The hidden cost of weight loss: GLP-1s and the promise of quieting food noise

I’ve been reflecting a lot this past week on what we lose when we prioritise weight loss, and on the complicated trade-offs that can come with tools like GLP-1 medications.

“As long as the weight comes off, I’ll put up with anything”

This was triggered by a piece of work I’m doing for a consulting client, looking into the scientific research on people’s experiences with GLP-1s (like Ozempic and Mounjaro). 

It wasn’t easy reading. What struck me most was the extent to which people were willing to tolerate profound discomfort (and even serious health risks) in pursuit of weight loss. One quote in particular hit like a gut punch:

“I still get a little bit of nausea, which to me, is really good, because it does put me off eating all the time… As long as the weight comes off…I will put up with anything, as long as it goes.”

Alongside this, many people described losing joy in food. Foods they once loved no longer held the same appeal, and shared meals (once a key source of pleasure and social connection) became fraught or diminished. 

To be clear: many of these people were genuinely happy with their weight loss. And honestly, I’m glad they’re glad. 

What makes me sad is the wider context. We live in a world where thinness is so prized that losing joy, comfort, and connection can feel like a reasonable trade-off. And this is on top of growing concerns about medical risks, including pancreatitis, gastroparesis, significant muscle loss, and malnutrition. 

It raises a question I keep coming back to: is this really what we mean by health? It’s certainly not the version of health I want for myself. 

It's also made me reflect on something else that weight loss took from me - something we rarely talk about: a sense of calm around food.

The biggest thing weight loss took from me

Looking back at my own experiences of pursuing weight loss, I know I made choices that, at the time, felt “healthy” - but in hindsight clearly weren’t great for my wellbeing. Skipping social plans so I could get up early to run. Missing out on shared meals. Denying myself foods I loved, and then layering guilt on top whenever I did eat them.

But the biggest thing weight loss took from me wasn’t food, or time, or even joy: it was calmness around food.

“Food noise” is that constant preoccupation with food. It’s always thinking about what you’ll eat next. Second-guessing decisions. Carrying the cognitive load of trying to work out what’s “best”, all the time. Evidence shows that restrictive diets and pursuit of weight loss can increase this food noise - the more we try to eat less, the more we think about food. So over the years of trying to lose weight, my food noise got louder and louder. 

Do GLP-1s reduce food noise?

What’s interesting is that the research suggests GLP-1s do dramatically reduce this food noise, largely because they suppress hunger so effectively. For many people, that relief is enormous, and understandably feels worth the trade-offs.

But there’s a problem here: it isn’t resolving food noise - it's just suppressing it.  

And because most people can’t (or don’t want to) stay on these medications forever, that noise often comes roaring back once they stop. This is likely part of why weight regain after GLP-1s can be so rapid.

Reducing food noise *without* GLP-1s

So what’s the alternative?

For me, real relief came from working on my relationship with food itself. Practices like intuitive eating helped me build genuine calm around food - not by numbing hunger, but by removing fear, rules, and moral judgement.

That process can feel uncomfortable at first. Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat and letting go of “good” versus “bad” food narratives can feel risky when you’ve relied on external rules for so long. But in my experience, this is how real healing happens.

It is possible to quiet food noise without medication - not by fighting your body, but by rebuilding trust with it. 

If you’d like to explore what that could look like for you, you can find out more about my coaching here.