February 28. 2023
Semaglutide weight loss supplements are taking over every weight loss clinic, blog, webpage, and social media. Everyone talks about the incredible benefits semaglutide therapy provides to lose weight fast. They also tell you this peptide has to be combined with diet and exercise to achieve optimal results. But there is not much comment on what type of dietplanpairs best withsemaglutide. Our healthcare professionals from ourweight loss clinic in Chicagowant to shed some light on this topic to help you enhance your semaglutide treatment.
We get asked many questions regarding semaglutide therapy from our patients, so we know that maybe you are wondering: “do I have to follow a diet when taking semaglutide?” There is no specific diet you should stick to while on Wegovy orOzempic weight loss, but lowering your daily calorie intake is a must to succeed and lose a significant amount of body weight – which is often the goal of people who resort to semaglutide. A low-calorie diet and regular physical activity will get you to your goals faster; they are also necessary to maintain your dream weight once you are off the drug.
There are so many diets on the internet; a new one shows up almost every day. And there are also so many opinions on those diets. It can be overwhelming to find the perfect one for your semaglutide treatment. We want to provide you with a comprehensive semaglutide diet plan you can follow and guarantee results.
What is semaglutide?
Semaglutide was used to treat type 2 diabetes for over 15 years before its weight loss powers were discovered. In 2012, professional researchers from Novo Nordisk pharmaceutical company started working on a new type 2 diabetes medication using semaglutide. That medicine was launched under the brand name Ozempic and approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2017. It was not long until people started noticing an incredible side effect of using the drug: they were losing significant amounts of body weight.
That finding was too good to let pass by, so the pharmaceutical company conducted a series of clinical trials to prove whether semaglutide had weight loss supplement potential. Therefore, 1,961 people enrolled in the trial that lasted 68 weeks. The participants were obese or overweight; they committed to dieting and exercising during the trial. The results showed that patients lost an average of 15% of their body weight. Novo Nordisk launched semaglutide under a new brand, Wegovy, an FDA-approved semaglutide intended to lose and manage weight.
How does semaglutide help you lose weight?
Semaglutide mimics a receptor agonist known asGlucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1); this naturally occurring hormone is produced in the human gut and released every time we have a meal. What this hormone does to help diabetic patients with blood sugar control (it stimulates the pancreas to release insulin and the liver to lower sugar production) also makes food travel through your digestive system more slowly than usual. Food moving through your digestive system is known as gastric emptying; when this process slows down, it makes you feel satisfied for longer. Not being as hungry as usual helps people on the treatment to easily stick to a low-calorie semaglutide diet plan and achieve weight loss quickly.
But that is not all GLP-1 hormone does; semaglutide also affects the brain. The hypothalamus is a part of our brains that controls hunger and satisfaction. GLP-1 appetite hormones stimulate the hypothalamus to increase feelings of fullness and alter food preferences. Feeling full and not getting unhealthy treats craving will make sticking to a diet a piece of cake. Include regular exercise in that mix; you will have the perfect recipe to lose body weight.
Implementing a semaglutide diet plan
If you are wondering: “why am I not losing weight on Ozempic?” maybe that happens because you are not dieting while on the treatment. Semaglutide is the perfect weight loss supplement for you if you are not a fan of highly restrictive diets. There is no specific meal plan to follow when taking Ozempic or Wegovy, forbidden foods, or macronutrient tracking. So the semaglutide weight loss diet plan is highly free and customizable to your needs and goals. If you are a vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, or gluten intolerant, that will not be an obstacle here.
What matters when using this weight loss medication is that you follow a low-calorie meal plan. To lose weight, you need to reach a caloric deficit, which only occurs when you burn more calories than the one you eat throughout the day. That is why physical activity is also vital for this treatment to work.
Since there is no fixed diet for this treatment, we came up with a 1200-calorie semaglutide diet plan. That daily calorie intake is distributed in 3 meals a day of 300kcal and three snacks of 100kcal. With this low-calorie meal plan, you will be able to reach your weight loss goals. However, remember that there is no one-fit-all diet for Wegovy or Ozempic. You can lower or increase the calorie intake to fit your need. We encourage you to do so by resorting to a healthcare team to guarantee its success and do it safely. Speaking about diet and safety, during the treatment, try to limit your alcohol consumption. Besides adding too many calories to your diet, semaglutide or phentermine and alcoholis never a good idea since they can interact with each other and put your health in danger.
Here are some ideas for one day on the 1200-calorie semaglutide meal plan:
Breakfast
You can start your day with a nutritious breakfast by preparing a bowl with 1 cup of fat-free greek yogurt, adding 1/3 cup of blueberries (or your favorite berries), and 5-7 almonds. You can sweeten it with non-added sugar honey. This breakfast bowl has about 250kcal.
Another option is kicking off the day by drinking detox tea. You can take it right before or with your yogurt bowl. The weight lossbenefits of detox teacan help you boost your journey from the beginning of the day.
Lunch
For lunch, you can make these veggie wraps that work perfectly to prepare ahead the day before. Shred and mix together the following ingredients: 1 carrot, two spring onions, 80g red cabbage, one courgette, five green olives, and one handful of basil leaves. Combine everything together in a large bowl and add 1/2 tsp mustard powder, 2 tsp virgin olive oil, 1 tbsp vinegar, and salt to the taste. Grab a large low-calorie tortilla and pile the veggie mix along one side of the wrap. Roll it firmly until you get a compact wrap. Enjoy! This veggie wrap has about 280kcal.
Dinner
For dinner, you can cook this low-calorie sausage and vegetables. Heat 1bsp of olive oil on a skillet and add one large sliced pre-cooked sausage. Cook the sausage for about 2 minutes and set it aside. Add another tbsp olive oil to the skillet and cook chopped zucchini, onion, and bell pepper—season with salt, fresh pepper, oregano, and garlic powder. Cook for about 5-10 minutes; then add back the sliced sausage and cook for another 2 minutes. One serving makes 288ckal.
Snacks
Always opt for healthy, low-calorie snacks such as:
- Free-sugar cookies
- Fruits – berries, oranges, watermelon.
- Protein bars
- Hardboiled eggs
- Cherry tomatoes
3 tips for a successful weight loss with semaglutide
- Stay away from certain foods: just like there areMounjaro foods to avoid, there are also foods you should avoid while on this weight-loss medication. For example, high-calorie foods can lead you to fail your diet. Also, greasy or fatty foods can increase nausea – one of the common effects of semaglutide.
- Find an exercise you love: dancing, a sport, the right gym, or working out at home. Finding something you love to engage with will make it easy to stay active and burn calories each day.
- Intermittent fasting: semaglutide and fasting have proven to be a highly effective combination for previous patients.Intermittent fasting for women over 50could be the missing piece of the puzzle if you struggle to lose with semaglutide.
Final thoughts
Semalgutude therapy does not come with a specific meal plan. We take this as an advantage since each patient can customize their diet to their personal needs. However, this is no indication that you can eat whatever you want during the treatment. Following a low-calorie diet to reach a calorie deficit is a must to guarantee success.
Do you need help creating the perfect meal plan for semaglutide?Schedule a callwith us, and we will help you develop the right diet for you.
Author
Nurse Walton
Born and raised in Chicago, IL, Chanay received her Practical Nurse licensure and went to work in clinical specialties such as Home Health, Assisted Living, Long-Term Care and Dialysis Centers. Through this work, she realized the importance of diet, nutrition and weight loss among her patients. This led her to open A Better Weigh, Inc. Medical Weight Loss Center in 2009.