05 May How Does Wegovy Weight Loss Medication Work?

Wegovy is an injectable medication used for chronic weight control that was recently authorized by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It imitates the glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) hormone, a chemical that affects the parts of the brain that control hunger and food intake. Let’s take a closer look at how Wegovy weight loss medication works to help you lose weight and keep the pounds off.

How Wegovy Works

Wegovy works on the brain to slow down stomach emptying and encourage a sensation of fullness. Patients with obesity and excess weight who have a BMI of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher with an additional obesity-related health issue, are eligible for Wegovy. Wegovy weight loss medication alone is unlikely to achieve the desired weight loss goal; it is meant to support a routine of increased physical activity and a reduced-calorie diet.

Participants without diabetes who took Wegovy lost 12.4 percent more of their starting weight on average than those who took a placebo during clinical studies to assess the safety of the drug’s usage for treating obesity.

Participants in a different research experiment with type 2 diabetes revealed that those who took Wegovy lost 6.2 percent more body weight than those who got a placebo.

What Does Wegovy Cost?

Prescription medicine costs might vary based on a number of factors. These variables include the coverage provided by your insurer, the drugstore you go to, and whether a generic version is available. There is not currently a generic equivalent to Wegovy.

In general, paying for Wegovy with insurance is less expensive than paying out-of-pocket. However, the real price will change based on your location, the quantity of injection pens you purchase, and other elements.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions about how to pay for your Wegovy prescription medications. Additionally, you may investigate whether there are any support alternatives on the Wegovy manufacturer’s website.

Wegovy Dosage

Your physician will determine the appropriate dosage of Wegovy for your prescription. The beginning dosage of 0.25 mg once weekly is advised by Wegovy for those seeking to lose weight or maintain their current weight.

Your first dose will be gradually increased by your physician until it reaches the level that is considered optimal.

If you miss a Wegovy dosage and your next dose is more than 48 hours away, take it as soon as you realize. However, you should not take the missed dosage if it is less than 48 hours until your next dose. Take your subsequent dosage at the prescribed time. Speak with your doctor if you miss Wegovy doses three times or more in succession. They will assist in resetting your dose regimen.

Side Effects of Wegovy

The active component of Wegovy, semaglutide, may have certain undesirable side effects in addition to its desired results. Even though not all of these adverse effects are likely to occur, medical treatment may be required for severe side effects.

More Common Side Effects

Side Effects That Require Immediate Medical Attention

Semaglutide may produce certain undesirable consequences in addition to its necessary ones. If any of the following adverse effects develop while taking semaglutide, consult your doctor right away:

• Anxiety
• Blurred vision
• Chills
• Cold sweats
• Cool, pale skin
• Diarrhea
• Fever
• Headache
• Increased hunger

• Darkened urine
• Cough
• Confusion
• Bloating
• Constipation
• Indigestion
• Difficulty swallowing
• Increased hunger
• Seizures
• Skin rash

• Slurred speech
• Trouble breathing
• Unusual tiredness or weakness
• Vomiting
• Nightmares
• Nausea
• Nervousness
• Stomach pain
• Yellow eyes or yellow skin

Side Effects That Don’t Need Immediate Medical Attention

Semaglutide may cause several adverse effects, most of which may not require medical treatment. During therapy, these side effects could fade away as your body becomes used to the medication. Additionally, your healthcare provider might be able to provide you with information on how to avoid or lessen some of these adverse effects.

• Belching
• Acid or sour stomach
• Heartburn
• Stomach discomfort
• Swelling

• Upset stomach
• Tender stomach
• Passing gas
• Feeling pressure in the stomach
• Gas in your stomach

Lifestyle Changes That Can Improve Your Weight Loss Results While Taking Wegovy

Wegovy is meant to be taken along with proper healthy lifestyle changes because that way it can yield much better results. The results will also be more sustainable because you will develop healthy habits along the way. Here are a few things that you should do while you are taking Wegovy as a weight loss medication.

Keep a journal of what you eat

It’s possible to go through a whole bag of chips pretty rapidly if you just munch on them aimlessly. Keeping a food record, on the other hand, may help you to exercise more control over the portions that you eat. It will also help you determine how to make more informed choices regarding your eating habits.

You might find that writing in a notebook might assist you in assessing your other eating practices. You will be able to establish whether or not you often consume foods too frequently or miss meals when you really should not.

Avoid processed and packaged foods

Because packaged foods usually include excessive quantities of salt, fat, and sugar, you should make an effort to eliminate as much of these items from your diet as you possibly can. Pick out the top five processed items you eat the most of, such as cookies, crackers, chips, or candy, and start cutting back gradually.

Simply put, you should make an effort to cut back from six servings of these meals each week to five instead. Eliminate one unhealthy food from your diet per week until you are left with only one or two options.

To replace your unhealthy snacks, opt for baby carrots with hummus, Greek yogurt with fresh berries, or apples topped with natural peanut butter. These are all far more nutritious options.

Move whenever you can

This does not imply that you should just take a stroll outside during your lunch break. While watching your favorite TV shows, try jumping jacks, running in place, climbing and descending stairs, dancing, or anything else that increases your heart rate and makes you feel a little out of breath. You can burn an additional 270 calories each day if you do it during each 2-minute commercial break of your favorite TV show, which translates to a 28-pound weight loss over the course of a year.

Prepare your lunch

If you bring your lunch to work more frequently, you’ll save hundreds of dollars and thousands of calories over the course of a year. Making and eating your own food gives you more control over its quality and portion sizes as well as the amount of fat, sugar, and salt you consume, which may be much greater in restaurant cuisine.

Get out on more walks than you usually do

In the United States, people use their cars for two-thirds of all trips that are less than one mile and for ninety-one percent of all trips that are between one and two miles. Despite the fact that each additional hour spent driving is associated increased obesity, people continue to use their cars for the vast majority of short trips.

If the distance between you and your errands is less than one mile, you should walk to them at a quick pace.

You might also park your vehicle at a location from where you can easily complete a number of errands without having to move using your car each time. This way you’ll get significantly more exercise during the day and make sure you are increasing your weight loss.

Add strength training to your workout

Simple exercises that use just one’s own bodyweight, such as squats and push-ups, may be performed at home in a matter of minutes and do not require the use of any weights. These workouts can help to rev up one’s metabolism.

Since your body isn’t able to tell the difference between the resistance of dumbbells and the resistance of your own body weight, you don’t need any expensive equipment to get started with weight training; you can just use your own bodyweight as resistance throughout your workouts.

The one guideline that you should always stick to is that each exercise should cause muscular exhaustion within sixty to ninety seconds.

Use stairs whenever you have a chance

If you have the option of taking the elevator, you should never choose it; instead, climb the steps whenever possible. Climbing stairs for an additional two to three minutes each day, which is equivalent to traversing around three to five levels, can burn enough calories to prevent the one to two pound per year weight increase that the average American experiences.

The glutes and quadriceps are two muscle groups that may be strengthened by walking up a flight of stairs; therefore, there are also some advantages associated with strength training.

Get a fitness tracker

You are able to exert greater influence over your health thanks to the fitness trackers available on the market today. These trackers deliver useful information about your eating, sleeping, and exercise routines.

You should give some thought to purchasing a fitness tracker so that you can keep track of not only the number of steps you take each day but also the number of calories you burn, the amount of sleep you get, the rate at which your heart is beating when it is at rest, and the kind of eating habits you have. You’ll also find that it makes it easier to keep to your plan to exercise for between 150 and 300 minutes each week at a moderate level if you do this.

Enjoy dessert from time to time

Treating yourself to dessert while attempting to lose weight may seem counterintuitive, but the reality is that denying oneself of pleasures might result in overeating. Instead, divide your favorite food into one serving. Give it some time to smell, see, and taste before you eat it. Chew it gently, examining the texture and flavor as you move the food around your mouth. Ask yourself if you want to take another taste or if you are content while you do this. You may eat more consciously and with more satisfaction by being more in tune with your body and rewarding yourself every now and again.

Drink wisely

Instead of fruit juice, which typically contains a lot of sugar, go for a nutritious smoothie. Smoothies are a far better alternative to fruit juices because they retain all of the fiber from fruits and vegetables, making them both satisfying and nutrient-dense.

Making a smoothie with the right proportions of protein, carbohydrates, and healthy fats is crucial. That entails avoiding filling it entirely with fruit. Protein powders, low-fat milk, unsweetened almond milk, Greek yogurt, or oatmeal are good sources of muscle-building protein.

Use dark, leafy greens, frozen cauliflower, and other vegetables to provide bulk and additional fiber. For an added injection of good fats, sprinkle chopped nuts on top of your smoothie.

Instead of gulping down your smoothie with a straw, consume it in a bowl with a spoon to increase satiety.

Hydrate yourself

Sometimes you mistake hunger for thirst, which might lead you to consume more calories than you really need. As a result, it’s crucial to keep hydrated and sip on water throughout the day. Additionally important to enhanced digestion and a boosted metabolism is water. The recommendation to have eight glasses of water each day is generally common knowledge, but the actual amount that should be consumed varies widely depending on the individual.

More water should be consumed by those who are highly active, use specific drugs, or are sick with a virus infection. The easiest approach to make sure you’re well hydrated is to sip on water before, during, and after an exercise, as well as whenever you’re feeling thirsty. By consuming more water-rich fruits and vegetables, you can also keep hydrated.

Get a workout partner

When you exercise with a friend, you hold each other accountable and are more likely to be able to maintain your training routine. Since it’s unlikely that you’ll leave your friend stranded at your meeting point for your workout session, the probability of missing your routine exercise is much lower.

Adjust your coffee order

Compared to blended coffee beverages, which are essentially dessert in a cup, a traditional cup of coffee with a dash of milk and even a little sugar has hundreds of less calories. You can easily make your coffee order healthier without sacrificing flavor by selecting low-fat milk or unsweetened nut milk, adding just a touch of honey for sweetness, and a dash of cinnamon for flavoring.

Get enough sleep

If you make it a point to get to bed at a consistent time, you’ll discover that your mood and level of energy will change for the better. When you don’t get enough sleep, you can’t make healthy choices throughout the day. This is why getting enough sleep is so important. When you’re exhausted, you have a tendency to compensate with meals high in sugar and fat.

You should also examine your routines after the sun goes down very carefully. If supper is the largest meal of the day for you or if you snack a lot at night, you might want to reconsider continuing to do either of those things since the additional calories might be sabotaging your efforts to lose weight.

Conclusion

Wegovy weight loss medication is only one part of your weight loss journey and works most effectively when combined with other weight loss strategies. Losing weight – and more importantly, keeping it off – is a gradual process that is influenced by a wide variety of lifestyle changes. By speaking with your doctor, you can develop a weight loss plan that will help keep you feeling young, healthy, and energized for years to come.

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