5 Things to Try Before Ozempic (or Any GLP-1)

Here are the five things I'd try before a GLP-1, in order: a high-protein drink stack that blunts appetite the same way the drug does, rebuilding your own favorite meals around protein instead of switching to diet food, moving in ways you'd actually keep doing, killing boredom snacking instead of white-knuckling hunger, and giving yourself 6–12 real months instead of expecting it in eight weeks. None of these are exotic. That's kind of the point.

Who this post is for — and who it isn't

I want to be honest about this upfront, because the internet's Ozempic discourse is allergic to nuance and I don't want to add to that.

If you're at 130kg or above, if you're carrying obesity-related conditions — type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, joint damage that's wrecking your knees, cardiovascular risk — or if your doctor is already recommending a GLP-1, this post is not talking to you. For that situation, these drugs are close to a no-brainer. That decision is between you and your doctor, and nothing below is meant to second-guess it.

This post is for a different, much larger group: people with 10–20kg to lose. The 100kg person who wants to be 80kg. You're not in a medical emergency. You have a long runway. And with that runway, you could absolutely do this naturally — which means you might not need a weekly injection for the rest of your life to get there. That's the case I want to make.

1. The "liquid Ozempic" protein stack

Start here, because it's the closest thing to a direct swap for what people actually want from the drug: less hunger, easier calorie control, no white-knuckling through the afternoon.

The stack is simple — 400ml of bone broth in the morning, then 2–3 Greek-yogurt protein drinks through the day. Roughly 80–100g of protein for under 800 calories, no shaker bottle, no powder, no needle. And it's not a folk remedy running parallel to the drug — it's the same mechanism at a smaller dial. Dietary protein genuinely triggers your gut to release more of its own GLP-1 and PYY, and to suppress ghrelin, your hunger hormone. Same direction as the drug. Food-sized magnitude instead of pharmaceutical magnitude. Give it a couple of weeks and ghrelin actually calms down.

I laid out the full stack, the exact macros, and the science behind it in the liquid Ozempic stack post — that's thing #1, in full.

2. Rebuild the meals you already love — don't switch to different food

This is the one people get wrong most often. They think "getting serious" means throwing out everything they like and eating some beige list of diet foods. It doesn't, and it shouldn't, because that's exactly the kind of plan you abandon in three weeks.

Instead: take the meals you already eat and already love, and rebuild them around protein. Same flavors, same comfort, more of the macro that actually keeps you full and holds onto your muscle while you're in a deficit.

• Love a grilled cheese and tomato soup night? Here's roasted tomato soup with a high-protein sourdough grilled cheese — the same comfort food, rebuilt.
• Chicken pasta on repeat? High-protein chicken pasta instead of the version that leaves you hungry an hour later.
• Craving takeout fried rice? High-protein chicken fried rice does the job at home.
• Want dessert without blowing the day? High-protein skyr cheesecake is real cheesecake, rebuilt.
• Burger night? Low-fat, high-protein burgers instead of skipping the burger entirely.

The pattern is always the same: don't eat different food. Eat your food, rebuilt around protein.

3. Move in ways you'd do anyway

Forget punishment cardio — the kind of workout you dread and quit in February. What actually works over a 6–12 month runway is movement you'd choose to do even if weight wasn't the goal: swim, bike, lift, walk somewhere nice. Consistency beats intensity every time, because the workout that happens four times a week for a year beats the "perfect" one you do twice before burning out.

If you want structure without the gym-bro theatrics, training with a coach through Hevy is a low-friction way to build the habit — logged, tracked, no guesswork about whether you're doing enough.

4. Kill boredom snacking, not hunger

Most snacking isn't hunger. It's boredom, stress, or your hands and mind needing something to do while you're at a desk or on the couch. Treating every snack urge as a hunger signal is how people end up fighting a battle they don't actually need to fight.

Two things that work better than willpower:

• Read more. Genuinely — it occupies your hands and your mind at the same time a screen-and-snack combo would, and it doesn't come with 400 extra calories.
• 10 squats every hour you're at a desk. A movement snack instead of a food snack. It breaks the loop, wakes you up, and takes 30 seconds.

And when hunger is real — actually real, not boredom wearing a hunger costume — a banana and a protein drink handles it cleanly without derailing the day.

5. Give it a real timeline

Losing 10–20kg naturally is a 6–12 month project. Not eight weeks. Anyone promising you a natural transformation in two months is either selling you something or setting you up to quit when it doesn't happen. A sustainable pace is roughly 0.5–1kg a week — slower than a drug, but it's yours, and it's built on habits that don't disappear the day you stop.

What actually gets people through 6–12 months is accountability — someone checking in, adjusting the plan when life gets in the way, keeping you honest on the weeks motivation dips. If that's something you want structure around rather than figuring out alone, a free intro call is a low-pressure way to talk through what that looks like for your specific situation. No pressure, no sales pitch here — just an option if you want one.

I'm not a doctor, and this isn't medical advice. If you're already talking to yours about a GLP-1, or you fall into the group at the top of this post, that conversation takes priority over anything written here.