Why Your GLP-1 Didn’t Stop Working
What’s actually happening in the invisible phase, and what to do when you’re in it.
the week everything started.
There’s a specific kind of energy that lives right before something starts.
Not the big announcement energy. Not the excited Instagram story energy. Something quieter than that. The kind where you’ve been building something for weeks and you finally look at it and think okay. this is real. this is actually happening.
That’s where I am this week.
Watch Here:
the invisible phase
I’ve been talking a lot lately about something I’m calling the invisible phase.
It’s that stretch of the GLP-1 journey where nothing appears to be happening. The scale sits still. The motivation gets quiet. The beginning rush is long gone and the finish line isn’t visible yet and you’re just sort of. there. In it. Doing the thing without the reward of seeing it work.
I spent a long time thinking the invisible phase meant something was wrong. That the medication had stopped working, that I was doing something wrong, that maybe this was just where my body wanted to be and I needed to accept that.
None of that was true.
What was actually happening was everything. Just underground. Just invisible.
Your body is not on your timeline. It is not motivated by your frustration or your impatience or the number you decided you’d be at by now. It is doing what it does at the pace it does it and the scale is genuinely the last place you’ll see it show up.
I know that’s hard to hear when the scale is the only thing you’re watching. I’ve been there. I’m still there some weeks.
But this week I want to talk about why I think the invisible phase is actually the most important part of this journey. And why the women who make it through it are the ones who change their lives for good.
what’s actually happening when nothing is happening
If you have been stalling, plateauing, sitting in the same five pound range for weeks or months, here is what your body is likely doing underneath the number.
Body recomposition.
If you have added any movement to your routine, especially strength training, your body is simultaneously losing fat and building muscle. Muscle is denser than fat. The scale won’t show you that trade happening. But your clothes will. Your energy will. Your body will.
Water retention.
This one moves constantly and it moves based on things you cannot control. Your hormone cycle. Your sodium intake. How hard you worked out two days ago. Whether you’re in your luteal phase. The scale on any given morning is telling you the story of the last 48 hours of your body’s water balance. It is not telling you the story of your progress.
The whoosh effect.
Fat cells that are being broken down for energy temporarily fill with water before they release it. This is why the scale can sit completely still for two weeks and then drop three pounds seemingly out of nowhere. The loss was happening the whole time. Your body was just holding onto the water first.
Undereating.
This one is counterintuitive and I think it’s the most underdiagnosed reason for a plateau on GLP-1 medications. When your appetite is suppressed and you stop feeling hunger cues, it is incredibly easy to eat too little without realizing it. And when your body doesn’t have enough fuel it adapts. It slows down. It holds on. Eating more, specifically more protein, can actually restart a stall caused by undereating. I know that feels backwards but it’s real.
Cortisol.
Your stress hormone is a weight loss saboteur. When cortisol is elevated your body holds onto fat as a protective response. I lose significantly more weight during summer than during the school year. I am a sixth grade teacher and a mom. My cortisol is high as a baseline. This matters. Stress is not just emotional. It is physiological. And it shows up on the scale.
Hormones.
If you are cycling, the week before your period your body retains water, your appetite increases, your energy tanks. You will gain on the scale during your luteal phase. You will likely lose it back during your follicular phase. If you are not tracking your cycle alongside your weight you are missing context that is making your progress look worse than it is.
what to do when you’re in it
I am not going to give you a plan. That is not what the invisible phase needs.
What it needs is a recalibration. A coming back to the basics not because you failed but because the basics are what carry you when nothing else does.
Weigh yourself for data. Stop giving the scale daily power over your mood.
Take photos. Your body is changing in ways the scale will never show you.
Track how your clothes fit. A pair of jeans tells you more during a stall than any number.
Get your protein in. Every single meal. This is the one non-negotiable.
Sleep like it’s medicine. Because during this phase it basically is.
Move your body in a way that feels sustainable. Not punishing. Not earning. Just moving.
Find your people. The invisible phase is where you go quiet and lose the thread. Don’t go quiet.
why I built something for this
I’ve been in the invisible phase for a while.
75 pounds down. 40 more to go. Still here. Still showing up. Still some weeks wondering if it’s working even though I know it is.
And what I kept coming back to was this. The people who make it through the invisible phase are not the ones with the most discipline or the most motivation or the best meal plan.
They’re the ones who don’t do it alone.
So I built something. It’s called Back to Day One and it starts May 1st.
30 days. One post a day. Real talk, education, a myth busted, a permission slip, and a prompt you can answer in the comments where I will be every single day.
It’s 30 days of someone showing up for you while you find your footing again.
Whether you just started your GLP-1 or you’ve been at this for years and you’re deep in the invisible phase right now.
This was made for you.
Become a paid Substack member to join us. You can join for $3 a month -- or $30 for the entire year. no commitment, cancel whenever you want. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to join. Here it is.
The time is going to go by anyway.
You might as well do it with people who get it.
xo, Nyk
