Real food on 1.7mg - what do YOU eat?

Hong Kong Yanpep International
that post wasn't saying everyone needs 3 meals. it was just pointing out that not eating enough stalls weight loss and causes other health stuff. i never said 3 meals was the only way.
 
Dude, living on five shakes isn't the way. You need real protein sources like chicken, lean beef, turkey. Shakes fill gaps, they're not your whole meal plan.
 
Everyone on GLP1s should get bloodwork before and at least yearly after. I got level 3A/B chronic kidney disease and GLP1s help it — actually prescribed for some CKD stages. But gotta watch protein sources since kidneys can't handle much red meat, processed stuff, or shellfish. Also got gout now so even pickier. Know your own health.
 
Craving bananas now. Wanting beans and tofu. Actually wanting the good nutritious stuff I used to have to choke down before. It's so wild. This crazy medication makes you actually want healthy food! Nobody mentioned this side of things. Very disorienting. Folks claiming this isn't a game-changer don't get what's really happening.
 
Semaglutide didn't mess with my endurance runs at all. Real food during exercise is key - I aim for 250+ calories per hour plus water and electrolytes to stay hydrated.
 
Real food first, always - but the protein shake backup plan is genuinely useful when appetite is low and you need to hit your numbers. On 1.7mg my actual day looks like eggs and Greek yogurt in the morning, something high protein and easy for lunch (rotisserie chicken, cottage cheese, deli slices), and usually a small dinner. The volume you can eat drops a lot so the game is density - get the protein in early before the fullness hits. If I'm running behind or just can't face food, a shake saves me from skipping protein entirely. You figure out your personal patterns pretty quickly.
 
Can't do the liquid diet thing either. Since I'm limited to two meals, I stick with solid choices - omelets with or without toppings like peppers and dairy, high-protein greek yogurt layered with berries and almonds, smashed avocado on toast, or peanut spread sandwiches with sliced banana. Really satisfying each time.
 
The icky-at-old-portions response is the medication working - smaller volumes and lower-fat meals usually cut both.
 
The mental load of eating on these meds flips from craving management to nutritional optimization - one is involuntary and exhausting, the other is chosen and exhausting, but the chosen version has an endpoint when the habits become automatic.
 
Ultra running and sema working together is a useful data point - the run caloric requirement overrides the suppression enough that fueling stays functional. 250+ real food calories per hour plus electrolytes is the right model and seems to hold up.
 
The 'not-food' texture thing with tofu and Greek yogurt is a consistent pattern on sema - the brain just doesn't flag them as eating events. Protein water is underrated for the same reason.
 
True_Bro the weak and tired piece when you are not eating enough is real and sneaks up on you. The medication does such a good job cutting hunger that you sometimes forget the body still needs fuel to function. I hit that wall around month three when I was barely at 900 calories some days and wondering why I felt awful. Once I forced myself to eat on a schedule instead of waiting for hunger cues everything stabilized. Having something easy and high in protein within reach so the barrier to eating was low made the biggest difference.
 
The reduction in appetite cues is the mechanism but what actually gets eaten in that smaller window matters a lot for energy and muscle retention. People who just eat less of everything tend to plateau faster than people who prioritize protein in the smaller portions. What does the actual food look like day to day at 1.7mg?
 
Protein bars are off the table on semaglutide now, something about them just doesn't sit right anymore. Leaning instead on things like icelandic-style yogurt, plain greek yogurt, cottage cheese, some meat and eggs, canned fish, plus the occasional ice cream or a splash of milk mixed into cereal. Normally sticking to low carb, but lately while adjusting doses, a bowl of puffed rice with milk has become a go-to just to get some protein in easily. Feeling mostly back on track with cleaner eating now.
 
The original poster messaged separately asking why skipping lunch is even an issue, so answering that here too.

Skipping meals is really just a shortcut, not a strategy. Sure, it lowers your overall calorie count, fine. But on this medication, and honestly with any dietary shift, you have to think in terms of what you can sustain long term.

What you actually want is a high protein, high fiber approach you can stick with. Skipping lunch, especially if it's not already a regular habit, tends to tank blood sugar and spike hunger hard for whatever meal comes next, which undoes the whole point and usually leads to overeating anyway.

Here's what I'd suggest:
1) Run your questions past whoever's prescribing the medication or managing your nutrition.
2) Start logging everything you eat for however long you plan to stay on this medication.
2a) Push protein and fiber up while staying under your target if dropping pounds is the priority.
3) The whole goal is something sustainable once you're off the medication eventually. So ask yourself, this plan where skipping lunch hits your protein, fiber, and calorie numbers, can you actually keep that up every single day, no exceptions, for months straight? If the honest answer is no, or you're already making excuses, then don't build your plan around it.
 
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