The First Two Days
The first 48 hours were the bumpiest part of the week. I felt mildly dizzy on and off, and my sleep was restless — vivid, almost cinematic dreams, and one night I woke up a little sweaty. Nothing alarming, but noticeable.
By day three, all of that had faded. The rest of the week I barely felt the medication at all, except for one big thing: the cravings were gone.
What the Appetite Suppression Actually Feels Like
This is the part I was most curious about, and it's more subtle than I expected. I haven't felt strong hunger, but I also haven't felt strong fullness. I'm somewhere in the middle — a kind of neutral state where food just isn't on my mind.
The biggest change is the evening snacking. Normally I'd wander to the kitchen during TV time and grab sandwiches, cheese, or soda without really thinking about it. That impulse is clearly muted. Not completely gone — I still feel a bit restless, like something is missing from the routine — but it's controllable now. It turns out a lot of what I used to call "hunger" was just habit.
The medication doesn't make food unappealing. It removes the background noise that pushes you to eat when you're not actually hungry. The habit still exists. The urgency doesn't.
Following the Protocol
I built a daily checklist covering everything — hydration, blood pressure medication, vitamin D, protein meals, supplements, training, sleep — and I've been checking off every box. It turns out that when your appetite is suppressed, having a written plan is essential. Without structure, it would be very easy to just... not eat enough protein.
Specific wins this week:
- Protein target hit daily — eggs at lunch, proper dinner with family, protein shake before bed
- Hydration maintained — I've been aggressive with water given how much I'd read about constipation. No GI issues so far.
- Training felt normal — 3 full-body sessions, strength levels unchanged
- 30 min daily walks on the treadmill at low speed (2.5 km/h) but 12% incline — gets the heart rate up without punishing the joints
Weigh-In Rhythm
I stepped on the scale at the start of treatment, and I'll weigh in every Sunday morning from now on. One measurement per week, same time, same conditions. Anything more frequent just invites daily noise into a process that plays out over months.
The first real weekly number lands next Sunday.
Preparation paid off. Because I had the protein plan, the supplement stack, and the training routine locked in before injection one, I didn't have to make decisions when I felt mildly off. The protocol carried me through. This is what I'll tell anyone starting GLP-1 treatment: do the prep work.
Next entry: Week 2 — second injection, and whether the appetite suppression deepens or levels off.