Meet Craig Swinton
Craig Swinton is a level 3 personal trainer and level 4 strength and conditioning coach. After being a paramedic for 14 years, he decided to start his fitness coaching full time which led to the creation of APEX Fitness Coaching. Craig also provides precision nutrition coaching alongside his personal training. We asked Craig what his best tips were for stopping semaglutide and adopting a healthy lifestyle.
After becoming a paramedic, Craig quickly realized that he could have a better impact on people’s health by preventing illness rather than treating it. Craig tells us, “As a coach, I am able to prevent obesity, diabetes, and lower people’s blood pressure before it’s too late.” We spoke with Craig and got some insight into creating a healthy lifestyle after stopping Ozempic.
What Are Some Trends You Have Seen with Ozempic?
“I have seen two different things with Ozempic. In the bodybuilding world, I know semaglutide and Ozempic are used to help people get prepped for competitions. They believe if you can control your hunger, you can get leaner for the stage. But that’s typically with individuals who have a much better grasp of their nutrition and how to control their calories. Whereas Ozempic with the general population of people is different. These people typically already have poor relationships with food and exercise. I see Ozempic used this way as a bandaid that will get people results without actually dealing with the underlying issues.”
What Are Your Client’s Experiences with Ozempic?
“I have had clients come to me when they got to the point where they can no longer lose weight. They have just down regulated their metabolism. They are typically eating less than 500 calories a day and do no activity. I tend to get people who have gotten to that point and they can’t lose anymore weight. Or when they come off and they have regained all the weight. I have probably had upwards of 20 clients that have dealt with this struggle.”
What Kind of Successful Outcomes Have You Had with Your Clients?
“One of the clients that sticks out for me is a nurse who was morbidly obese. We got her fitness in check, she was lifting weights, and she got confident in the gym. It was very difficult for her because she had been in the mentality of ‘eat less’ before she came to me. Eating less food was not helping her case or fueling her progress. After working together to create a fitness plan, she lost over 185 pounds. She did it all by eating more food to fuel her body. After working together, she then went on to do photoshoots.
One of my other clients who came to me lost 88 pounds. He had liver cirrhosis due to the fact that he was an alcoholic. Since working together, he has now reversed his liver cirrhosis and is no longer an alcoholic. He is the healthiest he has ever been. During his fitness journey, he learned how to make healthy choices that have stuck with him throughout his life.”
Why Is a Healthy Lifestyle Important?
“A healthy lifestyle is what I preach. My approach is that most things can be dealt with using exercise and nutrition for better health. Most issues stem from obesity such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. A lot of the issues come from eating the wrong foods and not moving enough. As long as you’re more active, you have a way lower chance of dying from one of the big risk factors. If you accompany that with a reduction in obesity, you then become a significantly healthier individual. After stopping semaglutide, it is important to realize that it is essential to set yourself up with a healthy lifestyle.”
What Is Your Advice for People Who Want to Stop Taking Ozempic?
“You need support. The reason why people get on the medication in the first place is because they don’t have the tools or knowledge to get the results in the first place. One of the criteria for being put on Ozempic is that you must have tried significant things to reduce your symptoms, but ‘nothing has worked’. What you really need to consider though is how consistent you are.
By definition the people who are on this medication have not been developing the skills to get the results naturally. The best advice I would give is that you need a significant level of support whether that be from a coach or nutritionist. As a coach, I can give my clients full time support because it is my full time job. That’s why we get the results.”
How Does Accountability Come Into Play with Weight Loss?
“As a coach, I am accessible to my clients 7 days a week. Especially clients who are coming off Ozempic, they need all the support multiple times a day. I also do weekly check-ins with my clients. It is important to have very achievable goals in the early stages such as adding more walking time, adding a little bit of cardio or things like that. Going for a walk for 60 minutes could be massively challenging for some people, so it is important to take it slow. Keeping it as simple as possible and getting more protein into their diet is key!”
What Strategies Do You Recommend to Keep People In Line with their Goals?
“The first thing is for them to decide what they want to achieve. Figure out what you truly want to achieve long term and why that is. Most people that come to me who want to make change, actually want to do it because of someone else, not them. They might want to get healthier for their kids, their spouse, their partner, they might want to live longer, reasons like that. That is what I get them to focus on. It’s not necessarily that they want to lose weight, it is that they want to live longer for their kids. Just wanting to lose weight typically isn’t a good enough reason for people change their lives completely.
Ozempic gets results. It does help people lose weight. I think too many people are using Ozempic and semaglutide without at least trying to fix the underlying causes. I think far too many people are using it for cosmetic use.”
Learn More About Apex Fitness Coaching
Want to Get Off Semaglutide Safely?
At Life After Semaglutide, we are currently serving close to 250 clients all over the world. The majority of our nutrition coaches were clients that ended up having a passion for flexible dieting and helping others.
Our coaches currently help celebrities and everyday people lose weight while enjoying the foods they love without restrictions. Inadvertently, this program improves clients’ relationships with food.