Things to Consider Before Taking Weight Loss Medications

Bamboo Nutrition is a group practice of registered dietitians and therapists, located in Columbia, MO and Rochester, MN. Bamboo Nutrition is a non-weight-focused practice, which means we don’t believe weight loss solves the problem or is the answer to every chronic disease. We help individuals live healthier lives where they feel confident in their food decisions and feeding their families, and we work alongside our clients to improve disordered eating behaviors and negative body image.

deciding to take wegovy, ozempic, mounjaro, or other weight loss medications….

You are doing the right thing by reading a lot about these medications and asking the hard questions. At the end of the day, this is a medication… not a vitamin or NSAID or any other over the counter pill… this is a big deal and not a decision to take lightly.

These medications will alter the way your body digests food. Unfortunately there are not long-term studies on general population individuals using this medication. Most of the populations studied do not have mental health conditions, post-partum, many ethnic backgrounds beyond caucasion are not studied, and the majority of research lies with individuals who have diabetes.

How I (a registered dietitian) see this, is to proceed with caution. Without long term studies, we cannot guarantee that these medications are safe, or that they will not impact our gut health or other metabolic organs down the road.

See our previous blog post about the medications and their side effects.

Ask yourself “why?”

The big question to ask yourself is, how come you’re considering taking one of these medications?

Reasons someone may be considering this class of medications:

There’s a lot to unpack with each one of these reasons, and honestly, all of these reasons are valid!!

These medications will help you lose weight. Probably not as much weight as you are imagining, or at least is sustainable, but in the end studies show you will lose “some” weight.

My next question to reflect on is “At what cost?”

There are serious side effects to consider

If you don’t have diabetes, you may have very serious side effects that make it challenging to do every day, normal, activities. This class of medication was designed for people with diabetes, which means any one but that population who takes this medication may notice side effects because their body is now being forced to do something very counter-intuitive.

This leads into a bigger, more debated discussion….

Not all fat bodies are unhealthy bodies.

Read that over and over if you need to. It is important to know this and trust this statement, otherwise you may feel forced by your provider to do something that may not be necessary.

Our society is built for people in smaller bodies. The billion-dollar diet culture industry has all to gain for your loss in money, time, and hope by pushing diets on you driven by the desire to be skinnier.

Making peace with your body image is something I would strongly consider doing BEFORE you start taking one of these medications, or at least WHILE you’re on the medication.

Working with a dietitian who is looking beyond your weight and focused on helping you with food behaviors is something I would also recommend doing before or in addition to the medication treatment.

It is a similar concept as to being in therapy while taking an anti-depressant. Sure one or the other works, but they work MUCH better together.

So doesn’t it make sense that if you’re taking a medication for weight loss that alters your metabolism, and therefore food decisions, that you would see a dietitian simultaneously?

Moving forward

If you decide to take one of these medications, try to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket. In the midwest, that means don’t give up on all the alternatives at once. Consider the following while on these medications:

There is no such thing as a “magic pill” and there likely never will be. That’s because our bodies are designed the way they are on purpose. They are resilient, extraordinary works of art despite what society says their shape, color, or image should be.

Take care of yourself beyond these medications and by the end of the recommended time using them, ideally you’ll be feeling more confident and better mentally about yourself and can make long term healthy decisions.

If you haven’t worked with a dietitian yet, and this language and approach is resonating with you, consider reaching out to us and we will help you take your health to the next level.