Mounjaro Vs. Ozempic: Effectiveness & Side Effects Compared
Dr Ashwin Sharma
|
Jun 19, 2024
Which GLP-1 treat is the right fit for you? Read our guide to two of the most popular GLP-1 weight loss injections, Ozempic and Mounjaro.
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A healthy diet from whole foods and drinks, rather than supplements, is very important if you’re starting a weight loss journey – especially for anyone using medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Compounded Semaglutide. [1]
To make planning meals easier, our Levity experts always recommend following the MyPlate system, developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Myplate is a circular chart or picture that encourages healthy eating habits. It’s an update and replacement to the old ‘Food Guide Pyramid’.
Based on the latest science, Myplate is easily customizable to fit your dietary needs, preferences, cultural traditions, and budget ― so you can enjoy your favorite recipes and learn how to eat the foods you love in a healthier way. Released in 2011, it’s a simple way to remind us how to choose a variety of food groups throughout the day, and over the course of a week.
Myplate also helps you see what you need to eat, and how much of each food group to have at every meal. It works with a plate, a bowl, or any other way, too. Everyone can use it, whether you are a healthy weight or overweight. So you can keep following Myplate after you reach your weight loss goals. [2]
When we’re creating a meal plan for weight loss, Myplate helps us remember that there are no ‘bad’ food groups. For example, in the right amounts, carbohydrates and fat are both part of a balanced diet. Myplate has five different food groups, and the helpful plate chart lets us know how much of each we should eat every day.
Fresh fruits and vegetables like apples, bananas, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, and spinach are relatively low in calories compared to other food groups, and packed with vitamins that our body can’t make on its own (essential vitamins), minerals, and fiber.
Their high fiber content isn’t just great for our gut health, it also takes longer to digest, making us feel fuller for longer with fewer calories. Try to ‘eat the rainbow’, which means being intentional about adding lots of different, colorful fresh fruits and mixed vegetables to your meals. Frozen fruits and vegetables are a good alternative, as long as there is no seasoning or oil added. This should take up about 50% of your plate at every meal. [3]
Carbohydrates from grains should make up about 30-40% of the food you eat each day. They are foods like barley, wheat, oats, cornmeal, rice, or another cereal grain. They are a good source of energy, and will help fuel your body and brain.
The USDA splits these grains into two types: whole grains and refined grains.
Whole grains are a type of complex carbohydrate or starchy carbohydrate. They still have the entire grain kernel, which includes the bran, germ, and endosperm. Some examples of whole grains are whole-wheat flour, bulgur (cracked wheat), oatmeal, and brown rice. Popcorn is also a whole grain and can be a healthy snack, just make sure it’s unseasoned – or better yet, make it fresh at home so you can control how much salt or butter you’re using.
Refined grains have been milled, which gives the grains a finer texture and makes them last longer. This also makes them highly processed, and removes dietary fiber, iron, and a lot of their B vitamins. Some examples of refined grain products are white flour, corn grits, white bread, and white rice. It’s an important difference, as refined grains are often found in cookies, cakes and other highly processed foods which don’t contain the nutrients and fiber that whole grains do.
Choose whole grains whenever you can. Starchy foods like wholewheat bread, brown rice, brown pasta, and potatoes are an important part of maintaining a balanced diet. If you are allergic or intolerant to certain whole grains, you can swap them out for other complex carbohydrates like kidney, white or black beans, sweet potatoes, teff, and legumes like lentils or chickpeas. [4]
Eating enough protein is an important part of any plan for weight loss. It helps keep you full for longer and supports muscle growth and repair. Especially if you’re on a weight loss journey, you’ll want meal plans to include lean sources of protein, because they are lower in saturated fats and calories. You can find out how much protein you need to eat by using our protein target calculator here.
Lean sources of protein include pork tenderloin, chicken breast, fat-free Greek yogurt, fish, seafood, eggs and egg whites, beans, legumes like lentils or chickpeas, and tofu. These should make up about 15-20% of the food you eat each day. [5]
Dairy products like milk, cheese and Greek yogurt, as well as dairy-free alternatives like fortified soy milk or almond milk, are a good source of calcium and protein. However, the USDA does not include high-fat, low calcium foods in this category like cream cheese, sour cream, cream or butter.
We recommend eating dairy and alternatives in moderation as it should only be around 8% of the food you eat every day. [6]
Oils, butters and spreads are calorie-dense, and small amounts of it are high in fat and calories.
Healthier, polyunsaturated fats like extra virgin olive oil, organic avocado oil, fish oils or unrefined canola and certain sunflower oils contain essential fatty acids like omega-3 and omega-6. In controlled amounts, these can support healthy joints, brain, skin and bones, and help your body absorb fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E and K), and carotenoids. [7]
Margarine, vegetable shortening and deep-fried foods like fries, fried chicken, samosas, egg rolls, corn dogs or onion rings have a lot of unhealthy saturated fat, known as trans fats. The USDA recommends eating these much less often, like on special occasions, as they don't contain any known health benefits. [7]
Saturated fats from animal sources, such as beef, butter, cheese or pork, should be eaten in moderation, and should only make up about 10% of your daily calories. It’s helpful to check food labels to track this, as saturated fats are added to a lot of different foods. [8]
Instead, try making healthier versions at home using an air fryer and the healthier fats like olive oil we mentioned above. This will give you a similar crunch and flavor, but you can control how much oil or fat you’re using. To make sure you don’t go way over your calorie target for the day by accident, we recommend measuring how much oil or fat you use with a tablespoon or teaspoon.
Now that we know what to eat, let’s talk about portion sizes because eating the right amount of healthy food is just as important for your weight loss program.
First, we need to find out how many calories you need to maintain your weight. This is so you can balance how much you eat with the average number of calories you burn in a day.
Use the USDA Daily Recommended Intake Calculator to find this out.
On most days, this number is the maximum amount you should eat to keep your weight the same. It can change depending on your physical activity level. If you do more exercise, the number of calories you can eat will go up, but if you do less the number might go down.
The DRI (Daily Recommended Intake) Calculator from the USDA is very helpful, as it tells you how many calories you should eat to stay the same weight you are now, and how much of each food group you should eat. In weight loss terms, this is sometimes called tracking your macros.
So, as an example, let’s say you’re a 48-year old woman. You’re 5 ft 4 inches tall, you weigh 200 pounds, you do moderate exercise 1-2 times a week (low physical activity level) and you are not pregnant or breastfeeding.
To help you lose weight, our experts recommend reducing your daily calorie intake by 600 calories per day. This is called a calorie deficit. Working with the example above, this means you would now aim for 2414 - 600 = 1814 calories a day.
Keep in mind, when you’re reducing your calorie intake for weight loss, make sure your protein intake stays the same as your DRI throughout your weight loss journey.
At Levity, our experts have split the Myplate chart into percentages to make it even easier for you to create balanced meals safely and effectively.
So if we use the same example, your new macros based on your weight, height and activity level would be:
As you saw from the example above, the USDA’s DRI calculator also recommends how much plain water you should drink every day.
Drinking enough water is vital for your overall health, it keeps all your body’s organs functioning the way they should. However, most of us need to intentionally drink water, as our thirst cues aren’t always reliable. We can also sometimes mistake thirst for hunger – which can lead to snacking or overeating.
Thirst can also be easily confused with cravings for sugary or high-calorie beverages. If this happens to you too, we recommend always having a glass of water next to you at every meal. Choose options that have a high water content like sparkling water with lemon, fat-free milk, or green tea if you prefer something hot. [9]
Nourishing your body with healthy meals will give your weight loss journey a huge boost, so when you're meal planning there are a few foods and drinks we recommend avoiding to stay on track.
Ultra-processed
These foods include white bread, candy, non-diet sodas, processed cereals like corn flakes or ones with added sugar, chips, fast food and pre-packaged convenience foods. These have low nutritional value and are often high in calories, sugar and sodium. They also often contain refined carbohydrates, which can spike your blood sugar and lead to insulin resistance. [10]
High in saturated fats
Foods like processed meats, beef, fattier cuts of pork like belly or shoulder, butter, ghee, lard, coconut oil, fried or deep-fried food are high in saturated fats and calories. These can slow down your weight loss progress, so eat them less often to stay on track. [11]
Alcoholic drinks
Many of us forget that alcoholic drinks have calories, which we need to consider as part of a balanced diet. Drinking alcohol can also spike and lower your blood sugar, which may interfere with weight loss medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro or Compounded Semaglutide.
Studies have also shown that alcohol can cause some people to overeat or eat impulsively during or after drinking. If you like having a drink, we recommend limiting this to 1-2 drinks per week. [12]
Going out to eat
Don’t shy away from an evening with your friends just because you’re on a weight loss journey. Just look for balanced options that reflect the Myplate chart above, because weight loss medications work best with sustainable dietary changes that you can keep up as often as possible.
So, when you’re reading the menu, look for:
If you need help with weight loss, Levity offers weight loss medications such as Ozempic, Mounjaro, Wegovy and Compounded Semaglutide. We also offer comprehensive support from an expert clinical team to help you set and achieve your weight loss goals, and lose up to 15% of your body weight.
To start your weight loss journey with Levity today, take the quiz to start a free consultation today.
[1] Espinosa-Salas S, Gonzalez-Arias M. Nutrition, Macronutrient Intake [Internet]. PubMed. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2023. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK594226/
[2 ]U.S. Department of Agriculture. What is MyPlate? [Internet]. www.myplate.gov. U.S. Department of Agriculture; 2020. Available from: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/what-is-myplate
[3] USDA. Fruits | MyPlate [Internet]. www.myplate.gov. 2020. Available from: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/fruits
[4] U.S. Department of Agriculture. Grains [Internet]. www.myplate.gov. 2020. Available from: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/grains
[5] USDA. Protein Foods | MyPlate [Internet]. www.myplate.gov. 2020. Available from: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/protein-foods
[6] U.S. Department of Agriculture. Dairy [Internet]. www.myplate.gov. 2020. Available from: https://www.myplate.gov/eat-healthy/dairy
[7] Institute of Medicine. Dietary Reference Intakes [Internet]. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press; 2006. Available from: https://www.nap.edu/read/11537/chapter/10
[8] Zeratsky K. Here’s an Easy Way to Track Fat in Your Diet [Internet]. Mayo Clinic. 2016. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/expert-answers/fat-grams/faq-20058496
[9] Gordon B. How Much Water Do You Need? [Internet]. www.eatright.org. 2022. Available from: https://www.eatright.org/health/essential-nutrients/water/how-much-water-do-you-need
[10] MD AEB. Ultra-processed foods? Just say no [Internet]. Harvard Health. 2024. Available from: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/ultra-processed-foods-just-say-no-202406173051
[11] Rethink Fats [Internet]. [cited 2024 Oct 12]. Available from: https://myplate-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/2024-06/TipSheet-8-Rethink-Fats.pdf
[12] Kase CA, Piers AD, Schaumberg K, Forman EM, Butryn ML. The relationship of alcohol use to weight loss in the context of behavioral weight loss treatment. Appetite. 2016 Apr;99:105–11.
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