When Food Gets Quieter: The Emotional Impact of Appetite Suppressants

11 Jul When Food Gets Quieter: The Emotional Impact of Appetite Suppressants

Appetite suppressants like Manjaro and Ozempic have become widely popular of late.  Surprisingly, there is a hidden emotional impact of a changed relationship with food, amongst and amidst the largely welcome ones.

If you’re taking medication like Manjaro (tirzepatide) to support weight loss, you might have noticed some welcome changes.

You may be:

• Craving food less

• Grazing less in the evenings

• Making better food choices without thinking so hard about it

But alongside those changes, you might also notice something harder to put into words.

Food feels quieter – but life doesn’t necessarily feel clearer.

Food as More Than Fuel

For many people, food has been more than just nutrition.
It’s also been:

• A way to feel in control

• A source of comfort, especially during stress

• A daily routine that creates structure

• A way to self-soothe, cope, or reward

So when medication helps quiet those food thoughts, it’s not just hunger that disappears — it can feel like a part of youhas gone quiet too.

Some people feel:

• Calmer, but disconnected

• Less preoccupied, but less focused

• Better physically, but less emotionally anchored

“I Thought I’d Feel More in Control”

This is a phrase I’ve heard — and one that might resonate with you.

“When I used to follow a diet plan, I felt organised and in charge. The food routine gave me structure. Now, with my appetite gone, I’m eating less… but I don’t feel that same sense of control or rhythm.”

GLP-1 medications like Manjaro often reduce food noise – but they don’t always restore your inner sense of structure.

You may feel:

• Relieved that you’re not obsessing about food

• Pleased with your food choices

• But also… strangely adrift

This emotional disorientation is completely valid – and more common than you might think.

Why This Feels So Strange: A Therapeutic Perspective

From a therapy lens, particularly an attachment-based perspective, food can serve as a kind of emotional anchor.

It may have been:

• A reliable presence when people or feelings felt uncertain

• A rhythm that shaped your day

• A way to feel in charge when life felt messy

When that emotional relationship with food gets disrupted – even by something helpful – it can leave a gap.

You’re not doing anything wrong. You’re just adjusting to a new dynamic.

What Therapy Can Offer

Therapy can help you explore and gently reframe your relationship with food — especially when it no longer takes up the space it used to.

Together, we can look at:

• What food meant to you emotionally

• What’s changed since starting medication

• How to build new forms of structure, care, or rhythm

• What might support you in feeling more connected to yourself again

This isn’t about going back to old habits – but about understanding what food was doing for you emotionally, and what might take its place in a healthier, more sustainable way.

You’re Not Alone

If you’re feeling better in your body but more disconnected from yourself – you’re not alone.

If food used to bring you a sense of order, and that’s now missing – therapy can help.

You don’t need to be in crisis to explore this.
And you don’t need to figure it out on your own.

Interested in working together?
Feel free to reach out for a consultation, or to ask any questions about how I support clients navigating food, emotion, and the impact of medication.