Losing muscle, not just fat, on a GLP-1

Why fast loss costs muscle

When weight comes off quickly, some of it comes from muscle rather than fat. That is true of any rapid loss, with or without medication. Two things make it more likely: not eating much protein, which is common when appetite has shrunk, and not giving the muscle a reason to stay, which is what resistance work does.

Your body is efficient. Tissue it is not using is expensive to keep, so it lets some of it go. Strength training is the message that says this tissue is still in use.

The signs you would actually notice

None of these are diagnostic, and none of them appear on the scale. They are simply the things people report:

• Everyday effort feels harder than it did, on stairs, with shopping, getting up from the floor
• You look smaller but softer than you expected at this weight
• Energy is flatter through the afternoon
• You feel the cold more than you used to

If several of those are true, that is a reason to add strength work, not a reason to worry. Muscle responds at any age, given a reason and something to build from.

The smallest thing that works

The minimum effective dose is far smaller than most people assume, and starting at the minimum is why it survives contact with a real week.

Two named days

Put them in the diary like appointments. Two days you actually do beats four days you intend to do, every time.

Four moves, two sets

One for the legs, one push, one pull, one for the middle. Bodyweight and a band are enough to start. Stop each set while you could still do two or three more.

Repeat it

The same four moves next week, and the week after. Progress comes from doing the same thing slightly better, not from doing something different.

Four beliefs worth dropping

• "The scale going down means it is working." The scale cannot tell you what came off.
• "Cardio will protect my results." It protects other things. Resistance work is what keeps muscle.
• "I need a gym." Bands and bodyweight, twice a week, is a real programme.
• "It is too late for me." Muscle responds late in life. The evidence on this is not ambiguous.

If you are already in maintenance

This is the best moment for it, not the worst. Appetite is steadier, weight is not moving quickly, and you have the capacity to build rather than just hold on. Strength work in maintenance is also the lever with the slowest feedback, which is precisely why it is the one that quietly slips.