What a GLP-1 Can't Do for Your Binge Eating

In this episode, I'm answering a handful of questions that come up again and again around GLP-1 medications and binge eating. Maybe you're on one right now and still working out what it means for you. Or maybe you're considering starting one and aren't sure what to expect. Either way, I get into what these medications can actually do, what they can't touch, and what it really takes to feel at peace with food, whether you use one or not.

What you'll discover:

• Why a GLP-1 is a tool, but never the only one
• What these medications can quiet, and what stays underneath
• What determines whether old patterns return when you stop
• What no medication can touch, no matter how much weight changes

If you've ever wondered whether using a GLP-1 means you didn't really do the work, or you're on one and still don't feel at peace with food, this episode is for you.

If you would like to explore getting support with your eating challenges, schedule a Breakthrough Call today.

Want to know why you struggle with food and what to do next? Start watching The Food Freedom Mini Series today. 

Transcript

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Chances are you're on a GLP 1 medication, you've considered one, or you know someone who is. Today we're talking about GLP 1 medications and binge eating. What these medications can actually do, what they can't touch, and why the story you tell yourself about needing help matters more than the medication itself. So let's dive in. Welcome to Binge Eating Breakthrough, the podcast to help you stop feeling out of control around food and build trust with your body. If you've tried everything but still feel stuck, you're not alone. I've been there too. I'm Jane Pilger, and I'm here to help you see binge eating in a new way so you can finally break free. Each week you'll get the tools and insights to create peace with food and your body. Your breakthrough starts. Hello, trusted listener. I consider you a trusted listener because I trust that you're willing to sit with a topic today that doesn't have a clean answer. And I trust that you already know your own body and your own experience better than any doctor, coach, or medication ever could. So we're talking about GLP1 medications today. And I've had this topic on my list to cover for a while now. And this past week, several of you wrote in and confirmed it is exactly the right time to dive into this. Now, before we go any further, I want to be honest about where I stand as it relates to GLP ones, which is I actually don't have a firm stance. I am not a doctor. I am not going to pretend to be an expert on the medication itself. There are plenty of experts out there, and I am not one of them. I do have clients who are on a GLP1, and I have clients who aren't. I have friends and loved ones on one too. And what I want to share today is not a recommendation either way. It's what I've noticed in the people around me and in the people that I work with about what these medications do well and what they were never designed to do. So one listener wrote to me about something that I had said to her a while back when she was trying to decide whether or not to start one. So a part of her felt like doing it would be a cop-out, like she would be taking the easy way out of weight loss instead of doing it herself, the way that she had tried for years. And my response to that was I told her that I thought of it as a tool. And she said that that reframe from thinking of it as a cop-out or the easy way out to thinking of it as a tool really brought the temperature down on her own decision of what she wanted to do for herself. So I'm going to spend today on that. This reframe, thinking of a GLP1 as a tool and a few other topics that this listener and a few others of you brought up. Also, some just general things that I see from some of my clients because I have a feeling that you are going to recognize pieces of your own experience in the various stories that I share with you today. So here's what I know. A GLP1 medication is a tool. It is not a verdict on your character. It is not proof that you couldn't do it the quote unquote right way. It is not evidence that you took the easy way out. There is no right way when it comes to this. There is just what works for your body and what doesn't. There is what you decide in conjunction with a discussion with your doctor and people who are experts on this topic. And what you decide is the right choice for you and your body. But here's what I want to offer because I think it really matters. A GLP one is a tool, and it can be a very helpful tool for very many people. But it is not the only tool. It is not, nor can it be, the entire toolbox. And what I see for some people is they think, okay, here is the tool. This is going to be the answer. This is all I need. And that is absolutely not the case. So if we think about the analogy that I use so often of that dashboard light, right? Those times with food, whether it's a binge, whether it is an unwanted eating experience with food, is like a light on the dashboard. It's telling us something is going on under the hood. So a GLP one, it can dim the light on the dashboard. It can turn down physical hunger signals, it can reduce food noise, and it can make certain urges, cravings, desires to eat easier to manage. That is real. And for a lot of people, that relief is significant. But the light isn't the problem. The light was always just information about what's happening under the hood. And a GLP one does not look under the hood. It doesn't touch the nervous system patterns, the emotional eating triggers, the old beliefs about safety and worth that were driving the binge urges in the first place. Those things can still be running underneath. They might be quieter, but they are still there. So I have a client who started a GLP one a while back. She was actually nervous to tell me. She thought that I might see it as cheating, or I might think less of her for taking what felt to her like a shortcut. And I told her exactly what I am telling you. I think of it as a tool and not the only one. And for some people, it can genuinely help, especially when it is paired with the work of actually getting under the hood. So she kept doing the work of getting under the hood alongside the medication. And what she found was that with the food noise turned down, she could finally get deeper. She could go under the hood in a way that she hadn't been able to before. So the medication itself, it did not do the work for her. She had to go under the hood to do the work, but it made room. It made it possible for the work to actually happen. So if you are on a GLP1 and the food noise has gone down, but you still don't feel at peace. You still don't feel that kind of inner calm or peacefulness that you anticipated that you might, it does not mean the medication failed. It does not mean you are broken. It just means there's more work happening under the hood that the medication was never built to do. If you're not on a GLP one and you're doing the under the hood work without it, that counts too, fully. There is not a hierarchy. The work here is getting under the hood. And for some people, a GLP1 can help to get under the hood in ways that aren't possible when that food noise is so loud. Now, is that the only way to get over food noise? No, not at all. And can we take a GLP 1 and not do the work of getting under the hood? That's where I am so clear and so adamant that the answer is no. Not for a long-term shift in what you really want. So this is the internal work, that part you sort out with yourself. There's another layer that a lot of people really think about. And if we go back to my client who was afraid to tell me, that is this piece. It's like, what happens when other people find out I'm on a GLP one? My client was so worried about what I would think about her. So here's what happens a lot: somebody starts losing weight. People notice. And eventually somebody asks the question Are you doing something? Are you on one of those medications? And for a lot of people, this question, it lands like a test. You brace for it. You think the judgment is coming. You might rehearse an answer of what you're going to say. You wonder what they are thinking about you. But here's something that's worth considering. Because sometimes that question is not a test or a judgment. Sometimes somebody is asking because they are genuinely curious. Maybe they are considering a GOP one themselves and they want to hear what it's actually like from someone that they trust. Curiosity and judgment can sound identical from the outside, but they come from very different places. Here's the other thing that I know to be true, and this is not just about GLP ones. If you assume that someone is judging you about you being on a GLP one or anything else for that matter, it is usually because you are judging yourself. You are projecting your own judgment outward and you hear it come back at you through someone else's question. So this pattern shows up everywhere. It's not just this topic, which is really good to know. Now, it's also worth remembering we can't control anyone else's opinions. And even if someone does have one, chances are they're gonna think about it for about 60 seconds before their brain moves on to something about themselves, because that's just what human brains do. So the work is not about finding the perfect thing to say to other people if they do ask. The work is making peace with your own decision first. And once that is settled inside of you, you get to decide how much you want to share. And none of it requires an explanation. If you don't want to share, you don't want to talk about it, you can simply say, I'm doing what works for me. That's a complete sentence. And silence is as well. Or you might decide, yes, here's what I'm doing, and here's why it works for me. Here's what I think about it. But once that outside noise quiet down, there's a much more personal shift that a lot of people don't expect. And that is this it's what it's actually like to eat on one of these medications. So this comes up, I would say, probably for anyone who is on a GLP one. And sometimes it can be really surprising. So it's not about just eating less or watching the number change on the scale, it's relearning what to eat, how much to eat. It's discovering how much your body needs right now in food, maybe even for the first time. So for some people, this genuinely is the first time they have been able to discern, to hear their body's signals clearly. Maybe noticing that moment of nausea, that clear, unmistakable feeling you've had enough. Sometimes for people, it's the first time in years or even ever. And it's that is no small thing. It is your body finally getting to speak at a volume that you can hear. So you can really look at this as an opportunity to connect with your body, to really listen to the signals of your body. But at the same time, I want to offer a really important caution. These signals can be blunted on a GLP1, sometimes to the point where you can't fully rely on the signals alone. Getting enough protein and enough fiber really matters for maintaining muscle mass and bone health, regardless of what your hunger is or isn't telling you in the moment. And this is especially true if you have a history of restriction, because it can be easy to let the appetite suppression do what an old diet mentality used to do. And that is not the goal here. The goal is connection with your body, not a new, quieter way to undereat. So we want to really relearn, look at this with curiosity. What does my body need now? Can I really tune into this new level of connection with my body that is now available to me? So now I want to go into another piece of this. It's not about the food at all. So it's really about what no medication can touch. So sometimes as weight changes, other things that can come up that have nothing to do with the medication itself. So this same listener that I mentioned earlier, she uh she brought this up. It could be something like this. As you lose weight, maybe you start getting attention from other people. Maybe you start getting comments. People start asking questions. Maybe your body is being seen or noticed in a new way. And for some people, that can stir up old fear. It can stir up old trauma, old stories about safety and visibility that were never about food at all. Now, we are not going to unpack this fully today because this topic deserves way more room than we have here in this episode. And it's the kind of thing that is truly worth exploring one-on-one with support. But I want you to hear this clearly. A GLP1 can change a number on a scale. It can quiet a lot of noise, but it cannot touch what is underneath. And if that layer doesn't get addressed, the same lack of peace can show up again in a new shape at a different weight. So another thing that can show up here, too, is this feeling of still living in your old body. So even though your shape may actually have changed, there may still be this old practice belief you still need to lose weight, or your body isn't okay yet, or it still needs to change, even after it already has. It's so ingrained because it has been practiced for years or decades or a lifetime. And it doesn't just disappear because the number on the scale changed. So I had a client tell me recently, even though her body looks different now, she still catches herself feeling like she's living in her old body. She was also honest with me about something else that I really wanted to mention here. She said, losing weight hasn't touched my social anxiety at all. She said that story that I used to believe that losing weight would change everything turned out not to be true. Good to know. So many of us have a story. If I could lose weight, then everything would change. Then these other problems that I've had would go away. That is not always the case, especially when we're not looking underneath. Now, the last piece that I want to cover about this is this. This is a question that is generally on the mind of most people who are on a GLP1 currently or who are thinking about starting one. The question is this what happens when you stop? Will the weight just come back? Will the food noise return? Now, I want to be honest about why that fear is real and what actually determines the answer. So here's what we know: a GLP one can change your biology. It can absolutely quiet certain signals. But it doesn't change who you believe yourself to be as an eater. So if you still see yourself as someone who can't handle a hard day without turning to food, someone whose eating falls apart under stress, that identity doesn't just disappear because the urges or the food noise got quieter. It's still there. It's waiting for that volume to just turn back up. So this is the deeper work that we keep talking about. It's not just about managing the cravings, it's about the identity as an eater, becoming someone whose eating doesn't fall apart when life gets hard, whether or not a medication is involved. It's a true shift in identity, not a suppression of symptoms. So if you stop the medication and the old patterns come rushing back, this is not proof that you failed or that the medication was the only thing holding you together. It's information. It's a sign that the identity underneath never actually changed. And now you get to do that work directly. And again, I am not an expert here on GLP1s and exactly what happens when you stop. So please talk to someone who is an expert on this topic. But I do know this: if you do not do the identity work, no amount of help that the medication was doing will hit that identity level. So if you are on the medication and you notice that stress still tends to send you towards food, even if it's a smaller way, that is worth paying attention to now. While your signals might be quieter or easier to work with, it's an advantage most people don't recognize. A dimmer dashboard light is still a dashboard light. So we can look at it, we can get curious about it. We can see am I doing the identity work to change how I see myself as a needer? All right, so here's some practical shifts that I want to offer you, some things that you can put into practice this week, whether you're on a GLP one, whether you're thinking about one, or whether this is just a topic you are curious about. Number one, I want you to notice the story you are telling yourself about needing help with food or your body. Whether that's a GLP one, whether it's coaching, whether it's therapy, any other sort of help or support, what is the story you're telling yourself about it? Where did that story come from? And I want you to make sure that whatever story you are telling yourself is an empowering one. Because the story you are telling yourself about it will impact your results. If you are on a GLP1, have a response ready for if someone does ask you if you're doing something to lose weight. You don't owe anyone the full story. You don't have to tell anyone anything. But if somebody does ask, have an answer ready. If you are on a GLP 1 and your hunger cues are kind of different than they used to be or unfamiliar, get curious. Use this as an opportunity to cultivate more connection with your body. Notice the days where you have a very clear I'm done signal. And other days where it's really quiet or hard to read. If you're not on a GLP one, can you also notice? Huh? You know what? Some days I'm much more in tune with my hunger cues than others. That is really good information. If you are on a GLP one, notice, even if you're not, either way, notice whether stress or hard emotions still pull you towards food. Even if it's in a different way. That information will show you about the identity work that is still needed. It's not a sign something is wrong. It's like, ah, okay, I can really see this identity work here. Now, let's say you are on a GLP1 and your food noise has quieted, but you still don't have that internal peace that you thought you would. That's also information. Just means there's more to look at under the hood. Where let's say you're not on a GLP 1. There are so many people out there who are not on a GLP one who are able to quiet the food noise over time and still don't have that internal peace. Again, it just means there's more to look at. We can get curious about it. And that food noise can quiet for some people with a GLP one and for some people without. It is not the only answer. It is a tool, not the only tool. And as your body changes, if something bigger is surfacing, any old fear, old stories, whether your body is getting bigger or smaller, let that be worth its own conversation with someone who can help you work through it. So what I want to leave you with is this a GLP1 is a legitimate tool. It is a tool for your toolbox. It is not the whole story. It is not the only tool. For some people, it is an incredibly helpful tool. And for others, they are able to do incredible powerful work without it. So whether you are on one or not, the work of finding real peace with food and becoming a peaceful eater, someone who feels calm, connected, and confident with food happens under the hood, not on the scale and not in a prescription. You are capable of that work whether or not you use a GLP one. So if any of this has stirred up something for you, whether it's about a decision on whether or not to go on a GLP 1, or something underneath the hood that is asking for more attention that you realize you are not capable of doing on your own, I would love to help you look at this together. You can schedule a breakthrough call, which is a safe, compassionate space where you don't have to hide and you can talk with somebody who has been through this journey. I'll put a link in the show notes or you can go to janepilger.com forward slash breakthrough for more information on that. Now, I've told you several times, I am no expert on GLP ones, but next week I am going to bring someone on the podcast who is an actual expert so we can dive into this a little bit more. So if this topic is one that you want to keep exploring, next week's conversation is not to be missed. That's what I have for you today. I'll see you next week. If you've been trying to stop binge eating and nothing has worked, there's a reason. I created the binge breakthrough mini-series to help you finally understand what's driving your binge eating beneath the surface so that you can actually start changing. Each video is short, and they're designed to give you the clarity and direction you've been missing. So you can stop feeling stuck and start finding your way out. Start watching them at JaneHucker.com forward slash me. That's jammer.com forward slash me. M I M I