Section
Guides
9 pages in this section, most recently updated October 2, 2026. Each opens with a plain-English summary and cites its sources.
01 · Guides
FeaturedPlateaus on a GLP-1: what the trial curves show, and what a stall usually is
You'll get: Weight loss on these drugs slows by design. The trial curves are steep early and flatten by about a year.
Weight loss on semaglutide and tirzepatide slows by design. Here is when the published curves flatten, why four flat weeks is not a plateau, what to check, and when to involve your prescriber.
Updated September 4, 202602 · Guides
Weight-loss rate by week: trial endpoints and an illustrative model
You'll get: The trials report end points, not weekly tables. The week-by-week numbers here are modelled between measured anchors.
Published results from STEP 1, STEP 4, SURMOUNT-1 and SURMOUNT-4, with a separate calculated weekly table and an explanation of its formula.
Updated October 2, 202603 · Guides
FeaturedMaintenance and stopping: what STEP 4, SURMOUNT-4 and the STEP 1 extension measured
You'll get: Three trials followed people after the drug stopped. On average, half to two-thirds of the lost weight came back within a year.
The three trials that followed people after semaglutide or tirzepatide was withdrawn, with the numbers, what they do and do not tell you, and how to turn them into a conversation with your prescriber.
Updated September 4, 202604 · Guides
Why weight returns: the physiology behind the withdrawal trials
You'll get: After weight loss, hunger hormones stay shifted toward regaining for at least a year, even without the drug.
Hormonal adaptation, lower energy expenditure and the persistence of both, from the studies that measured them, and why a GLP-1 changes the appetite side of the equation without cancelling the rest.
Updated September 4, 202605 · Guides
Measuring progress beyond the scale: BMI limits, waist circumference, DXA and BIA
You'll get: The scale measures mass. It cannot tell fat from muscle, or belly fat from fat under the skin.
What BMI can and cannot tell you during GLP-1 weight loss, how to measure waist circumference the way the consensus statement describes, and what DXA and bioimpedance scales actually report.
Updated September 4, 202606 · Guides
What the trials asked participants to do besides inject
You'll get: Every trial number came from people who were also on a diet and activity programme with monthly counselling.
The diet and activity counselling written into STEP 1, SURMOUNT-1, STEP 4 and SURMOUNT-4, why it matters for reading the results, and what it means if you are on therapy without it.
Updated September 4, 202607 · Guides
How to weigh yourself so the number means something
You'll get: Use one scale, at the same time of day, once a week or daily and averaged.
A weighing method that makes weekly weights comparable to each other and to the trial curves: same scale, same conditions, percent not pounds, and a four-week window before you draw a conclusion.
Updated September 4, 202608 · Guides
Sleep: the trials that measured what short sleep does to intake and to fat loss
You'll get: In one trial, short sleepers who slept about an hour more ate about 270 fewer calories a day, with nothing else asked.
Two controlled studies, one showing sleep extension cut intake by about 270 kcal a day, one showing sleep restriction during a diet shifted loss from fat to lean tissue, plus the consensus sleep recommendation and the sleep apnea connection.
Updated September 4, 202609 · Guides
Glossary: the terms used on this site, defined plainly
You'll get: Plain definitions of the trial, nutrition and training words used across this site, grouped by topic.
Short definitions for the trial, nutrition and training terms that appear across Weight Loss on GLP-1s, from adaptive thermogenesis to waist circumference, with the source for each where one applies.
Updated September 4, 2026