The Ozempic mistake everyone makes that piles ON the pounds: Obesity doctors reveal ingenious new ten-week plan to keep weight OFF for good

It felt miraculous.

Sarah lost 50 pounds in six months on Wegovy. Her blood sugar and blood pressure improved. Clothes fit in ways they never had before.

For the first time in years, food felt manageable. She assumed the hardest part was over.

Then her insurance stopped covering the medication. The hunger came roaring back. Within weeks, cravings returned. Portions that once felt satisfying no longer did. Within a year, Sarah was close to her starting weight.

Her story is far from rare. Most people eventually stop taking GLP-1 medications like Wegovy, Ozempic, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. Insurance coverage changes. Out-of-pocket costs climb. Side-effects become harder to tolerate.

Some simply don’t want to stay on medication indefinitely.

When the medication stops, weight regain is common. Some studies showed the vast majority of people regained two-thirds of their original weight within a year of quitting.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. We are obesity specialists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr James Hill is a professor of Nutrition Sciences who has spent decades studying long term weight maintenance, and Dr Holly Wyatt is an endocrinologist with more than 25 years of experience caring for patients with obesity and metabolic disease.

Together, we have co-authored the new book Losing The Weight Loss Meds, outlining a ten-week strategy that will ensure the weight you’ve worked so hard to lose stays lost.

What catches most patients off guard is how quickly and powerfully their hunger returns. After months of suppressed appetite, its sudden reappearance feels alarming.

They assumed that, once the weight was lost, they could simply maintain those same small portions indefinitely. And when that doesn’t happen, they think something has gone wrong – that they just don’t have enough discipline.

But this is actually an expected biological response. GLP-1 medications alter hunger signaling in the brain and gut. Remove that pharmaceutical support, and appetite returns abruptly.

Will power alone is never enough to stop it.

Nor can you trust your metabolism to burn off the additional calories.

Weight loss lowers the amount of calories your body needs. That’s normal physiology. But many people lose weight on GLP-1s without increasing physical activity.

The result? A smaller body with lower calorie burn. When eating increases again -as appetite returns – the body conserves energy and stores calories efficiently, making regain likely unless your strategy changes.

Then old coping patterns resurface.

For many, food has long served as a way to manage emotional overload and stress.

GLP-1 medications may quiet those urges, but they don’t replace coping skills. When the medication stops and stress hits, familiar patterns reappear – not because of weakness, but because nothing has taken their place.

None of this reflects a lack of discipline. It reflects predictable physiology.

The people who do best after stopping GLP-1s don’t rely on willpower alone. They expect hunger to return and plan for it.

Most importantly, they understand that the goal is to replace what the medication was doing – using food, movement, and structure to work with their biology.

They stabilize appetite early in the day

Once medication support is gone, the first meal becomes a powerful leverage point.

When breakfast is skipped or built around refined carbohydrates, hunger builds quickly and feels harder to manage all day.

In contrast, when the first meal is anchored by protein and fiber, appetite often steadies for hours.

For example, instead of toast with jam or sugar-heavy granola, this might look like Greek yogurt topped with berries and high fiber add-ins like chia or flax, eggs with vegetables and a high-fiber tortilla, or a protein-forward smoothie built around fiber-rich fruits and seeds.

We call these appetite reset meals – meals that recreate the medication’s key effects by smoothing hunger signals before they escalate.

When the day starts with a meal that stabilizes appetite instead of provoking it, everything that follows becomes easier. 

They use movement to support metabolism

During weight loss on medication, eating less does most of the work.

After medication stops, physical activity becomes essential for supporting metabolism.

Oprah Winfrey admitted gaining weight after temporarily quitting GLP-1s, and recently talked about her new workout regime, which includes hiking, weight lifting and running on the treadmill.   

Without enough movement, the body becomes efficient at conserving energy and storing calories, making regain more likely. Regular physical activity counters this by improving metabolic flexibility and how the body handles calories.

What matters most isn’t the specific activity, but finding a pattern of movement that can be sustained. For many people, even consistent daily movement – especially around meals – makes a meaningful difference.

Aim for about 30 minutes of moderate activity most days of the week. This could be a brisk walk, a short workout at home, or strength training a few times per week.

Even a ten to 15-minute walk after meals can make a meaningful difference over time.

They plan for stress before it shows up

People who maintain their weight decide ahead of time how they’ll respond when stress hits.

That might mean movement, stepping outside, calling a friend, or simply pausing before eating.

The key is that stress no longer automatically leads to overeating.

They shape their environment and monitor early

As hunger increases, environment matters more.

Foods that support goals are kept visible and easy to access. Movement is made convenient.

They also monitor weight regularly – not to judge, but to stay informed.

The Australian actress Rebel Wilson lost 70 pounds using Ozempic, but recently admitted she’d started to regain weight, so embarked on a health challenge, cutting out her favorite indulgences: chocolate and ice-cream.  

When small changes like this are addressed early, minor adjustments are enough, rather than waiting until regain feels overwhelming.

These aren’t isolated tactics. They’re parts of a broader system that allows people to adapt as appetite and metabolism change.

What success actually looks like

Decades of research show that long-term success isn’t about white-knuckling hunger. It depends on having a clear plan for how appetite and metabolism will be handled once medication support is gone.

People who maintain their weight expect hunger to return because they understand it’s part of biology.

When appetite shifts, they adjust how they eat. They use food deliberately to steady hunger, rather than reacting only after regain has begun.

They also think about movement differently. After GLP-1s, movement becomes a primary tool for supporting metabolism and preventing regain.

When the scale moves, they don’t panic. They treat it as information and make small, timely adjustments.

Most importantly, they don’t interpret this process as failure. Needing to respond differently once the medication is gone doesn’t mean something went wrong. It means responsibility has shifted from medication to behavior – and with the right strategy, that shift is manageable.

Losing the Weight Loss Meds: A 10-Week Playbook for Stopping GLP-1 Medications Without Regaining the Weight by Holly R. Wyatt, James O. Hill is published by BenBella Books