TAKING A WEIGHT-LOSS INJECTION?
THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
You're already getting used to eating less. Use this time to help make eating differently your new normal.
Weight-loss injections can change appetite and make eating smaller amounts easier.
But instead of thinking only about the weight you're losing now, there may be another opportunity:
Use this period to work on the habits, expectations and behaviours around food that you want to continue afterwards.
DISCOVER THE OPPORTUNITY
THE QUESTION MANY PEOPLE ARE ASKING
“WHAT HAPPENS WHEN I STOP?”
You've lost weight. You're eating less. Perhaps you're thinking about food less.
But somewhere in the back of your mind may be another thought:
What happens if I eventually stop the injections?
Will my appetite return?
Will I start eating more?
Will the old habits return?
Will I put the weight back on?
Weight regain after stopping weight-management medication can happen, so these concerns shouldn't simply be dismissed.
But rather than waiting until you stop to think about them, there's another way of looking at this period.
What if you start preparing now?
THE GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
USE THE OPPORTUNITY
While eating less is already becoming easier, work on making different eating behaviours more familiar.
When appetite is reduced, you may naturally begin eating smaller portions, leaving food on your plate, thinking about food less often or discovering that you don't need as much as you previously expected.
Rather than treating these changes as something that exists only because you're taking the medication, we can use this period to practise and reinforce different behaviours around food.
The opportunity is to become increasingly familiar with:
Eating smaller portions and feeling satisfied
Recognising when you've had enough
Distinguishing physical hunger from habit or expectation
Not automatically turning to food for comfort, reward or boredom
Breaking old routines and associations around eating
Discovering that eating differently doesn't have to mean deprivation
THIS IS HOW I EAT NOW.
DON'T WAIT UNTIL YOU STOP
The time to prepare for life after the injections may be while you're still taking them.
If you wait until after stopping medication to think about your eating habits, you may be trying to make behavioural changes at the same time as you're adapting to changes in appetite.
Instead, we can begin working on those behaviours while eating less is already part of your experience.
The aim isn't to promise that your appetite won't change after medication stops.
It's to help you develop habits, awareness, strategies and confidence that you can draw upon if it does.
CHANGE THE EXPECTATION
What we expect to happen can influence the way we approach it. You may currently be thinking:
“When I stop, I'll start eating more and put the weight back on.”
Our work can help you move towards a different expectation:
“I've learned to eat differently.”
“I'm comfortable with smaller portions.”
“I know the difference between hunger and habit.”
“Food doesn't have to be my automatic response to stress, boredom or reward.”
“If old habits appear, I have ways of responding to them.”
The future doesn't have to be approached with fear. It can be approached with preparation.
FOOD ISN'T ALWAYS ABOUT HUNGER
We don't always eat simply because our bodies need food.
Food can become associated with:
Comfort · Reward · Boredom · Stress · Celebration · Routine · Socialising · Habit
Medication may reduce appetite, but that doesn't necessarily address every reason why someone eats.
This gives us an opportunity to look at those associations and begin changing the ones that are no longer helping you.