I Lost 61 lbs on Ozempic. My DEXA Scan Showed What the Scale Never Could.

Nine months ago, I stepped on my doctor's scale and heard words I'd been working toward for two years: "You've lost 61 pounds. This is remarkable."

My A1C was down. My blood pressure was normal for the first time in a decade. I cried in the parking lot — happy tears, the kind I hadn't felt in a long time.

Three weeks later, I got a different kind of news.

My daughter had pushed me to get a DEXA scan. She'd read something about it online. I didn't think much of it — I figured it would confirm how well things were going.

A DEXA scan measures body composition in detail: not just total weight, but the specific ratio of fat to lean muscle mass to bone density. It's the kind of data a standard weigh-in simply cannot provide.

What it showed stopped me cold.

Out of 61 pounds, 22 pounds was muscle. Not fat. Muscle.

And nobody — not my prescribing doctor, not my internist, nobody — had mentioned that this could happen.

The Conversation Nobody Was Having

My experience, I later learned, is not unusual. Research published in the past two years on GLP-1 medications — semaglutide and tirzepatide — consistently shows that a meaningful share of weight lost on these medications may come from lean muscle mass, not fat tissue.*

For adults over 50, who are already experiencing natural age-related muscle changes, this can have real consequences that do not show up on a scale: fatigue, reduced strength, changes in mobility, and — as I discovered — shifts in bone density.

"I felt it before I saw the scan," I told a friend. "I was losing weight and should have felt energized. But I was exhausted. I needed the railing on the stairs. I kept thinking I was just adjusting to the medication."

What I Did Next

After the scan, I started researching. I found a growing body of literature — from sports science and clinical nutrition — pointing to one intervention with substantial published evidence for supporting lean mass during caloric deficit: creatine monohydrate.*

"I was not looking for a miracle," I wrote in my journal at the time. "I was looking for something with actual research behind it, something that would not interact with my medication, and something I could realistically take every single day." That last part matters more than people think when you are already managing nausea and food aversion.

I tried creatine powder first. Two weeks in, I stopped. The measuring, the mixing — when you already feel queasy, adding a chalky drink to your morning is not a habit that lasts.

Finding Something That Fit My Life

The format that finally worked was one I had not expected: gummies.

Specifically, I found PRESERVE™ — a creatine monohydrate gummy developed for adults 50+ on GLP-1 therapy. Each gummy contains 1,250mg of creatine monohydrate. Four gummies equals the full 5g research-established daily dose, taken in the morning with water — or in my case, with my first cup of coffee.