Three signs your strength needs more attention

Up to one in three pounds lost on GLP-1 can come from muscle or bone. The bathroom scale cannot separate those pounds from fat, so pay attention to what is changing away from the scale as well.

Ordinary jobs feel harder

You split the groceries into two trips when one used to be fine. Stairs take more out of you. Getting up from the floor now involves finding something to push against. One difficult day means little; a pattern over several weeks deserves attention.

Your posture or walk feels less familiar

You notice your shoulders collapsing forward in photos, feel less steady on a long walk or take stairs differently. Posture and gait can change for many reasons. Treat the change as a reason to look beyond the scale, not as a diagnosis by itself.

Your body looks smaller but softer

Looser clothes are one kind of progress. If your arms, shoulders or legs look flatter than you pictured, the missing piece may be muscle. The firm shape most people expect comes partly from keeping muscle underneath as fat comes off.

Two or more of these signs are enough reason to look closely at the week you are repeating.

What to look at next

Look at the cause as well as the clue. Think through yesterday’s food without improving the memory: did you eat enough overall, and where did protein, carbohydrates and fats appear? Then look at training: which muscles were asked to work against resistance, and how will that work progress next week?

Dizziness or lightheadedness belongs in a different category. It can overlap with low food or fluid intake and medication effects, but it does not prove muscle loss. Tell your clinician if it is new, persistent or getting worse.