How to protect your muscle on a GLP-1

Recent trial data is consistent. When nothing else is done to protect it, somewhere between a quarter and forty percent of the weight lost on semaglutide or tirzepatide can come from lean mass. That's the real mechanism behind the "Ozempic face" and "Ozempic body" people talk about. The encouraging part: lean mass is the most protectable piece of your result, and protecting it is most of what good coaching does.

The fix is unglamorous and mostly in your hands. Aim for about one gram of protein per pound of goal body weight, spread across three to four meals. Strength train two to three times a week with progressive overload, not just walking. And let your provider pace your dose increases slowly enough that you can actually eat the protein you need, instead of nausea overriding your appetite.

Here's how I set it up. Your provider handles the medical side, clearance, labs, and dosing. On the coaching side, every client I work with starts with a body composition baseline and a written protein-and-strength plan from the start, so we protect muscle from day one instead of reacting to its loss months later. The medication is the easy part. Protecting what you came in with is the plan.