I was a fat kid growing up. I've had a BMI of 30±1 since age 12. I also have a family history of heart disease. Literally every male on my father's side for three generations has had a heart attack in their late 50s. We all have roughly the same body type. I already had hypertension in my mid 30s. Semaglutide has made me feel like there's hope.
Unfortunately, I can relate to the lower energy levels. While I'm no longer lugging an extra 40lbs around (a full pack!), I still bonk way faster. My gym sessions are way shorter. Luckily, I haven't lost much muscle mass, so I look great and it's been the "cut" I've never been able to achieve, but I'm sure if I ever wanted to "bulk" I'd have to go off it. I've found if I have a big trip or climb coming up, I have to take a way smaller dose the week, or even weeks, prior. I found this out the hard way when I puked on a climb in North Cascades. I just couldn't eat, and felt like shit the whole time.
The trick has been self managing my dose. I'm on compounded generic, so I can dose myself with my own needles. If I have a big trip coming up, I'll take like 25% of my maintenance dose for a week or two prior. This has been almost a superpower, because I'll get this massive burst of energy from the calorie intake. Im still not really sure if this is healthy, not the "taking 25%" part, but the fact that I feel like superman when I'm off it or on a low dose for a bit. Not sure what this says for someone who is basically taking semaglutide because their weight was holding them back from the activities semaglutide makes them too bonked to do anyways.
Also, do you cut pills? I had looked into this and only found info saying that it ruins the delivery mechanism. I was skeptical of this because it would benefit the pill makers to convince people that these special pills cannot be cut, even though they do not require extended delivery (quite the opposite).
That said the dementia benefit mentioned in the article still intrigues me.
I feel like we’ll eventually find out that how well GLPs work is going to depend on the “why” someone has extra weight.
It’s definitely one of, if not the most, currently focused on aspects of endurance sports outside of the actual training.
> decided that I wanted to err on the side of overeating
The reason you bonk is because you've run out of sugar in your muscles not fat
Eating less can have positive effects (losing weight), but can also make you feel like shit (in a wide variety of ways), as your body is running on less energy intake than it has been accustomed to.
Depending on your activity level and the makeup of your diet, eating less can also lead to muscle loss and nutrient deficiencies.
Lower the dose (with your doctor, of course). For me, the “middle” dose was the sweet spot of positive effects with minimal side effects.
You are likely a “hyper-responder” to GLP-1s.
Also, tirzepatide had far fewer side effects for me, fwiw.
YMMV, of course.