Despite your best efforts, you might gain some extra pounds during the holiday season.
When family and friends get together, food is often a big part of the occasion. But that can be a problem. If you’re already carrying more weight than is ideal and add more during the holidays, it’ll be harder to get down to business after the holidays are over.
But the good news is that weight-loss drugs like Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) can help you achieve your New Year’s resolution of losing weight and getting healthier.
Many well-intentioned people commit to losing weight but fall short of their goal. You don’t, however, have to be among the majority. Using weight-loss drugs to gain traction and shed the pounds can help.
“Ozempic and Zepbound are among a category of drugs that can help people lose unwanted weight,” says Jessica Snyder, RD at FuturHealth, which offers scientifically proven weight-loss drugs like the aforementioned. “They do this by focusing on biological mechanisms connected to fullness, hunger, and metabolism.”
Here are five ways weight-loss drugs like Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Ozempic (semaglutide) can help you lose weight after the merrymaking associated with the holiday season is done and over with.
1. Appetite Suppression
One reason people have trouble losing weight–especially during the holiday season when there’s food aplenty–is that they tend to overconsume. It can be hard to pass up the tasty food.
However, weight-loss drugs can help by mimicking GLP-1 and GIP hormones. These hormones regulate appetite–the very thing people have a hard time controlling when the aromas of tasty food trigger hunger pangs. So, these hormones lessen hunger signals and help people control their eating without subjecting them to feelings of deprivation.
2. Improved Satiety
Another reason to include medication like tirzepatide and semaglutide in your weight-loss journey is that they help to enhance satiety. Satiety is that feeling you get when you’ve eaten a satisfying meal and feel like you’ve eaten as much as you can. In other words, you feel full.
What these weight-loss drugs do is reduce the pace of gastric emptying so that what you eat remains in your tummy longer. So, you’ll feel full longer, which can lessen the temptation to overconsume.
3. Reduced Cravings
Weight-loss drugs such as semaglutide and tirzepatide are scientifically proven to work with the brain’s reward centers to lessen cravings for the type of foods that over-eaters tend to crave. Those kinds of foods are sugary, high-calorie, and high-fat in nature.
When you have reduced cravings, you’ll more easily achieve your goal to shed pounds after the holidays.
4. Behavioral Modifications
Behavioral modifications are also possible when you take weight-loss drugs. Taking them can make it easier to stick to your New Year’s resolution. You’ll better be able to prioritize healthy meals in the right portions over unhealthy fare that’ll only help you pack on more weight.
So, weight-loss drugs will give you the willpower to steer clear of impulsive or emotional eating that would otherwise derail your goals.
5. Keep Off the Weight
Around nine in 10 people who lose tons of weight regain around half of what they lost. That can be discouraging if you’re the one regaining much of the weight you lost. But Ozempic (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) can help people not only lose weight but also keep it off.
Weight-loss medications can help you maintain hormonal changes that help prevent weight gain, which can reduce the risk of you regaining lost weight.
Weight-Loss Drugs Can Help
Whether you want to lose weight now, after the holidays, or anytime you decide it’s time to tackle your weight issues, using weight-loss drugs can boost your odds of success. They’ll tip the scales in your favor, so you lose unwanted weight and keep it off.
