We Can't Have Our Cake and Eat It Too: The Truth About GLP-1s
☕ Grab your coffee (or your protein shake), friend. Let's talk.
Welcome to the blog post about weight loss and GLP-1 medications.
Are you shocked it has taken me this long to write one?
You may be taking a GLP-1 medication. If you aren't, you absolutely know someone who is.
GLP-1–based medications have completely changed the way we treat obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. They are powerful medications that can do incredible things when they're prescribed appropriately and paired with the foundational work.
But when they're used as a way to eat as little as humanly possible, avoid strength training, chase the lowest number on the scale, or continue eating whatever we want without consequences?
That's where we've missed the point.
Let's dive into it.
Hi, I'm Brittany—and I Used to Weigh 270 Pounds
In 2022, I went to a weight-loss clinic and started Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide.
For the first time in my life, I wasn't constantly thinking about food.
The food noise shut off.
I could put the brakes on my hunger. I could eat a meal and stop when I was satisfied. Food no longer felt like it was running a 24-hour group chat inside my brain.
It was fantastic.
If you've never experienced constant food noise, it can be difficult to understand how life-changing that silence feels. I had 28 years of habits to work through, and many of them revolved around food.
The clinic also gave me a strict nutrition and workout plan. And because I had made a significant financial investment, you better believe I followed that plan to a T.
But even while the weight was coming off, I had one huge fear:
What if I gain it all back?
That question is where the real work began.
Losing the weight was one piece of the puzzle. Learning how to nourish my body, maintain muscle, understand my hunger, and build habits I could continue without depending entirely on a medication was another.
What Are GLP-1s Actually Doing?
GLP-1 is a hormone your body naturally produces—primarily in the gut after you eat. It helps regulate blood sugar, appetite, fullness, and digestion.
Some medications mimic GLP-1. Tirzepatide works on both GLP-1 and GIP receptors. These medications can decrease appetite and food intake, improve insulin sensitivity, and help regulate blood sugar. They are FDA-approved alongside nutrition and physical activity—not as a replacement for them. The FDA describes tirzepatide's role in chronic weight management here.
Then we have other hunger and fullness signals, including:
Ghrelin: Often called the "hunger hormone." It helps signal that it's time to eat.
Leptin: Helps communicate information about your body's stored energy and contributes to feelings of fullness.
GLP-1: Released after eating and helps with satiety, blood sugar regulation, and slowing digestion.
GIP: Another hormone released after eating that affects insulin secretion and energy regulation.
These signals are influenced by sleep, stress, exercise, food quality, meal composition, insulin sensitivity, dieting history, genetics, and many other factors.
In other words, hunger isn't simply a matter of willpower.
But it also isn't something we should try to eliminate completely.
Hunger Is Not a Side Effect We Need to Cure
After years of prescribing these medications, I've noticed that people can become obsessed with never feeling hungry.
At first, it feels wonderful.
Heck yeah! I went all day without thinking about food!
But long term? Going all day without eating is not the flex we think it is.
You have to fuel yourself.
Your body needs protein, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and enough total energy to function. Your muscles cannot survive on good intentions, iced coffee, and three bites of a protein bar.
A GLP-1 medication should help turn down the volume of excessive hunger and food noise. It shouldn't turn food into something you avoid altogether.
The goal is not to see how little you can eat.
The goal is to create enough space between the craving and the decision so you can intentionally nourish your body and practice different behaviors.
Can You Support Your Body's Natural Fullness Signals?
There isn't one magical food that will "boost your natural GLP-1" enough to recreate the effect of medication. I don't want us turning this into another wellness gimmick.
However, we can build meals and habits that support more stable hunger, fullness, blood sugar, and energy.
That may include:
Starting meals with approximately 25–30 grams of protein
Eating adequate fiber—generally at least 25 grams per day for many women and more for many men, depending on individual needs
Including healthy fats instead of trying to survive on dry chicken breast and sadness
Choosing more whole and minimally processed foods
Eating slowly enough to recognize fullness
Sleeping consistently
Strength training
Avoiding severe, prolonged caloric restriction
Eating regular, balanced meals rather than accidentally fasting all day and raiding the pantry at night
Protein and fiber are especially helpful because they support fullness and make it much easier to build a meal that actually holds you over.
And no—your coffee with collagen doesn't necessarily count as breakfast.
I said what I said.
We Can't Have Our Cake and Eat It Too
I once listened to an obesity physician explain that people don't like feeling deprived. We don't want to experience hunger, limit certain foods, or accept any boundaries around eating.
He used a rather spicy analogy: Just because an adult can have sex with anyone and everyone doesn't mean they should—or that doing so would come without consequences.
The same basic principle applies to food.
We are allowed to enjoy food. We can celebrate birthdays, eat cake, order pizza, and have foods that exist purely because they taste wonderful.
But we cannot consistently eat unlimited amounts of whatever we want, whenever we want, and expect there to be no health consequences.
That isn't shame.
That's biology.
We don't need extreme restriction, but we do need some boundaries. There is an enormous amount of space between "I can never eat cake again" and "I should be able to eat cake every night without it affecting me."
Where I Think We've Gone Wrong With GLP-1s
GLP-1 medications aren't the problem.
Our expectations can be.
Some people want the medication to make sure they're never hungry, never experience a craving, and never have to think about their choices.
Others want to eat whatever they want without gaining weight—but don't want to strength train, prioritize protein, improve sleep, or do the work required to maintain the results.
If you're one of my patients—or considering becoming one—please know that I'm fiercely protective of the people I prescribe these medications to.
I'm not going to continue increasing your dose simply because you felt hungry one afternoon.
Hunger is not a medication failure.
I'm also not automatically racing every patient toward the maximum dose while protein intake is nonexistent, strength training isn't happening, and overall nutrition is falling apart.
That isn't the kind of weight loss I want for you.
These medications often require long-term treatment because obesity is a chronic condition, and weight regain after discontinuation is common. That does not make someone "addicted." However, continually chasing higher doses or the newest medication without addressing nutrition, muscle, movement, and behavior can leave someone increasingly dependent on medication to do all the work.
Eventually, weight loss may slow or plateau. Hunger may become more noticeable. That doesn't automatically mean you need more medication.
It may mean we need to look at the entire picture.
My Job Is Not to Make You as Small as Possible
Sorry, boo-boo. I don't prescribe like that.
I'm interested in your long-term health—not simply the lowest number you can force onto the scale.
I want you strong.
I want you nourished.
I want you metabolically healthier.
I want you to be able to travel, work, play with your children or grandchildren, carry your groceries, get off the floor, and continue living independently as you age.
Weight loss includes both fat and lean tissue, so protecting muscle matters. Current research shows that these medications generally reduce more fat than lean tissue, but monitoring muscle health is still important—especially for older adults and people at risk of frailty. This review explains the current evidence surrounding GLP-1 medications and muscle health.
That means we need:
An individualized protein goal based on your body composition, health, and target weight
Adequate healthy fats and carbohydrates
Enough fiber
Consistent strength training
Recovery and sleep
A dose that supports the process without making it impossible to eat
Regular monitoring of symptoms, nutrition, labs, and body composition when appropriate
I'm not impressed by rapid weight loss if you're losing muscle, barely eating, and feeling terrible.
That's not health.
That's just becoming a smaller, weaker, more exhausted version of yourself.
Can GLP-1s Help?
Oh, 100%.
They can reduce excessive appetite and food noise, improve insulin sensitivity and blood sugar regulation, support meaningful weight loss, and give people room to practice new behaviors.
For some people, they are absolutely life-changing.
But are GLP-1 medications the only way to lose weight?
Oh, heck no.
And are they a substitute for protein, strength training, sleep, balanced nutrition, and sustainable habits?
Also no.
XOXO,
Brittany
Let's Live Embodied.
Brittany's Bottom Line
GLP-1 medications are tools—not punishment, magic, or permission to stop fueling your body.
The goal is not to never feel hungry again. The goal is to make hunger more manageable so you can make intentional choices, build new habits, protect your muscle, and improve your long-term health.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too. You cannot expect the medication to do all the work while ignoring the foundations that keep the weight off and keep your body strong.
Use the tool.
Do the work.
Eat the protein.
Lift the weights.
And for the love of everything—please stop celebrating that you survived the entire day on coffee and four crackers.
References
U.S. Food and Drug Administration — FDA Approves New Medication for Chronic Weight Management
PubMed — Review on GLP-1 medications and muscle health (PMID 39401279)
The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always consult your own healthcare provider before making changes to your health regimen. Embody Wellness Clinic accepts patients who are residents of Kansas.
