The Biggest Mistake You’re Making on Semaglutide (And How to Fix It)
Meaningful Movement
Takeaway: Semaglutide medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can help you lose weight by reducing appetite, but they don’t fix emotional eating. If you’ve been using food to cope with stress or emotions, the weight will likely come back once you stop the medication unless you address those patterns.
The Biggest Mistake You’re Making on Semaglutide (And How to Fix It)
Taking semaglutide or GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic or Wegovy) can feel like a game-changer when it comes to weight loss.
These medications work by reducing your appetite and slowing digestion, which means you feel fuller with less food.
For many people, that’s exactly the breakthrough they’ve been waiting for after years of struggling with hunger and food cravings. And for a while, it works—weight starts dropping, and the mental noise around food quiets down.
But there’s one huge mistake that almost everyone makes when they start these medications: failing to address emotional eating.
Why Appetite Isn't the Whole Story
Semaglutides help you eat less because they reduce physical hunger. But here’s the problem—most of us don’t just eat because we’re hungry.
Stress, boredom, loneliness, and emotional triggers are often what drive us to overeat.
If you’ve been using food to cope with stress or fill an emotional gap, reducing your appetite won’t fix that. You might eat less for now because you physically don’t feel hungry—but once you stop taking the medication (or even if the effects wear off), those emotional patterns will come back with a vengeance.
And when they do, you’ll be right back where you started.
The Trap of Short-Term Success
Let’s say you’re on semaglutide and losing weight. That’s great! But if you’re not building the habits to manage stress and emotional triggers, you’re not setting yourself up for long-term success.
When you stop taking the medication and your appetite returns to normal, guess what happens? Those old emotional eating habits come back. And since you never learned how to handle them without the medication, the weight comes right back too.
That’s one of the reasons so many people regain the weight after they stop taking semaglutide.
This isn’t to say that these medications aren’t effective—they are. But they’re only one part of the equation.
If you want to keep the weight off long-term, you need to tackle the emotional and behavioral side of eating too.
How to Fix It
If you’re currently on semaglutide (or considering it), you need to work on these key areas to make sure your progress sticks:
Identify Emotional Triggers
Start paying attention to when you reach for food. Are you actually hungry—or are you stressed, bored, or upset? Keep a food journal and track what’s going on emotionally when you eat. Once you recognize your triggers, you can start developing healthier coping strategies.Build Alternative Coping Mechanisms
Instead of using food to deal with stress or emotions, find other ways to soothe yourself. Try going for a walk, calling a friend, meditating, or even just taking a few deep breaths. The key is to build habits that help you manage emotions without relying on food.Create a Maintenance Plan
If you’re on semaglutide now, don’t wait until you stop taking it to figure out a plan for maintaining your results. Start working on a sustainable eating and workout plan now so that when the medication stops, you’ve already built the habits to support your success.
Prepare For Your Transition Off Semaglutide
Semaglutide can help you lose weight—but it won’t fix emotional eating. If you don’t tackle the root causes of why you overeat, the weight will come back as soon as you stop the medication.
That’s why working with a coach who understands both the physical and emotional side of weight loss is so important. Our team of expert coaches knows how to help you navigate this process and create a plan that works even after the medication ends.
Ready to set yourself up for long-term success? Book a free health assessment with one of our coaches today. We’ll help you build a strategy that works for you—medication or not.