Opening Your Mind To Using Medication, Supplements Or Surgery To Lose Weight

Why Weight Loss Often Needs More Than Diet and Exercise 0:00

Dr. Francavilla here. And I want to talk to you about the importance of anti-obesity or weight loss medications in your weight loss journey, as well as supplements and metabolic and bariatric surgery. So one of the things that became really apparent to me early in my career was that diet and exercise alone weren't going to be enough for my patients. I want to tell you about a patient of mine named Jessica. Jessica came in to me at about 40 years old, and she had struggled with weight since she was a child.

She started struggling with her weight when she was about 5 or 6 years old. And she was very active as a child doing multiple sports, and was able to keep her

Jessicau2019s Struggle With Obesity and Health Risks 0:52

weight in an okay place where it wasn't really affecting her health. But as she got older and had children and struggled with stress from her job and her career, she really gained quite a bit of weight to the point where her BMI was 45. She was having joint pains, fatigue, reflux, Gerd. She was feeling tired all the time. She just didn't feel well. She didn't feel like her best self, and she was really worried about how she was going to age. Both of her parents had type two diabetes, and she didn't want to go down that path.

At the same time, anytime she tried to make a change with her lifestyle, with exercise or nutrition and, rejoining her, her gym, changing her nutrition plan, she found herself consumed by thoughts of food and she finally decided to get bariatric surgery. but unfortunately, just before, she was about to get the surgery, she found out she was pregnant again and wasn't able to get surgery for a while. So after her pregnancy, she came to see me and she was ready to lose weight. And we had the newer medications that were available on her.

Her, her insurance plan. As we started a weight loss medication for her, we started that bound and she came back and described feeling different than she ever had in her life. She said she felt like she had a brain transplant. Like she no longer was consumed by these thoughts of food, and that she was finally able to stick to this nutrition

How Weight Loss Medication Changed Her Hunger and Mindset 2:25

plan that she had been wanting to stick with for years. She would eat just one piece of pizza and feel full and satisfied. She could have a salad for lunch and it truly transformed her life. She felt less anxious, less stressed because she wasn't spending all this energy constantly trying to restrict what she would eat. And Jessica story is what I hear from patient after patient after patient that these medications allow them to do what they were intending to do. So if you are someone who has tried, nutrition strategy after nutrition strategy and you aren't having results and you've tried gym membership and personal trainers and you've gotten fitter, but the weight hasn't come off, it may be time to think about adding something to what you're doing.

This may be a supplement. Sometimes these are a place to start, especially if you're uncomfortable with the medication. Or maybe you have less weight to lose. You don't qualify for a medication, but you may also want to consider a prescription medication. We have older ones like phentermine that work really well on cravings. Snacking make it easier to go longer between meals without eating. We have medications like contraceptive that work more on the cravings in the brain. People who are always thinking about food, always have food on the mind can do great with that medication.

Medication Options, Supplements, and When Surgery Makes Sense 3:43

That medication also can help with depression, ADHD, and addiction to alcohol. So if you have any of those other things going on that are affecting your health, that medication can be a two and one for some people. And then we have our newer medications, our GLP one medications, like wegovy and Zepbound, as well as an older one that is generic, now called liraglutide. But it's not quite as powerful. And it's a daily medication, unlike our newer ones that are weekly. And these medications can be incredibly powerful.

To let you stick to your plan, you still need to eat the healthy food we all need to eat. You still need to do the movement we all need to do. But now you actually can. Now it's easier to do that. So if you have struggled, you may consider stepping up to those. And if those having worked for you or your medication is not covered by your insurance, or you're looking for a long term or even more aggressive solution, maybe if you have type two diabetes or a more dramatic weight loss, that needs to happen more than, you know, 70 or 100 pounds to really reach your health goals, then you might consider metabolic and bariatric surgery.

So as you listen to the summit, I hope that you'll be aware of the fact that there are many different options that can help support you. Some of them can lead to more weight loss, more consistently, but they all are options. And a prescriber like myself can help you navigate what makes the most sense based on the type of hunger or cravings that you have, based on other medications, based on your personal health goals and needs. And then you should have someone like me who can help support you with a nutrition and exercise plan that complements the surgery, the supplement, or the medication that you're using.

These are all different pieces of the pie. You really need them all to come together. If you want more resources for medications like zepbound or wegovy, check out my GLP strong website.

Combining Tools for Long-Term Success 5:34

You can find a strength training program there, as well as a manual on how to, utilize these medications to their best ability. And we're going to start hosting masterclasses soon on how to best use those medications. So remember the medications are one tool. They make it easier as do surgery as do some supplements. and really they are for people who have not had success with what they've tried before. And maybe you'll have that same experience of feeling like you have a brain transplant, or maybe you'll just feel like it's a little bit easier.

But either way, if it helps you reach your goal, it can be a huge part of your success. To live longer and live better.