Losing weight is the goal. Losing muscle is the tax you do not have to pay. On a GLP-1, a large share of the weight coming off can be lean mass, and that is the part worth defending.

Muscle is not just about looking toned. It holds your strength, your metabolism and your ability to keep the weight off later. The good news is that protecting it takes two simple habits, not a new lifestyle.

Why muscle is on the line

Any fast weight loss pulls from both fat and muscle. When you also eat much less protein, as most people do on a shrunken appetite, your body has less raw material to maintain muscle, so it lets some go. Lighter on the scale, weaker in the gym, and a metabolism that has quietly slowed down.

Habit one: hit a protein target

Aim for roughly your body weight in grams of protein a day. If that sounds like a lot on a small appetite, it is, which is exactly why it needs a plan:

• • Front-load it. Eat protein at your first meal, when your appetite is highest.

• • Spread it out. Around 25 to 40g per meal is easier to absorb than one big hit.

• • Keep it simple. Eggs, Greek yoghurt, fish, chicken, tofu and legumes do the heavy lifting.

Habit two: two short resistance sessions

You do not need a bodybuilding routine. Two or three short sessions a week, working the big muscle groups, is enough to signal your body to hold onto muscle while the fat comes off. Bodyweight, bands or weights all count.

The nutrients that support it

Protein leads, but vitamin D works alongside it for muscle and strength, and calcium matters for the bone underneath. On a small appetite these are easy to miss, so they are worth tracking rather than guessing. Do these two things and the scale still moves, but what it takes is fat, not the muscle you worked for.