Why Ozempic Made Me a Better Coach (And Why It Should Make You One Too)

I'll be honest with you - when clients started showing up to sessions talking about Ozempic, my first instinct was to roll my eyes so hard they practically fell out of my head.

Here I was, busting my ass for twelve years helping people transform their relationships with food and exercise, and suddenly there's this "magic shot" that does what I've been trying to teach them all along? It felt like a personal insult to everything I stood for as a trainer.

But here's the thing that changed my mind completely: Sarah.

Sarah had been my client for two years. She showed up three times a week, meal prepped like a champion, tracked everything religiously, and could deadlift more than most guys in my gym. She also couldn't lose more than 10 pounds without her body fighting her every step of the way.

When she started semaglutide, something clicked that I'd never seen before. For the first time in our sessions together, she wasn't constantly thinking about her next meal. She could actually focus on form instead of fighting intrusive thoughts about the leftover pizza in her fridge.

That's when I realized I'd been looking at this whole thing backwards.

The Uncomfortable Truth We Need to Face

Look, I get it. The fitness industry has built its entire identity around the idea that willpower + hard work = results. It's a beautiful, simple equation that makes us feel like heroes when our clients succeed and... well, let's just say it doesn't feel great when they don't.

But here's what twelve years in this business taught me: some people are playing this game on expert mode while others are playing on easy, and it has nothing to do with how much they want it.

I've watched clients with incredible discipline plateau for months while others seem to breathe on a salad and lose five pounds. I've seen people with family histories of obesity do everything "right" and still struggle with constant hunger that would drive most of us to eat our own furniture.

The science is clear - genetics load the gun, environment pulls the trigger, and some people are walking around with biological programming that makes maintaining a healthy weight feel like swimming upstream in concrete boots.

So when GLP-1 drugs came along, they didn't replace what we do as coaches. They leveled the playing field.

Why These Meds Actually Validate Everything Good Coaches Already Knew

Here's what blew my mind when I started working with clients on GLP-1s: they started naturally doing all the things I'd been trying to teach them for years.

Suddenly, they were:

• Eating slowly without me having to remind them
• Stopping when satisfied instead of cleaning their plates
• Choosing protein-rich foods because that's what sounded good
• Not obsessing over their next meal during our training sessions

The medication wasn't doing magic - it was removing the biological barriers that were making healthy behaviors feel impossible. It's like the difference between trying to have a conversation at a death metal concert versus in a quiet coffee shop. Same conversation, totally different level of difficulty.

This made me realize that maybe all those times I thought clients "weren't trying hard enough," they were actually fighting a biological system that was working against them 24/7.

The Real Problems (And How We Solve Them)

But here's where things get interesting. Just because someone's hunger cues are normalized doesn't mean they automatically know how to lift weights properly or understand that they need 30+ grams of protein at breakfast.

In fact, working with clients on GLP-1s has shown me exactly where our expertise becomes absolutely critical:

Problem #1: They're Losing Muscle Along with Fat

The research shows that about 30-40% of weight lost on these medications comes from lean mass. That sounds terrifying until you realize it's also true for traditional weight loss methods. The difference is, now we have a window of opportunity where clients feel good enough to actually stick with strength training.

I've started structuring programs differently for medicated clients. We're doing more frequent resistance training sessions, focusing heavily on compound movements, and I'm way more aggressive about protein targets. The results? My clients on GLP-1s are actually maintaining muscle better than my traditional weight loss clients ever did.

Problem #2: The Side Effects Are Real

Nausea, constipation, and general GI weirdness are common, especially in the first few weeks. I've had to completely rethink how I approach nutrition coaching for these clients.

Instead of my usual "eat more vegetables" advice, we start with what they can actually tolerate. Smoothies instead of salads. Bone broth instead of chicken breast. Small, frequent meals instead of three squares a day.

It's taught me to be way more flexible and client-centered in my approach, which honestly has made me better at working with ALL my clients.

Problem #3: The Rebound Effect

Here's the scary part - when people stop taking these medications (often because of cost or insurance issues), about two-thirds of the weight comes back within a year. BUT, and this is a big but, that's only if they haven't built sustainable habits during their time on the medication.

This is where we earn our money, people. We have a window where clients feel normal around food for maybe the first time in their lives. Our job is to use that window to build rock-solid habits that can withstand the return of their biological hunger cues.

How I've Changed My Coaching Approach

Working with medicated clients has completely transformed how I structure programs:

The First Month: Damage Control

• Focus on managing side effects through food choice and meal timing
• Gentle movement that supports digestion
• Establishing basic protein targets (even if it's just a protein shake)

Months 2-6: Building the Foundation

• Progressive strength training becomes non-negotiable
• We dial in meal timing and composition
• Practice mindful eating skills while their hunger cues are normal
• Build sustainable meal prep systems

Month 6+: Future-Proofing

• Advanced strength training progressions
• Stress management and sleep optimization
• Creating backup plans for challenging situations
• Building a support network

The beautiful thing is, these clients are actually MORE compliant with exercise programs because they feel better. They're not constantly battling hunger and food obsession, so they have mental bandwidth for learning new skills.

The Questions That Keep Me Up at Night

I won't lie - this shift has raised some big questions for me:

Are we medicating away a problem that our environment created? Maybe. But people need solutions that work in the world they actually live in, not the one we wish existed.

What happens if everyone's on these medications and nobody needs traditional weight loss coaching? Honestly, I don't think that's going to happen. These drugs are expensive, they have side effects, and they don't teach you how to deadlift or manage stress or sleep better.

Am I enabling people to avoid dealing with the root causes of their eating behaviors? This one really gets to me sometimes. But then I think about clients like Sarah, who spent YEARS trying to white-knuckle their way through biological hunger that would have broken most people. Sometimes you need to treat the biology before you can address the psychology.

What This Means for Our Industry

Here's my prediction: coaches who learn to work effectively with medicated clients are going to thrive. Those who stick their heads in the sand and insist that willpower should be enough are going to get left behind.

The skills that matter most now:

• Understanding how to modify training and nutrition for different medications
• Helping clients navigate side effects
• Building habits that stick even if medication is discontinued
• Working as part of a healthcare team instead of being a solo act

I've started collaborating more with doctors, registered dietitians, and therapists. My scope of practice is clearer now - I'm not trying to be everything to everyone, but I'm really good at helping people move better and build sustainable exercise habits.

The Bottom Line

These medications haven't made coaches obsolete - they've made us more important than ever. But they've also forced us to evolve beyond the "just try harder" mentality that frankly wasn't serving a lot of our clients anyway.

I'm a better coach now because I've learned to work WITH my clients' biology instead of against it. I'm more humble about the complexity of weight management and more strategic about when and how to introduce different interventions.

Most importantly, I've learned that meeting people where they are - whether that's with medication, without it, or somewhere in between - is always going to get better results than insisting they meet me where I think they should be.

So yeah, Ozempic made me a better coach. It forced me to question my assumptions, expand my skillset, and become more collaborative in my approach. And honestly? My clients - all of them, medicated or not - are better off for it.

The question isn't whether these medications are here to stay (they are). It's whether we're going to evolve with them or get left behind.

What's it going to be?

Want to learn more about working with medicated clients? I'm putting together a comprehensive guide for fitness professionals navigating this new landscape. Drop me a line if you're interested - we're all figuring this out together.