TL;DR: I’m a food freedom & intuitive eating coach, and last year I still almost signed up for a GLP-1 medication. What stopped me wasn’t willpower; it was getting curious about why I actually wanted to lose weight in the first place. Underneath “I need to lose weight” was a real, specific discomfort (stiffness, low energy, clothes that didn’t fit right), and none of that actually required weight loss to fix. Reconnecting with gentle movement and gentle nutrition quieted my food noise without a prescription. This is my story, not an argument against GLP-1s for anyone else.
The Night I Almost Signed Up for a GLP-1
I want to talk about something that might surprise people coming from an intuitive eating and food freedom coach.. last year, I strongly considered going on a GLP-1 medication.
I had already healed my relationship with food and my body years earlier. I’d been an intuitive eater for years. I knew how to recognize diet culture; I understood restriction and the restrict-rebound cycle, and I genuinely felt confident around food. And still, I got pulled into the GLP-1 conversation.
Here’s the honest part: at that point, my food noise was loud. I felt like I was back to being “addicted” to certain foods, my appetite felt huge, and I was struggling not to overeat every single night. So when I started seeing GLP-1s described as something that could quiet all of that, quiet my mind around food entirely, it was genuinely appealing. Who wouldn’t want the noise to just.. stop?
One night, I found myself up late researching them. Googling. On TikTok, listening to people’s experiences. Trying to figure out whether this was something I should do. I got far enough that I actually signed up for a consultation through an online service that prescribed GLP-1 medications. I ultimately didn’t go through with it, but I came very close.
Why I Hesitated (Even With the Loud Food Noise)
TL;DR: I wasn’t approaching the question neutrally; I was trying to convince myself to say yes. But listening to various people’s personal accounts of “food noise” returning with a vengeance after stopping GLP-1s made me pause and ask what I was actually looking for.
I think it’s important to be honest about the headspace I was in while doing all that research: I wasn’t approaching the question neutrally. At that point, I was trying to convince myself to take the medication. That matters, because confirmation bias is real. When we’re searching online, especially on social media, it’s incredibly easy to find the information that supports the answer we already want.
But while I was looking for reasons to say yes, I kept coming across something that made me hesitate. I saw accounts from people who’d taken GLP-1 medications, stopped, and described their hunger and food noise returning intensely. Some described feeling like their appetite was even harder to manage after stopping.
Those personal accounts made me ask myself a bigger question: what was I actually looking for here?
For me, the idea of needing an intervention indefinitely just to maintain its effects felt uncomfortably familiar. It brought me right back to the dynamic I’d spent years getting away from.. doing something primarily to make my body smaller, knowing that if I stopped, I might end up right back where I started, food noise and all.
The Question Underneath “Should I Take a GLP-1?”
TL;DR: Instead of asking “should I take a GLP-1,” I got curious about the question underneath it: why do I want to lose weight right now? The surface answer was “I gained weight.” That wasn’t the whole answer.
So instead of continuing to ask “should I take a GLP-1,” I got curious about the question underneath it: “why do I want to lose weight right now?“
The surface-level answer was obvious. I had gained weight. But that wasn’t really the whole answer.
The previous couple of years had been difficult and stressful. A lot of the practices that normally helped me feel good had fallen to the wayside. Somewhere in there, I stopped paying much attention to one important part of being an intuitive eater: gentle nutrition.
I was eating a lot of foods I genuinely enjoy- chips, pizza, cookies, other fun foods- but I wasn’t paying much attention to how my overall eating patterns were making me feel. I wasn’t exercising consistently either. Over time, I gained some weight, and my food noise crept back up right along with it.
What I Found When I Got Curious
So I kept digging. What was actually bothering me?
I realized I was feeling stiff and achy. Some of my clothes had gotten tighter, which was physically uncomfortable. I felt run down, tired, fatigued. In general, I just didn’t feel very good in my body.
And then came the question that changed the direction I was heading: do I actually need to lose weight to address those things?
Of course the answer was no.
I could address stiffness without making weight loss the goal. I could buy or wear clothes that fit my body comfortably now. Working on my energy levels, moving more regularly, and bringing gentle nutrition back into my life didn’t need to involve shrinking my body either. None of those things required me to make my body smaller the project.
What I Did Instead
So that’s what I did.
Moving My Body Again
I started exercising again, but gently. There was no declaration that I was suddenly going to work out six days a week. Sometimes the goal was simply, “I’m going to move my body for 20 minutes today.” I returned to forms of movement I actually liked and wanted to do.
Bringing Intuitive Eating Back Into the Picture
I also started being more intentional with food again, not restrictive, not dieting, and not trying to earn or compensate for anything I ate.
Instead, I started asking questions like, “How will this food make me feel?” “What have I eaten today?” “Would adding some fruit or vegetables feel good?” “Could I use some protein?” “Is there a snack I could have right now that would give me the energy and nourishment I’m looking for?”
The chips didn’t become forbidden. The pizza didn’t become “bad.” The cookies didn’t need to disappear. I simply brought the rest of intuitive eating back into the picture.
What Actually Changed
And I started feeling better. My energy improved. Moving my body helped with how I physically felt. I felt more connected to myself and more intentional about caring for my body again. And the food noise? It got quiet, not because I forced it to, but because I was actually giving my body consistent, adequate food and attention again.
I also ended up losing the weight I had gained, but that wasn’t the focus, and I think that distinction matters. The goal was never “how do I force my body back to the size it used to be?” The goal was “what am I actually uncomfortable with, and what would help?”
For me, the answer wasn’t a GLP-1 medication. It was reconnecting with the habits and forms of self-care that made me feel good without turning my body into a problem that needed to be fixed.
This Isn’t a Verdict on GLP-1s
I want to be clear that this is my personal story, not an argument that nobody should take GLP-1 medications. These medications have medical uses, and someone’s decision to take one is between them and their healthcare provider. What I’m interested in is the pressure many of us can feel when weight loss becomes culturally available, visible, and seemingly expected again.
Because if someone who had already spent years healing her relationship with food could find herself awake at night trying to convince herself to pursue weight loss again, I know I’m not the only one who’s felt that pull.
If You’re Asking Yourself the Same Question
Sometimes “I need to lose weight” is the first thought. It doesn’t necessarily have to be the final answer.
There may be something underneath it: clothes that don’t fit comfortably, feeling sluggish, wanting more strength or mobility, feeling disconnected from your routines, comparing yourself with other people, or simply living in a culture that keeps telling you a smaller body would solve the discomfort.
Before turning the desire for weight loss into an instruction, it can be worth getting curious about it. What am I actually feeling right now? What do I believe weight loss would change for me? And is there a way I can care for that need directly, without making my body smaller the prerequisite for feeling better?
If this is a question you’re sitting with too, this is exactly the kind of work I do with coaching clients, getting underneath the “I need to lose weight” thought to find out what’s actually going on, and what would actually help.
I’m also hosting a free live workshop on this exact topic. Save your spot here.
And if food noise is the thing you’re mainly trying to quiet, my free 5-minute Emotional Eating Check-In Workbook is a good place to start noticing what’s actually driving it. Grab it here.
FAQ: Quieting Food Noise Without a GLP-1
Yes, for many people. Food noise often gets louder due to restriction, stress, or disconnection from your body’s actual cues, not just from needing medication. Addressing those underlying causes (through consistent, adequate eating and gentle nutrition) can quiet food noise without a prescription.
Not necessarily. Weight loss can happen as a side effect of addressing what’s actually going on underneath the desire to lose weight, whether that’s low energy, discomfort, or disconnection from your routines, without making weight loss itself the goal. The key for a lot of people is to become more neutral about your weight. So, it’s no longer the focus or what you are trying to achieve.
Yes. Cultural pressure around weight loss doesn’t disappear just because you’ve healed your relationship with food. Even people with years of intuitive eating experience can feel pulled toward the GLP-1 conversation; it doesn’t mean anything went wrong.
That’s a personal medical decision between you and your healthcare provider, not something this post argues for or against. This post is specifically about the question underneath “should I take a GLP-1,” not a stance on the medication itself.
Want more honest, real talk on ditching diet culture for good? Come follow along on Instagram @laraslosingit