My understanding of the literature is that there's nothing special about semaglutide or tirzepatide that promote muscle loss - it's just people who lose weight based purely on diet tend to also lose muscle mass. Even bodybuilders lose some muscle mass when cutting.

It's up to the individual to increase their protein intake and exercise, the same way they would in any caloric deficit.

But fat people actually frequently have quite a bit of lean body mass - it takes muscle to carry around all that weight, even if you're sedentary. If I somehow maintained the LBM shown in my DEXA scan at the start of tirzepatide, by the time I got to my goal weight, I'd be looking more jacked than when I was lifting 3 times a week.

Obviously, I won't. I'm adding more and more cardio and lifting back in as my weight is dropping and it becomes more maintainable for my joints, etc., and I've been supplementing protein since the start, and I'm sure I'll still lose plenty. But I have the room to lose A LOT and still be in the healthy range of body fat%.

The idea that caloric restriction is causing all this muscle loss is one of the dumbest ideas we currently have.

It is simply not true.

IFBB bodybuilders getting weekly DEXA scans and running multiple steroids including cycles specifically designed to help prevent muscle loss during cuts still lose muscle mass when losing weight for shows, despite taking every drug under the sun, working out an obscene amount, eating huge amounts of protein.

Your body will break down muscle when losing weight. You can do a lot to prevent the vast majority of it, but there is going to be some no matter what you do.

If you calorie restricted with the same exercise routine without the drug you’d see the same amount of lean muscle mass loss as you would taking the drug. This spreading of misinformation is actively harming people.