# Episode 190: Hunger Series Part 3: GLP-1 Explained (Your Natural Hormone vs. the Drug)

An episode of [Becoming MindStrong](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1505918838), 24 Aug 2026, 14 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/977851/episodes/19683727-episode-190-hunger-series-part-3-glp-1-explained-your-natural-hormone-vs-the-drug.mp3

GLP-1 medications have changed the weight-loss conversation, but how much do we really understand about what they’re doing in the body? In Part 3 of our Hunger Hormones 101 series, we’re breaking down natural GLP-1, GLP-1 medications, appetite suppression, and what happens to your metabolism along the way. If you’ve wondered whether GLP-1 is the answer or whether there’s another path, this episode is for you. Check out my (free) workshop, How to Fire Up Your Metabolism in Menopause and Beyond right here: www.MindStrongFitness.com

## Transcript

Becoming MindStrong Episode 190: Hunger Series Part 3: GLP-1 Explained (Your Natural Hormone vs. the Drug)
Speaker 1 0:01
Welcome back to Becoming Mind Strong Podcast. My name is Rachel. I'm the founder and CEO of Mindstrong, where we are here for an education. So many of us have crossed this this 40 mark, and welcome back. Welcome back to the Becoming Mindstrong podcast. My name is Rachel, and I'm the founder and CEO of Mindstrong, where everything we do is seeped in education. I am a huge believer that the things that overwhelm us, the things that make us feel out of control, are the things we don't understand. And once you understand the how and why of something. Once you've mastered it as a skill, one of my favorite expressions in life: if you know how to ride a bike, try to fall off a bike. Right. Once your brain is wired for a skill, that's it. You have it for life, and that is what we are here to do about our menopausal bodies, about nutrition, about everything that comes at this beautiful stage of life, we are in part three of a five-part series around hunger hormones 101. In doing this for over a decade with over 7000 women, we do have some women who come to us and they're eating more calories than their body needs. About 80% I would estimate, of the women we work with, that is not the case. They are doing what we call "quote unquote" doing everything right, meaning they're doing what worked in their 20s and 30s. They're eating less, they're moving more, they're eating healthy, they're ramping up cardio, and not only is it not working, but the problem's getting worse. And just to to add to it, what happens is at some point maybe they listen to this podcast, they scroll their Instagram, they learn, oh, so I'm hearing that I actually need to eat more, which is very true. But this is where the yeah buts come in. Yeah, but I'm not hungry. So in this five part series, we are focused on our hunger hormones, why they stop communicating, why they get weaker, and most importantly, what we can do about it. So, in part one, we did a big overview. I introduced you to the four, the big
Speaker 1 4:21
So good news, and I'm going to very strongly put that in air quotes because I don't think it's good news personally, and we'll talk about that in a second, is that food noise goes away because you don't feel hungry, which is not a good thing, I believe, and we'll talk about that in a second. But what we need to understand is that these drugs do not do anything when it comes to healing your metabolism or getting your body better at burning calories, literally. What it's doing is making us full for longer. That's it. It has nothing to do with long-term health of your metabolism. Now, the other danger is we have to ask ourselves, what am I actually losing on these drugs? Because yes, the scale is going to go down, but the scale-if you've hung out here before-you know this-does not just measure fat. If you are someone who has a lot of muscle on your body, that scale tends to show a higher number than someone looking at you from the outside might might expect, because the scale is measuring how much your bones weigh, how much your muscle weighs, and yes, how much your fat weighs. So when we go on these drugs, we are not just losing fat; we are also losing muscle mass and bone density, and that's a huge issue, especially over 40, because over 40, as our estrogen drops, we are already losing bone density and lean muscle mass at an alarming rate. So now we're adding a drug that's stripping away from those even faster, and we're digging a hole deeper and deeper because muscle and bone strength are two of the biggest factors to overall life longevity. So we are stripping away the very engine that we need to live longer, healthier lives because we feel good seeing a number on a scale go down. Now let's take it one step further. We now understand that what these drugs are doing are suppressing our appetite. Most women wind up eating about 900 calories a day. Here's the problem: if you've listened to this podcast before, we talk a ton, an annoying amount, I'm sure, about why
Speaker 1 9:07
Default to your doctor, unless you have a doctor who doesn't understand menopause and is telling you to eat less, move more. But that's a different conversation. If you are on a GLP one, and again, it surprises people to know we do have women in our program who are on them, and this is why because they've they've heard me talk about the importance of what what we're about talk. Let's talk. Let's start with what. Let's start with what to do if you are on a GLP one because this surprises a lot of women because I'm very vocal about my stance on GLP ones. Caveat: GLP ones were designed to be a diabetes medicine. If you are diabetic and your doctor has put you on on for that reason, always default to your doctor. And I'm very vocal that I'm I'm not a fan of them as a weight loss technique. And we do have women in our program not. Tons, but we have some who are currently on GLP ones, and they still joined us for the reason we're about to talk about. If you are on a GLP one and you are only eating 900 calories a day, and this is true, by the way, if you've had like the band or bypass surgery, any any instance where you're eating 900 calories a day, we capital M must do our best to distribute quote unquote those $20, right? If we have limited calories in our day, we capital M must make sure that we are focusing on protein intake, that we're focusing on fiber intake, that we're getting enough healthy complex carbs. We need to make sure we're distributing the limited calories that we have in the best proportion of carbs, fat, and protein for our body. That is a non-negotiable, or you're going to dig a hole deeper and deeper. It would also be to your benefit to prioritize weight training, resistance training, because as we've harped on here, and we will continue to in this five-part series. There, there is very. I'm going to say there's no world where you're getting the protein that you need. So resistance training is going to help preserve some of that lean muscle mass
Speaker 1 13:12
Number two, we have now dug the hole deeper. Remember, GLP ones don't do anything when it comes to healing our metabolism. In fact, we have accidentally dug the hole deeper because now we've overridden our metabolism. So what we have seen for years and years now is when you come off the drug, you don't just gain the weight back; you gain back significantly more because the metabolism hole is a bit deeper. The way to avoid that is to have this game plan. Is to have this runway. So we've started the healing process along the way. So when you get off the drug, we can keep that game plan going, and we can minimize or even eliminate the weight gain that will come otherwise. The big message is the last category is the one that I will shout from the rooftops, and maybe that's not fair because I want to shout all these from the rooftops. We work with so many women who come to us, and they're just like Rachel. If this doesn't work, I'm going on a GLP one. Like I see my friends going on it; they're losing weight quickly. I'm doing everything right; nothing's working. I promise you. I promise you, you are not broken. I'm going to come back to what I say every single time. The tool bag of our 20s and 30s. Not only does it not work, it digs the hole deeper. That is the reason. There's your answer on a silver platter. That is the reason that we are doing everything quote unquote right and nothing is working because what was quote unquote right in our 20s and 30s, not only is it not quote unquote right in this stage of life, it's making the problem worse. You do not need a drug to lose weight over 40. I'm going to say that again. You do not need a drug to lose weight over 40. What we need is to heal. Heal our metabolism. I'm not going to go down a rabbit hole right now. I have lots of episodes about this. There are always more coming. But what is happening is called metabolic adaptation. Are we have under eaten for long enough where our body that's built for survival? It's a
Speaker 1 17:04
Healing your metabolism wins every day of the week. So my disclaimer I'll always give is: you have to you have to do what feels good for you, right? Again, default to your doctor. You have to do what feels good for you. What this comes down to for a lot of women, though, is is feeling hopeless. I talk about this very openly. A lot of times people ask, "Why do you only work in the world of menopause? And I know it sounds cheesy, but the word I always come back to is hope, because we are doing everything "quote unquote" right, meaning what worked in our 30s. And not only is it not working, the problem's getting worse. And the thing, I promise you, I promise you, go on our website, look at our testimonial page. You could be there for a month. All hope is not lost. Your body is not broken. What we need is a new tool bag because biologically we are not living in the same body. What these drugs are doing, they didn't invent something new. They are overriding a system that already exists in our body, but they're taking a six-inch hole and they're making it six miles long. All right, getting back on track here. We are in part three of a five-part series tomorrow. Okay, getting back on track here. We are in part three of a five-part series. In the next episode, we're gonna dig into So, in the next episode of this five-part series, we're going to talk about the next hormone in the big four of these hunger hormones, and that is insulin. I'll see you there. In the next episode, in the next episode of this five-part series, we're talking about number four in the big four of hunger hormones, and that is insulin. I'll see you there.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai

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