Weight loss medication and new eating plans: keeping an eye on your everyday trends

Starting weight loss medication, or changing the way you eat, can bring a lot of change at once. Your routine, your energy, your sleep and how much you feel like moving can all shift, sometimes from one week to the next. It's natural to want a clearer picture of how you're going.

This article isn't about the medication itself. Whether it's right for you, which one, and how to take it are conversations for your GP or prescriber. What we can talk about is the everyday side: the habits and patterns around you, and how Thrive can help you see them over time, so your appointments have more to go on.

Everyday habits still matter

healthdirect, the free Australian health information service, puts everyday lifestyle changes at the centre of the picture. It describes them simply: keeping a balanced diet, staying physically active and creating new habits around eating and mealtimes. It also suggests talking to your doctor or a dietitian to make sure you're getting the nutrients your body needs each day.

The Australian Government's movement guidelines suggest that adults are active on most days and do muscle-strengthening activities on 2 or more days a week. They also suggest 7 to 9 hours of good quality sleep for adults (7 to 8 hours from 65), with consistent bed and wake times.

None of that has to happen all at once. The useful part is being able to see what's actually happening in your week, so you and your dietitian, coach, trainer or GP can talk about it with something real in front of you.

Everyday trends you can keep an eye on in Thrive

If you wear the Thrive Band, much of this builds up in the app day and night, and the check-ins you record sit alongside it.

Activity and movement. Thrive shows your steps, distance and workouts, along with your estimated caloric burn across the day, and Today's Load gives you a sense of how much your body has done each day. The app also tracks walks, runs and rides with GPS through your phone, and includes workouts, plans and training programmes if you'd like some structure for strength sessions or walking.
Sleep. The Band shows how long you sleep and your sleep stages night by night, so you can see whether your nights have changed along with your routine.
HRV and resting heart rate. Thrive shows your HRV and resting heart rate trends, and Today's Vitality, a score from 0 to 100, brings your day together in one place.
Food and diet recommendations. Food tracking in the app lets you log your meals. Thrive also offers diet recommendations for protein, fat and calories, so you can look at what you've eaten alongside them and talk both through with your dietitian, coach, trainer or GP. Thrive's correlations engine can also point to patterns between what you eat, how you sleep and how you feel.
Body Composition. When you'd like a reading, you start it yourself using the electrode on the Band, and the result appears in the app. Using bioimpedance (Bio-Z) sensing, Body Composition gives estimates for fat, muscle, protein and subcutaneous fat, along with body water, so you can follow changes over time alongside your activity and sleep. Your weight on its own only tells you so much; this gives you and your dietitian, coach, trainer or GP a fuller picture to talk about.
How you've been feeling. Daily check-ins let you record your mood, energy and any symptoms, so the things a sensor can't pick up are part of the picture too.

Thrive learns what's usual for you. Your baseline starts as Emerging and becomes Established once enough consistent information has been collected, so you can compare recent weeks with your own normal.

Reading your trends without pressure

When your routine changes, your patterns often shift too. That's expected, and on its own it doesn't mean anything is wrong. Look at weeks rather than single days, and think of what you see as a reason for curiosity rather than a score to chase.

Food and body changes can be sensitive. It's fine to log less, look less often or take a break whenever you need to. If eating, or keeping track of it, starts to feel hard or stressful, that's worth raising with your GP. Our guide to a calmer way to live with your health data may also help.

Sharing your trends with your dietitian, coach, trainer or GP

Ask Thrive is the part of Thrive you talk to in everyday language. It draws on your own information and explains your patterns in plain English. Before an appointment, you might ask:

"How has my sleep looked since I changed the way I eat?"
"What's changed in my activity over the past six weeks compared with my usual?"
"Which days did I feel low on energy, and what else was going on?"
"Help me put my questions about my sleep and energy into words for my GP."

Ask Thrive gives explanations, not medical advice. It highlights patterns in your own information. It doesn't tell you whether a medication is right for you or how it's going for you. Those questions are for your GP, prescriber or pharmacist.

In an appointment or session with your dietitian, coach, trainer or GP, you can open the app and show the weeks you'd like to talk about. Thrive Loops lets you share selected information with a participating trainer, health professional or someone you trust. You decide what to share and with whom, and you can change or revoke access at any time. That might be a dietitian, an exercise physiologist or a trainer who's helping you with your plan. Our guide to getting ready for a GP appointment with Ask Thrive has more ideas.

Taking it to your GP

What Thrive shows isn't a diagnosis, and Thrive isn't designed to tell you that something is wrong. Your trends are one more way to help the conversation along, next to how you've been feeling, which matters just as much.

If something is worrying you, or you're feeling unwell, don't wait for a trend. Contact your GP or prescriber. You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 to speak with a registered nurse, any time of day or night.

Before you buy

You'll need a compatible iPhone or Android phone, because the Thrive app is on the Apple App Store and Google Play, in Australia and eight other countries. The app stores are only for downloading the app, though; they aren't where you buy the Band or a Plan. You can buy at thrivehealthband.com, or at a participating World Gym Australia location or health and wellness clinic.

The Thrive Health Band is A$660 for the first year under the launch offer (usually A$740). That includes the Band, which is yours to keep, and 12 months of the Thrive by Optihealth app, My Health on the web, Health Fingerprint, Ask Thrive, Thrive Loops and your data, paid once upfront. Prices are in AUD and include GST. Free Australia-wide shipping during the launch offer (usually A$14.99).

Nothing renews automatically. After your first year, you can get a new band plus 12 more months for A$660, or keep your band and renew the Thrive Connected Plan for A$240 a year (A$20 a month).

You're also covered by a 12-month Thrive Care Warranty, and consumer guarantees under Australian Consumer Law always apply. See Returns if something is wrong with your purchase.

Common questions

Can Thrive tell me whether my medication is working?

No. Thrive shows your everyday patterns, such as sleep, activity and how you've been feeling. Questions about your medication, and how it's going for you, are for your GP, prescriber or pharmacist.

Can I share my Thrive information with my dietitian, coach, trainer or GP?

Yes, if you'd like to. Thrive Loops lets you choose what to share and with whom, and you can change or revoke access at any time. You can also simply show the app during an appointment, or share nothing at all.

For more answers, see Questions.