When you are losing weight with GLP-1, the scale shows a lower number each week. What the scale does not show is how much of that is fat and how much is muscle. If you are not paying attention to protein, some of what comes off when you step on the scale may be lean tissue. That matters because muscle is what keeps your metabolism running. When muscle decreases, your body burns fewer calories at rest, and weight loss gets harder over time.
When you are losing weight with GLP-1, the scale shows a lower number each week. What the scale does not show is how much of that is fat and how much is muscle. If you are not paying attention to prot...
The Role of Protein During Treatment
GLP-1 reduces appetite effectively. You eat less without having to try. That is great for weight loss, but it also means it is easier to miss important nutrients. Protein is the hardest nutrient to get in sufficient quantity when portions shrink, because it takes up space and requires more digestive work to process.
When your body is in a caloric deficit, it can break down muscle to get amino acids. That happens even with GLP-1. The only way to protect lean mass is to make sure you are getting enough protein every day. This is especially relevant for people who are already close to their goal weight or who have been losing weight for more than three months.
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Registrar en la appHow Much Protein You Need
For people on GLP-1 therapy, the recommendation sits between 1.2 and 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. A person weighing 80 kilograms would need between 96 and 128 grams of protein daily. That is noticeably higher than typical intake.
Spreading protein across the day matters too. Your body can use only so much at one time for building and maintaining muscle. If you eat most of your daily protein at dinner, you are wasting some of the potential. The goal is to distribute it across three or four meals, with roughly 25 to 40 grams in each.
