477-Beyond GLP-1 Series: Anhedonia & Health Behavior Change in the Ozempandemic Era

GLP-1 medications are changing how people experience food. What no one is telling you is they may also be changing how people experience everything else.

In this episode I sit down with Olivia Palmer, chartered health psychologist and behavioral science specialist, to look at what these drugs are actually doing to the brain. Not the metabolic picture — the psychological one. We get into anhedonia, the flattening of the reward system, and what happens when the drive that was dampened for food also dampens motivation, connection, and the desire to pursue a meaningful life.

Olivia also challenges one of the most common arguments circulating right now: that GLP-1 can serve as a behavioral kickstart that makes lasting health change easier. Her read of the behavioral science says otherwise.

In this episode:

• What anhedonia is and how GLP-1 interacts with the brain's reward circuitry
• Why the reward dampening effect is not selective to food
• What behavioral science says about building health behaviors while biology is altered
• The gap in research — and why no one is asking the right questions
• What to actually focus on for sustainable health behavior change, with or without GLP-1

Mentioned in the show:

Beyond GLP-1 Expert Podcast Series: https://program.stephaniedodier.com/beyond-glp-1

Website-Olivia Palmer: http://oliviapalmer.co.uk

Olivia Palmer Substack: https://substack.com/@oliviapalmerhealth

Instagram - Olivia Palmer: https://www.instagram.com/oliviapalmerhealth/

Coach Corner Vault: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/coach-corner/

Non-Diet Client Assessment Tool: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/clientassessment

Non-Diet Coaching Certification Waitlist: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/non-diet-coaching-certification/

Groundwork Waitlist: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/groundwork