Medical Review by Adam Bonder, MD
Weight loss on a budget: quick tips
- Check your insurance: Your plan may include free nutritional counseling or discounts on gym memberships, apps, or nutrition coaching.
- Look to your workplace: Employee wellness programs can include gym memberships, discounts to health food stores, and rewards for completing health programs.
- Take advantage of the outdoors: Raise your step count by walking where you’d habitually drive or take public transportation. Take stairs instead of elevators. And look for fitness zones and free fitness classes in public parks.
- Tap into free tech: Smartphones, watches, and trackers can help you count steps, monitor caloric intake, and more. You can also download free apps for fitness and nutrition tips. Or even schedule your phone or computer to alert you for movement and hydration breaks.
Studies show that around 40% of US adults feel financially stressed—and about the same amount have some form of medical debt.
At Lemonaid Health, we believe improving your physical health shouldn’t hurt your financial health.
Learn how to save money while losing weight on GLP-1 treatment with these 9 tips. We’ll cover how to find potential insurance benefits, workplace programs, free community offerings, and more. Plus, how to tap into the free apps and tech tools available for your smartphone or computer.
Tip 1: Check your insurance plan for GLP-1 insurance
About 50% of patients taking GLP-1 medications get some portion of the cost covered by their insurance plan. But plan details can change from year to year. So it’s always good to know your current benefits.
What to look for if you get your insurance through work
Check your coverage every time the year turns over. (Most companies do this around the new year. But they can change plans any time.) You may have new benefits that can help reduce treatment costs, or you may lose your coverage due to plan changes.
Ask your employer if the company offers a Flexible Spending Account (FSA) as a benefit. This pre-tax savings account lets you set aside income for medical costs, with contributions deducted from your taxable income.
By not paying income tax on the amount, you have more to spend on a variety of health items. This includes both GLP-1 treatments and other weight-loss tools, like gym memberships and nutrition coaching!
What to consider if you get insurance through the Health Insurance Marketplace
Note the Marketplace’s open enrollment period, and consider making changes if you find a cost-saving option.
In 2026, the Health Insurance Marketplace open enrollment starts nationally on November 1st. In many states, it ends on January 15th, 2027. But make sure to check your state’s cutoff dates.
Look for plans that cover brand-name GLP-1 drugs. Then, use the online calculator to estimate all potential treatment and medication costs. If you find a plan that will save you money, switch to it!
If you don’t find an affordable plan that covers prescription weight loss, consider a high-deductible health plan. These plans come with a high deductible—the amount you must pay before coverage kicks in.
But they make you eligible to open a Health Savings Account (HSA)—a savings account for medical expenses.
With HSAs, every dollar you deposit gets deducted from your taxable income. If you deposit $100, you keep the $10 or $20 you’d otherwise pay in taxes. This gives you more to spend on GLP-1treatment and related costs, like fitness memberships and nutrition coaching.
Tip 2: Look for covered nutrition counseling
If you take a GLP-1, you likely have a weight-related health condition that may improve with dietary changes. Because of this, your insurer may consider the expense of nutrition coaching medically necessary. If so, they should cover at least some of the cost!
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurers to cover nutrition coaching for certain conditions, like obesity. So check your plan for eligibility and details.
You can also try an online dietitian service such as Nourish or Fay. They’ll check your insurance coverage online and connect you with a licensed nutritionist. Many of their patients pay little or nothing for covered care. So you could get personalized diet counseling at no extra cost!
Tip 3: Ask your insurer about other wellness benefits
Diet and exercise are vital for maintaining a healthy weight. So many insurance plans offer wellness programs or benefits to help lower those costs.
Depending on your plan, they may partially cover the related expenses. Or they may reimburse you for costs up to a certain amount.
Find your plan details and look for savings on:
- Meal delivery services
- Gym or fitness studio memberships
- Fitness trackers or apps
- Nutrition trackers or apps
- Massage therapy sessions
Tip 4: Put your HSA/FSA to work
As we shared above, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs) save you money for medical expenses. If you take a prescription weight-loss treatment, related costs become HSA/FSA-eligible! That means you can use your funds on things like fitness costs and nutrition coaching.
But those expenses don’t automatically qualify as HSA/FSA eligible.
To make them eligible, you need a Letter of Medical Necessity (LMN) from your clinician. This letter provides details about your condition and specifies fitness or nutrition as a related treatment. Once you have this letter, you can reimburse the related expenses from your HSA/FSA.
If you use your funds this way without a letter, you’ll be in trouble with the IRS if you get audited!
With Lemonaid, patients receiving GLP-1 treatment automatically get a Letter of Medical Necessity. If you get medical weight loss with us, you’ll find this letter at your patient portal. (We also sent you an email with a link to it.)
Or you can get a Letter of Medical Necessity online for gym and nutrition services with a $19 membership. A clinician will review your information. If you qualify, they’ll email your letter and put a copy at your patient portal.
Tip 5: Look for employee wellness programs
Some jobs offer an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) with a variety of wellness benefits. Some even include financial or scheduling incentives. For example, if you stick with a fitness program for a set period, you may get a bonus or additional paid time off!
Check with your employer about benefits including:
- Free therapy sessions
- An on-site fitness center
- Free or discounted gym memberships
- Discounts to local health food stores
Tip 6: Find free therapy sessions
Weight shame and weight loss often affect our mental health. Talking through how we think and feel about weight with a therapist can help.
Employee wellness benefits often include therapy sessions.
Colleges and universities sometimes offer free therapy with (supervised) psychology or counseling students. You don’t need to go to the school to have access. Many offer them to support those in their community.
Community centers and places of worship also often offer free counseling.
And many insurance plans cover a portion of therapy costs.
How to find out if your insurance plan covers therapy
Find your insurance documents and look for details such as:
- If your plan covers sessions with a therapist
- If the therapist has to have a certain license
- If the therapist has to be in-network with your insurer
- If they offer any coverage if the therapist is out of network
- If there’s a cap on how many sessions they’ll cover within a year
- If you have a copay for each session (the amount you pay out of pocket)
- If you have to meet your deductible amount before they cover sessions
Tip 7: Simplify your diet plan
It can be too easy to stock up on expensive ingredients and cooking tools when trying to improve your eating habits. But with a little planning, you can do this without breaking the bank.
To save money on healthy cooking:
- Shop at farm stands or farmers’ markets instead of expensive gourmet markets.
- Use your grocery store’s app to track discounts on healthy foods like fresh produce, whole grains, and canned beans and lentils.
- Use frozen vegetables instead of fresh ones—they’re flash-frozen at peak freshness and packed with nutrients.
- Buy healthy ingredients you love in bulk, like oats, rice, nuts, lentils, and nut butters.
- Borrow a cooking device (like a slow cooker) from a friend or community center to try it out—don’t spend the money on a new one unless you’re sure you’ll use it!
What if you don’t like to cook?
If a lack of time or disinterest in cooking keeps you out of the kitchen, look to meal delivery services. A variety of affordable options catering to different tastes and dietary needs abound!
If you take a GLP-1 medication, you may feel fuller much faster than before you started treatment. Side effects like nausea may also make it difficult to eat.
Some meal delivery services, like Hungryroot and Tempo, offer plans for people taking GLP-1s.
If yours doesn’t, look for the most nutrient-dense offerings. That way, you’ll feel fully fueled even if you don’t finish a meal.
Tip 8: Exercise outside
If you don’t want to pay for a gym or fitness studio membership, work free outdoor exercise into your daily routine.
- Start a new fitness routine: Add outdoor running, walking, biking, or hiking into your schedule—and make it fun. Share the time with a friend or loved one. Use it to call friends for a casual chat. Listen to a playlist you create only for exercise, or to a fun audiobook. Or stay entirely unplugged and use the time to focus on your thoughts, senses, and surroundings.
- Find a fitness zone: Some major cities add fitness zones to their public parks. These jungle-gym-like structures may include resistance machines, monkey bars, and other resistance-training equipment.
- Note free outdoor classes: In the warmer months, many community centers and town organizations offer yoga, tai chi, aerobics, and other outdoor classes. Search your town newspapers or online events boards to find them.
- Walk instead of driving or riding: If you use public transportation, walk a few stops you’d normally ride. If you drive, park a few blocks away and hoof it to work or school. Make a habit of parking in the farthest spot from any door. Take stairs instead of elevators. Small shifts make a huge difference!
Tip 9: Use free smart tech and tracker tools
Play around with your smartphone, smartwatch, or fitness tracker. New programs or updates may make it easier to track your sleep, steps, hydration, nutrition, and exercise. They’re an excellent tool for spotting trends and noticing big improvements over time.
Or you can download free nutrition, fitness, and mental health apps to get even more insight.
Here are a few to consider:
- A timer app or browser extension: For a simple reminder to move throughout the day, set regular alarms or notifications. Many fitness trackers can remind you to take a certain number of steps per hour. Use your phone alarms to remind you to get up and move. Or download an extension like Break Timer, which reminds you on your desktop screen to stop and move.
- AllTrails: This popular app offers a free version with nearby trails for walking, running, hiking, or biking. You can filter your search to include only dog-friendly paths or those that pass by water.
- Map My Walk: This top-rated app helps users plan a safe walking route in urban or suburban settings.
- Happify: This free, therapy-like app includes science-backed games, journaling prompts, and quizzes to help reframe negative thought patterns.
