Don’t let food cravings get the better of YOUR WEIGHT LOSS
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Not a real patient.

UNDERSTANDING FOOD CRAVINGS

What are food cravings?

Thinking about food is normal, most of us plan meals, notice hunger, or look forward to eating something we enjoy, but food cravings are different. They’re an intense desire for a specific food – often something high in calories, savoury, or sweet.

Cravings can show up when you aren’t hungry, sometimes even when you’re full. Unlike hunger, which can usually be satisfied by eating almost anything, a craving often won’t go away until that particular food is eaten.

For many people, cravings trigger an exhausting mental loop:

What are food cravings
Not a real patient.

Food cravings are real and they are not a personal failure. Understanding what’s happening can be the first step towards starting your weight management journey.

Why do food cravings happen?

Your brain plays a central role in appetite and eating behaviour. Some parts of your brain help signal when you’re hungry, while other parts influence what you want to eat, and why.

For some people, these brain signals can become out of balance. When that happens, it can be harder to:

Manage food cravings

Manage food
cravings

Tell the difference between hunger and cravings

Tell the difference between
hunger and cravings

Feel satisfied after eating

Feel satisfied
after eating

Why are cravings more intense for some people?

Our appetite and food choices are influenced by a combination of factors, including:

Genes

Genes

Emotions

Emotions

Our environment

Our environment

It’s important to know this isn’t about willpower. Food cravings are driven by our biology and environment, and recognising this can help you take the first step toward finding the right support and treatment.

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Food cravings and weight

How do food cravings make it difficult
to lose weight and keep it off?

Food cravings can influence how we eat and make it harder to maintain a healthy weight. They can make it difficult to control how much you eat, which may increase the risk of obesity or make losing weight more challenging.

Living with overweight or obesity can increase the risk of other health conditions, including heart disease, sleep apnoea, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.

Managing cravings, not just hunger, may play a role in achieving and sustaining weight loss.

Food cravings and Wegovy®

How can Wegovy® help quiet food cravings?

Wegovy® can help quiet food cravings by mimicking a natural hormone in the body called GLP-1. This hormone acts on key areas of the brain involved in controlling appetite and food intake.

Clinical studies have shown that Wegovy® can improve the ability to control eating with less food cravings.*†

By working in these key areas of the brain, quietening food cravings with Wegovy® is associated with improved control around food and weight loss. Wegovy® may help people to:

Feel fuller for longer

Feel fuller for longer

Feel less hungry

Feel less hungry

Experience fewer and less intense food cravings

Experience fewer and less
intense food cravings

Feeling more in control around food, with fewer cravings, may support healthier eating behaviours and help build sustainable, long-term weight-loss habits.

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Find out more about Wegovy®

*Wegovy® must be used together with a reduced-energy diet and increased physical activity.
†Compared with diet and exercise alone.

Speak to a healthcare provider

Speak to a healthcare provider

If you’re living with overweight or obesity, food cravings can be one of the challenges you experience. This doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you and these challenges don’t have to last forever.

Speaking with a healthcare provider about food cravings and your weight-loss journey can be a positive first step. They can help you decide whether Wegovy® may be right for you, based on your personal health needs and goals.

Get started on Wegovy®

Abbreviation

GLP-1: glucagon-like peptide-1.

Wegovy® is an unfunded prescription medicine - patient co-payment for medicine and healthcare professional fees apply.

Wegovy® is used for weight loss and weight maintenance in addition to diet and physical activity in adults and adolescents ages 12 years and above who meet certain Body Mass Index (BMI) criteria. Wegovy® is also indicated to reduce the risk of a heart disease related event in addition to standard of care if you are an adult with a history of heart disease and have a BMI ≥27 kg/m2 without established diabetes. Wegovy® contains the active ingredient semaglutide and is available in the following dose forms: 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg. The two lower dose pens contain 1.5 mL of liquid each, while the three higher dose pens contain 3 mL each. Wegovy® has risks and benefits. Ask your doctor if Wegovy® is right for you. Use strictly as directed. If you experience side effects, see your doctor, pharmacist, or healthcare professional. Side effects of Wegovy® include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, headache, fatigue. Please refer to the Wegovy® Consumer Medicine Information available at https://www.medsafe.govt.nz/consumers/cmi/w/wegovy.pdf, in your Wegovy® pack or via https://www.novonordisk.co.nz/content/dam/nncorp/nz/en/pdfs/leaflets/wegovy-nz-cmi.pdf before taking your medicine.