Short answer: keep strength work and regular meals so you hold the muscle you have.
That matters because the FDA labels for Wegovy and Zepbound say weight comes off with greater fat loss than lean loss, and it helps to pick an activity you enjoy enough to repeat. For the calm part of the week, book a private infrared sauna, 30 minutes for $30.
Check with your doctor before you take up a new sport or a sauna or cold routine, especially if you still take a GLP-1 drug or another medicine, or have a heart or blood pressure condition. Stop and get help if you feel faint.
Why the muscle you keep matters now
Losing weight can take some lean mass with it. The Wegovy and Zepbound labels put it in one line, saying the drug lowers body weight “with greater fat mass loss than lean mass loss,” which means lean mass is lost too, just less of it. Our post on keeping muscle on a GLP-1 drug has the trial numbers behind that.
Regular strength training is the usual way to work on keeping the muscle you have as your weight settles, and a trainer or your doctor can help you build it into the week at a level that suits you. Ask your doctor or a registered dietitian how much protein is right for you, since the answer depends on your health.
Ways to put the energy to use
If you have been putting off a race or a dance class, this may be the time, and putting it on the calendar with a friend makes it easier to keep. The cooler months are a comfortable time to start something outdoors in New Orleans, and our fall race training guide covers recovery around a training plan.
Build up slowly even when you feel ready for more. A new sport uses muscles your old routine did not, so give them a few weeks to catch up. If you are new to training altogether, our post on starting to exercise safely has a simple first month.
Where sauna and cryo fit
Sauna and cryotherapy are not a way to keep weight off, and the reviews we read do not show that they are. We found no body-fat or lean-mass result in a 2018 review of 40 sauna studies, and a sauna can lower the scale for a short time through sweat, weight that returns as you drink. A 2022 meta-analysis of 10 cold-exposure trials found a short-term rise in energy use after a single spell of cold, and its discussion notes that in people this has not produced a loss of body weight. Our post on losing weight without a GLP-1 drug goes through those studies.
What a visit can do is give a busy week a calm stop, with a friend if you like, and you pay after your visit. The private sauna room holds one to four people. Thirty minutes is $30 on your own or $48 for two, and 45 minutes is $40. A 10-visit pack of 30-minute sessions is $200; one pack visit covers one or two people in the room together, so two friends who share all 10 visits pay $100 each, and packs last 12 months. The Chill membership is $85 a month for 2 sessions. The packages page and the memberships page have the details.
NOLA Chill is open every day, Mon to Fri 9am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 4pm and Sun 10am to 3pm, with off-street parking in front of the studio.
If you still take the drug
None of the FDA labels for Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Rybelsus or Mounjaro mentions saunas, hot tubs, cryotherapy or cold exposure, so no label says heat or cold is safe on them. All five warn about kidney injury from fluid loss, and the Wegovy and Zepbound labels report more low blood pressure on the drug than on placebo. So drink water before and after a sauna, stand up slowly, and step out the moment you feel dizzy or light-headed. Skip heat on days with nausea, vomiting or diarrhea, and keep your pen out of the sauna room, since the labels say to protect it from heat.
NOLA Chill does not sell, prescribe or recommend any drug or peptide, and nothing here is advice to start, stop or change a medicine.
More in this series
- Losing weight without a GLP-1 drug: where sauna and cryo honestly fit
- Keeping muscle on Ozempic, Wegovy or Zepbound
- Starting to exercise safely, on a GLP-1 drug or without one
- Building a recovery routine in New Orleans
- Every price at NOLA Chill
Frequently asked questions
Does a sauna help keep weight off after you lose it?
No, and we do not claim it does. The 2018 review of 40 sauna studies we read reports no body-fat or lean-mass result, and a lower number on the scale right after a sauna is fluid lost in sweat, which returns as you drink. Holding your weight comes back to the eating and activity plan you built, kept up with your doctor’s help.
Should I keep strength training after I reach my goal weight?
Regular strength work is the usual way to work on keeping muscle, and the reason is in the labels: Wegovy and Zepbound lower body weight with greater fat mass loss than lean mass loss, which means some lean mass is lost along the way. A trainer or your doctor can help you set a level that suits you.
Can I bring a friend to the sauna?
Yes. The private infrared sauna room at NOLA Chill, 6045 Magazine Street, is $30 for 30 minutes on your own or $48 for two, and 45 minutes is $40. A 10-visit pack of 30-minute sessions is $200, and one pack visit covers one or two people in the room together.
How we checked
Label wording and warnings are from each medicine’s FDA label on DailyMed, read on October 30, 2026, and the sauna and cold findings are from the two reviews below.
- Wegovy label (DailyMed)
- Zepbound label (DailyMed)
- Ozempic label (DailyMed)
- Rybelsus and Ozempic tablets label (DailyMed)
- Mounjaro label (DailyMed)
- Hussain and Cohen, 2018, dry sauna systematic review
- Huo and others, 2022, cold exposure meta-analysis
NOLA Chill is a wellness studio on Magazine Street in New Orleans, not a medical clinic. A sauna or cryotherapy visit is not a weight-loss or weight-maintenance treatment and does not replace care from your doctor.