perkins 33:52
Are you ready? Have you done the math? 20 pounds. Ugh. This means after all that time, after a year or a year and a half of your life taking all that medication, you only lost 10 pounds, and some of that is muscle. 40% of that is muscle. Oh my gosh, you just lost six pounds of fat in a year and a half. That is it. To me, my friend, it's not worth it. Could you be the unicorn? Could you do it better? Absolutely. And if you choose a medication, I hope that's you. But we are also looking at the averages. We're looking at most normal people. We're not looking at the unicorns here. And here's the flip side: if you dedicate the next six months of your life—or longer, give it a year, give it a year and a half, I don't care—if you dedicate this next stretch of time to, number one, three progressive strength workouts every
Holly Perkins 35:00
single week, and to eating right, you'll end up with: number one, better results; number two, more muscle; number three, a better looking athletic figure. Instead of one that is just emaciated and atrophied, you'll have better insulin and blood sugar regulation, and you'll have permanent results that mean you get to keep up with life in a fit, strong, resilient body that is, yes, leaner at a lower body weight. I hope you'll really think about this for a few moments, either for yourself or share this information.
Holly Perkins 35:44
Share this episode with your friend, with your neighbor, with a person in your life that is considering some of these weight loss medications. And make sure you bookmark it, because next year when this magical weight loss pill hits the market and everyone is frenzied, I hope you will read this episode. So to wrap up, my hope here is to help you see the truth behind the headlines, so that you realize these medications are not magic miracle pills. They can be a tool, albeit a short-lived one. And can you imagine how much better you'll feel if you start strength training three times per week? Even if you did nothing else, instead of losing muscle, you'll keep or gain it. That means a better booty. That means fine-looking arms. And it means strong legs to let you run, jump, and play for the rest of your life. You've got this, my friend. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and I hope you'll stay tuned for another brand new one on Tuesday of next week. Stay strong, my friend.