Coach GLP-1 Shoppers: 7 Varieties to Know

Reviewed by Brian St. Pierre, MS, RD

“Is that this drug going to steal my job?”

That’s the thought many well being and health coaches had when GLP-1 medicines first hit the mass market.

Although semaglutide (Ozempic) turned out there in 2017, it initially felt like a theoretical risk. Prescription charges had been nonetheless very low; it appeared like nobody truly knew anybody who was taking it.

Now, in 2026, over 1 in 10 US adults are taking a GLP-1 treatment. Most of us know somebody on it (or we’re on it ourselves).

With wider use, opinions in the direction of the treatment have softened too. Most coaches not see it as a risk, and relatively recognize it as a precious device for sure purchasers, with teaching as an additive complement.

Many nonetheless have considerations although, primarily about their purchasers’ long run well being on the treatment. (Among the many worries: Lack of muscle mass! Utilizing a “band-aid” resolution! Bypassing foundational well being habits! And extra!)

Nevertheless, whether or not you rely your self as a GLP-1 supporter or a GLP-1 skeptic, there’s a framing which may change the way in which you concentrate on your work on this discipline:

“As a coach, you’re not within the GLP-1 world; you’re within the GLP-1 assist world.”

That quote comes from Kate Solovieva, Tremendous Coach and PN’s Director of Neighborhood. She says that coaches want to acknowledge that their market isn’t “folks on GLP-1s,” however relatively “folks on GLP-1s who need assist.”

Making an attempt to educate everybody taking a GLP-1 simply isn’t doable. And spending time eager about all of the folks utilizing GLP-1s “the flawed approach” is, bluntly, wasted power. A few of these folks simply don’t need, want, or aren’t prepared in your assist.

In the meantime, there is a subgroup of individuals on GLP-1s who’re prepared, keen, and in a position to obtain your assist. Honing in on this group is the place you’ll be able to truly make a distinction (and the place your online business can thrive).

Within the following article, we’ll cowl seven totally different GLP-1 shopper “sorts,” every with their very own degree of teaching readiness. Primarily based on our expertise teaching over 175,000 purchasers (of which an rising quantity are on GLP-1s), we’ll provide methods to cope with every.

Let’s get into it.

The 7 forms of GLP-1 purchasers

Earlier than we start, a reminder: Individuals change, and readiness isn’t mounted.

An individual who begins off saying “I’m doing wonderful by myself” could finally morph into “I’m flailing and really want another person in my nook”—and vice versa.

If the individual in entrance of you matches right into a sure kind, that’s their kind proper now. So pay attention fastidiously to how your shopper speaks at each session, and reply dynamically.

Basically, Coach Kate says somebody is often prepared for teaching after they exhibit two issues:

• Their difficulty feels essential, pressing, or distressing: Taking higher care of their well being feels particularly precious proper now. (“This actually issues to me.”)
• They really feel they’ve the capability to dedicate some assets to the difficulty: Be it time, cash, or each, they’re prepared to just accept some type of price. (“I’ve area to cope with this.”)

Maintain that behind your thoughts as you work together with shopper prospects, and as you learn in regards to the shopper sorts, which we’ve summarized within the under desk.

Now, on to our GLP-1 shopper sorts.

Consumer Kind #1: The Honeymooner

That is the one who’s began a GLP-1 treatment—they usually like it.

They’ve skilled minimal negative effects, and have gotten nice outcomes on a comparatively low dose.

They haven’t modified a lot about their train habits or their weight loss program (besides the consuming much less half, which the treatment has taken care of), however they’re seeing what they need to see on the size, so that they don’t really feel motivated to vary something.

Teaching transfer:

It is perhaps tempting to “lure” this type of shopper in by warning them of the hazards of utilizing a GLP-1 treatment with out including in long-term well being behaviors (like resistance coaching and strategic vitamin), however such a method can backfire.

At greatest, chances are you’ll sound like a downer. At worst, chances are you’ll sound like an energetic antagonist.

In Motivational Interviewing, a communication method generally utilized in teaching, that is referred to as the “righting reflex.” It’s the urge that coaches, counselors, and therapists usually have to assist or “right course” for his or her shopper. You see them doing one thing “flawed,” and also you need to assist them “repair” it.

Nevertheless, following this intuition may very well strengthen a shopper’s defenses, and stop change.

If an individual is flying excessive on their present method, their readiness for teaching is extraordinarily low.

As Coach Kate says, “they’re simply not my individual but.”

Your greatest transfer with this kind is to genuinely have fun their present outcomes, then plant the seed for assist ought to they want it sooner or later.

For instance, you could possibly say: “It should really feel so good to see all these constructive outcomes! When you ever really feel such as you need to work on one other layer, like resistance coaching or optimizing your vitamin, I’d like to work collectively.”

Then, simply keep out there. (“My door is all the time open!”)

Consumer Kind #2: The Ambivalent Candidate

That is the one who hasn’t began a GLP-1 treatment—and would possibly by no means, regardless of being an incredible candidate for one.

Possibly their physician has already prompt the treatment to them and they’ve learn all the things they will on the subject.

And but, they’re frozen with concern on the beginning line. They’re afraid of negative effects, of being on treatment for all times, of not holding up their finish of the cut price. (“I’ve been making an attempt to begin power coaching for years. If I take this treatment it issues much more… What if I nonetheless can’t do it?”)

Toni Bauer, Tremendous Coach and PN’s Director of Teaching and Schooling Operations additionally says that, in some circumstances, a shopper’s hesitation isn’t about negative effects. “A few of our purchasers marvel, ‘Am I an excellent individual or a foul individual if I begin taking a GLP-1 treatment? Am I weak? Am I giving up?’” Coach Toni says these considerations aren’t distinctive to GLP-1 medicines, however they appear to be particularly frequent.

She causes, “In case you have excessive ldl cholesterol, are you weak for taking ldl cholesterol treatment? No. However usually folks don’t view weight problems as a illness at a societal degree, so the dialog is totally different right here.”

Whatever the root explanation for this individual’s hesitation, the recommendation under can assist them discover readability.

Teaching transfer:

First, let’s be clear: Deciding whether or not or to not take a drugs isn’t a training determination, and falls out of your scope of apply. That selection is in the end as much as your shopper and a medical supplier who can assess whether or not a GLP-1 is acceptable given their medical historical past.

That mentioned, purchasers should still come to you wanting to debate their choices.

So the query turns into: How do you assist somebody via a choice you’ll be able to’t make for them?

Coach Toni advises: “You possibly can share info and information. For instance, examine outcomes and what you’ve seen with different purchasers. However you’ll be able to’t say, ‘For you, that is the best selection.’”

As a substitute, the largest teaching alternative right here is to assist purchasers articulate what’s truly driving their hesitation.

This hesitation about whether or not to do one thing totally different or keep the identical is known as ambivalence, and it’s a standard (albeit uncomfortable) stage of change.

Drawback is, with out the best instruments, an individual can keep caught in ambivalence for months and even years. And, very similar to being caught at an airport in between two locations, it sucks.

However at PN, we now have a cool train to cope with shopper ambivalence. It’s referred to as the 4 Loopy Questions. Primarily, you discover:

• What’s GOOD about altering?
• What’s BAD about altering?
• What’s GOOD about NOT altering?
• What’s BAD about NOT altering?

On this context, the questions can assist a shopper discover the chance of beginning a GLP-1 (which they’ve most likely already voiced), but additionally the chance of not beginning, which they might not have thought-about but.

Our 4 Loopy Questions worksheet can encourage purchasers to discover the professionals and cons of each selections. With these concerns laid out explicitly, most individuals really feel much more clear about their subsequent steps—or at the least what questions they should ask their medical supplier earlier than they will transfer ahead.

Importantly, this train doesn’t have a “proper” end result. Some folks work via it and fill the prescription. Others resolve the treatment isn’t for them, and that’s wonderful. (It’s additionally price reminding purchasers that beginning isn’t essentially everlasting: With their supplier’s enter, a trial run on the treatment is a wonderfully legitimate approach in.)

Both approach, there are alternatives to assist your shopper. As Coach Toni places it: “Whether or not you go ‘pure’ or whether or not you go GLP-1, the foundational habits are primarily the identical.”

Consumer Kind #3: The Prepared-to-Quitter

That is the one who began a GLP-1 with numerous optimism—and now seems like they’ve a plague that gained’t finish.

In a merciless twist, this individual would possibly truly be seeing nice fats loss outcomes. And but, they’re nauseated, exhausted, dreading their subsequent dose, and questioning whether or not it’s price persevering with this treatment.

Including to their sense of defeat, they might even be evaluating themselves to a “Honeymooner” of their life, so they may even be questioning if there’s one thing flawed with them. (“It labored so properly for my buddy! I should be damaged not directly.”)

Teaching transfer:

First, provide some impartial schooling to depersonalize their expertise.

Particularly, they need to know that negative effects are extraordinarily frequent: About half of customers report nausea, a 3rd report diarrhea, and a fifth report vomiting.¹ So, what this individual thinks is outstanding would possibly truly simply be a standard adjustment. (This doesn’t make the expertise suck much less, but it surely can provide them some hope.)

Additionally, getting GLP-1s proper is a technique of trial and error: the best treatment, the best dose, and the best dietary methods to scale back signs.

If their signs are extreme, get them to loop of their physician. Medicine kind and dosing is beneath the purview of a medical skilled, so involving them is crucial.

After that, your greatest teaching transfer is to recommend an experiment.

▶ Ask about dose. To be clear, you’re asking about it, not adjusting it. Says Coach Toni: “Usually, when individuals are experiencing excessive negative effects, they’ve ratcheted up their dose too rapidly. Typically the simplest solution to hold someone on a GLP-1 who’s experiencing excessive negative effects is to decrease their dosage.” Coach Toni makes clear that whereas dosage isn’t a coach’s area, you can assist draw a shopper’s consideration to it.

▶ Begin a meals journal. It doesn’t should be daily—simply across the meals that precede the worst signs. You’re on the lookout for three issues:

• Fats content material: GLP-1 medicines decelerate digestion. That is what contributes to its satiety results, but additionally its negative effects at the start. Fat additionally decelerate digestion, so high-fat meals and meals (oils, nuts and seeds, and fried meals) can compound signs.
• Quantity: Once more, because of the slowing of digestion, a big meal can really feel extraordinarily uncomfortable to digest. A portion that felt regular a month in the past could now be far an excessive amount of without delay.
• Random triggers: Spicy meals, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine. Every kind of meals could set off signs like nausea, acid reflux disorder, or diarrhea in a shopper who used to tolerate them. These meals gained’t all the time be apparent GLP-1 symptom triggers, so one of the best ways to hunt them down is by way of a meals log.

▶ Attempt smaller parts, eaten extra usually. Coach Toni says in case you solely strive one factor, this one is probably the most dependable technique. GLP-1 purchasers could also be tempted to chop meals when signs are excessive, however this will increase the probability of undereating and nutrient deficiencies. The aim, in her phrases: “Can we get sufficiently small, frequent sufficient meals that we get vitamins in, however they by no means really feel overwhelmed or tremendous full?”

To remain inside your scope of apply, language issues.

Don’t say: “You’re nauseous, so you must eat smaller meals.”

As a substitute, say: “People who’re nauseous generally do higher with smaller, extra frequent meals. Wish to strive it this week and see what you discover?”

Within the first instance, you’ve supplied a “prescription” (which coaches can’t legally do). Within the second instance, you’ve supplied an experiment to contemplate.

Consumer Kind #4: The Muscle-Loss Danger

That is the individual whose outcomes look nice, however much less seen modifications are creating long term dangers.

This individual is prone to be fairly sedentary, and whenever you ask what they do for train, they may let you know “I stroll.” However they’re not the outlier kind who persistently will get 20,000 steps a day. They simply… stroll slightly.

Girls usually tend to fall into this class, particularly if they arrive from a era or tradition the place power coaching merely wasn’t a factor ladies did (or had been welcomed to do).

Moreover, this individual is perhaps operating on a decades-long plain-toast-and-coffee breakfast behavior, with decrease protein consumption already ingrained earlier than treatment additional lowered urge for food.

The size is dropping although, so that they’re thrilled. It’s simply that no one’s measuring what sort of weight is dropping.

Teaching transfer:

Your job is to carry consciousness to the invisible. As a result of as soon as this individual sees what’s at stake, they’ll be extra prone to see the worth in altering their habits, and in teaching.

Nevertheless, theoretical warnings about muscle loss are straightforward to dismiss.

This is likely one of the explanation why Coach Kate says, “I don’t care if I coach you or not—please simply get a DEXA as a baseline.”

When an individual has a quantifiable, goal measure of their muscle composition, it’s usually extra motivating than any quantity of summary concern.

Ideally, each one who begins a GLP-1 treatment ought to get a DEXA scan earlier than they begin, then once more at six or twelve months to see how they’re progressing.

If a shopper can’t or gained’t do a DEXA, assess power and performance in different methods. Ask: “How do the steps really feel in contrast to some months in the past? What about carrying groceries?” Collect goal information too, recording baselines for squat, deadlift, and bench press (or different accessible workout routines) to check to over time. Declines in any of those areas can reveal potential muscle loss, and may encourage a shopper to take motion.

With out protecting methods, as much as 40 p.c of weight misplaced from GLP-1 medicines can come from lean mass, with a majority of that being muscle.²

As a way to stop that from taking place, there are two behaviors to prioritize:

▶ Protein at each meal. When urge for food is suppressed, each chunk has to earn its place. Goal for 25-40 grams of protein at each meal and 15-20 grams for snacks. (On days when urge for food is severely suppressed, protein powders could be a extra palatable solution to attain that concentrate on.)

▶ Energy coaching, scaled to what they’d truly do. The time period “weight lifting” would possibly overwhelm an individual who’s by no means set foot in a health club, so don’t begin there. Begin the place PN all the time begins: Ask what they may do twice this week that they’re 9-out-of-10 assured they’d truly do. Sit-to-stands off the sofa. Just a few strikes with a resistance band. Body weight something. Scale up from there, one week at a time.

Consumer Kind #5: The Below-Fueler

That is the individual for whom the treatment has labored slightly too properly.

Their urge for food hasn’t simply decreased—it’s gone.

They’re not consuming sufficient, and infrequently don’t discover till you ask. “When did you final eat?” you say, they usually say, “Ummm… Yesterday afternoon? I believe?”

Their protein and general calorie consumption is plummeting, and shortly their power ranges will too.

Plus, one thing extra refined may additionally be taking place: Meals stops being a pleasure and turns into a chore, or perhaps a supply of dread.

For some, this would possibly appear to be an the other way up world. They might have spent their entire life combating to eat much less. The thought of combating to eat extra feels utterly absurd—and fully off their radar.

Teaching transfer:

Earlier than anything: If there’s an energetic consuming dysfunction within the image, this treatment probably shouldn’t have been prescribed. A vulnerability to disordered consuming can each contribute to or be triggered by the above situation.

So, scope of apply first. Ask this individual in the event that they’ve ever struggled with disordered consuming. If the reply is sure, refer out to a physician or a dietitian. You possibly can completely keep concerned as a information, however not as the one skilled within the room. Have your referral community prepared earlier than you want it.

However generally, you gained’t know. Your shopper could have been screened and cleared. Or, they might not have disclosed. So your job is to determine what you’re truly taking a look at—and that begins with what Coach Toni calls the “present me” method.

Moderately than performing on a hunch, acquire one thing concrete, equivalent to just a few days of meals logging (in writing or by way of pictures).

From there, it branches two methods.

▶ In the event that they’ll monitor, do some meals math, and the numbers could do the give you the results you want. When some purchasers see that their calorie consumption is hovering round 800 to 1,000 Energy per day, it’s the one get up name they want. They weren’t deliberately proscribing; they genuinely simply had no concept.

For this shopper, establishing an consuming routine is the perfect subsequent motion.

Your shopper could also be used to following urge for food as a cue to eat, however now that treatment has eliminated it, they want a special cue. Which means consuming on a schedule, probably each 3–4 hours, together with protein at each a type of events. Parts could be small if urge for food may be very low, however they need to be nutrient-dense.

▶ In the event that they gained’t monitor—and particularly in the event that they resist in a approach that feels purposely avoidant—that resistance itself is data.

Coach Toni means that in case you suspect that disordered consuming is within the image and a shopper is de facto resistant about monitoring, it is perhaps time for a essential dialog—an usually uncomfortable, however trustworthy and important dialog between a shopper and a coach.

She suggests main with non-judgement and security. For instance:

“I would like you to know this can be a protected area to speak. My aim as a coach is all the time to prioritize your general well being. Nevertheless, there have been a few stuff you’ve shared lately which have me questioning whether or not we’re defending your physique’s primary wants.”

Then identify the precise stuff you observed, sticking to info. (“You’ve talked about you’ve been shedding hair and struggling extra throughout exercises. These can each be indicators of undereating. Would you be open to revisiting meals journaling for a brief stretch so we are able to see extra clearly what’s taking place, or telling your physician about your signs?”)

If this dialog is sufficient to assist a shopper see the worth in monitoring, observe the recommendation after “In the event that they’ll monitor” above.

If what surfaces is a genuinely troubled relationship with meals, refer out, whereas providing to remain concerned for assist as wanted.

Consumer Kind #6: The Graduate

That is the one who received the outcomes they needed with the treatment, and is now selecting to wean off.

They’re not quitting due to crappy outcomes or insupportable negative effects, they’ve merely determined they don’t need to be on a GLP-1 without end.

The teaching alternative right here is, partially, about tempering expectations.

Most individuals think about coming off because the end line. As a substitute although, it’s extra like beginning a totally different endurance course: The treatment has been managing their urge for food, and now they need to.

Teaching transfer:

Ideally, you begin working with this shopper whereas the treatment remains to be doing among the heavy lifting with urge for food regulation. When you can have six months to construct the best habits in addition to put together mentally for the really fizzling out interval, your shopper can be in a a lot better place.

Be sure that the beforehand talked about habits—like resistance coaching and optimizing protein—are already firmly established. In case your shopper is managing these habits persistently (not completely, however persistently), even on their busiest, most traumatic, most side-effect-disrupted days, then they’re extra probably to have the ability to keep them after they’re off their treatment and meals distractions re-enter the image.

After that, work on the way you’ll proceed to outline success. This shopper has been accustomed to measuring it on the size, however the scale will transfer—some regain is regular. So, ask them early: What does success appear like if the size ticks up eight kilos however your habits maintain?

Be trustworthy in regards to the odds, too. Individuals who modified nothing whereas on the treatment virtually universally regain many of the weight—often inside the first yr and a half or so³—as a result of the urge for food that went down comes proper again up.

Nevertheless, individuals who combine and maintain more healthy vitamin and train behaviors whereas they’re on treatment are 4 occasions higher at sustaining a ten p.c or increased weight reduction after they come off the treatment.⁴

Consumer Kind #7: The Priced-Out

That is the one who was additionally getting nice outcomes on the treatment—besides as an alternative of selecting to go off it on their very own time, they’re pressured to give up as a consequence of exterior circumstances.

Possibly their insurance coverage stopped masking it, or they misplaced the job that got here with the advantages, or the one drug they tolerated turned out to price 4 occasions as a lot because the one they couldn’t tolerate.

About 50 p.c of GLP-1 customers cease the treatment inside the first yr of utilizing it.⁵ Some cease as a consequence of negative effects, and others cease as a result of they’ve gotten the outcomes they need they usually need to see if they will keep them drug-free. However many are merely priced out. The latter is an particularly irritating situation as a result of, for this individual, a “resolution” exists. It’s simply that, for them, the answer is out of attain.

Understandably, this individual could also be offended and even ashamed that they will’t afford this treatment. These emotions could or could not present up in your teaching, but it surely’s good to organize for them anyway.

Teaching transfer:

First, reassure this individual that this can be a system failure, not a private one.

Whether or not somebody can entry reasonably priced treatment comes all the way down to their insurance coverage plan, the area they reside in, and their socioeconomic standing—often known as the social determinants of well being. These forces form well being outcomes way over willpower does, and none of them are a measure of how onerous somebody has tried or how “worthy” they’re.

Acknowledging that actuality isn’t about throwing up your arms and saying, “Properly, I’m screwed!” Moderately, it’s about accepting some depressing truths in regards to the world, after which shifting from self-blame to problem-solving.

As soon as they’ve had an opportunity to course of some (very legitimate) anger and disappointment, it’s time to concentrate on what they can management.

At PN, we name this the Spheres of Management train. The picture under exhibits you the way it works.

Entry, value, and protection will not be on the checklist of controllables, and combating these realities could solely compound frustration.

In the meantime, they can management different influential components, like their protein consumption, their coaching, their sleep, their meals atmosphere, and perhaps their subsequent insurance coverage enchantment.

Use the picture above to start a dialog along with your shopper about what’s inside their management, and lean in onerous on these components.

What can coaches truthfully promise in terms of getting and sustaining GLP-1 outcomes?

The reality is, you’ll be able to’t predict how a shopper will reply to treatment. And, some regain after stopping it is anticipated.

Nevertheless, weight loss program and life-style habits vastly have an effect on what sort of weight is misplaced, plus the speed and quantity of that regain.

Says Coach Toni:

“I can’t promise anybody they’ll lose a certain amount of weight or that they’ll by no means regain it—and I’d be suspicious of any coach who did. What I can let you know is that the habits we construct whereas the treatment is doing its work are those that’ll nonetheless stand when it isn’t.”

After all, “coming off” isn’t the endpoint for everybody. Many suppliers now deal with weight problems as a continual situation and these medicines as long-term remedy—the identical approach we’d deal with cardiac illness. Once more, whether or not somebody stays on, tapers, or stops is a dialog for them and their supplier.

However for individuals who do come off, Coach Toni says the individuals who maintain their outcomes share one factor: “They keep consistency with their behaviors as in the event that they had been nonetheless on the treatment. Like nothing modifications.”

She shares an analogy for why that works:

“Take into consideration the Oregon Path. The ruts within the path had been made by wagon wheels hitting the identical floor again and again and over. You possibly can nonetheless see these ruts at present—they’re nonetheless there. Habits are the identical approach: When you lay down these neural pathways and reinforce them sufficient occasions whereas your shopper is on the treatment, then they’ll have a greater probability of constant on the identical path even after they go off the treatment.”

In order that’s the precise promise.

It’s not: “You’ll hold it off.”

It’s: “Whereas the treatment is doing its work, we’ll reduce ruts deep sufficient that these pathways will nonetheless be there after the treatment is gone.”

Virtually, meaning common resistance coaching, rock stable vitamin, urge for food consciousness, and attending to the elements of well being that by no means present up on a scale—sleep, power, temper, relationships, and id, which is the place Coach Toni lands:

“Ideally, your shopper can have embraced the id of a ‘new individual.’ As in, ‘I’m the one who wakes up at 6 a.m. and walks two miles. I’m the one who eats protein at each meal. I’m the one who does resistance coaching as a result of it builds the tissue I have to age properly.’ That’s the shopper who maintains.”

References

Click on right here to view the knowledge sources referenced on this article.

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