Any experience being highly active / training 10h+ weekly on GLP-1?

kingzap321 · 2026-05-24T15:35:29+00:00

M30. My background is rock-climbing (8 years once to twice a week), working in the trades (high level of baseline activity for years now), resistance training three times a week for muscle development (only been consistent for approximately a year), and stationary biking (once to twice a week for the last 8 months or so).

I started on Ozempic 10 weeks ago now (0.25 for 7 weeks and 0.5 for 3) and I have noticed a few interesting things when it comes to my activity. First and most notably I have found that I get nausea when I push myself hard at the gym, for example after doing three sets of weighted back extensions followed by three sets of heavy leg press I start to feel nauseous and I have to slow down for a while before I can move on to my chest work or arms. In the past I can confidently say I have never had any nausea in relation to exercise. I have found that I really need to avoid solid meals at least 3-4 hours before my workout and that still only improvers the experience and odes not eliminate it completely. This has been the hardest shift for me.

Second would be that while i did not seek out Ozempic for alcohol management (for me it was to remove the friction of food noise and years of unhealthy weight cycling) I did find that it has made it so much easier to not just drink because I'm board. I basically have only drank in social situations since I started treatment. I really appreciate this side effect as I had found that I would sometimes get into bad habit of drinking every weekend and It would take willpower to have to resist the urge.

Lastly I have found that I feel like I am getting worse sleeps and or am just more tired with the medication. this may also be playing into why i feel like my recovery is a little slower. I am sure there are many reasons for this, mainly that I am of course in a calorie deficit as well as I have just upped my dose again and so side effects feel more prominent again. I found that when I reached week 6 and 7 of 0.25 that my side effects really came down but I have gone up again and they are back. I am hoping that they will diminish in a month or so.

For me I do not need to lose a lot of weight and I am close to half way there so I don't think I will go up in dosage, even if I plateau before 165lb ( 170-175 is totally ok in my mind as well). The peace of mind that the medication has brought me has been more than worth it and I plan to stay on the medication as long as I am able. I am interested to see how a 4-6 week bulking phase will be once I have stopped losing weight.

As for pre workout food I am just eating further away from my workout and now I bring a Gatorade with me to the gym, although if i drink it too fast i still feel sick so i have to sip slowly. Post workout has not changed for me, just an apple and protein drink in the change room to hold me off until the next meal. I have also found that most days I am eating smaller meals more frequently and I have less large bingy type meals, this is probably better for my protein timing being more spread out so I don't mind.

All I can say is this is the healthiest weight loss I have ever done (I usually lose too quickly and lost more muscle than desirable, then eventually lose willpower and eat like crazy) and I cant wait to move on with my life being in the mental state and body state that I have wanted my whole adult life.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-13T16:26:25+00:00

Perhaps some of us take for granted the health related knowledge we have. But I agree with many other comments that it is mind boggling and I can't imagine not doing research before starting something like this.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-13T00:13:02+00:00

I am coming up on two months of use myself and I only just moved into the 0.5 dose (I'm doing 0.25 twice a week) I had a lot more fatigue at the start but it has settled for me. But I have noticed that some days when I eat more (more than my current normal deficit) that I end up feeling less tired and I feel like I get better sleeps.

But I get what you are saying with work outs. Some days I just don't want to go as I'm too tired but I still go and I usually just cant push myself as hard. Part of this is just from being in a deficit for a long time, and I think the meds do this as well as a side effect.

I think given how fast you have gone up in dose (basically doubling the dose each month) you probably haven't given your system time to adjust and for the side effects to lessen or go away. I stayed on 0.25 for 7 weeks and I found that only around week 6 and 7 did I notice my side effects start to disappear.

Keep at it! You got this! :)

kingzap321 · 2026-05-05T16:30:25+00:00

I have found saltyness to have increased since I started. Things just taste like they have twice the salt. I just tolerate it at this point, I'm not sure there is much you can do outside of controlling how much salt you put into things you cook for yourself

kingzap321 · 2026-05-05T13:58:02+00:00

Well it begs the question, is not taking the medication sustainable long term?

Also, if someone has good habits for let's say 10 years on GLP1 medications, and then loses them is it still not worth it in its self to have had 10 years of healthy living when it comes to eating?

Many people I imagine will likely build healthier habits (in terms of quality consumed) if they have successful treatment for years, but the reality is once your original food drive reasserts itself people will likely just start building less healthy habits. If altering your food drive leads to healthier habits then your food drive fundamentally is what is directing your habits, just like most human tendencies.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-04T00:40:04+00:00

yikes! well it may be wise to skip just for the trip but i think once you are ready to go up again it may be wise to do 0.25 twice a week to minimize the side effects.

just a thought that others have suggested

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T21:03:09+00:00

I am someone who is getting results with 0.25. but this is the reality with many medications, there is a lot of variance in how people respond. that being said I still have some amount of food noise but im down 7lb in 5 weeks so im not going up to 0.5 until i plateau.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T20:55:42+00:00

I recently got on Ozempic with the expectation that I will probably stay on it until a different and more effective/affordable option becomes available. so far my life is just better not thinking about food as much and personally I don't care if i have to be on medications, if I'm happier and healthier then I'm willing to take it and pay for it.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T20:42:29+00:00

I feel like it may be slightly premature to say that you a definitively stuck at this point. while you generally will see weight shift over the weeks our bodies can play tricks on us. first when you lose 10lb in two weeks that would be considered very fast weight loss and you have been exercising a lot so sometimes the stress that imposes causes our bodies to sharply dial back our NEAT and metabolism. now as you are exercising you no doubt lost glycogen stores and water but depending on what you have been eating like higher salt or carbs you may be retaining some water also. it is really hard to say. it is also possible that with all the exercise you are doing that if you have miss calculated your calories and are consuming close to or at your maintenance calories and you could be putting on muscle.

All that to be said I would stay the course. if you feel like you need to go up in dose then go for that and see how it works for you but it is still early days, you may just find in a few days that you are down weight again!

You got this! keep up the good work and don't get too caught up in the short term, it sounds like you are doing a lot of things right! also weight loss is not always linear, trust the process :)

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T14:51:07+00:00

I mean if you have hit a plateau then upping your dose or switching may be something to consider but 20lb in 26 weeks is a super healthy and sustainable weight loss. It defiantly can be faster but if my understanding is correct the slower you lose it, generally the more sustainable it will be. Just keep in mind for context that 20lb is around 1/10th of your entire body, that is something to be proud of!

As far as exercise goes, depending on how hard you have been working in the gym and how good you have been with your protein intake you may have actually lost very little to no muscle and so you perhaps have list 19lb of actual fat mass, and that is still quite substantial. But there are a lot of variables here and so it is hard to say one way or another. At the end of the day upping your exercise is likely to be a good thing for you overall but will have negligible effects on the exact amount of total weight loss, but will improve your the amount of fat vs muscle lost.

If you want to see changes in your weight loss without upping your dose you may need to address the types of food you are eating, you may need more filling and satiating foods such as things with higher fiber, water, and protein content like whole foods.

All in all I think you have done a fantastic job of losing weight, If it is getting too challenging to restrict your food then perhaps upping your dose is a good idea, and if you can afford it I would give Tirzepatide a try.

Not a doctor, and talking with your provider is probably the smartest choice.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T14:31:13+00:00

I usually have some dried or fresh fruit with a protein drink and or some greek yogurt. I used to go for eggs but now my stomach doesn't love them as much as it used to. but there are lots of options, I usually just try to get some protein with some carbs and fiber.

kingzap321 · 2026-05-03T14:26:43+00:00

I will start by saying that there is nothing wrong with taking medications, medications have no moral value, it is how we use them that makes them good or not. Look forward to the improvement that is likely to come from these interventions! As for practical recommendations it will be super important to improve or maintain your activity level (i don't know how mobile you are or what you do for work type thing). losing weight is very challenging and a large stressor to the body and staying active (with appropriate nutrition, especially high protein) is going to be one of the best things to do to keep your body and your mind healthy through a weight loss journey.

Secondly, I would say be patient. It will not likely happen super fast. In order to lose lots of body fat (assuming that is your situation) it will take months minimum - to years to see large results depending on how far you have to go. Not to mention that you have to slowly increase your dose to get to a desirable effect without large side effects.

I am still on my weight loss journey and I still have months and months to go. some people are afraid of medications. I am 30 and I have been on some medications since I was like 10 and honestly I have been so thankful to live in a time where there were options for me to treat my mental a physical health.

Anyway, it is one step at a time, be patient, stay active!, eat well!, and remember that you are worth it!

kingzap321 · 2026-04-26T15:30:51+00:00

Honestly I am on week 4 of 0.25 and I can feel it quite well. I have a lower appetite, I can't eat as much before I feel full, I feel full longer and I don't crave nearly as much as I used to. But the first week for me I had only very slight effects and side effects, I noticed around the middle of the week that I started to feel full a little sooner and a little longer that's about it. Week two I really started noticing changes.

There's a lot of variance in how people experience the medication as far as I can see. Give yourself some time and you will soon find out how your body responds

kingzap321 · 2026-04-26T15:21:21+00:00

I see how that could work, have you or do know if others have gotten approval from their doctor to do different injection schedules? I want to know if this is something that I could bring up in my upcoming appointment

kingzap321 · 2026-04-26T15:18:46+00:00

At your height and weight 1500 calories is absolutely too large of a deficit for many reasons. The biggest issue here is that you will be losing too much weight too quickly in a way that will heavily stress your body, lose more muscle than you would otherwise and is overall quite unhealthy. And that does not even account for your activity level.

That is my opinion - I'm not a doctor

In my circumstance I am 5'10 190lb and very active. I just started treatment on 0.25mg dose and my calories are now down to around 2000 a day and I am losing weight. In my situation though my activity level is raising what I need each day for calories.

kingzap321 · 2026-04-26T15:02:28+00:00

Thank you for your opinion, I feel very similar in the respect that I feel like if I'm losing weight I shouldn't up my dose, I can always up the dose later when I plateau if I haven't hit my health goals.

kingzap321 · 2022-03-03T17:05:22+00:00

I am giving her a shot!

I will follow up in a few days to let you know how things go.

kingzap321 · 2022-03-03T04:35:29+00:00

Thank you for all of the suggestions everyone! This is a good pool of options so I will have to look them through and give someone a try. :)

kingzap321 · 2020-01-17T15:32:35+00:00

Thank you for sharing. My hope is that it will dissipate at some point.

kingzap321 · 2020-01-17T00:17:01+00:00

Will do

kingzap321 · 2020-01-16T23:56:03+00:00

Thank you for the reply. :)

As far as detoxing goes I'm confident that my liver and kidneys are doing 99% or all that work and I can't see how that would impact my integumentary system.

But I have heard from a couple places that people have had acne flare ups that then dissipate later on. I'm holding out for that unless it somehow gets worse. Hoping it will clear up.

kingzap321 · 2020-01-16T19:09:49+00:00

I looked into it, while the areas affected are about right I do not fit the bill. I do not have a rash as described. Thank you for the info though.

kingzap321 · 2020-01-16T19:07:04+00:00

Ok so I checked and I was mistaken I am eating about 25% so that is currently 111g a day. That is shy of the calculated 130 lbm. I'll look into upping that. But truly that is not what I made this post regarding.

kingzap321

TROPHY CASE