Ryan Jore and Landon Horst discuss the rise in GLP-1 medication use for weight management, noting its popularity and common mistakes. Landon highlights the importance of maintaining good habits, such as eating frequently and not skipping meals, to avoid overeating and maintain muscle mass. He emphasizes the need for strength training and protein intake to prevent muscle loss. Landon also stresses the importance of hydration and physical activity, particularly steps, for overall health. Common issues include fatigue, hair loss, and lack of an exit strategy for both medication and dietary changes. Landon advises gradual tapering off the medication to avoid severe hunger and maintain healthy habits.

📲 Connect with Landon Horst

🎙️ Connect with the Host (Ryan Jore):

Instagram: @RyanJorePT

Website: JoreStrengthTraining.com

👉 Enjoying the show? Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and leave a review wherever you listen!

👉 Follow for more fitness tips and content: Instagram | Facebook

Ryan Jore 0:15 Hi guys, welcome back to Strength Stories with Jore. Today we have on returning guest, Landon Horst. Landon, welcome to the show.

Landon Horst 0:21 Thanks for having me.

Ryan Jore 0:22 So wanted to bring you on since, obviously, GLP-1’s have been a pretty popular topic right now, since you deal with that in your role in weight management, just kind of discuss how you guys address that and some of the pros and cons you’ve seen in working with it.

Landon Horst 0:35 Well, yeah, so it’s just something that’s becoming so much more popular now. And you know, what we’ve seen is just that they’re being prescribed so widely, but not always at the nutrition kind of recommendations or things like that are coming with them. And so, you know, at least, like the program that I do, we kind of specialize in that almost not that everybody’s on one, but you know, several people are. And you know, some of the stuff I’ve prepared today is just kind of, like, common mistakes that I see, and then some must do’s, is what I wrote.

Ryan Jore 1:09 Perfect. Yeah. So how would you say that’s increased in terms of, like, obviously, the brand in the market for the most part of, like, three or four years, is it probably been the last year that you’ve seen the most of it?

Landon Horst 1:21 Yeah, I would say the last two years probably. And you know, a lot of it’s related to the insurance coverage kind of expanding on that. But yeah, we do see, you know, obviously they the ads are everywhere. So people are coming in, kind of looking for that specifically.

Ryan Jore 1:37 And so when someone comes to work with you in weight management, have they already been prescribed by a doctor, or are they coming to you looking to add that?

Landon Horst 1:46 I would say it’s about a 50/50, split. There a lot of people that come in are already on one that was maybe prescribed by their primary care, or, you know, maybe through a compound pharmacy. And then some people are coming to our program, kind of specifically wanting that as part of the treatment plan.

Ryan Jore 2:03 Again, I would love to hear, kind of your some of your considerations on that of what are one of the main things that you’re looking for is, like a kind of a green flag for people using them, versus, like red flags or potential issues when they’re incorporating it.

Landon Horst 2:16 One thing that I think is really important is just making some changes before you get on the medication, you know. And I don’t always have say over that or control, and especially if someone comes to the program and they’re already on one, but I really think it is important, you know, and that’s kind of what I’m going to go into, is that you’re actually establishing good habits and not just using the medication. And if you don’t do any of it without the medication. Sometimes it’s hard to know what’s that, what that’s going to feel like, or kind of how to navigate it.

Ryan Jore 2:46 Yeah, I saw a post from a guy the other day who’s saying that regardless of whether using a GLP-1 or not, you’re still going to ultimately need the strength train. You’re still going to ultimately need the protein. It’s it can be very much a helpful adjunct. But it’s not the sole replacement for everything.

Landon Horst 3:01 And one thing it does do is make those, some of those things easier to do, you know, and a lot of people that have trouble with overeating or binge eating or things like that are getting some relief with the medication, and that’s great. But like you said, it only really is going to work long term if they’re also, you know, adding those other things.

Ryan Jore 3:22 So when you say, I think one of the issues, I think I’ve heard from a lot of people is just not being able to even get the protein because they don’t have an appetite or something. Would you say, is that a common thing for people to be struggling with not even having enough appetite anymore? Or is that more of a dosage issue?

Landon Horst 3:35 Well, those that kind of ties into two of my common mistakes here. But so I’m just going to start at the top, because it will tie into that. But the one of the most common things I see is people just skipping meals or not eating or doing one meal per day. And the problem there is that a lot of people think that’s like, best case scenario.

Ryan Jore 3:57 They’re like, they’re getting faster progress.

Landon Horst 3:59 Yeah, they’re really pleased with it, you know? They’re like, Oh, it’s awesome. I don’t have to eat anymore. And as much as I’m like, That’s great that you don’t feel like this constant hunger, I’m also a little bit concerned that you’re not eating, you know. And so that’s a lot of times the conversation that you have to have is how to eat more frequently while you’re taking one, and that’s something that people struggle with, because sometimes they’re trying to eat the same size meal that they were before. And one of the things that these medications do is, you know, decrease how much you can eat at one time. You fill up really quickly. And so if you’re kind of overeating, even by a little bit, it’s going to be hard to eat the next meal in a reasonable amount of time.

Ryan Jore 4:42 Makes sense. Yeah, it’s there’s a pretty big middle ground between thinking about food all the time and eating all the time and dropping all the way down to one a day. It’s like there’s probably a much healthier in between line.

Landon Horst 4:52 Right. And that kind of ties into my other one of my other points here, which is that, you know, I think one common mistake for. Sure is just needlessly increasing the dose. And I know that, you know, the kind of recommended way to prescribe these is to titrate the dose up. They start at like a really low dose, and then they kind of universally increase it to this max dose. But a lot of people are getting, you know, 90% of the benefits with the first dose, and are still excited to increase the dose, and I’m thinking, you’re there, you’re there. Maybe you should just stay.

Ryan Jore 5:30 Would you say that’s someone that just maybe isn’t aware of what a good expectation for, like, a reasonable amount of weight loss, is?

Landon Horst 5:36 That’s part of it. And one other thing I think is factor is a misunderstanding of how the medication works. Some, some folks think that it’s there’s like a fat burning effect, yeah. And so by increasing the dose, you know that there’s going to burn fat quicker. But truly, it’s an appetite suppressant. And so if you’re already not eating a whole lot, you you’ve made it, you know, and you’re not going to get much more benefit from going beyond that.

Ryan Jore 5:58 I mean, I think that’s honestly one of the, probably the most important point we’ll make on the whole episode, is it’s, it can be helpful for reducing appetite, but it’s not doing anything on its own. That’s also why you will like, in talking to one of my friends, who’s also deals with nutrition side of training, she’s had multiple people who have actually gained weight on it because, again, it’s, it’s not doing it on its own. It’s a super helpful aid for a lot of people. But it’s not the only thing.

Landon Horst 6:26 Right. Well, and, yeah, I think it’s, it kind of eases the, you know, some of the burden of trying to do make these changes, and looking at it like that is way better than thinking, you know, oh, getting on this is gonna solve my problems.

Ryan Jore 6:42 I’d say, amongst personal trainers, probably is a bit of a controversial thing here is you always hear the talk about food noise. So how would you describe like, an appropriate level of food noise? I think one of the issues is people thinking they should never be thinking about food. And it’s like, obviously, as part of a healthy human body to occasionally be thinking about food.

Landon Horst 7:00 Right. Yeah, you’re not trying to get rid of that entirely. And I think that’s what happens when people just stop eating, you know, and and are even, like repulsed by food. A lot of times, you know, they can’t even think the thought of eating makes them feel sick. But remind me where what that question was again?

Ryan Jore 7:20 How would you describe a healthy level of like food noise?

Landon Horst 7:24 Yes, and, you know, I think there’s also other management techniques, but a healthy level of food noise, to me, is hard to answer honestly, you know, and it’s what the food noise is. Is it like cravings, or is it just that you’re looking forward to your next meal. Even that could be kind of a spectrum there, yeah. But one of the things I see with food noise specifically is, is, you know, if you don’t know what your next meal is, if you don’t have a plan, there’s going to be food noise, yeah. And when you’re on a GLP-1, you don’t have food noise, just because you’re going to be able to skip that meal if you know, if you’re feeling like it, whereas if you are going to have to eat because you’ll actually be hungry at lunch, but you don’t have a plan, your mind’s gonna wander about what what to eat.

Ryan Jore 8:12 True, I think. And that’s a good case again, whether or not someone’s on a GLP-1 of like, why you’re always gonna do better having a plan. One of the things I always tell people when they’re going to a restaurant, it’s like, check the menu ahead of time. Like, figure out at least what you’re most likely going to get. Because when you go in with a plan, you’re much less likely to make a bad decision. And again, GLP-1 or not, that’s still going to be helpful. It’s, I think a lot of times, yeah, we see people falling off and falling victims of cravings, because they don’t know what their actual next thing to eat is. So anything’s a potential answer.

Landon Horst 8:38 Right.

Ryan Jore 8:38 Versus if you’re like, Well, no, I already have this sandwich for lunch or whatever. It’s probably a lot easier to turn something down because, you know, you have something coming.

Landon Horst 8:45 Yeah, it’s like similar to planning your day. Even, you know, if, if you don’t have a plan for the day, you could do all sorts of different stuff in your mind. Might even wonder about that.

Ryan Jore 8:55 True and getting nothing done that you’re supposed to get done.

Landon Horst 8:58 Exactly, yeah.

Ryan Jore 8:58 I think we hear from a lot of like, the better places who are diagnosing these is the importance on lifting weights still while they are doing a GLP-1, can you kind of expand on why that’s so important for people on these medications.

Landon Horst 9:11 That’s my second must do here. And you know, one of the things I like to talk about with this is that you see all these headlines about people just losing incredible amounts of muscle mass while they’re taking a GLP-1. And even people coming into my office that are interested in a GLP-1, that’ll be kind of their main concern is like, but I don’t want to lose all my muscle mass. But the the studies aren’t, you know, they’re not on people that are doing strength training. It’s just on people that are prescribed a GLP-1. And so just like we were talking, you know, they’re if their nutrition goes to almost nothing, that’s the perfect recipe for losing muscle mass. And so I don’t think taking a GLP-1 is like a death sentence for your muscle mass, but you’re right. You got to incorporate some strength training. And what I tell people. Is it? It doesn’t take all that much strength training, you know, it does if you’re trying to build a lot of muscle, right? That requires a lot of volume and frequency. But really, to maintain muscle mass, you can get away with a lot less.

Ryan Jore 10:13 I think, from I remember on this, most of the studies, it’s around like 30% so if you were, you know, at x level of strength lifting three times a week, you can probably maintain that on literally one day a week of the same program.

Landon Horst 10:24 And if you’re a beginner, it’s probably even less, yeah. And so that’s, you know, just to kind of help people align their expectations, because sometimes people don’t want to do strength training because they see, you know, what they think they’re going to have to do, and it’s usually not the case. And yeah, they can get away with a lot less. I have some folks that just do squats and push ups. It’s like an alternating thing, but body weight squats and body weight, like incline push ups. And, you know, we do the body composition assessments, and that’s been pretty good for maintaining a decent amount of muscle mass.

Ryan Jore 11:00 That’s awesome. And so then on a similar vein, protein would fall under a similar spot.

Landon Horst 11:05 And proteins on my must do, because it kind of ties into skipping meals too, right? If you’re just eating fewer meals, there’s fewer opportunities to have protein, plus proteins really filling. And if you the GLP-1 has got your appetite at zero, it’s gonna be really hard to eat more protein. But yes, protein, you know, is like a synergistic effect with the weightlifting for maintaining your muscle mass. And what I tell people is that the strength training is the is really the priority. It’s got to be the most important thing for maintaining muscle mass and the protein, it kind of plays a supporting role.

Ryan Jore 11:43 For those who aren’t always as knowledgeable of like, which sources they should use for protein. Can you give people your protein equation?

Landon Horst 11:49 My protein equation? Oh, for lean proteins?

Ryan Jore 11:52 Yeah.

Landon Horst 11:52 Gosh, sometimes it’s hard to just pull it out of my head. But essentially, when people are looking at protein sources. And, you know, I work with GLP-1 folks, and folks that have had metabolic surgery. And you know, sometimes they’ll come in with their food log, and they’re eating like pork sausage for breakfast is a classic which has more fat than protein. And so I’ve been using this kind of recommendation where I’ll have people take, you know how much protein is in whatever food it is, times 10, and the calories should be lower than that makes sense. So if it has 20 grams of protein, it should be 200 calories or less to be considered your lean protein. And so you know, if you have something that’s higher fat, you just have to factor that into the meal. But, yeah, I think that’s a pretty decent rule of thumb for proteins.

Ryan Jore 12:54 Yeah, I was explaining someone there today. It’s like, it’s not that we can’t incorporate, say, a higher fat food, but it’s like, your protein is your main goal first. It’s like, we got to prioritize that, and that that might mean sacrificing a serving size of something or using a lower fat version of something to get to that same goal.

Landon Horst 13:01 Right. Yeah, and it’s the course of the whole day that has to balance that.

Ryan Jore 13:05 Exactly. Are there any other items on your list that we haven’t gone over on your must use?

Landon Horst 13:11 Yes, and they’re kind of in addition to the couple that we talked about. But with protein, I think water is, like the most important thing. And some people don’t realize that. You know, that reduction in their appetite seems to also there seems to be a reduction in the thirst, and so people just aren’t drinking as much water. And so you want to make sure you’re doing that, and kind of between your meals, because it’s going to be a filling thing too. You might want to space it out from your meals a little bit. But, yeah, that’s something I think people forget about.

Ryan Jore 13:43 Do you have guidelines for then, for how a person say so again, especially if their thirst is giving different signals, how would you make sure that they’re drinking enough?

Landon Horst 13:52 The the one recommendation I always give is just start the day with it. You know, I think for several reasons. One is that you’re increasing the amount of time you’re drinking water if you start earlier, plus, it sets the tone for the day.

Ryan Jore 14:03 It’s like college. If you start drinking in the morning, you can drink more.

Landon Horst 14:06 Yeah, yeah. That reminds me of a saying my grandfather had, which was, you can’t drink all day if you don’t start in the morning.

Ryan Jore 14:15 That’s probably what I should have said, yeah.

Landon Horst 14:19 But anyway, same for water, yeah. And like said, it sets the tone, you know, if you, if you start your day with water, you’re thinking about it, you know, and you’re kind of prioritizing it, yeah. And the other thing is, sorry, is with strength training, you know, by my other recommendation for physical activity is always the steps. And people get sick of hearing me talk about it at work, probably, but I would say that the amount of steps you take in a day is the most important thing from the exercise side for actually getting your weight to come down, and the strength training plays the role of maintaining the muscle mass so that you’re actually losing fat mass.

Ryan Jore 15:00 It’s, I think a lot of people, especially those who exercise, really overstate how active they are. Because, like, yeah, if you got in, you know, good work in the morning, but if you’re sitting at a desk job and you got in 1500 steps the rest a day, you’re actually still qualified as an inactive person.

Landon Horst 15:12 Right.

Ryan Jore 15:12 It’s a there’s a lot more to it than people think on that.

Landon Horst 15:16 And there, you know, there’s different types of exercise, right? Like, strength training is great for building strength and muscle, but it’s not walking. And walking isn’t strength training. They both serve their own purpose.

Ryan Jore 15:27 No, that’s honestly, again, my wife and I have been huge fans, and I was actually just talking to Joe’s just getting a walking pad can be the simplest thing for that. It’s like $100 you can fit them anywhere in your house. And it’s amazing how just doing like a five or 10 minute walk after each meal really starts to add up. It’s because, again, a lot of people tend to be busy, and we’re saying we can’t fit in, you know, a huge walk during the day, but, like, well, but can we get in five minutes three times a day? And that still ends up being, like, close to a mile of additional walking that you did just that day.

Landon Horst 15:51 Yeah. And it removes a lot of the, like, weather factors, right? Yes, Montanans, that can be a thing, not this year yet. But, yeah, that, you know, I’d like to tell people, you got to have a plan B for walking in the wintertime, because you live here.

Ryan Jore 16:06 Yeah, exactly. Landon Horst 16:07 one thing I was gonna say about those walking pads. I work a desk job, you know, and so getting my steps is kind of difficult, and my watch will give me a little graph. But it’s not like I go for one long walk and get all my steps. It’s really just kind of small, incremental increases throughout the day, you know? And which I think just shows that short walks throughout the day can get the job done.

Ryan Jore 16:31 Oh, for sure. And it’s again, you look at like the remember how they define this. But when you look at people who are naturally in, like the people who hold a low body weight without, like, directly exercising. Almost all of them have those jobs where they’re either constantly moving or they’re just someone who just fidgets and does little things throughout the day, as it is, like.

Landon Horst 16:48 Right.

Ryan Jore 16:49 Obviously, I think it’s more beneficial to be doing direct exercise in addition to that, but you can get a lot of the activity benefits just from doing stuff. You know.

Landon Horst 16:57 Yeah, and it’s a easy place to start. You know, if you’re new to exercise, walking could be kind of your foot in the door, so to speak.

Ryan Jore 17:06 One foot in front of the other.

Landon Horst 17:07 Yeah.

Ryan Jore 17:09 Last question I had for you is just so if someone’s been doing a GLP-1 what would be some signs that they are missing part of the picture? Like, how would they know that they need to be incorporating something that there might be missing?

Landon Horst 17:22 One might be just, you know, incredible fatigue. And I do see that too, because if you’re not eating throughout the day, yeah, you’re gonna feel very, very tired. And some times people are confused because they don’t have the hunger to go with this fatigue. And so they’re like, gosh, I’m just so tired. It’s like, well, what I’ve eaten today, you know, it’s usually nothing. And so, yeah, that that would be a pretty good indicator. Another thing we see is like, hair loss, you know, trouble sleeping even. And those can be indicators that you’re in just a far too severe calorie deficit.

Ryan Jore 17:58 Which is interesting, because you have a background in bodybuilding, sounds pretty similar to like symptoms that a bodybuilder might have as they approach, like a prep or whatever.

Landon Horst 18:07 Yeah, and actually that it’s funny how well that kind of experience in my life has helped me with folks that are, you know, trying to lose weight. But, yeah, you know, the the hair loss is such a big concern for people. And I always tell them, you know if, if and when you get to the like, your goal body weight, and you’re going to maintain that for a while, and your calories come up to kind of support everything your body needs, usually, your hair will come back. Sprout again, yeah. And actually, I think I have a couple more things. The third common mistake is that I see people that just don’t have an exit strategy.

Ryan Jore 18:50 Very good point, yeah.

Landon Horst 18:52 And, you know, a GLP-1, I kind of see debate going back and forth on, should these be, like lifelong medications, or should they be, you know, just temporary, but it seems like, and the research supports this too, is that most people are not on them long term. Yeah, it’s like in two years, most people are off of them again. And so it’s really important to think about that. You know, it’s coming.

Ryan Jore 19:15 I’d say it’s also probably a red flag for whatever provider you’re working with. Is probably question you should ask is, my plan for how to titrate off this or exit plan? Because I did have a client, where does she like, oh, no, they said, I just stopped taking it’s like, that’s, that’s not a real strategy.

Landon Horst 19:29 Yeah and I’ve seen that where, you know, and sometimes people are taking it, and I think they forget what it was like before they were taking it, and they think, Yeah, this isn’t too bad. I think I just do this. They’ll just stop cold turkey. And the next time I see them, they’re like, ravenous. So I think, you know, this kind of goes back to communicating with your provider that’s prescribing it, not only on, you know, do I need to jump to the next dose? Maybe I’m good here, because that’s, you know, you have say over that you don’t have. Have to increase it. But also, yeah, what are you going to do on the tail end? Can you taper it or, you know, obviously, I don’t think it’s a good idea to just stop at cold turkey. And I think sometimes that’s due to, like, financial, you know, hang ups with getting it. But I think with food, you need an exit strategy too, in just that, you know, if, if your current plan is to skip all your meals all day and eat one, just remember that the GLP-1 is a reason you can do that. And if you think you’re just going to carry that over to after the GLP-1, it’s not going to work out. So use that time when you don’t have a lot of hunger to practice, you know, just a decent meal pattern.

Ryan Jore 20:42 Makes sense. Awesome. Well, Mr. Horst, thank you for coming on.

Landon Horst 20:46 Of course, thanks for having me.

Ryan Jore 20:47 We’ll see you guys next episode.