Weight Loss Medications and Muscle Loss: What You Need to Know

Weight loss medications can bring the number on the scale down quickly—but are you losing fat, muscle or both? And why do some people feel weaker or less healthy even while the pounds are coming off?

In this episode of Baptist Health Talk, host Johanna Gomez speaks with clinical pharmacy specialist Erin Dorval and physician assistant Lisa Davis about what GLP-1 medications such as Ozempic and Wegovy are doing inside the body, why muscle preservation matters and how resistance training and nutrition support healthier, more sustainable results.

They discuss:

•  Why rapid weight loss can include significant muscle loss 
•  How GLP-1 medications reduce appetite and quiet “food noise” 
•  Why resistance training should begin at the start of treatment 
•  What “Ozempic face” really is—and what causes it 
•  How protein, hydration and smaller portions may help manage side effects 
•  Why medication dosage does not always need to keep increasing 
•  The risks of rapid weight loss and unmonitored compounded medications 
•  How pharmacists, cardiology teams and other providers can work together 
•  Practical ways to build healthier habits without trying to change everything at once 

The goal is not simply to lose weight. It is to improve strength, function, metabolic health and long-term quality of life.

Host: Johanna Gomez, award-winning host & journalist

Guests:
Erin Dorval, PharmD, CPh, clinical pharmacy specialist, Baptist Health

Lisa K. Davis, DMSc, PA-C, CLS, physician assistant, Baptist Health Heart & Vascular Care