LISTEN: Taking a GLP-1? Doctors say don’t forget to move your body and tend to your mental health, too.
Severe ankle pain drove Jelon Smart to start taking a weight loss injection a year and a half ago.
Smart was 285 pounds and worked as a caterer in Savannah, Georgia. After she’d been standing on her feet for long hours, her ankles would be “as swollen as a football,” she said. She was walking with a limp. An orthopedic doctor diagnosed her with Achilles tendinitis and recommended losing weight to mitigate the symptoms. Smart began taking the brand-name GLP-1 Ozempic.
The appetite suppression resulted in her shedding pounds quickly, at first.
“I lost 30 pounds initially without changing anything,” said Smart, 48. But then she found herself unable to shed additional pounds.
GLP-1s have quickly become one of the most popular types of weight loss drug in America. Nearly 1 in 5 people have taken them at some point, according to research from KFF, a health information nonprofit that includes KFF Health News. But doctors say it takes more than a regular shot for patients to achieve their weight goals in the long run.
Here’s what to know.
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The Old-School Rules of Weight Loss and Health Still Apply
Regular exercise, smart food choices, plenty of sleep — those basic, healthy lifestyle choices are not only going to help you lose weight on a weight loss drug but also help you keep it off, said Dafina Allen, an obesity medicine physician who runs a clinic in Saginaw, Michigan. For example, some people find that they eat less on a GLP-1, “but they’re n …