Dosing: If a dose is working stay on it as long as you can. If your insurance is moving you up that’s one thing but if your doctor is trying to move you up every month please advocate for yourself. Communicate with your doctor, educate your doctor, they are not all up on nutrition.

How do you know a dose is working? You are able stay in a healthy calorie deficit easily. To find your deficit click here and fill out the TDEE calculator. If you are able to stay in that range with ease the dose is working even if the scale doesn’t move every month. If you move up too quickly you can get bad side effects, the meds can stop working or you become so suppressed you can hardly eat. You want healthy weight loss.

Manage your Expectations: The meds do not work right away for all people. There is no guarantee you will lose weight right away. Once the mends start working the average weight loss is .5-2 pounds a week. There will be weeks you lose nothing and if you are doing everything right that’s normal. A real stall is 6-8 weeks you can click here for more info on stalls. It may take you longer to lose if you are diabetic, always work closing with your physician with dosing if you are regulating your A1C.

Compound Medication: Units are not your dose. Always follow the pharmacy prescription and if you have questions about your dosing call the pharmacy first then you can try your physician. Dosing is always in milligrams, units is a measurement of liquid that contains your dose. Your dose is always in milligrams. Please always know what dose you are on and always read your prescription.  You also may want to purchase extra syringes or alcohol pads.

Always wipe the top of the vial with alcohol before drawing your medications and wipe your injection site. To view some of our videos on how to get the meds from the vial check out our youtube channel.

Injection sites: The stomach is a popular site 2 inches out from the belly button. You can go all the way around like a clock. The biggest rule is don’t use the exact same locations week after week or you can build up scare tissue, move it around even if it’s a couple inches. Then you have the back fast of the arms as well as the fat of both of your thighs. These injections must always be in sub-q fat. Do not inject into scar tissue and do your best to avoid stretch marks, go in between them if possible. It is recommended to eventually try all your injection sites you may find one works better than another, that can also change over time.

Injection Days & Times: This is really a personal preference. I always recommend starting off that you choose a day that where you will be off work the next day in case you have side effects. You can always change your day later. As to times many people do night time due to side effects but you should try different times and see what works best. If you ever want to move your shot day it’s fine you must wait at least 72 hours before taking another shot but it’s recommended to wait longer whne you can. Say you want to move from Friday to Tuesday, the next week do THursday, then Wednesday then Tuesday or something along those lines.

Healthy Weight Loss:

  1. Calorie Deficit: You need to be  eating fewer calories than you burn. To double-check your daily calorie needs and adjust your intake if needed check use the TDEE Calculator.  Make sure you choose the appropriate activity level. Once you hit submit you will see your maintenance calories and then suggested calories for healthy safe weight loss. 
  2. Protein Intake: Aim for .8 to 1g per pound of ideal body weight.
  3. Balanced Diet: Include fruits, veggies, whole grains, and healthy fats to get all the nutrients your body needs.
  4. Nutrients: Vitamins, minerals, amino acids and more can be essential to supplement.
  5. Hydration: Drink enough water! 80 – 100 ounces is usually sufficient, more is fine if you’re working out.
  6. Exercise: Mix in some cardio and strength training exercises to keep your body active. During active weight loss resistance training (weight training) is crucial to avoid muscle loss.
  7. Sleep and Stress: Are you sleeping well and managing stress? Both can impact your weight loss, so make sure you’re getting enough rest and finding ways to relax. 

Traveling: When you travel you must carry on your medication, do not check it. If you are on brand name they can be unrefrigerated for 21 days as long as you use the pen within that time frame. If you are on compound as long as you put it in the refrigerator when you get where you are going you should be fine. You can always get a travel case with a small ice pack though. You must bring your prescription with you (compound or brand name) and do not pre-load syringes.

Maintenance: There are many ways to approach maintenance, it’s really a personal journey. Some people will stop the meds completely and go back on a low dose after about a month. Other people will titrate down. The key is finding a dose and frequency (every 7-14 days) that works best for you to maintain your weight with minimal side effects.