How to lose fat on Saxenda
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Saxenda is liraglutide, a daily GLP-1 shot approved for weight loss since 2014. In its main trial, 3,731 adults lost about 18 pounds (8.4 kg) on average in 56 weeks, against about 6 pounds (2.8 kg) on placebo. It does less than the weekly drugs, and it’s now sold as a generic, which can make it the cheaper option. Protein and lifting keep the loss mostly fat.
What we’d do
If you and your doctor pick liraglutide, use the same plan as for any GLP-1: protein first at every meal and never under the typical range (find yours), lifting two or three days a week, a daily walk and a daily weigh-in. Give it the months the trial did before judging it, and talk with your prescriber about how it’s going. Never change the dose yourself.
If you remember three things
- It’s a daily shot that took off about 8% of weight on average.
- The weekly drugs did more. Semaglutide took off 15.8% against liraglutide’s 6.4% head to head.
- Generics arrived in 2025, and the brand is being discontinued in the US.
How liraglutide works
Liraglutide copies GLP-1, a hormone your gut releases after a meal. It acts on the appetite areas of your brain so you feel less hungry and full sooner, and it slows how fast your stomach empties. It only lasts about 13 hours in the blood, so it’s a shot once a day, where semaglutide lasts about a week.
Daily against weekly is like a phone you charge every night against one that lasts all week. Both work. One asks more of you.
Who it’s for
Saxenda is approved for adults with obesity, or with overweight and a weight-related health problem, and for children 12 and older with obesity who weigh more than 132 pounds (60 kg). It starts at 0.6 mg a day and steps up each week to 3 mg, the dose used in the trial.
What the trials found
The main trial
3,731 adults with obesity or overweight, 56 weeks. SCALE, NEJM, 2015
About 18 pounds (8.4 kg) lost on liraglutide against 6 pounds (2.8 kg) on placebo. 63% lost at least 5% of their weight, against 27%, and 33% lost more than 10%, against 11%.
The label’s own analysis puts it at 7.4% of weight against 3.0%.
Against weekly semaglutide
338 adults, 68 weeks. STEP 8, JAMA, 2022
6.4% of weight lost on daily liraglutide against 15.8% on weekly semaglutide (Wegovy).
Open label: people knew which drug they took.
Generics and the brand
In August 2025, the FDA approved a generic of Saxenda from Teva, the first generic GLP-1 for weight loss, and more generics followed in 2026. Novo Nordisk says it’s discontinuing the Saxenda brand in the US, with last shipments to wholesalers in late January 2027, and not for safety or quality reasons. If you’re on it, ask your pharmacist or doctor about switching to a generic.
How to keep muscle on it
There’s less scan data on lean mass for liraglutide than for the weekly drugs. The general rule holds: about a quarter of weight lost by eating less tends to be lean mass, and a 2025 review of 62 trials found that dieting alone cost lean mass while adding weight training kept it. So:
- Protein first at every meal. The 2025 US advisory for people on GLP-1 drugs suggests about 1.5 g per kg of lean mass a day, or 80 to 120 grams. Find your range.
- Lift at least two or three days a week. The advisory suggests three, plus at least 150 minutes of moderate cardio.
- Track a lift and your waist each month. See am I losing fat or muscle.
The side effects that matter
| Side effect, Saxenda | Liraglutide | Placebo |
|---|---|---|
| Nausea | 39.3% | 13.8% |
| Diarrhea | 20.9% | 9.9% |
| Constipation | 19.4% | 8.5% |
| Vomiting | 15.7% | 3.9% |
The label also warns of pancreatitis, gallbladder problems, low blood sugar with insulin or some diabetes pills, a faster heart rate, kidney injury from losing fluid, severe stomach reactions and allergic reactions. Like the other GLP-1 drugs, it carries a boxed warning about thyroid tumors seen in rodents, so people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or MEN 2 shouldn’t take it. Tell your surgeon before any procedure that needs anesthesia. The label says it may harm an unborn baby and should be stopped when a pregnancy is found, so talk with your doctor if you’re planning one.
More detail: when it stops working for weight
The Saxenda label tells prescribers to check an adult’s weight 16 weeks after starting and to stop the drug if they haven’t lost at least 4% of their starting weight, since they’re unlikely to reach and keep a meaningful loss by staying on it. Your prescriber makes that call. When people stop a GLP-1, much of the weight tends to return, so plan the habits that hold it. See what happens when you stop taking Ozempic.
8 sources
- US Food and Drug Administration, Saxenda (liraglutide) prescribing information, DailyMeddailymed.nlm.nih.gov
- Pi-Sunyer et al., A randomized, controlled trial of 3.0 mg of liraglutide in weight management (SCALE Obesity and Prediabetes), New England Journal of Medicine, 2015pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Rubino et al., Effect of weekly subcutaneous semaglutide vs daily liraglutide on body weight in adults with overweight or obesity without diabetes: the STEP 8 randomized clinical trial, JAMA, 2022pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Teva Pharmaceuticals, Teva announces FDA approval and launch of generic Saxenda (liraglutide injection), first generic GLP-1, 2025tevapharm.com
- Novo Nordisk, Saxenda, information for health care professionals, including the US discontinuation noticenovomedlink.com
- Mozaffarian et al., Nutritional priorities to support GLP-1 therapy for obesity: a joint advisory from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, the American Society for Nutrition, the Obesity Medicine Association, and The Obesity Society, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2025pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Heymsfield et al., Weight loss composition is one-fourth fat-free mass: a critical review and critique of this widely cited rule, Obesity Reviews, 2014pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Xie et al., Comparing exercise modalities during caloric restriction: a systematic review and network meta-analysis on body composition, Frontiers in Nutrition, 2025pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
