With an estimated 2.5million people in the UK now on weight-loss jabs, there’s every chance that you – or someone you’ll be partying with – are feeling a degree of trepidation this party season.
Social media is awash with jab-influencers extolling the virtues of skipping, delaying or half-dosing their appetite-suppressing elixir to allow some room for a full turkey and pudding blow-out.
Equally, there’s chatter on the weight loss forums about temporarily ‘up-dosing’ to make over-eating a nauseating impossibility.
This Christmas you simply cannot escape jab talk, and hostesses across the nation will be replacing their ‘what if one of the guests is vegan?’ lament with ‘what if no one wants to eat anything?’
If you’re worried about gaining weight or you’re more concerned about being miserably abstemious, here’s a sprinkling of clever ways to hack this short window of gourmet excess so you can still eat, drink and be merry, whether you’re on the jabs or not.
STICK TO JAB ROUTINE
Doctors and pharmacists warn against ‘dose hacking’ – whether that’s giving yourself an extra jab boost to keep your appetite in line or skipping a dose so you can enjoy a few big nights out with friends.
The advice across the board is ‘talk to your doctor or prescriber’ and they will say: ‘Don’t do it.’
You can help to minimise chaotic, unfettered eating and drinking through the festive period by starting each day with a protein-rich breakfast to ensure steady blood sugar levels and a good nutritional base
It is worth bearing in mind that Christmas falls on a Thursday this year. Mounjaro and Wegovy have a ‘half-life’ of five days, which means you should notice full suppression for the first five days after your weekly jab, and slightly less suppression in the last two days before your next injection.
So, if you routinely jab on a Friday (by far the most popular jab day because it’s easier to cope with temptation and side-effects over the weekend), be aware you might need to rely more heavily on willpower to help you restrict your intake of roast potatoes and mince pies on Christmas Day.
Kevin Joshua, pharmacist with online pharmacy Juniper, warns that temporarily upping your dose can increase the risk of side-effects. Yet decreasing it and over-eating can also affect a system no longer used to large amounts of food.
Either way, do you really want to spend Christmas feeling sick?
‘An indulgent week doesn’t reduce the long-term effectiveness of GLP-1s, but it can heighten nausea, reflux and vomiting, especially with large, fatty meals and more alcohol,’ he says.
Skipping a dose completely is not advised either, although this summer, in what was effectively a large ad hoc experiment, plenty of people quite happily delayed their dose by a few days – or longer – to avoid taking their syringe pen on holiday.
In that scenario, if you have had a break of a week or two, most clinicians suggest a return to your previous dose is fine – as long as you continue a regular weekly schedule from the new jab day. If in doubt, do check with your provider.
PRIORITISE PROTEINS
Nutritional therapist Ian Marber, author of The GLP-1 Handbook, says you can help to minimise chaotic, unfettered eating and drinking through the festive period by starting each day with a protein-rich breakfast (think eggs, Greek yoghurt with berries and seeds, smoked salmon for a bit of indulgence) to ensure steady blood sugar levels and a good nutritional base.
Louise Atkinson, who lost two stone on Mounjaro, says you can still eat, drink and be merry over Christmas whether you’re on the weight-loss jabs or not
‘Whatever you are offered, at every meal, think protein first (meat, fish), then fibre (vegetables, salad) to give yourself a natural GLP release. That means you start feeling full before you reach for the carbohydrates (potatoes, bread sauce, Yorkshire pudding),’ he advises.
He believes the greatest challenge for jabbers and non-jabbers alike is not the size of the turkey but the proliferation of puddings, pies, sweets and chocolates, which anyone watching their weight might normally try to keep out of the house.
‘If your main meal is later in the day, have a protein snack at midday – a piece of fruit with a few nuts, peanut butter on a cracker – to release a little more natural GLP so you’re not tempted to graze and nibble,’ he says.
‘My advice is to enjoy Christmas day, indulge a little, but think of this period of excess as a speed bump in your journey, not the end of the road. You can get back to normal eating on Boxing Day or the day after so the whole festive period doesn’t have to be a long window of dietary limbo.’
DELAY FESTIVE TIPPLES
Daytime drinking can seriously compromise even the most iron-clad willpower. Marber suggests holding off from drinking for as long as you can each day to delay the casting caution to the winds sentiment that a festive tipple can encourage.
‘It’s also a very good idea to eat a little something before you start drinking so the alcohol doesn’t hit an empty stomach,’ he advises.
Alcohol has a well-known dehydrating effect which is exacerbated if you’re taking weight loss jabs, so the old adage to match every alcoholic drink with a glass of water is even more important if you want to avoid a ‘Mounjaro kicking’.
If you have been invited to a Christmas or New Year’ Eve party and suspect the food options on offer may be unhealthy, eat before you go
BEWARE A BEIGE BUFFET
It can be so difficult to make healthy choices when faced with a ‘beige buffet’ where any protein is wrapped in pastry and the only fibre is a sprig of parsley garnish.
Kirsten Davies, nutritionist with online pharmacy CheqUp, says if you suspect the food options on offer may be unhealthy, eat before you go.
‘It is OK to prioritise your health over worries about being polite,’ she says.
‘If you’re on weight-loss jabs, rich, fatty foods can trigger uncomfortable side effects such as nausea, heartburn and bloating as well as slowing down your weight loss journey.’
BE GLP-1 FRIENDLY
If you suspect, or know, some of your guests or family members might be ‘on the pen’, it is good host-with-the-most manners to dish up ‘family style’ and let people serve themselves rather than foisting vast quantities on them.
And if it’s a family tradition to lay out a beige buffet on Boxing Day, upgrade to a bright and colourful ‘grazing table’ of meats and cheese with hummus, guacamole, fresh vegetable crudites, fruit, salad and crackers. That way there’s enough ‘good stuff’ for people who want to keep to their own rules.
FACTOR IN FASTING
Don’t fall into the trap of thinking the whole Christmas period has to be an ‘all bets are off’ food and drink fest.
According to Gabi Newman, nutritionist with thefast800.com, you can spread a little sensible restraint across the week by separating ‘event’ days from ‘normal’ days when it’s OK (and easier) to eat more healthily.
She suggests throwing in occasional ‘fasting’ days, when you stick to 800-1,000 calories, just to bring things back into line.
Another clever Fast800 trick which can help keep you on track, is switching from three meals a day to two.
This ‘intermittent fasting’ helps you reap some of the healthy metabolic benefits of longer fasting and limit your calorie intake (and potential weight gain) – all you have to do is nudge breakfast back to a late morning brunch and schedule your lunchtime feast for later in the afternoon.
DEFLECT PESTER POWER
When faced with a well-meaning host piling Yorkshire pudding on your plate, cutting you a fat wedge of yule log, or ladling out lovingly homemade tiramisu, tuck these ‘get out of GLP-1 jail’ phrases up your sleeve:
- ‘That looks delicious, but I’m already full, can I just taste a tiny bit?’
- ‘I’ve eaten such a lovely meal but I simply can’t fit that in, would you mind if I take it home with me to have tomorrow?’
- ‘I’d love to, but I’m trying to lose weight on my doctor’s advice.’
