According to this article, it's a side effect of Ozempic itself. The article goes on to say that the newly discovered molecule can side-step the side-effect and metnioned that "obese mice treated with daily injections of BRP for 14 days lost an average of 3 grams—due almost entirely to fat loss..."
We don't know yet whether the muscle loss is caused by the drug itself or due to the weight loss, there are some studies but I haven't seen any conclusion yet one way or the other.
Anecdotally, a friend of mine was on a diet and exercise regime, then at some point he switched to Mounjaro to reduce cravings, while keeping the same diet and exercise regime (he's a data geek so he documented things pretty well), and his muscle gain maybe slowed a tiny bit, but didn't reverse on Mounjaro.
Also sample size of one, but with the weight loss from semaglutide, I've gotten back in the gym and I can now lift more weight than I ever have. It feels fantastic (both the weight loss and being strong)
I feel for you, friend. The safest way, however, is to make hunger your friend, and walk an hour or two a day. That may not work well with your work schedule, but you can override your body with your mind, unless your mind suffers because of our tech work's energy needs.
And, it takes me a day or two to get past a processed sugar addiction. After those couple of days, the body starts getting used to not having that "crack" energy source be a part of its desire-base.
Good luck, stavros, you can do it! And the sooner you start, the quicker you can get over the initial hump of resistence. Perhaps you can carrot yourself along by knowing that you WILL feel much, much better as the pounds start coming off and your body starts being able to walk a bit further or lift a few more weights. Fight the food inertia, my brother.
If you really want extra help, contact the Creator of the universe in the morning and evening, and ask It for help. If you do that with an intention to be able to better help others, you will find that the universe, itself, will become your ally.
You can't answer the Ozempic case without looking at research that compares people who rapidly lost weight with vs without the drug, and then looking at the %FFM difference between them.
We know that rapid weight loss causes muscle loss at a higher rate than slower weight loss in general.
GLP-1s might enhance this effect somewhat, but there is nothing definitive.
Adequate protein intake + resistance training can fully counteract it, however. I've even added significant lean body mass while losing fat while on GLP-1s.
It’s just absolutely not the case though. These drugs are now rife in the bodybuilding community, combined with a high protein diet and resistance training muscle will be retained. There is no mechanistic action to suggest that muscle loss would be caused by these drugs, quite the opposite actually.
