Find out how to Coach GLP-1 Shoppers: 7 Sorts 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 drugs first hit the mass market.

Although semaglutide (Ozempic) turned obtainable in 2017, it initially felt like a theoretical menace. Prescription charges have been nonetheless very low; it appeared like nobody really knew anybody who was taking it.

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

With wider use, opinions in direction of the medicine have softened too. Most coaches now not see it as a menace, and slightly recognize it as a useful software for sure purchasers, with teaching as an additive complement.

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

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

“As a coach, you’re not within the GLP-1 world; you’re within the GLP-1 help 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 “individuals on GLP-1s,” however slightly “individuals on GLP-1s who need help.”

Making an attempt to teach everybody taking a GLP-1 simply isn’t potential. And spending time serious about all of the individuals utilizing GLP-1s “the incorrect method” is, bluntly, wasted power. A few of these individuals simply don’t need, want, or aren’t prepared on your assist.

In the meantime, there is a subgroup of individuals on GLP-1s who’re prepared, keen, and ready to obtain your help. Honing in on this group is the place you possibly can really make a distinction (and the place what you are promoting can thrive).

Within the following article, we’ll cowl seven completely different GLP-1 consumer “sorts,” every with their very own stage of teaching readiness. Based mostly on our expertise teaching over 175,000 purchasers (of which an growing quantity are on GLP-1s), we’ll provide methods to cope with every.

Let’s get into it.

The 7 sorts of GLP-1 purchasers

Earlier than we start, a reminder: Folks change, and readiness isn’t fastened.

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

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

Generally, Coach Kate says somebody is normally prepared for teaching once they display two issues:

• Their subject feels necessary, pressing, or distressing: Taking higher care of their well being feels particularly useful proper now. (“This actually issues to me.”)
• They really feel they’ve the capability to commit some sources to the difficulty: Be it time, cash, or each, they’re prepared to simply accept some sort of value. (“I’ve house to cope with this.”)

Preserve that behind your thoughts as you work together with consumer prospects, and as you learn concerning the consumer sorts, which we’ve summarized within the under desk.

Now, on to our GLP-1 consumer sorts.

Shopper Sort #1: The Honeymooner

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

They’ve skilled minimal unwanted side 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 medicine has taken care of), however they’re seeing what they need to see on the dimensions, so that they don’t really feel motivated to alter something.

Teaching transfer:

It is likely to be tempting to “lure” this sort of consumer in by warning them of the risks of utilizing a GLP-1 medicine with out including in long-term well being behaviors (like resistance coaching and strategic vitamin), however such a method can backfire.

At finest, it’s possible you’ll sound like a downer. At worst, it’s possible you’ll sound like an lively antagonist.

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

Nonetheless, following this intuition may very well strengthen a consumer’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 particular person but.”

Your finest transfer with this sort is to genuinely have a good time their present outcomes, then plant the seed for help ought to they want it sooner or later.

For instance, you can say: “It should really feel so good to see all these optimistic outcomes! In case 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 obtainable. (“My door is all the time open!”)

Shopper Sort #2: The Ambivalent Candidate

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

Possibly their physician has already advised the medicine 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 unwanted side effects, of being on medicine for all times, of not holding up their finish of the cut price. (“I’ve been attempting to start out power coaching for years. If I take this medicine it issues much more… What if I nonetheless can’t do it?”)

Toni Bauer, Tremendous Coach and PN’s Director of Teaching and Training Operations additionally says that, in some instances, a consumer’s hesitation isn’t about unwanted side effects. “A few of our purchasers marvel, ‘Am I particular person or a nasty particular person if I begin taking a GLP-1 medicine? Am I weak? Am I giving up?’” Coach Toni says these considerations aren’t distinctive to GLP-1 drugs, however they appear to be particularly widespread.

She causes, “You probably have excessive ldl cholesterol, are you weak for taking ldl cholesterol medicine? No. However usually individuals don’t view weight problems as a illness at a societal stage, so the dialog is completely different right here.”

Whatever the root reason behind this particular person’s hesitation, the recommendation under may help 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 consumer and a medical supplier who can assess whether or not a GLP-1 is suitable given their medical historical past.

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

So the query turns into: How do you help somebody by way of a call you possibly can’t make for them?

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

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

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

Drawback is, with out the correct 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’ve a cool train to cope with consumer ambivalence. It’s known as the 4 Loopy Questions. Basically, 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 may help a consumer discover the danger of beginning a GLP-1 (which they’ve in all probability already voiced), but in addition the danger 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 issues laid out explicitly, most individuals really feel much more clear about their subsequent steps—or a minimum of 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 individuals work by way of it and fill the prescription. Others resolve the medicine isn’t for them, and that’s high quality. (It’s additionally price reminding purchasers that beginning isn’t essentially everlasting: With their supplier’s enter, a trial run on the medicine is a superbly legitimate method in.)

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

Shopper Sort #3: The Prepared-to-Quitter

That is the one that began a GLP-1 with a lot of optimism—and now looks like they’ve a plague that received’t finish.

In a merciless twist, this particular person would possibly really 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 medicine.

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 incorrect with them. (“It labored so nicely for my good friend! I should be damaged in a roundabout way.”)

Teaching transfer:

First, provide some impartial schooling to depersonalize their expertise.

Particularly, they need to know that unwanted side effects are extraordinarily widespread: About half of customers report nausea, a 3rd report diarrhea, and a fifth report vomiting.¹ So, what this particular person thinks is phenomenal would possibly really simply be a traditional adjustment. (This doesn’t make the expertise suck much less, however it may give them some hope.)

Additionally, getting GLP-1s proper is a strategy of trial and error: the correct medicine, the correct dose, and the correct dietary methods to cut back signs.

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

After that, your finest teaching transfer is to counsel an experiment.

▶ Ask about dose. To be clear, you’re asking about it, not adjusting it. Says Coach Toni: “Typically, when persons are experiencing excessive unwanted side effects, they’ve ratcheted up their dose too rapidly. Generally the simplest strategy to preserve any individual on a GLP-1 who’s experiencing excessive unwanted side effects is to decrease their dosage.” Coach Toni makes clear that whereas dosage isn’t a coach’s area, you can assist draw a consumer’s consideration to it.

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

• Fats content material: GLP-1 drugs decelerate digestion. That is what contributes to its satiety results, but in addition its unwanted side effects firstly. 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 directly.
• Random triggers: Spicy meals, tomatoes, chocolate, caffeine. All types of meals could set off signs like nausea, acid reflux disease, or diarrhea in a consumer who used to tolerate them. These meals received’t all the time be apparent GLP-1 symptom triggers, so the easiest way to hunt them down is by way of a meals log.

▶ Attempt smaller parts, eaten extra usually. Coach Toni says in the event you solely attempt 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 purpose, 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 it’s best to eat smaller meals.”

As a substitute, say: “Of us who’re nauseous generally do higher with smaller, extra frequent meals. Need to attempt 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 think about.

Shopper Sort #4: The Muscle-Loss Danger

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

This particular person is prone to be fairly sedentary, and once 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 only… stroll slightly.

Ladies 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 have been welcomed to do).

Moreover, this particular person is likely to be working on a decades-long plain-toast-and-coffee breakfast behavior, with decrease protein consumption already ingrained earlier than medicine additional diminished urge for food.

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

Teaching transfer:

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

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

This is without doubt 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 that begins a GLP-1 medicine 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 consumer can’t or received’t do a DEXA, assess power and performance in different methods. Ask: “How do the steps really feel in contrast to a couple 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 might inspire a consumer to take motion.

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

With a purpose 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. Purpose 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 strategy to attain that concentrate on.)

▶ Power coaching, scaled to what they’d really do. The time period “weight lifting” would possibly overwhelm an individual who’s by no means set foot in a fitness center, 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 really do. Sit-to-stands off the sofa. A number of strikes with a resistance band. Body weight something. Scale up from there, one week at a time.

Shopper Sort #5: The Underneath-Fueler

That is the particular person for whom the medicine has labored slightly too nicely.

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

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

Their protein and total 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 seem to be an the other way up world. They could have spent their entire life combating to eat much less. The concept of combating to eat extra feels utterly absurd—and completely off their radar.

Teaching transfer:

Earlier than the rest: If there’s an lively consuming dysfunction within the image, this medicine seemingly shouldn’t have been prescribed. A vulnerability to disordered consuming can each contribute to or be triggered by the above state of affairs.

So, scope of apply first. Ask this particular person in the event that they’ve ever struggled with disordered consuming. If the reply is sure, refer out to a health care provider or a dietitian. You’ll be able to 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 received’t know. Your consumer could have been screened and cleared. Or, they might not have disclosed. So your job is to determine what you’re really taking a look at—and that begins with what Coach Toni calls the “present me” method.

Quite than appearing on a hunch, acquire one thing concrete, equivalent to a number of days of meals logging (in writing or by way of images).

From there, it branches two methods.

▶ In the event that they’ll observe, do some meals math, and the numbers could do the be just right for you. 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 consumer, establishing an consuming routine is the perfect subsequent motion.

Your consumer could also be used to following urge for food as a cue to eat, however now that medicine has eliminated it, they want a unique cue. Meaning consuming on a schedule, seemingly 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 received’t observe—and particularly in the event that they resist in a method that feels purposely avoidant—that resistance itself is data.

Coach Toni means that in the event you suspect that disordered consuming is within the image and a consumer is admittedly resistant about monitoring, it is likely to be time for a essential dialog—an usually uncomfortable, however sincere and important dialog between a consumer and a coach.

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

“I would like you to know this can be a secure house to speak. My purpose as a coach is all the time to prioritize your total well being. Nonetheless, 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 title 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 will see extra clearly what’s taking place, or telling your physician about your signs?”)

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

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

Shopper Sort #6: The Graduate

That is the one that acquired the outcomes they wished with the medicine, and is now selecting to wean off.

They’re not quitting due to crappy outcomes or insupportable unwanted side effects, they’ve merely determined they don’t need to be on a GLP-1 ceaselessly.

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

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

Teaching transfer:

Ideally, you begin working with this consumer whereas the medicine remains to be doing a few of the heavy lifting with urge for food regulation. In case you can have six months to construct the correct habits in addition to put together mentally for the truly fizzling out interval, your consumer will likely be in a a lot better place.

Be certain the beforehand talked about habits—like resistance coaching and optimizing protein—are already firmly established. In case your consumer is managing these habits persistently (not completely, however persistently), even on their busiest, most disturbing, most side-effect-disrupted days, then they’re extra seemingly to have the ability to preserve them once they’re off their medicine and meals distractions re-enter the image.

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

Be sincere concerning the odds, too. Individuals who modified nothing whereas on the medicine nearly universally regain many of the weight—normally throughout the first 12 months and a half or so³—as a result of the urge for food that went down comes proper again up.

Nonetheless, individuals who combine and maintain more healthy vitamin and train behaviors whereas they’re on medicine are 4 instances higher at sustaining a ten % or larger weight reduction once they come off the medicine.⁴

Shopper Sort #7: The Priced-Out

That is the one that was additionally getting nice outcomes on the medicine—besides as a substitute of selecting to go off it on their very own time, they’re pressured to stop as a consequence of exterior circumstances.

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

About 50 % of GLP-1 customers cease the medicine throughout the first 12 months of utilizing it.⁵ Some cease as a consequence of unwanted side effects, and others cease as a result of they’ve gotten the outcomes they need they usually need to see if they will preserve them drug-free. However many are merely priced out. The latter is an particularly irritating state of affairs as a result of, for this particular person, a “answer” exists. It’s simply that, for them, the answer is out of attain.

Understandably, this particular person could also be offended and even ashamed that they will’t afford this medicine. These emotions could or could not present up in your teaching, however it’s good to arrange for them anyway.

Teaching transfer:

First, reassure this person who this can be a system failure, not a private one.

Whether or not somebody can entry inexpensive medicine comes all the way down to their insurance coverage plan, the area they reside in, and their socioeconomic standing—also called 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, “Nicely, I’m screwed!” Quite, it’s about accepting some depressing truths concerning 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 reveals you the way it works.

Entry, value, and protection usually are not on the listing 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 possibly their subsequent insurance coverage enchantment.

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

What can coaches actually promise in the case of getting and sustaining GLP-1 outcomes?

The reality is, you possibly can’t predict how a consumer will reply to medicine. And, some regain after stopping it is anticipated.

Nonetheless, weight loss program and life-style habits massively have an effect on what variety 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 quantity 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 medicine is doing its work are those that’ll nonetheless stand when it isn’t.”

In fact, “coming off” isn’t the endpoint for everybody. Many suppliers now deal with weight problems as a continual situation and these drugs as long-term remedy—the identical method 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 many who do come off, Coach Toni says the individuals who maintain their outcomes share one factor: “They preserve consistency with their behaviors as in the event that they have been nonetheless on the medicine. Like nothing modifications.”

She shares an analogy for why that works:

“Take into consideration the Oregon Path. The ruts within the path have been made by wagon wheels hitting the identical floor time and again and over. You’ll be able to nonetheless see these ruts at present—they’re nonetheless there. Habits are the identical method: In case you lay down these neural pathways and reinforce them sufficient instances whereas your consumer is on the medicine, then they’ll have a greater probability of constant on the identical path even once they go off the medicine.”

In order that’s the precise promise.

It’s not: “You’ll preserve it off.”

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

Virtually, meaning common resistance coaching, rock strong 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 identification, which is the place Coach Toni lands:

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

References

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

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