While medications are an option, nutrition and coaching are crucial to long-term success. Weight loss options may depend on the following factors:
The most successful patients are those who make lifestyle changes. Our clinic is designed to ensure our patients are educated and remain accountable throughout weight loss and maintenance. Our lifestyle intervention options include:
- 12-Week weight loss plan includes fitness, nutrition and accountability (group program available)
- Completely customized
- Includes resting metabolic rate test and Sozo body scanner analysis
- 2 consultations with a dietitian (60 minutes and 30 minutes)
- One-on-one personal training two days a week=24 sessions with a personal trainer
- 10, 30-minute wellness coaching sessions
Patients visit the clinic monthly for blood pressure, weight, waist circumference measurement and other vitals. Education on nutrition, hydration, sleep, stress and other important factors that impact weight management and a healthy lifestyle is provided by our team of registered dietitians and certified health coaches.
Personalized lifestyle medicine meets you at the intersection of diet, exercise, and lifestyle intervention to determine the best course of action for managing and promoting the health of each individual patient. As a referred patient to our Metabolic Weight Loss Clinic, labs will be looked at considering blood sugar balance, cardiovascular health, body composition, autoimmune system function, gastrointestinal health and hormone balance. The program offers medical foods and pharmaceutical grade supplements.
Medications and Metabolic Regulators
| Medication |
How It Works |
Common Side Effects |
| Topiramate |
Oral
Causes decrease in cravings and change in tastes
*Should NOT be used in conjunction with a ketogenic or high protein/low carbohydrate diet |
Tingling in hands/feet
Headache
Drowsiness
Weakness
Weight loss*
Constipation
Heartburn
Change in ability to taste food
Dry mouth
Excessive menstrual bleeding or missed periods
Increased risk of kidney stones |
| Bupropion (Wellbutrin) |
Oral
Antidepressant that increases certain types of activity in the brain to reduce cravings and appetite
*Take with food
|
Drowsiness
Difficulty falling or staying asleep
Dry mouth
Dizziness
Headache
Nausea/Vomiting/Constipation
Stomach pain
Loss of appetite/weight loss*
Changes in taste
Excessive sweating
Ringing in the ears
Frequent urination |
| Diethylpropion |
Oral
Increase chemicals in brain to make you feel you are not hungry or that you are full |
See side effects for phentermine and bupropion |
| Semaglutide (Ozempic) |
Injection – 1x/wk
*Not a weight loss drug, but causes weight loss. Designed to help people with T2DM lower blood glucose.
|
Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea/Constipation
Abdominal pain
|
| Semaglutide (Rybelsus) |
Oral
*Not a weight loss drug, but causes weight loss. Designed to help people with T2DM lower blood glucose.
Take on an empty stomach. Eat 30-60 minutes later.
|
Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea/Constipation – especially at first
Abdominal pain
Decreased appetite
|
| Phentermine |
Oral
Increase chemicals in brain to make you feel you are not hungry or that you are full |
Dry mouth
Constipation
Difficulty sleeping
Dizziness
Feeling nervous/restless
Headache
Increased BP/pulse |
Naltrexone-bupropion
(Contrave) |
Oral
May help you feel less hungry or full sooner |
Nausea/Vomiting/Diarrhea/Constipation
Dizziness
Dry mouth
Headache
Increased BP/HR
Insomnia |
Liraglutide
(Saxenda) |
Injectable
May help you feel less hungry or full sooner |
Nausea/Diarrhea/Constipation Abdominal pain
Headache
Increased pulse |
| Phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia) |
Oral
May make you less hungry or feel full sooner |
Taste changes, especially with carbonated beverages
Dry mouth
Constipation
Difficulty sleeping
Dizziness
Tingling in hands and feet |
Metabolic Regulators
METFORMIN: Used as first-line therapy for prediabetes and diabetes. Metformin functions by making your muscles more sensitive to your own body's insulin. It assists other weight loss medications and treatments by helping your body burn sugars (and therefore calories) more efficiently. This is accomplished by helping sugar get into muscle cells to be used. This medication will help patients who exhibit insulin resistance after evaluation and testing.
GLP-1 AGONIST: A GLP-1 agonist is a class of medications that acts by mimicking a substance in our body called GLP-1 or Glucagon Like Peptide-1. GLP-1 promotes weight loss through 3 main mechanisms:
- Slowing the stomach emptying, thereby causing a person to eat a smaller meal
- Acting on the brain to decrease appetite
- Decreasing the liver’s production of sugar
People who are pregnant, have had pancreatitis or have a family history of medullary thyroid cancers should not take this medication.
$75 MedGem Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) Test – A 10 to 15 minute breath test that uses an indirect calorimeter to measure oxygen consumption to determine your RMR. This will tell you how many calories you burn each day without additional activity.
Lipotropic Injections
- $20 Vitamin B12
- Slows aging
- Boosts energy and overall metabolic rate
- Helps burn stored body fat
- Detoxifies the body
- Maintains a healthy liver
- Helps regulate sleep, mood, appetite and energy
- Works synergistically with other nutrients to improve overall health B12+MIC
- $30 Vitamin B12 plus MIC
- Jump starts the body’s metabolism to specifically promote weight loss
- Promotes hormone balance
- Shifts your body into burning fat faster