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Chubby woman feeling happy with her body after her Semaglutide injection treatment in Westminster, CO

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Semaglutide and Exercise: How to Supercharge Your Weight Loss

October 15, 2023

Are you among the millions of people struggling to shed excess pounds or maintain a healthy weight? If so, perhaps you’ve already tried to get things under control by eating right and exercising. Or maybe you’ve attempted dozens of diets only to fail and gain back any weight you lost. These types of experiences can be devastating. They also illustrate that losing weight isn’t always as simple as consuming fewer calories than you burn. For many people, it’s much more complicated than that.

Though giving up on your healthy weight goals may be tempting, please don’t! There is a highly effective weight loss medication out there that might be the answer you’ve been hoping for. Semaglutide is an injectable drug that helps millions of people finally reach their goal weight. But for it to work optimally, it must not be treated as a standalone solution. Instead, combine Semaglutide and exercise for the best results. Here’s how to supercharge your weight loss with this incredible combination.

How Semaglutide Works for Weight Loss

.It may seem like Semaglutide is a real miracle drug. In some ways, it really is. This drug helps the body regulate insulin and blood sugar more effectively. It also slows the emptying of the stomach so you feel satisfied longer after each meal. This drug also controls appetite, so you don’t feel like you need to eat as frequently. Many people also notice their cravings for unhealthy foods subside after taking this new injection.

Semaglutide comes in both oral and injectable forms. The injectable type is currently the most popular and has excellent efficacy. Though it is having remarkable success and taking the fitness world by storm, Semaglutide is not a cure-all. You still need to put in the effort to live a healthy lifestyle while taking this innovative drug. That means using Semaglutide and exercise together.

Exercise is Important While Taking Semaglutide

A young woman is smiling while doing exercise, feeling great with her Semaglutide injection treatment in Westminster, CO.

While many people can use Semaglutide without changing lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise, it is recommended to make these changes to supercharge your weight loss journey. To put this into perspective, taking Semaglutide without improving your lifestyle is like continuously filling your car with fuel but never changing the oil. Sure, the fuel will keep it running for a while, but it will eventually stop running once the oil turns into sludge. Every weight loss journey should also be a quest to reach higher levels of health. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and will likely regain any weight you lost somewhere down the road.

If you want to experience the best possible outcome from your weight loss injections, realize that Semaglutide and working out should always go hand in hand. This combination can help control your blood sugar even better when used together.

In one study, obese adults combined semaglutide injections with diet and exercise for 68 weeks. Other study participants adopted the same lifestyle changes but didn’t use Semaglutide. At the end of the study, half of the participants who used both Semaglutide and exercise lost at least 15% of their body weight. More impressively, nearly a third of the same group lost 20% of their body weight! The non-Semaglutide group, on the other hand, only lost about 2.4% of their weight. This illustrates how incredible your weight loss results can be when you combine Semaglutide with lifestyle changes.

Can You Still Lose Weight Without Exercising While Taking Semaglutide?

It is possible to lose weight on Semaglutide without exercising. However, your weight loss results may not be as drastic as they would be if you stayed active. Additionally, maintaining unhealthy habits while taking the drug makes you more likely to feel tired and succumb to illnesses. You may also have a higher risk of experiencing unwanted side effects.  

Another reason to use Semaglutide and exercise to reach your goals is to enjoy long-term weight loss. If you maintain unhealthy diet and exercise habits, you’re more likely to regain any lost weight when you stop taking Semaglutide. This is a sad scenario that happens to far too many people.

To maintain long-term weight management, relying on weight-loss medication alone isn’t enough. Instead, you must also develop healthy lifestyle habits. These habits must continue after you stop taking the injections. Otherwise, you’ll probably end up right back where you started.

The Best Exercises to Do to Support Optimal Fat Loss

If you’re taking Semaglutide and want to pair it with exercise to supercharge your weight loss results, here are a few of the best exercises to do to support optimal fat loss while taking this weight loss injection:

Jogging and Running

Happy couple doing jogging outdoors, feeling great for their Semaglutide and Exercise Diet in Westminster, CO.

One of the easiest and cheapest exercises is jogging or running. These forms of exercise are excellent to pair with Semaglutide injections, as both jogging and running help burn visceral fat, commonly known as belly fat. They are exercises that can be done anywhere and are simple to incorporate into your weekly routine for 20-30 minutes at a time. 

Cycling or Biking

Women taking indoor cycling exercise combined with their Semaglutide diet in Westminster, CO

Cycling or biking are good options for people of all fitness levels. Studies show that people who commit to regular cycling are in overall better health and are at a lower risk for heart disease, cancer, and other health-related illnesses. Best of all, this exercise is fun. Many people take advantage of “spin classes” or even own their own spin bikes, where they can access online bike workouts from the comfort of their own home while also taking Semaglutide to guarantee optimal fat loss. 

HIIT Workouts

Woman doing a HIIT workout, feeling great for her Semaglutide and Exercise Diet in Westminster, CO

HIIT workouts, known as High-Intensity Interval Training, are excellent exercises to pair with Semaglutide injections. This high-powered type of exercise keeps your body in a constant state of work, so you are operating in your fat-burning zone for the entire workout duration. The best thing about HIIT workouts is that due to their intensity, you do not need to do them for long periods of time. Some HIIT workouts are as short as 10 to 15 minutes and are easy to work into your daily schedule without much sacrifice. 

Does Semaglutide Cause Muscle Loss?

Some research shows that Semaglutide can cause declines in both fat and muscle. This isn’t exactly a unique phenomenon, though. No matter what you do to lose weight, you’ll invariably lose a combination of both fat and muscle. However, some doctors fear that patients who don’t combine Semaglutide and working out may experience an unhealthy decline in lean mass. These fears are not unfounded.

Therefore, doing what you can to maintain your muscle mass while taking this medication is essential. One way to do that is by combining Semaglutide and exercise. Strength training is particularly important while you’re receiving this drug. It can boost your fat-loss efforts while helping you maintain lean muscle mass. Here are some key ways to avoid losing muscle while taking this weight loss prescription.

How to Avoid Losing Muscle Mass While Taking Semaglutide

Increase Your Protein Intake

image of a protein-rich food for the Semaglutide and Exercise Diet in Denver

You need to optimize your protein intake to make sure you’re supporting good muscle health. There’s a rigorous debate about how much protein is ideal for muscle maintenance. However, most experts agree that a person should consume no less than 0.5 g of protein per kg (2.2 lbs) of body weight to maintain what they have. To support lean muscle mass while taking semaglutide, you may want to increase that amount to 1.5 g or more per kg of body weight.  

Consuming too much protein for your body’s needs can also backfire. So, pay attention to how you feel as you alter your protein intake. If you’re constantly constipated, need to urinate all the time, or aren’t getting the weight loss results you expect, you may be consuming too much protein. Try cutting back a bit and see how your body responds.

Resistance Train Regularly

A young woman is doing resistance training and feeling happy about her Semaglutide and Exercise Diet in Westminster, CO.

Resistance training is an important part of any healthy lifestyle. But it’s non-negotiable when it comes to semaglutide and exercise. Resistance training can help you avoid excessive loss of lean muscle mass while taking weight loss medication. You should aim to include at least three resistance training sessions into your workout regimen every week. Try to increase the volume and intensity of your exercises over time. This will help encourage muscle growth to maintain a desirable body composition as you lose excess fat.

Take Vitamin B6

image of a vitamin B6 supplement for the Semaglutide and Exercise Diet in Denver

Consuming the protein and nutrients your muscles need can be hard when you’re too nauseous to eat. Since nausea is one of the most common symptoms associated with Semaglutide injections, it’s important to work around it. Many patients find that taking vitamin B6 helps to alleviate nausea and stomach discomfort. If you’re having trouble keeping healthy foods down, take a vitamin B6 supplement.

Other Healthy Habits to Adopt While Taking Semaglutide Medication

Exercising while taking Semaglutide is the perfect way to support optimal fat loss. But, think about the added benefits you can achieve by combining both Semaglutide and exercise with a healthy diet plan. 

Many people underestimate their diet’s importance while taking weight loss medications like the popular GLP-1. As the old saying goes, you can’t outrun an unhealthy diet. Therefore, evaluating your dietary choices is as important as ensuring you’re fueling your body correctly. Here are some tips for what to eat and avoid while taking Semaglutide:

  • Eat plenty of fresh vegetables and fruits

  • Use less butter and select low-fat dairy products

  • Limit beverages and foods with high sugar content

  • Avoid alcohol

  • Eat whole grains and fiber to help you stay regular

  • Consume a variety of healthy proteins, such as eggs, lean meats, and seafood

  • Limit your consumption of fatty foods

  • Avoid highly processed foods, such as fast-food menu items and frozen TV dinners

  • Fill your diet with fresh, whole foods

You may also need to decrease your portions and eat more frequently to avoid nausea. Your stomach takes longer to empty on semaglutide. Therefore, eating large meals might make you feel uncomfortable and contribute to digestive upset. It may take some trial and error to determine what foods and meal frequencies help you feel your best while receiving weight loss injections.

Achieve a Slimmer Physique With Semaglutide and Healthy Lifestyle Changes

For many people, Semaglutide is the last hope of losing excess weight. Remember, being overweight is much more than an aesthetic concern. It is also a health issue that can lead to serious long-term consequences. If you need some help shedding extra pounds, Semaglutide and healthy lifestyle changes like regular exercise and eating healthy may be the ideal solution. 

To learn how you can achieve a slimmer physique with Semaglutide weight loss injections in Denver, contact The Colorado Center of Aesthetics & Rejuvenation at 720-326-6028.  We are conveniently located in the wonderful Westminster area, where we happily serve clients living in Denver and surrounding areas in CO.

Our team of experts is here to help you understand everything you need to know about the new GLP-1 weight loss injection and to help support and educate you on the healthy lifestyle changes you should make in order to maximize your Semaglutide weight loss results. 

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