Weight Loss (TIRZEPATIDE)

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Technically, Tirzepatide is a peptide molecule that is produced synthetically that acts on both GIP and GLP-1 receptors as a receptor agonist. What this means in plain English is that Tirzepatide is the first medication in its class and comes as a once-weekly injection. It works by impacting your body’s insulin levels, blood sugar production, and hunger hormones. Managing your glucose is important because decreased glucose levels lead to lower insulin levels, leading to weight loss and decreased fat mass. It also signals to the brain that you’re full, so you eat less, since it also slows the movement of food through your stomach, so you feel full longer. 

First we schedule a consultation to discuss your health history and your goals. In some cases blood work may be recommended. If you are a good candidate, we will provide a 200-unit prescription of tirzepatide. Every 4 weeks or so – depending on your dosing  –  we provide you with a kit that has everything you need to give yourself the shots (or a friend can help you).

Each time you come in for a new kit, we will review your goals and your progress and make adjustments to your personalized treatment regimen.

Tirzepatide is unique because it’s the first combination of two classes of medications: a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist and a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist. Therefore, tirzepatide is known as a dual GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist. Semaglutide, another popular weight-loss medication, acts only on GIP receptors. Since tirzepatide acts on both GLP-1 AND GIP receptors, tirzepatide is a significant breakthrough in weight loss. 

GLP-1 and GIP are both incretin hormones, which are hormones that are released after eating. Among other things, they help promote a feeling of fullness by delaying gastric emptying and activating the satiety centers in the brain. They also boost insulin production in the pancreas, and suppress glucagon production, both of which help normalize blood sugars. Tirzepatide works by mimicking these hormone's effects. This includes telling the pancreas to release insulin after eating and signaling the liver to lower the amount of glucose it’s making. These effects help you feel full, slow down digestion, and lower blood sugar.

Originally developed to help with treating Type 2 diabetes, tirzepatide has been shown to help with weight loss in people without diabetes. A clinical trial of over 2,500 people with obesity or overweight experienced significant weight loss with weekly tirzepatide. Those treated with tirzepatide had an average weight loss of 15% to 20% of their starting body weight over 72 weeks (about 16 and a half months). Those taking the placebo (an injection with no medication in it) only had an average of 3% weight loss.

Like most weight-loss programs, for the best long-lasting results you should pair this medicine with a healthy diet and exercise. Frankly, most diets are demoralizing. It's frustrating to try so hard and not see your weight drop. And usually you're doing this while feeling hungry and strong cravings. That's what makes our program so powerful! The medicine makes it easy to not over-eat or binge eat, and can help curb the cravings you usually have. The tirzepatide overcomes the hardest parts of a traditional diet.

Losing weight is the easy part, with tirzepatide. The way to maximize this program for the long-term is to use the weight loss as a motivator to change your habits. Eat better. Exercise. Create new, healthy habits and break old, destructive ones. Then, once you reach your goal weight and you stop taking tirzepatide, you will be positioned to maintain your new weight!

While you are on the program you will often feel full and no desire to eat. It's amazing, but it's very important that you do continue to eat. The hunger suppression will make eating smaller portions easy. Eat healthy food, with an emphasis on protein, and drink plenty of water. Make sure that the limited food you are giving your body is the good stuff it needs. This way you will still feel energy and your body will not horde fat, but will burn it first due to the calorie deficit you have created.