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Is Using Semaglutide Considered Cheating?

The Qyral Team ·
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You’ve tried to lose weight, but for one reason or another or another you are struggling. Science has finally figured out that managing your weight is more than calories in and calories out. Your weight depends on several factors: hormones, age, lifestyle, and even genetics. If one of these things is causing either a stall or even weight gain, you may want to consider looking into semaglutide to help you.

Things That Can Stall or Prevent Weight Loss

There are six main things that contribute to weight management:

  • Diet

  • Lifestyle

  • Age

  • Genetics

  • Hormones

Some of the things that slow your progress are easier to fix than others. Most of us can control what we eat and change our certain lifestyle habits, but we can’t change our age and genetics. Hormones can sometimes be balanced with medical help. Let’s break down why you might be struggling.

Diet

Diet and nutrition are the go-to weight management techniques. It’s long been known that if you eat too many calories, you’ll most likely gain weight. The first thing most of us do when we want to lose weight is to go on a diet. But sticking to a diet can be a chore for some. Nutrition is a complicated topic that is an article within itself, but some basic tips include:

  • Track what you eat

  • Make sure you are getting enough protein (25-30% of your calories)

  • Eat whole foods

  • Don’t drink your calories

  • Drink half your body weight in water every day

  • Ditch added sugar, processed, and fried food

Lifestyle

If you lead a sedentary lifestyle or have a desk job, you may not be moving as much as you could be. Lifestyle includes things like exercise, sleep, stress, and social and family connection. Some of these things you can change to help weight management. Clearly, making time for exercise is at the top of the list. Cardiovascular or aerobic exercise like running, walking, biking, or even dancing gets your heart rate up, helping you to burn more calories. 

Weight training is an important form of exercise. There is an old saying that “muscle weighs more than fat.” Technically, a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same- a pound. But a pound of muscle takes up a lot less space. When you have more muscle, you also burn more fat. 

Getting enough sleep is another thing that can affect your weight. Poor sleep is one of the biggest risk factors for obesity. Adults who don’t get enough sleep are 55% more likely to be obese!

Age

If you’re a little bit older, you know that it was a lot easier to lose weight when you were younger. As we age, our metabolism slows down considerably. Our body composition shifts and our hormone levels change. This is especially true for women once they go through menopause. 

You can’t change your age, but you can eat a well balanced diet, exercise, and get enough sleep. 

Genetics

Your family history can have an affect on your weight. But, it isn’t as big of a factor as once thought. More than 400 different genes have been studied for links to weight, but only a handful have an actual effect. Genes can affect appetite, how easy it is for you to feel full, metabolism, food cravings, body-fat distribution, and the tendency to use eating as a way to cope with stress.

Genes are more likely a factor if:

  • You’ve been overweight your whole life. 

  • If your parents and many close relatives are overweight or obese.

  • You cannot lose weight with dietary restriction and intense exercise over a period of several months.

Hormones

Science now knows that hormones play a very important role in weight management. As our hormonal profile changes, so does our body. Insulin is one of the most important hormones when it comes to weight loss and weight gain. Insulin enters the bloodstream as needed to keep your  blood sugar levels stable. It decides how much fat to store and how much energy to convert.

If your insulin is chronically high, you can develop insulin resistance, which leads to high blood sugar. This imbalance leads to weight gain and even type 2 diabetes. When insulin levels remain high over an extended period of time, obesity and metabolic syndrome are often the unfortunate outcome.

Leptin is another important hormone when it comes to weight management. Lepin is made within your fat cells and it’s what makes you feel full. It’s basically your appetite suppressant hormone.

When your leptin levels are balanced, you don’t overeat. But eating too many trans fats and processed foods causes leptin resistance. With leptin resistance, communication between the brain and leptin is broken, your brain doesn’t know that your body is full. So you just keep eating. 

Another important hormone is ghrelin. This is your “hunger hormone.” When your stomach is empty, ghrelin is released to send a signal to the brain that it is time to eat. In overweight people, ghrelin levels are out of whack. 

Other hormones affect your weight as well. These include estrogen, cortisol, neuropeptide Y (NPY), and glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1). GLP-1 has gotten a lot of attention recently, thanks to semaglutide.

Medication Can Help! 

Research shows that some overweight and obese people may not be releasing GLP-1 as effectively as people who are at a healthy weight. GLP-1 regulates blood sugar levels by stimulating insulin secretion after we eat. Semaglutide is a GLP-1 receptor agonist medication that helps your body decrease hunger by binding to GLP-1 receptors in the central nervous system and gastrointestinal tract. This also slows emptying of the stomach, so you feel full longer. This gives some people the help they need to eat less and develop healthier eating habits. 

Medication such as semaglutide can help you lose weight that isn’t coming off the old fashioned way. When you consider that hormones play such a big role, it’s understandable that sometimes medical intervention is needed to get everything back in line. Most of us would never shame someone for taking medication for depression, another hormonal imbalance. It’s not cheating because it’s a medical condition. So why should weight management be any different?

Prescription weight-loss medications might be a missing piece of the puzzle for you. With this bit of extra support, people who are overweight or obese may get what they need to stay on the path to balancing their hormones and changing their health for the better. You can think about it like this: semaglutide can help you with the factors of weight management that you don't have control over.

To see if you qualify for prescription weight management medications, take our health assessment quiz at qyral.com. We’ll connect you with a healthcare provider who will do an online telehealth evaluation. If you qualify, we’ll get you the medication you need with no extra memberships or surprise fees. Everything is done discreetly and delivered right to your door.

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